Thesis, one of the most established venture studios focused on Bitcoin, announced raising $7.5 million in funding for Mezo, its permissionless Bitcoin Economic Layer.
The round was led by Ledger Cathay Fund, a joint venture between Ledger and Cathay Innovation. Other notable investors in this round include ArkStream, Aquarius Fund, Flowdesk, GSR, Origin Protocol, and Bybit ecosystem project, Mantle’s EcoFund.
The investment brings Mezo’s total funding to $30 million since its launch in April 2024, according to the announcement.
The fresh capital injection will be utilized to accelerate Mezo’s technology development and expand the BitcoinFi ecosystem. This includes integrating various ecosystem partners, such as Acre, a yield protocol, and wallet partners like Unisat, OKX, and Xverse.
These integrations aim to provide a seamless BitcoinFi experience, enabling Mezo users to interact with the platform using both hardware and web wallets. Ledger plans to integrate Mezo into its product suite, with further details to be announced soon.
Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis and Founder of Mezo, emphasized the significance of this funding round, stating that it underscores BitcoinFi’s potential as the future of financial ownership and Mezo’s leading role in this evolution.
Luongo highlighted the collaborative efforts with investors and industry peers to expand the Bitcoin network and establish a circular economy that empowers users worldwide to utilize Bitcoin effectively.
Mezo, developed by Thesis, enhances Bitcoin’s infrastructure by enabling cost-effective and efficient transactions while maintaining the network’s core principles of security, open-source development, and a Bitcoin-first approach.
Unlike other Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions, Mezo offers users access to practical applications. These include Thesis-built tBTC for trust-minimized Bitcoin bridging across multiple ecosystems and staking through stBTC, supported by Acre’s Bitcoin-in, Bitcoin-out platform.
With $124.5 million in total volume locked and 2,152 Bitcoin deposited, Mezo is poised to maximize Bitcoin’s utility beyond a store of value. The platform allows users to conduct secure transactions without facing issues like fragmented user experiences and high transaction fees.
Thesis, established in 2013, supports multiple brand launches, including Mezo, Acre, tBTC, and Fold. Fold recently announced plans to go public as the first pure-play financial services company powered by Bitcoin.
Pascal Gauthier, Chairman and CEO of Ledger, highlighted Ledger’s commitment to supporting Bitcoin and its evolving landscape. He expressed confidence in Mezo’s potential to significantly impact the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Marguerite de Tavernost, Investment Director at Ledger Cathay Fund, lauded Mezo’s vision to elevate Bitcoin as an economic layer. She emphasized the synergies created by Thesis’s incubator model and the impressive execution capabilities of the Mezo team.