PANews reported on August 29 that according to The Block, Mezo, a Bitcoin Layer2 yield protocol developed by venture capital firm Thesis, is launching a liquid pledged Bitcoin token, which may be the first attempt in the network. Similar to other pledged tokens, this new cryptocurrency is called stBTC, which will enable users to earn income while maintaining exposure to Bitcoin.
Users mint stBTC by depositing BitGo’s wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) or tBTC, a Bitcoin-backed token on Ethereum, on Mezo, paying fees and locking tokens. These stBTC tokens can then be transferred to the tBTC/stBTC pool on the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Curve to receive Curve LP tokens.
stBTC is an ERC4626 token built on Acre, a Bitcoin staking protocol developed by Thesis. Unlike some re-priced tokens that use an elastic supply model to adjust the number of tokens in circulation, the value of stBTC will increase as staking rewards accumulate. In order to guard against "economic trap deposits" (i.e., the value of stBTC exceeds the value of its underlying deposits), the token will also introduce an annual minting fee of 2% for tBTC and 3% for WBTC.
