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Citrea Launches Bitcoin ZK-Rollup Mainnet With ctUSD and cBTC Live

The rollout targets on-chain lending with dollar settlement via a Treasury-backed stablecoin designed for institutional compliance.

Overview

  • Citrea’s mainnet went live Jan. 27, enabling lending, trading, and U.S. dollar settlement directly on the Bitcoin network.
  • ctUSD is issued by MoonPay on M0 infrastructure, fully backed by short‑term U.S. Treasuries and cash, available in the U.S. excluding New York and in 160+ jurisdictions, and positioned to align with the GENIUS Act.
  • cBTC and the rollup use zero‑knowledge proofs with BitVM‑based verification so disputes can be resolved on Bitcoin, aiming to reduce reliance on custodians or multisig setups.
  • Launch partners include Morpho and UltraYield for BTC‑backed lending and Keyrock for BTC‑denominated structured products, with more than 30 applications beginning to roll out via a new user dashboard.
  • Backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures with $16.7 million raised, Citrea seeks to mobilize dormant BTC (over 61% unmoved for a year) and potentially strengthen miner revenue through increased on‑chain activity.