Kraken announced the launch of its own wrapped Bitcoin token custodied by the crypto exchange.

Dubbed Kraken Bitcoin (kBTC), the new product is a fully backed, cross-network-compatible ERC-20 representation of Bitcoin.

According to the official blog post, kBTC is held at the cryptocurrency exchanges Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) Kraken Financial.

kBTC is designed to interact with decentralized applications by being compatible with networks such as Ethereum and OP Mainnet. Going forward, Kraken plans to expand the tokens compatibility to other networks, including non-EVM ecosystems.

Kraken said that an independent security auditing company called Trail of Bits conducted a thorough assessment of the kBTC ERC-20 smart contract. kBTC is said to have completed the audit, which included an in-depth review of its codebase and client architecture to uncover and flag any potential security bugs.

At the time of its launch, kBTC will have backing from Paraswap, Yearn, Gauntlet, deBridge, and Definitive.

With kBTC, we’re bringing the power of Bitcoin to new networks, underpinned by the trust and security expertise Kraken has established over the last decade. We believe kBTC reinforces Bitcoin’s position as the epicenter of crypto, empowers crypto builders to explore new ways to use Bitcoin, and pushes the entire ecosystem forward.

Interestingly, the latest development comes a month after another US-based crypto trading platform, Coinbase, launched its Wrapped Bitcoin product (cbBTC) on Base and Ethereum.