Circle has launched Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing, a service allowing institutional clients to borrow USDC against Bitcoin without selling their holdings. Users convert Bitcoin into cirBTC, a 1:1 tokenized version of Bitcoin, and deposit it as collateral through third-party lending protocols. Morpho is the first integrated protocol, while Circle plans to add Aave and other platforms. The service is built on Circle's blockchain Arc and Ethereum, and cirBTC is custodied by Circle National Trust. Odaily reported the launch on September 21.