What is a wrapped token?

Each blockchain only understands its own assets. Bitcoin cannot be held in an Ethereum smart contract, and ether cannot move on Solana. Wrapping solves that by creating a token on the target chain that is backed by the original asset somewhere else. The result lets people use bitcoin in Ethereum apps, for example, without selling it.

How wrapping works

There are two common models:

• Custodial wrapping. A company holds the original coins and mints tokens one for one against them. Redeem the token and you receive the coin back. WBTC works this way through a custodian, and Coinbase issues cbBTC on Ethereum, Base and Solana in the same manner.
• Bridges. A smart contract locks coins on one chain and a matching token is created on another. Assets moving from Ethereum to a layer 2 often travel like this.

WETH is a special case. Ether is Ethereum's native coin but does not follow the ERC-20 token standard that most apps expect, so a simple contract swaps ETH for WETH one for one. There is no custodian; the contract itself holds the ether.

What can go wrong?

A wrapped token is only as sound as what stands behind it:

• Custodian risk. If the custodian fails, is hacked or freezes redemptions, the token can lose its link to the original.
• Bridge risk. Bridges hold large pools of locked assets and have been among the most frequently attacked parts of crypto. Ethereum.org flags this risk explicitly.
• It is a different asset. cbBTC on Solana is not bitcoin. You cannot send it to a bitcoin address, and an exchange crediting BTC will not accept it as such.

Why it matters when you withdraw

Our network pages list only official issues of a coin on each network, published by the issuer itself; see Ethereum and Solana for examples. When you withdraw bitcoin from an exchange, choose the Bitcoin network unless you deliberately want a wrapped version elsewhere. If you have already picked the wrong one, read what to do after sending crypto to the wrong network.

How to check which token you hold

Look the token up in a blockchain explorer and compare its contract address with the one published by the issuer. Tokens with the same name but a different address are different assets, and often scams.

Do you need a wrapped token at all?

If you simply want exposure to bitcoin, no. Buy bitcoin itself on a licensed exchange and keep it there or in your own wallet. Our comparer shows which exchange gives you the most BTC for your euros. If you use apps on Ethereum, buying ether and wrapping it into WETH yourself is usually the simplest route.