Institutional interest in generating profits on Bitcoin Holdings are accumulating rapidly, and finance platform Meizu said it is joining the ranks of companies offering ways to generate returns from what has traditionally been a passive asset.
According to an emailed announcement on Wednesday, Mezo Prime is introducing isolated wallets, or Enclaves, that allow institutions to earn on bitcoin held in custody by Anchorage Digital Bank.
The product reflects a shift in how institutions view the largest cryptocurrency. Once treated primarily as a store of value, there are now numerous attempts to rebrand BTC as capital that can generate immediate returns. Many institutional owners are unhappy with assets just sitting there, doing nothing.
This shift has been driven in part by the emergence of local Bitcoin production infrastructure. Projects like Rootstock and Babylon are creating mechanisms that allow BTC to be used in lending, peer-to-peer borrowing, and other financial strategies without leaving the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Enclaves are designed to meet institutional requirements around asset segregation, reporting and risk control, areas that have historically had limited participation in crypto lending and decentralized finance (DeFi), Mezo said.
The project was backed by 250 BTC ($19.4 million) from Bullish (BLSH), the digital asset firm that is the parent company of CoinDesk. According to the announcement, Bullish is also among the first users to invest part of its treasury in the product while maintaining its existing custody framework.
Bitcoin deposited in wallets can be locked to earn protocol fees or used as collateral to borrow MUSD, a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin. rehypothecated.
For now, these products have yet to be institutionally adopted and yields are relatively low compared to other crypto assets. Even so, projects like Mizzou show that institutions are starting to treat bitcoin not just as a digital equivalent of gold, but as a productive financial asset.