The reason createred wETH is to be able to trade ETH for other ERC-20 tokens on decentralized platforms like Radar Relay. Because decentralized platforms running on Ethereum use smart contracts to facilitate trades directly between users, every user needs to have the same standardized format for every token they trade. This ensures tokens don’t get lost in translation.
Wrapped Ether (WETH) is a tokenized version of Ether, the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, trading under the ticker WETH. In simple terms, it's ETH wrapped in a token format so it can be used like any other token in smart contracts and decentralized apps. Each WETH is backed 1:1 by regular ETH locked in a contract, and you can swap between the two at any time.
ETH is the native asset of the Ethereum network, while WETH is a tokenized representation of it. The key difference is technical: many smart contracts and decentralized exchanges can't interact with native ETH directly, but they work seamlessly with tokens. WETH exists purely to bridge that gap, and its value stays pegged 1:1 to ETH.
WETH works through a simple smart contract: you send ETH to it, and the contract mints you an equal amount of WETH. When you want your ETH back, you send WETH to the contract and it burns the tokens and returns native ETH. It runs entirely on Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus, with no central issuer or company controlling it.
WETH is minted only when someone locks an equal amount of ETH in the wrapping contract, so supply always matches the ETH deposited. This makes it fully collateralized — every WETH in circulation can be redeemed for exactly 1 ETH. There's no pre-mine, no team allocation, and no inflation mechanism; the supply simply grows and shrinks with user demand.
WETH is stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet that supports tokens, such as MetaMask, hardware wallets, or mobile wallets. Its main use is interacting with decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, and NFT marketplaces that require tokens rather than native ETH. You can unwrap it back to ETH at any time through the same contract or directly in most wallets and DEX interfaces.