Sui, a layer-1 blockchain network, is preparing to launch Hashi, an institutional protocol designed to let Bitcoin holders borrow against their BTC without transferring the underlying assets off the Bitcoin blockchain.
The initiative is expected to expand Bitcoin-backed lending with significant financial support. Hashi’s mainnet launch is scheduled to begin in phases later this month, giving institutions a new way to put their Bitcoin holdings to work while keeping the original assets on Bitcoin’s native network.
The project has attracted $500 million in capital commitments from more than 20 industry partners. Although the pledged funds have not necessarily been deposited, the commitments are intended to provide substantial liquidity as the protocol launches, helping markets become operational without having to build liquidity from scratch.
“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, the company that originally developed Sui.
Hashi aims to tap into the large amount of Bitcoin that remains unused. According to Sui’s estimates, approximately $1 trillion worth of BTC is currently idle. Institutional investors and companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets have historically faced limited options for deploying those assets in decentralized finance (DeFi) through infrastructure that meets their compliance, transparency and security requirements.
The development comes as Bitcoin-backed borrowing increasingly serves practical financial needs beyond cryptocurrency speculation. Holders are using BTC-collateralized loans to fund university tuition, purchase real estate and cover businesses’ working-capital requirements.
Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, said public companies and institutional investors hold substantial Bitcoin reserves but have been restricted in how they can use those assets because of technological limitations. Anchorage Digital is among Hashi’s initial launch partners and plans to contribute stablecoin liquidity to the network.
McCauley described the integration of Anchorage Digital’s institutional customers with Hashi as a fundamental shift in access to Bitcoin-backed financial services.
Rather than transferring BTC through a cross-chain bridge, Hashi allows users to lock their Bitcoin in a vault address directly on the Bitcoin blockchain. The vault uses a 2-of-2 multisignature arrangement, meaning both Hashi validators must provide cryptographic authorization. A separate, independent guardian layer is also designed to monitor collateral movements and delay transactions that appear suspicious.
Once the Bitcoin is secured, Hashi issues hBTC on the Sui network. This token represents the deposited BTC, while the original assets remain locked on Bitcoin’s blockchain.
Users can then deploy hBTC through applications on Sui to access lending and borrowing services, credit markets and real-world asset trading. To retrieve their original Bitcoin, users must permanently burn the corresponding hBTC tokens on Sui. This triggers the multisignature process to unlock the collateral and return the BTC to its owner on the Bitcoin network.
Hashi has also undergone security assessments intended to address institutional requirements. Certora formally verified the protocol’s smart contracts, while CommonPrefix reviewed the cryptographic design of its multi-party computation (MPC) system.
