What is Wrapped token?

A wrapped token is an asset represented on a chain it was not born on: Bitcoin locked in custody with WBTC minted on Ethereum, or Bitcoin held natively with cbBTC issued on Base. One unit of the wrapper claims one unit of the original, redeemable by the custodian or minter.

Wrapping is how liquidity moves between ecosystems that cannot talk to each other. The questions are always who holds the original and what attests the backing; the answers differ by wrapper, which is why each has its own page.

How Wrapped token works

A wrapped token is a representation of an asset issued on a chain where the original does not live. The canonical pattern: the original asset goes into custody on its home chain, and a matching token is minted on the destination. Redeeming burns the representation and releases the original. One unit in, one unit out, with the custodian (a contract, a multisig, or an institution) holding the peg.

Wrapping is how Bitcoin reaches Ethereum chains as wrapped BTC, and how cross-chain value moves without inventing a new asset. The risk surface is the custodian: the wrap is only as good as the thing holding the original.

Wrapped forms also appear within a single chain family, not just across chains: an L2 version of a mainnet asset wraps the original so it can move at L2 cost. The pattern is the same at any scale: original in custody, representation out in circulation, redemption as the escape valve. For payments, what matters is that the wrapped form is the one the receiving wallet's chain understands.

Wrapped token in practice

Wrapped Bitcoin on an EVM chain trades at a price tracking BTC while settling like an ERC-20: fast block times, ETH gas, usable in any EVM wallet or contract. A trader holds BTC exposure without leaving the chain their whole portfolio lives on.

Wrapped token on U.CASH

Wrapped assets trade as first-class tokens on U.CASH, with the custodian and the verified contract on each asset page: Wrapped Bitcoin, Coinbase Wrapped BTC, and the chain flavors under the variants system.

Merchants meet wrapped tokens as checkout assets: a customer can pay BTC exposure from an EVM wallet because the wrapped form settles there. Asset pages state which form a checkout receives.