The demand for generating returns on bitcoin holdings is gaining momentum, and Mezo, a finance platform, has announced its entry into the market with a new product. Mezo Prime is launching segregated vaults, known as Enclaves, which enable institutions to earn yields on bitcoin held in custody with Anchorage Digital Bank. This development reflects a changing perspective on bitcoin, from a passive store of value to a capital-generating asset.
The emergence of bitcoin-native yield infrastructure has driven this shift, with projects like Rootstock and Babylon enabling the use of BTC in lending, collateralized borrowing, and other financial strategies. Mezo's Enclaves are designed to address institutional concerns around asset segregation, reporting, and risk controls, which have historically limited participation in crypto lending and decentralized finance.
The project has received 250 BTC ($19.4 million) in funding from Bullish, which is also among the first users of the product. Bitcoin deposited into the vaults can be locked to earn protocol fees or used as collateral to borrow MUSD, a bitcoin-backed stablecoin, without being rehypothecated. While institutional adoption of these products is still in its early stages, and yields are relatively low compared to other crypto assets, projects like Mezo demonstrate a growing trend of treating bitcoin as a productive financial asset rather than just a digital equivalent of gold.