The interest from institutions to generate returns on their bitcoin holdings is increasing, and Mezo, a financial platform, has announced that it will be offering a solution to put idle BTC to work. Mezo Prime is introducing a new product, Enclaves, which are segregated vaults that allow institutions to earn yield on their bitcoin holdings stored in custody with Anchorage Digital Bank.
This new product reflects the changing perception of bitcoin among institutions, which is no longer viewed solely as a store of value but also as an asset that can generate immediate returns. The emergence of bitcoin-native yield infrastructure has driven this change, with projects such as Rootstock and Babylon developing mechanisms to utilize BTC in lending, collateralized borrowing, and other financial strategies. Mezo's Enclaves are designed to address the institutional requirements for 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, a digital-asset firm and parent company of CoinDesk, which is also one of 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 that institutions are starting to view bitcoin as a productive financial asset rather than just a digital equivalent to gold.