September was an eventful month for Bitcoin, with regulatory uncertainty, a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate hike, elevated oil prices and geopolitical tensions shaping markets.

The week of September 14 brought several major economic and policy events, including the U.S. Senate's CLARITY Act vote and monetary policy decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan. Despite the uncertainty, Bitcoin recovered in the second half of the month, reaching an intraday high of approximately $87,265 on September 23.

For WBTC, September brought continued growth across institutional markets, DeFi and multichain infrastructure.

Institutional Adoption Moves Further On-Chain

One of the most notable developments in September was the launch of the Axiom WBTC Yield Vault by Two Prime, bringing WBTC into an on-chain institutional lending product.

The vault was developed with Pareto, ICE Digital Trust, Copper and Morpho, with each partner supporting different parts of the product's credit, custody, asset security and distribution infrastructure. Two Prime described the product as an on-chain continuation of its institutional lending business, which has raised more than 3,000 BTC to institutional counterparties from its own balance sheet.

The launch provides another example of WBTC being used as the underlying Bitcoin asset in institutional financial products.

Institutional participation was also a key topic in WBTC's September discussion with Compound. WBTC joined Steve Liu, CPO of Compound Foundation, for an X Space covering institutional demand, collateral requirements and the infrastructure needed for institutions to participate in on-chain credit markets.

The discussion coincided with the launch of Compound's institutional markets, highlighting the continued development of infrastructure aimed at institutional participation in DeFi.

Together, these developments highlight a growing focus on bringing Bitcoin into financial products designed for institutional users, rather than limiting Bitcoin's role in DeFi to retail liquidity and trading.

How to Use Bitcoin in DeFi: New Directions for Bitcoin DeFi

September also saw WBTC enter new areas of on-chain finance, including confidential applications.

The Wintermute Confidential WBTC Vault, developed with Zama's encrypted computation technology, introduced encrypted balances on-chain within the supported application environment. The development adds a privacy-focused dimension to Bitcoin DeFi, exploring how financial information can remain encrypted while interacting with on-chain applications.

Beyond privacy, Bitcoin lending remains one of the primary answers to how to use Bitcoin in DeFi. The latest WBTC Decoded article examined how BTC can be used as liquidity or collateral across protocols including Aave, Morpho and Spark without requiring users to sell their Bitcoin.

As more applications support WBTC, lending provides one of the clearest ways for Bitcoin liquidity to participate in on-chain financial markets.

WBTC also went live in Native Core following Native's Pool upgrade. The upgraded pool supports WBTC alongside ETH, USDT, USDC and BNB, while allowing users with positions in Native's legacy liquidity pools to migrate to the new system.

WBTC's Multichain Reach Continues to Grow

WBTC's multichain presence continued to develop throughout September, although Ethereum remained its primary home.

Native WBTC supply was approximately 99.68% on Ethereum, with smaller amounts distributed across Solana, TRON, Osmosis and Kava. The distribution shows that while WBTC is available across an expanding range of networks, Ethereum continues to account for the vast majority of native WBTC supply and DeFi activity.

WBTC was also available across these top 10 decentralized exchanges including Uniswap, Curve, SushiSwap, Orca, Fluid, Velodrome, Meteora and PancakeSwap, providing access to WBTC liquidity across multiple on-chain markets. (Source: CoinGecko)

Transaction costs vary significantly across these networks. Solana, TRON, Sui, Osmosis, Kava and other supported networks can offer substantially lower transaction fees than Ethereum, although actual costs depend on network activity and congestion.

With approximately 116,499 WBTC in circulation against Bitcoin's 21 million maximum supply, WBTC represents around 0.55% of Bitcoin's maximum supply.

This represents only a fraction of Bitcoin's total potential supply, while providing that portion of Bitcoin liquidity with access to DeFi applications across multiple networks.

Bitcoin, WBTC and the Broader Ecosystem

September also saw WBTC featured in several broader discussions around Bitcoin's role in digital finance.

In a written interview with Blockopedia, WBTC discussed Bitcoin utility, transparency, multichain expansion and institutional adoption, covering some of the key areas shaping Bitcoin's development in DeFi.

Bitcoin.com also published an overview of WBTC covering the differences between WBTC and BTC, including considerations around custody, the relationship between WBTC and the underlying Bitcoin, and counterparty risk.

The month also included a look at Bitcoin ownership distribution. Data cited from Bitwise estimated that approximately 66.1% of Bitcoin's total supply is held by individuals, with other portions held by miners, corporations, ETFs and funds, and other entities.

September also marked another step toward Bitcoin's next halving, currently projected for 2028. At the time of WBTC's September 11 post, approximately 588 days and 84,711 blocks remained until the estimated April 17, 2028 date.

A lighter comparison from the month illustrated WBTC’s long-term price appreciation: an iPhone 7 in 2016 was equivalent to approximately 1.1 WBTC, while an iPhone 18 Pro in 2026 represented roughly 0.019 WBTC.

September in Perspective

September saw WBTC expand across institutional lending, confidential DeFi, lending markets and multichain infrastructure.

From Two Prime's Axiom WBTC Yield Vault and the Wintermute Confidential WBTC Vault to Compound's institutional markets and continued multichain integrations, WBTC continued to find new applications across the on-chain ecosystem.

As Bitcoin's role in digital finance continues to develop, these developments show how WBTC is being used across a wider range of financial applications, connecting Bitcoin liquidity with institutional credit, DeFi markets and emerging on-chain infrastructure.

Explore the WBTC Ecosystem

View the directory of supported applications and cross-chain bridges across 25+ networks. These are independent third parties and are not endorsed or recommended; returns are not guaranteed.

https://www.wbtc.network/ecosystem

Become an Authorized Merchant

For institutional desks and liquidity providers looking to execute native on-chain minting and redemption, join our growing institutional network:

https://www.wbtc.network/merchants

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best wrapped Bitcoin tokens for DeFi

WBTC remains the top choice for DeFi because it is the most widely integrated, highly liquid, and deeply trusted option available. It offers universal support across major lending platforms, and reserves are held 1:1 in custody that you can verify on-chain.

WBTC vs BTC Differences

BTC is the native asset of the Bitcoin network, while WBTC is a 1:1 multichain token used on smart contract chains like Ethereum, Solana, TRON and BSC.
Read more: https://www.wbtc.network/articles/wbtc-vs-btc-differences-between-bitcoin-and-wbtc

How to use Bitcoin in DeFi

WBTC can be used as collateral for loans, supplied as liquidity on DEXs, or used in automated yield-farming strategies (e.g. Aave, Spark, Morpho, Concrete, Uniswap, PancakeSwap). 

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcyjWbrEUUE
Read more: https://www.wbtc.network/articles/how-to-use-bitcoin-in-defi

How to convert BTC to WBTC

Users can convert BTC to WBTC through supported CEXs, DEXs, or on-chain protocols (e.g. Binance, Bybit, Bitget, Uniswap, PancakeSwap). During the process, BTC is sent to the verified merchant and an equivalent amount of WBTC is received by the user (subject to the terms of services of the specific exchange or protocol).

Read more: https://www.wbtc.network/articles/how-to-convert-btc-to-wbtc

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Disclaimer: Information provided is for information purposes only and is not financial advice. No representation or warranty has been made as to the content, accuracy, timeliness, suitability or completeness of such information. Participation in DeFi carries risks, always do your own research.