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New tech to power bitcoin lending is set to debut with $500 million in commitments
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Layer-1 blockchain Sui is launching Hashi, an institutional protocol that lets holders use bitcoin as collateral for lending without moving it off the Bitcoin network. The mainnet will roll out in phases later this month. The system debuts with $500 million in capital commitments from a coalition of more than 20 industry partners.
The pre-pledged capital ensures markets open with deep liquidity instead of starting empty. Sui estimates roughly $1 trillion worth of bitcoin sits idle. Until now, institutional and corporate holders lacked a compliant, transparent ecosystem to deploy native bitcoin in decentralized finance.
Hashi avoids cross-chain bridges entirely. Users lock BTC in a vault address directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, secured by a 2-of-2 multisig requiring sign-off from Hashi's validators. A separate guardian layer monitors and can slow suspicious collateral movements.
While the real bitcoin stays frozen, Hashi mints hBTC, a digital voucher token on Sui backed by that deposit. Apps on Sui can use the vouchers to fuel lending, borrowing, credit markets and real-world asset trading. To exit, a user burns the hBTC, triggering the multisig to release the original bitcoin.
Hashi has undergone rigorous vetting to meet institutional compliance and security standards. Security firm Certora formally verified its smart contracts, while CommonPrefix reviewed the cryptography of its multi-party computation protocol.
"Hashi is launching with serious capital and a coalition of industry leaders because institutions want to put Bitcoin to work without giving up the protections they require," said Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and chief product officer of Mysten Labs, Sui's original creator.
Nathan McCauley, chief executive of launch partner Anchorage Digital, called connecting institutional clients with Hashi "a complete paradigm shift." Bitcoin-collateralized borrowing is spreading beyond speculation to tuition, real estate and corporate working capital. If adoption follows, Hashi could unlock a meaningful share of dormant institutional bitcoin.
