Mezo, the Bitcoin-native finance platform built by venture studio Thesis, has launched Mezo Prime, an institutional-grade product that allows corporate treasuries and professional Bitcoin holders to generate yield from their idle BTC without leaving regulated custody.
According to an announcement on Wednesday, the product introduces segregated vaults, termed "Enclaves", that are isolated per depositor. These vaults prevent asset commingling and ensure no rehypothecation of funds. Custody is provided by Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the United States. The product is available directly through the Anchorage Digital platform to its existing institutional client base.
Bitcoin held in an Enclave can be used in two ways: locked as veBTC to earn protocol fees in BTC, or used as collateral to borrow MUSD, a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, at a fixed rate. This dual functionality allows institutions to either earn passive yield or access liquidity without needing to sell their Bitcoin holdings.
Bullish (NYSE: BLSH), the institutional digital asset exchange and parent company of CoinDesk, is the launch customer. It has invested 250 BTC ($19.4 million) into Mezo and will deploy a portion of its corporate Bitcoin treasury through Mezo Prime, while maintaining control within its existing custody and compliance infrastructure.
"Bullish was built on the belief that institutional standards and digital asset participation aren't in conflict, and we're delighted to work with Mezo as a launch customer," said Tarun Kapoor, Vice President at Bullish. He highlighted the veBTC design as "a great example of that philosophy in practice — mitigating smart contract risk and keeping the underlying BTC secure."
Matt Luongo, co-founder of Mezo and CEO of Thesis, emphasized the massive pool of idle Bitcoin. "Over a million Bitcoin sits on corporate balance sheets today, and almost none of it is working," Luongo said. "Mezo Prime changes that. Segregated custody through Anchorage Digital Bank, no rehypothecation, real yield from protocol activity."
Nathan McCauley, Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, added: "Institutions want to do more with their Bitcoin, but not at the expense of security and control. Mezo Prime delivers both secure, segregated custody and direct access to on-chain yield in one platform."
The launch builds on Mezo's earlier partnership with Anchorage in November 2025, which enabled BTC-backed borrowing through Anchorage's Porto self-custody wallet. Mezo's mainnet went live in May 2025, and the MEZO token generation event was completed on 1 April 2026. According to Mezo, the protocol has processed over $550 million in lifetime MUSD volume and issued more than 2,000 loans, with a collateralization rate exceeding 168%.
The project is backed by infrastructure from Rootstock and Babylon, which are building mechanisms for using BTC in lending, collateralized borrowing, and other financial strategies within the Bitcoin ecosystem. This marks a shift from viewing Bitcoin solely as a store of value to treating it as a productive financial asset generating immediate returns.
