Mezo, a Bitcoin-native lending protocol, has partnered with Aerodrome Finance to deepen liquidity for its MEZO token and MUSD stablecoin on the Base network. The collaboration allocates 2.25% of MEZO’s total supply to incentivize veAERO holders-users who lock tokens for governance rights-to trade MEZO and MUSD pairs.
The move targets a critical bottleneck: Bitcoin-focused DeFi projects often struggle to attract consistent trading volume. By leveraging Aerodrome’s infrastructure on Base-a chain built by the Optimism team-Mezo gains access to an active DeFi user base without relying on Ethereum.
Mezo has issued over 2,000 loans and moved $23 million in Bitcoin-denominated assets off Ethereum, signaling growing demand for Bitcoin-backed financial tools.
Bitcoin DeFi activity is accelerating as institutional interest grows. Projects like Lombard and Hashi are pioneering yield generation and borrowing against BTC, with backing from firms including Bitwise, BitGo, Bullish, and FalconX.
The Mezo-Aerodrome alliance marks a strategic step toward embedding Bitcoin deeper into the DeFi ecosystem.