Citrea launches ctUSD: T-bill–backed stablecoin as Bitcoin’s native liquidity layer
Citrea has launched ctUSD, a 1:1 USD-backed stablecoin fully collateralized by U.S. Treasury bills and cash, intended as a native dollar liquidity layer for Bitcoin’s application ecosystem. Issuance and redemption are handled by MoonPay using its US Money Transmitter Licenses, with M0 providing infrastructure. Citrea positions ctUSD to reduce liquidity fragmentation and bridge risk by offering compliant, natively issued dollar liquidity rather than relying on bridged tokens. ctUSD will be accessible in over 160 countries via payment channels such as Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and PayPal (excluding Canada, the EEA and New York). Developer tools include virtual bank accounts (via Iron) for ACH and wire on/off-ramps, and integrations with Swaps.xyz and Helio for non-custodial cross-chain swaps and merchant payments. Initial liquidity routes include Ethereum-based stablecoin swaps, Citrea-native DEX pools, MoonPay onramps and direct minting for large orders. The product aims to attract institutional and retail capital into Bitcoin-native DeFi, improving capital efficiency and composability while reducing reliance on external stablecoins and systemic fragmentation as Bitcoin’s smart-contract layer grows.
Neutral
Short-term: neutral. The launch of ctUSD introduces a new dollar on-ramp and native liquidity option for Bitcoin DeFi, which may shift some flow away from existing stablecoins but is unlikely to produce an immediate, large price move in BTC itself. Traders may see increased activity in BTC-denominated DeFi and stablecoin swap volumes as users test rails and liquidity routes. Medium/long-term: mildly bullish for Bitcoin DeFi adoption but neutral-to-positive for BTC price. A compliant, Treasury-backed stablecoin native to the Bitcoin app layer can lower counterparty and bridge risks, attract institutional liquidity, and improve capital efficiency within Bitcoin-native protocols — factors that support deeper on-chain usage and could gradually increase demand for BTC as collateral or settlement asset. Risks that temper bullishness include limited initial availability (exclusions for Canada, EEA and New York), reliance on centralized on/off-ramps (MoonPay, payment networks), and competition from entrenched stablecoins on other chains. For traders, watch liquidity deployment (DEX pools, cross-chain rails), mint/redemption volumes and integrations (Swaps.xyz, Helio) as early indicators of adoption and potential shifts in stablecoin flows.