Share this article
Bitcoins Are Being Tokenized Faster Than They’re Mined as DeFi Craze Continues
The decentralized finance craze is causing demand for tokenized bitcoin to surge.
By Zack Voell
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 9:44 a.m. Published Aug 15, 2020, 2:45 p.m.
Since Sunday, 1,043 more bitcoins were tokenized through wrapped bitcoin than were actually created by bitcoin miners as the Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) boom shows no signs of abating.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
- About 900 bitcoins are mined per day, given the current issuance rate of 6.25 bitcoins minted per block and the target 10-minute block time.
- At last check, nearly 31,000 bitcoins have been tokenized on Ethereum, according to Dune Analytics, 75% of which were minted by wrapped bitcoin (WBTC).
- Ethereum’s supply of tokenized bitcoins hovered below 3,000 until mid-May, when the rate of new tokens shot up.
- The rate of bitcoin tokenization signals the surging demand to use bitcoin in the burgeoning network of Ethereum-based DeFi applications.
- “WBTC continues to exhibit strong growth as demand for bitcoin in DeFi has exploded,” said Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, in a private message with CoinDesk. “I expect this trend to continue,” he added.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
BlackRock Files for Staked Ethereum ETF
The iShares Ethereum Staking Trust marks a bold push into on-chain yield exposure, as the SEC's tone has shifted under new leadership.
What to know:
- BlackRock has officially filed for a staked Ethereum ETF, marking its first formal move toward SEC approval.
- The filing reflects a shift in SEC policy under new Chair Paul Atkins after earlier pushback on staking features.
- BlackRock’s existing Ethereum fund holds $11B in ETH, but the new ETF would offer separate staking exposure.
Top Stories
