What is BitcoinFi?
BitcoinFi offers a seamless financial ecosystem built from the ground up with BTC, eliminating the trade-off of security vs. convenience. And we are building for this future with Mezo.
BitcoinFi grows Bitcoin's network effects, making it a more powerful store of value and form of money.
Despite BTC's strong network effects today—with numerous retail merchants accepting BTC, ATMs in El Salvador using Lightning, and easy onboarding through apps like Swan, River, or Coinbase—there is potential for much more.
The future of Bitcoin can be built around the idea of BTC as productive money. Today, BTC sits between a medium of exchange and a store of value. BitcoinFi helps it span those two uses, resulting in more value for Bitcoiners via network effects.
While the ethos of "stack sats and HODL" has been central to Bitcoin culture, it's time to evolve. Ten years ago, there was little else to do besides accumulate Bitcoin. Today, BTC holders can use their Bitcoin as collateral, earn yield, pay bills, and collect on-chain art. However, the current user experience is often clunky and requires trade-offs between security and convenience, frequently involving assets other than BTC.
BitcoinFi offers a seamless financial ecosystem built from the ground up with BTC, eliminating these trade-offs. The essence of BitcoinFi is not just to look at your BTC balance, but to actively use it. And we are building for this future with Mezo.
Digital Gold, but better
Bitcoin is money. In simple terms, this means that people can express their value preferences using BTC as the medium for that communication.
This is similar to using physical gold, dollar bills, seashells, or ammunition. Money conveys preference and value. The benefit of Bitcoin is that information can be communicated instantly to anyone, at any time, without risk of censorship.
While this is Bitcoin's original vision, people onboarding today will liken BTC to 'digital gold.'Blame the bankers or whoever you want, but this narrative works. It works because people know what gold is and can infer what the digital version looks like.
The next step for BTC is to evolve beyond this digital gold narrative. Gold is, as we mentioned in the intro, a passive asset. You can hold gold under lock and key in your basement, have it in a bank vault, or wear it as jewelry.
But there is more to asset ownership than simply looking at it; this is no different with Bitcoin!
We can reject the norm of storing BTC under your mattress and find ways to put our BTC to work, do productive things with it, and still uphold the foundational values of Bitcoin as money.
The modern financial system is good at finding ways to be productive with financial assets and idle money, creating a more capital-efficient market. Home equity lines of credit, fractional reserve banking, and margin trading are some tools that create today's capital-efficient financial market.
Imagine an alternative world in which gold was a digital asset. People would want to use it beyond a simple store of value. Demand for yield, stablecoins, DeFi, etc., would be high because people want to be productive with their money.
BTC is digital gold, and this demand for productive money can be satisfied with BitcoinFi, unlocking new levels of capital efficiency within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Core Components of BitcoinFi
- Accessible Yield
Yield drove the DeFi boom. WBTC holders used their Bitcoin to earn high yields on Ethereum for things like lending and liquidity providing. However, WBTC uses a centralized custodian, a risk many avoid. Bitcoin users should be able to determine exactly where they want to reside on the yield risk spectrum and be compensated accordingly.
With BitcoinFi, we can uphold core principles such as decentralization and security while offering users a space to earn competitive yields.
- Economic Infrastructure for Real-world Applications
We all love the idea of magical internet money, but a critical component often forgotten is bridging the online world with the physical world. BitcoinFi needs robust infrastructure built around it to provide a connection point with traditional finance and business operations, making BTC feel real.
With connections like Fold, your Bitcoin easily moves into everyday transactions, connecting your productive BTC with your tangible life.
- Useful DeFi Applications
No one wants to spend their Bitcoin; they want to save it. BitcoinFi's core apps can be built on this premise, letting users tap into their existing liquidity without selling their BTC.
Complex financial tooling can come later, but first, a secure foundation of practical, BTC-centric DeFi apps.
BitcoinFi Makes Bitcoin Better
Bitcoin has created a new form of money that anyone can access without risk of censorship. However, BTC, as an asset, is severely lacking in productivity.
By transforming Bitcoin from a passive asset to "stake your sats, use your Bitcoin, and share your Bitcoin," we can help make Bitcoin more culturally relevant. Because all gas fees on Mezo are denominated in BTC, Bitcoin becomes the community money that powers a global, decentralized, inclusive economic system.
As Bitcoin adoption grows, we can also help its network effects grow. Stronger network effects will strengthen Bitcoin's potential for global relevancy, which is exactly what BitcoinFi can help achieve.
Join us in creating a productive Bitcoin economy:
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🏦 Deposit Portal: https://mezo.org/hodl
ℹ️ Docs: https://info.mezo.org