Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is an ERC20 token that represents real Bitcoin (BTC) held in locked reserves. This enables investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin’s price growth while accessing Ethereum-based applications. WBTC holders can earn yields, provide liquidity, and even borrow stablecoins from DeFi loan sites.
Learn how to buy Wrapped Bitcoin in this beginner-friendly guide. Read on to discover the cheapest, safest, and most cost-effective way to invest in WBTC tokens in 2025. I also explain how Wrapped Bitcoin works, what risks to consider, and how to use it in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is a 1:1 tokenized version of Bitcoin on the Ethereum blockchain, enabling BTC holders to access DeFi applications and earn yields.
WBTC can be purchased anonymously via non-custodial platforms like Best Wallet, which supports credit cards, PayPal, and other fiat payment methods.
Best Wallet allows users to store WBTC securely with features like encrypted private keys, biometrics, and 2FA, while connecting seamlessly to the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.
Holders of WBTC can generate passive income through staking, providing DEX liquidity, or using tokens as collateral for crypto loans.
WBTC can be redeemed for real Bitcoin at any time through approved merchants, ensuring flexibility and maintaining its BTC peg.
How to Buy Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) in 4 Easy Steps
Here’s a simple walkthrough on how to invest in Wrapped Bitcoin in under five minutes:
Pick an Exchange
Wrapped Bitcoin trades on many popular platforms, but a non-custodial provider like Best Wallet offers added privacy and security. Download the Best Wallet app and complete the security setup steps to get started.
Set up a WBTC Order
Tap the “Trade” button followed by “Buy.” Choose a payment currency and method, such as credit card, debit card or bank transfer. Select “Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)” as the token you want to receive and enter your purchase amount.
Buy WBTC
Best Wallet will automatically connect you to the most competitive payment gateway. Enter your payment details and confirm the WBTC transaction.
Store and Earn WBTC
Once the purchase is complete, your WBTC will appear in your Best Wallet balance. The private key is encrypted and stored securely on your device. You can also earn yields on WBTC through Ethereum DeFi integrations within the app.
Wrapped Bitcoin Key Features
Wrapped Bitcoin is Backed by Real Bitcoin: While Wrapped Bitcoin is an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, it’s backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin. Those Bitcoins are locked in custodial wallets with transparent and frequent audits, ensuring a constant peg.
Unlocks DeFi Opportunities for Bitcoin: Wrapped Bitcoin always trades at the same price as Bitcoin (micro-percentage difference), meaning WBTC holders can still gain exposure to Bitcoin’s long-term growth. Equally, however, it also unlocks DeFi opportunities like staking, lending, and loans.
Unwrapping Process: Wrapped Bitcoin can be redeemed for real Bitcoin at any time. The process is known as “unwrapping” and must be done with an approved merchant like Ren or Kyber. The returned WBTC tokens are subsequently burned.
Transparent Supply: Just like the original Bitcoin, the Wrapped Bitcoin supply is transparent. About 129,000 WBTC tokens have been issued so far, significantly less than Bitcoin’s 19.8 million.
Storage: WBTC tokens should be stored in a secure non-custodial wallet. Many users opt for wallets that connect to DeFi applications, allowing them to put their Wrapped Bitcoin to work.
Best Wallet: Top Platform to Buy and Store Wrapped Bitcoin
Best Wallet is a non-custodial mobile app designed for users who want full control over their cryptocurrency. Supporting over 60 blockchain networks, it allows you to manage a diversified portfolio while securely storing your private keys locally on your smartphone, ensuring you retain complete ownership of your assets at all times. So whether your WBTC is on Ethereum, BNB Chain or Polygon, you can manage them all from one app with Best Wallet.
What makes Best Wallet stand out is its built-in DEX aggregator, which scans prices and network fees across multiple decentralized exchanges to offer the best possible rates for onchain token swaps. This eliminates the need to rely on centralized platforms, where you typically surrender custody of your assets.
Read all about this multi-blockchain wallet in our Best Wallet Review.
Pros
Best Wallet is a non-custodial wallet that gives user full ownership of their Bitcoins.
Hold multi-chain WBTC in one account, as Best Wallet supports multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, and BNB Chain.
Easily trade WBTC. Best Wallet comes with an in-built DEX aggregator for easy and cheap crypto trading.
Sell WBTC for fiat with ease. Best Wallet supports multiple fiat onramping options to fund your account.
Best Wallet’s interface is user-friendly, setup is simple, and it does not charge high fees, making it the perfect platform for beginners.
Users do not have to complete KYC processes to use Best Wallet for buying Bitcoin.
Cons
Best Wallet is only available as a smartphone application. It does not have a desktop app or browser extension.
The platform may have limited customer support.
Users are responsible for securing the cryptocurrencies stored in their non-custodial crypto digital wallet.
How to Buy WBTC – Step-by-Step Instructions
I’ll now provide a more comprehensive guide on how and where to buy WBTC. Follow each step to buy wrapped Bitcoin in minutes.
Download Best Wallet
Get the Best Wallet app from the official site, Google Play, or App Store. It supports anonymous WBTC purchases and connects with Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.
Secure Your Wallet
Enter your email, set a PIN, and back up the 12-word passphrase. Enable biometrics and 2FA in Settings for extra security.
Set Up a WBTC Order
Click “Trade” → “Buy” → select your currency, then choose WBTC (Ethereum network). Pick a payment method such as card, PayPal, or Google/Apple Pay.
Review Pricing
Check the quoted exchange rate shown in Best Wallet and compare to spot prices to confirm competitiveness.
Buy and Store WBTC
Confirm payment details to complete the purchase. Your WBTC will appear instantly in your Best Wallet balance.
Visit Best Wallet
Don’t Want to Hold Tokens, But Want Crypto Exposure?
If you prefer to speculate rather than accumulating WBTC, futures contracts let you bet on the price instead of owning the token. You can go long (expecting the price to rise) or short (expecting it to fall). Leverage lets you enter larger positions with less capital, but keep in mind, leverage amplifies both gains and losses.
CoinFutures – Best 1000x Leverage Crypto Futures Trading Platform for Beginners
CoinFutures is the best platform for you to start your crypto futures trading journey. We say this because CoinFutures is known for its beginner-friendly experience and a unique gamified interface which makes crypto futures trading simple and engaging.
On CoinFutures, traders can go long and short on more than 10+ cryptocurrencies. The platform is regularly listing new tokens so we can expect the available cryptos to grow. While WBTC is not listed at the time of writing, the BTC token is available to trade on CoinFutures.
The platform will help you learn how to use handy risk-management trading tools such as stop-loss and take-profit orders. Those who are concerned about privacy will be happy to learn that unlike traditional exchanges, CoinFutures requires no KYC and offers instant onboarding worldwide. If you prefer fiat over crypto, CoinFutures supports popular payments options such as debit/credit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PIX.
If you want to learn more about this platform that simplifies futures trading into a clean, intuitive interface, you can read our CoinFutures review for 2025. Those interested in understanding crypto futures trading can check out our BTC Futures Trading guide.
Pros and Cons of CoinFutures
Pros
Beginner-friendly demo platform that makes futures trading easy to learn.
No KYC required. Start trading instantly from anywhere, including the US.
Leverage up to 1000× on leading cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and SOL.
Low entry barrier. Trades start from just $1 with instant execution.
Supports deposits via crypto, debit/credit card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PIX.
Simple Up/Down interface plus stop-loss and take-profit tools for risk management.
MetaMask integration allows trading without creating an account.
Cons
Currently limited to 11 cryptocurrencies, though new tokens are added regularly.
Visit CoinFutures
What is Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)?
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is a crypto token on the Ethereum blockchain, meaning it uses the ERC20 standard. It was created to unlock decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities for the original Bitcoin. After all, the Bitcoin blockchain doesn’t support smart contracts and, by extension, decentralized applications (dApps).
This limits Bitcoin holders to just one source of income — price appreciation. While Wrapped Bitcoin also offers exposure to the Bitcoin price, it can also be used in Ethereum dApps. This means WBTC tokens can be used for staking, lending, and even borrowing funds, all while benefiting from any positive Bitcoin price movements.
Key Features
Wrapped Bitcoin is backed by real Bitcoin. It’s not a loosely pegged system like USDT, which is backed by an assortment of different crypto assets (including precious metals and secured loans).
Here’s how it works:
When WBTC tokens are minted, an equal amount of BTC is wrapped, meaning it’s locked in a secure custodian wallet.
For example, if 10,000 WBTC are created, 10,000 BTC is locked.
This means that each WBTC token is backed 1:1, ensuring its value aligns with the BTC price.
At any stage, WBTC can be redeemed for real BTC.
The WBTC redeemed is burned, meaning it no longer exists in the circulating supply.
The BTC is unwrapped and transferred to the holder’s wallet.
Crucially, there are no issues with legitimacy or misplacing funds like the FTX saga. Approved custodians hold the locked BTC, and the supply is regularly audited.
What Makes it Interesting
Wrapped Bitcoin enables holders to generate returns in two ways.
First, I mentioned that WBTC is backed 1:1 by real BTC. This means that the WBTC and BTC prices are aligned. As such, anyone holding Wrapped Bitcoin is still gaining exposure to real Bitcoin.
For example, suppose you buy WBTC when it’s valued at $75,000. BTC is also valued at $75,000.
A few months later, the BTC price increased to $100,000. Similarly, WBTC is also worth $100,000.
This means you’ve benefited from BTC’s price appreciation while holding WBTC.
While the BTC price appreciates, you can put the WBTC tokens to work. This means taking full advantage of the Ethereum ecosystem, which offers various income-generating tools. For instance, you can lend WBTC to DEXs, ensuring they have sufficient liquidity. You’ll earn a share of any trading fees collected on the WBTC pair.
You can also stake WBTC, locking the tokens for a certain time frame to earn passive yields.
Another option is to deposit WBTC into a crypto loan platform and use it as collateral to borrow funds. For example, you might get a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 50%, allowing you to borrow $500 for every $1,000 worth of WBTC deposited. Loans can often be paid in Wrapped Bitcoin, giving you increased exposure to the real Bitcoin price.
Tokenomics
While the best cryptocurrencies to buy have a finite supply (including Bitcoin), Wrapped Bitcoin does things slightly differently. It doesn’t have a capped supply, considering new WBTC tokens are only minted when someone wraps real BTC.
When the real BTC is redeemed, the respective WBTC tokens are burned, which means they’re removed from the supply. So, the WBTC supply rises and falls based on demand and supply.
Additionally, Wrapped Bitcoin doesn’t have a proof-of-work mining system like Bitcoin. It’s an ERC20 token, meaning it uses the same proof-of-stake mechanism as Ethereum.
Community
Wrapped Bitcoin’s community is different from other projects. Most holders believe in Bitcoin’s long-term potential while wishing to increase their returns via DeFi yields. That said, Wrapped Bitcoin is backed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), meaning members get to vote on any important issues.
While the WBTC DAO was created to ensure transparency, its members are institutions rather than individual token holders. Approved members include Ren, Loopring, Kyber Network, Uniswap, Maker, Blockfolio, BitGo, and others.
