WBTC Supply on Aave Hits All-Time High Despite Backing Anxieties

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) supplied on decentralized lending platform Aave hit an all-time high despite anxieties around the Bitcoin (BTC) wrapper's backing

Despite anxieties around the backing of the Bitcoin ( BTC ) wrapper, Wrapped Bitcoin ( WBTC ) hit an all-time high with $65,051.95 in WBTC being supplied on decentralized lending platform Aave, according to Dune Analytics on Sept.26.

Aave’s WBTC supply on the Ethereum network hit 37,000 in September, which is over $2 billion at current prices, Dune showed.

The record-breaking total value locked (TVL) on Aave comes amid skepticism from retail crypto investors about the safety of the underlying spot Bitcoin backing WBTC.

On Aug. 9, BitGo — the cryptocurrency custodian that holds WBTC’s Bitcoin backing — agreed to grant Hong Kong-based crypto exchange BiT Global partial control of the multisignature wallet that holds the custodied Bitcoin.

“This announcement proved controversial due to Justin Sun's involvement, with many in the ecosystem expressing concern over his ‘affiliated projects [showing] worrying signs of possible misappropriation of collateral,” a rival Bitcoin wrapper, Threshold, said in August.

Sky, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol formerly known as Maker, opted to remove WBTC from its platform on Sept. 19.

However, on Sept. 24, the DeFi protocol reconsidered its plan to offboard WBTC after a new recommendation from key adviser BA Labs.

BA Labs recommended pausing the offboarding plan following a lengthy conversation with BitGo co-founder Mike Belshe on Sky's governance forum. Among other assurances, BitGo committed to providing at least 60 days of public written notice before any changes to entities controlling WBTC keys.

On Sept. 23, 21.co, the parent company of cryptocurrency asset manager 21Shares, announced plans to add Chainlink's proof of reserve to 21BTC to address concerns over the Bitcoin wrapper's backing.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal addressed related concerns regarding the user terms of service for Coinbase's new cbBTC Wrapped Bitcoin product. He confirmed that Coinbase will reimburse clients if the exchange loses the underlying Bitcoin.

WBTC remains the most popular Bitcoin wrapper with over $9 billion in TVL, according to DeFiLlama.