The trend of institutional investors seeking to generate returns on their bitcoin holdings is gaining momentum, prompting financial platform Mezo to introduce a solution for passive BTC assets. Mezo Prime has launched segregated vaults, known as Enclaves, enabling institutions to earn yield on bitcoin held in custody with Anchorage Digital Bank, as announced on Wednesday. This development reflects a changing perception of bitcoin among institutions, from a store of value to a capital-generating asset.
The emergence of bitcoin-native yield infrastructure, such as Rootstock and Babylon, has driven this shift, allowing BTC to be utilized in lending and other financial strategies within 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 DeFi. The project has received 250 BTC ($19.4 million) in funding from Bullish, which is also among the first users, allocating part of its treasury to the product while maintaining its existing custody framework. 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.
Although institutional adoption of these products is still in its early stages and yields are relatively low compared to other crypto assets, Mezo's initiative demonstrates that institutions are increasingly viewing bitcoin as a productive financial asset, rather than just a digital equivalent of gold.