Introducing Mezo

Mezo

Apr 9, 2024 — 5 min read

Bitcoin offers us a world of freedom, privacy, and financial inclusion—a world where we control our keys and money, and can use them however we wish.

Unfortunately, Bitcoin’s functionality in the real world is severely limited. Many projects try to expand Bitcoin’s utility, but in their wake is a palpable gap of unaddressed user needs. That’s why we’re creating Mezo—to fill the gap and prioritize our users.

Watching the development of Bitcoin scaling has taught us that the market is tired of technology-first narratives. Current projects building on Bitcoin over-index on infrastructure innovations, while users simply look for a straightforward and secure way to use their BTC.

We’ve carefully designed Mezo to unlock your Bitcoin so you can use it for everything, with the goal of bringing 25% of the world’s economy on-chain.

Wen Mass Adoption?

The beauty of Bitcoin lies in its simplicity: anyone can mine Bitcoin and secure the network, and any user can connect, create a wallet, and use their Bitcoin without the threat of seizure. Global access, equitable distribution, and robust decentralization are core values of Bitcoin that can resonate with everyone.

But after 15 years, global adoption of Bitcoin is lacking. Self-custody remains complex and expensive, you can’t leverage your BTC for a beer at your local brewery, and getting paid in BTC requires jumping through countless legal, operational, and tax hoops. Bitcoin Layer 2s have tried to solve this with differentiated (and often complex) technology, but they don’t align with Bitcoin's core values.

To reach a future state where 25% of the world’s economy lives on Bitcoin, we need a scaling network that prioritizes the user journey.

The Bitcoin Economic Layer

Mezo’s approach prioritizes the economic needs of our users and Bitcoin holders to create the first Bitcoin Economic Layer.

We change how you interact with Bitcoin by focusing on growing your wealth, community, and productive use while extending Bitcoin’s core functionalities. This allows Bitcoin to meet global adoption while preserving accessibility, transparency, and security.

A Bitcoin Economic Layer aligns its core technology features with the economic ambitions of Bitcoin holders, and Mezo achieves this in several ways.

Whereas current L2s prioritize Bitcoin miner needs over those of users, which does little to stimulate overall growth, we focus on the long-term, convicted HODLers.

Proof of HODL

Mezo uses Proof of HODL as a consensus mechanism. Users secure the network by locking BTC and MEZO tokens and validating transactions via CometBFT consensus.

Proof of HODL begins with the Mezo Portal, where you can lock up your BTC and make a statement of conviction. The longer you lock up your deposits, the higher your HODL score. At the launch of Mezo mainnet, you can contribute to network security with Proof of HODL and earn yield in return, giving you honest yield for doing what you would have done anyway: hold Bitcoin.

A portion of network fees removes BTC from circulation, creating a new way to return value to bitcoin holders. As network activity grows, this action aims to reduce the supply, reward long-term holding, and strengthen Bitcoin's security and economic foundation.

Create Your Family

Beyond activating your Bitcoin, Proof of HODL is your key to building a community—an inner circle of fellow Bitcoin HODLERs who understand the value of long-term commitment. When you HODL on Mezo, you’ll receive five one-time-use invitations to share with your friends.

Be thoughtful about who you invite—as you’ll earn reciprocal rewards and build a Mezo HODL score based on your and their Bitcoin deposits.

Your children will also receive families earn a percentage of rewards from your grandchildren in the family tree.

After years of holding, continue your loyalty at a Bitcoin-first home with a mission to cultivate Bitcoin for all holders. Turn years of passive holding into a statement.

What’s Possible With Bitcoin on Mezo

Imagining a world where 25% of economic activity lives on-chain requires us to move beyond our current assumptions of crypto and decentralized networks.

Mezo makes a wider world of commerce possible on Bitcoin. This is the essence of Bitcoin’s economic layer—a more diverse range of user-centric applications for Bitcoin.

See first-hand how Mezo can scale the network to put Bitcoin’s decentralized economy at your fingertips:

Transacting—Instantly get paid for the value you provide as a freelance worker.
Community—Pledge your Bitcoin to a community fund to build a neighborhood playground.
DeFi—Leverage trade commodity futures on a network powered by the world’s hardest currency.
Gaming—Build a digital world where you and your friends fight off a zombie horde to keep your Bitcoin cache safe.
Borrowing and Lending—Leverage your Bitcoin as collateral to help finance your trip to the Maldives.
NFTs—Expand your collection of digital art and access communities with shared interests.
Social—Pick up drinks with friends without selling your bitcoin.

The ideal world runs on the hardest currency using networks cheap and fast enough for daily transactions, from groceries to tuition, all while you retain custody of your bitcoin.

Built By Thesis, For Bitcoiners

At Thesis, our work revolves around building brands that make value attainable for the Bitcoin community. We’ve been building on Bitcoin for over a decade, making Mezo the Economic Layer built by Bitcoiners, for Bitcoiners.

Our secure Bitcoin wrapper, tBTC, created a new way for Bitcoin holders to use their wealth on-chain. Since its launch nearly 4 years ago, tBTC has safely bridged over 7.6k BTC. Mezo is built on tBTC, which helps achieve our vision of a Bitcoin-first network that amplifies core Bitcoin values. tBTC is built for growth, enabling efficient and scalable Bitcoin bridging to power Bitcoin’s Economic Layer.

Beyond tBTC, our history of building has always placed the community at the center of our projects—we know how to create a compelling and inviting user journey, as evidenced by Fold and Taho.

With Mezo, we’re creating a Bitcoin-first chain designed for user ownership, where you can use and grow your Bitcoin together.