WhiteBIT coin (WBT) is the token of the WhiteBIT crypto exchange and the gas token of Whitechain, the exchange group’s own blockchain. As of 26 October 2026 it is live and ranked #15 on CoinGecko with a market cap of about $9.15 billion, but only around 119 million of its 293 million total tokens (about 40%) were counted as circulating, and more than 99% of that day’s trading took place on WhiteBIT itself. Those two facts explain most of what is unusual about WBT, so this page covers market structure as well as uses.
Key takeaways
- WBT was issued in 2022 as an ERC-20 and TRC-20 token with a hard cap of 400 million; WhiteBIT kept about 80% of that supply at launch.
- Holders get trading-fee discounts, free withdrawals and other perks on WhiteBIT, and pay gas with WBT on Whitechain.
- WhiteBIT says it spends 33% of trading-fee income plus 5% of other income on weekly WBT buybacks that are burned.
- Whitechain has run as a proof-of-authority chain; in August 2026 it announced a relaunch as an OP Stack Ethereum layer 2, with mainnet still pending in October 2026.
- Low float, a single dominant venue and shifting supply data make WBT’s market cap a weak guide to how much could actually be traded.
WhiteBIT coin explained
WhiteBIT is a centralised exchange founded in Ukraine in 2018 by Volodymyr Nosov, now part of a wider business called W Group. In an August 2026 press release the group said WhiteBIT has more than 10 million users. The exchange itself is not evaluated here; this page is about the coin. For how WBT compares with tokens such as OKB, LEO and BGB, see our exchange tokens comparison.
| Key fact | WBT |
|---|---|
| Ticker | WBT |
| Launch | 2022 (white paper dated 5 August 2022), ERC-20 and TRC-20 |
| Chain and consensus | Native gas token of Whitechain (proof of authority; OP Stack layer 2 in testnet) |
| Supply on 26 Oct 2026 (CoinGecko) | About 118.7M circulating, 293.3M total, 400M maximum |
| Status, October 2026 | Live; weekly burns ongoing; Whitechain L2 mainnet not yet launched |
| Official site (plain text) | whitebit.com |
WBT appears among the exchange and ecosystem tokens in our crypto coin directory.
What WBT is used for
According to WBT’s documentation as summarised in independent tokenomics reviews, the token has two modes on the exchange: simply owning it, and moving it into a “Holding” account.
- Fee discounts. Owning WBT reduces trading fees, with discounts of up to 100% on maker fees and up to 80% on taker fees at the highest levels.
- Holding perks. WBT placed in Holding unlocks a set number of free daily withdrawals for ETH and ERC-20 tokens, free AML checks on deposits, higher referral rates and discounts on margin funding. Taking WBT out of Holding takes 14 days, or happens immediately with a 10% fee.
- Launchpad voting. Holders can vote on projects for WhiteBIT’s token-launch platform, starting from 10 WBT.
- Whitechain gas. All transactions on Whitechain are paid in WBT.
These perks are set by WhiteBIT and can change. They are also available only where WhiteBIT operates: the global platform excludes US residents, while WhiteBIT US, launched in December 2025 with spot trading for fully verified users, is a separate service whose asset list you should check directly.
Whitechain in brief
Whitechain launched as an EVM-compatible layer 1 built on a Go-Ethereum codebase, using proof of authority: instead of open staking, a small set of validators approved by WhiteBIT produce blocks, roughly every two seconds. That design is fast and cheap but centralised, since one company decides who validates.
On 18 August 2026 W Group announced that Whitechain would relaunch as an Ethereum layer 2 built on the OP Stack, the framework behind Base and Optimism. A public testnet on Sepolia opened with chain ID 1874, and the plan is for the existing chain’s state to become the layer 2’s starting point so that balances and contracts carry over. WBT remains the gas token. As of 26 October 2026 we found no announcement that the layer 2 mainnet had launched, and the reports we found said WhiteBIT would operate the single sequencer at launch. Treat the timeline as a company roadmap rather than a fact.
Supply, burns and unlocks
The 2022 white paper fixed the maximum at 400 million WBT, with no new tokens to be created. The launch allocation, as reported from that document, was heavily weighted toward the company:
| Allocation | WBT | Share of 400M |
|---|---|---|
| Private sale (at $1.62) | 54,000,000 | 13.5% |
| IEO / launchpad | 1,000,000 | 0.25% |
| Initial burn | 25,000,000 | 6.25% |
| Held by WhiteBIT (company, liquidity, ecosystem, team, insurance and other funds) | 320,000,000 | 80% |
Company-held tranches were scheduled to unlock over several years, with treasury tokens released over three years and team and company tokens last. Tracker Tokenomist, as shown on CoinGecko, listed an 81.5 million WBT unlock on 13 March 2026. Check an unlock tracker for any remaining scheduled releases, because WhiteBIT can also move tokens between locked and unlocked wallets.
The burn works on a published formula: an amount equal to 33% of trading-fee income plus 5% of other exchange income, such as withdrawal fees and margin income, is used to buy WBT weekly on the WBT/USDT market, and those tokens are destroyed. One weekly example reported in October 2026 was about 32,426 WBT burned on 1 October. The white paper’s stated aim is to burn at least half of all tokens, and WhiteBIT reserves the right to change the amount. Our explainer on how token burns work covers the general mechanics.
Why the market cap looks so large
This is the question that brings most people to WBT: how did an exchange token many traders have never used climb into the top 20? The answer is arithmetic plus market structure, not a judgement on value. Market cap, as our market cap guide explains, is price multiplied by circulating supply. Using CoinGecko’s 26 October 2026 figures, WBT traded around $77:
| Measure | Supply used | Approximate value |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap (CoinGecko) | 118.7M circulating | $9.15bn |
| Value of total supply | 293.3M total | about $22.6bn |
| Fully diluted value | 400M maximum | about $30.8bn |
| 24-hour trading volume | All venues | about $107M, over 99% on WhiteBIT |
Four features stand out:
- Low float. With only about 40% of total supply counted as circulating, a modest amount of buying can move the price, and every price move is multiplied across the full float when market cap is calculated.
- Venue concentration. On 26 October 2026 CoinGecko’s market data showed WhiteBIT handling about $109 million of WBT volume, with Bitfinex, Kraken, MEXC and Kanga together under $350,000. Price discovery happens almost entirely on the issuer’s own order book, and the weekly buyback is executed there too.
- Shifting circulating figures. Supply data has changed sharply between snapshots. A tokenomics review citing CoinGecko in March 2026 recorded about 213.5 million WBT circulating; on 26 October 2026 CoinGecko showed about 118.7 million. When a tracker reclassifies tokens as locked or unlocked, the reported market cap changes without any trading.
- Index inclusion. In a December 2025 press release, WhiteBIT said WBT had been added to five S&P Dow Jones digital-asset indices, including the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index. That is the company’s announcement; S&P’s constituent lists are the primary source to confirm current membership.
None of this says WBT’s price is right or wrong. It says the headline number is fragile: it depends on a supply figure the issuer largely controls and a price set mostly on the issuer’s own exchange. For more on how unlocks and allocations shape these figures, see our tokenomics guide.
Risks
- Issuer control of supply. WhiteBIT held most of the supply at launch, and changes to locked and circulating classifications can shift the market cap.
- Single-venue liquidity. If WhiteBIT halted trading or withdrawals, there would be little external market for WBT.
- Centralised chain. Whitechain’s validators are approved by WhiteBIT, and the planned layer 2 would start with a WhiteBIT-run sequencer.
- Roadmap risk. The layer 2 relaunch had not reached mainnet as of October 2026.
- Self-reported burns. Burn amounts rest on income figures WhiteBIT reports; on-chain burn transactions can be checked, but the revenue behind them cannot.
- Volatility. CoinGecko records an all-time high of $87.91 on 21 September 2026; the price was around 12% below that on 26 October 2026.
FAQ
Is the WBT token the same as WhiteBIT Token?
Yes. WBT is listed as “WhiteBIT Coin” on CoinGecko and is sometimes called WhiteBIT Token. There is one WBT, issued by WhiteBIT and used across the exchange and Whitechain. Older versions exist as ERC-20 and TRC-20 tokens on Ethereum and Tron. Always confirm the contract address on WhiteBIT’s official site before using a decentralised exchange, because copycat tokens often reuse tickers.
What is Whitechain?
Whitechain is the blockchain run by the WhiteBIT group, with WBT as its gas token. It has operated as an EVM-compatible proof-of-authority chain with validators approved by WhiteBIT. In August 2026 the group announced a relaunch as an OP Stack Ethereum layer 2 and opened a Sepolia testnet, but mainnet had not launched as of 26 October 2026.
How does the WBT burn work?
The WBT burn uses an amount equal to 33% of WhiteBIT’s trading-fee income plus 5% of its other income to buy WBT each week on the WBT/USDT market, then destroys those tokens. The white paper aims to burn at least half of all WBT eventually. WhiteBIT can change the burn amount, and the income figures behind it are self-reported.
Where can you trade WBT crypto?
WBT crypto trades mainly on WhiteBIT, which handled over 99% of volume tracked by CoinGecko on 26 October 2026. Smaller markets exist on Bitfinex, Kraken, MEXC and Kanga. Availability depends on your country: WhiteBIT’s global platform excludes US residents, so US users should check the separate WhiteBIT US service and other exchanges’ regional rules.
Crypto is volatile and risky; this is education, not financial advice. Do your own research.
