Coinranking
Wrapped coins
213 coins #19
Trending Wrapped coins
| Coins | Price | 24h |
|---|
Top Gainers
| Coins | | | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |  Wrapped TAO WTAO | $ | +8.84%  | ||
| |  Wrapped Ether WETH | $ | +4.96%  | ||
| |  Rocket Pool ETH RETH | $ | +4.94%  | ||
| |  Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH CBETH | $ | +4.90%  | ||
| |  Lido Staked Ether stETH | $ | +4.86%  | ||
| All Gainers | |||||
What is a wrapped token?
A wrapped token is a blockchain-backed IOU that represents—at a 1:1 ratio—an asset living on another chain or outside the crypto ecosystem entirely.
Smart contracts lock the original asset (BTC, ETH, gold, even real-estate) and mint an equivalent ERC-20, BEP-20, SPL, etc. token so it can trade in DeFi, collateralise loans, or be used in dApps while preserving the price of the underlying collateral.
Quick Facts
- Purpose: Move non-native or illiquid assets onto faster, programmable chains (mainly Ethereum).
- Backing: 1:1 custodial or decentralised vault; auditable on-chain.
- Common standards: ERC-20 (WBTC, WETH), BEP-20 (BBTC), SPL (soBTC).
- Market size: >$15 B in wrapped BTC alone; >$25 B across all wrapped assets.
- Key benefit: Interoperability + composability with DeFi (DEX, lend, derivatives).
Top Wrapped Tokens (Live Examples)
| Token | Ticker | Original Asset | Host Chain | 2024 TVL / Issuance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrapped BTC | WBTC | Bitcoin (BTC) | Ethereum | 154 k BTC (~$9 B) |
| Wrapped ETH | WETH | Ether (ETH) | Ethereum | 4.2 M ETH (~$11 B) |
| renBTC | renBTC | Bitcoin | Ethereum | 1.1 k BTC (decreasing) |
| BBTC | BBTC | Bitcoin | BNB Chain | 12 k BTC |
| soBTC | soBTC | Bitcoin | Solana | 2.4 k BTC |
| Wrapped DOT | WDOT | Polkadot (DOT) | Ethereum | 1.8 M DOT |
| Wrapped AVAX | WAVAX | Avalanche (AVAX) | Ethereum / Avalanche | 3.7 M AVAX |
How It Works
- Send original asset to custodian (BitGo, RenDAO) or smart-contract bridge.
- Custody locks the asset in a multi-sig or MPC vault; emits event.
- Mint wrapped token on destination chain (e.g. 1 BTC → 1 WBTC).
- Use in DeFi – supply to Aave, swap on Uniswap, collateralise on Maker.
- Redeem by burning wrapped token; original asset unlocked and returned.
Benefits
- DeFi composability – BTC can become collateral for DAI loans or yield farm.
- Cross-chain liquidity – move value from slow chains to fast, low-fee L2s.
- Fractional access – tokenise $2 k of gold instead of buying a full bar.
- 24/7 settlement – no T+2 clearing; trades atomic on DEXs.
- Transparent reserves – on-chain proof-of-assets; real-time audits.
Risks & Trade-offs
- Custodial risk – bridge or multi-sig hack can leave wrapped tokens unbacked (e.g., Ronin, Wormhole exploits).
- Centralisation – WBTC custodian BitGo controls keys; regulatory seizure possible.
- de-peg events – during high volatility wrapped asset can trade 1–3 % below native (e.g., WBTC vs BTC).
- Mint/burn fees – custodian plus gas can outweigh small trades.
- Bridge fragmentation – liquidity splits across WBTC, renBTC, tBTC, etc., hurting depth.
- Legal uncertainty – wrapped securities or real-estate may breach securities laws.
Final Thoughts
Wrapped tokens are the interoperability layer of DeFi: they let BTC, gold, or even NFTs ride on programmable rails, unlocking yield, leverage, and lightning-fast swaps.
The trade-off is counter-party risk; always check custodian audits, insurance coverage, and bridge decentralisation before parking capital.
If the wrapping process becomes trust-minimised (zk-proof bridges), expect wrapped assets to underpin the next wave of cross-chain finance.