**Hex Trust Partners with Stacks Asia to Boost Bitcoin DeFi**

Hex Trust, a licensed digital asset services provider, has teamed up with the Stacks Asia Foundation to tap into the $180 billion Bitcoin ecosystem market. This partnership will see Hex Trust's custody platform supporting the Stacks layer and related digital assets, paving the way for future decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Kyle Ellicott from Stacks highlighted the growing institutional interest in Bitcoin-based DeFi, particularly in Asia. Calvin Shen of Hex Trust noted that this move could enhance Bitcoin's financial utility for institutional clients.

This collaboration is part of a broader trend of increasing institutional crypto demand in Asia, with projects like Hermetica and Zest Protocol also contributing to the burgeoning Bitcoin DeFi space. Hermetica recently launched USDh, a Bitcoin-backed synthetic dollar, while Zest Protocol introduced a Bitcoin-based token offering staking yields.

Stay tuned as Bitcoin DeFi continues to gain momentum, potentially rivaling Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem in the coming years.