The interest of institutional investors in generating returns on their bitcoin holdings is on the rise, prompting finance platform Mezo to launch a product that enables institutions to earn yields on their bitcoin assets. Mezo Prime has introduced segregated vaults, known as Enclaves, which allow institutions to generate yields on bitcoin held in custody with Anchorage Digital Bank. This development reflects a change in how institutions perceive bitcoin, moving beyond its traditional role as a store of value to a capital source that can produce immediate returns. The emergence of bitcoin-native yield infrastructure, such as Rootstock and Babylon, has driven this shift by enabling BTC to be utilized in lending and other financial strategies without leaving the Bitcoin ecosystem.
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 in funding from Bullish, which is also among the first users of the product. Bitcoin deposited into these vaults can be locked to earn protocol fees or used as collateral to borrow a bitcoin-backed stablecoin, all without being rehypothecated. While institutional adoption of these products is still in its early stages and yields are relatively low, projects like Mezo indicate a growing trend of treating bitcoin as a productive financial asset rather than just a digital equivalent of gold.