Institutions can soon trade, transfer, and use lstBTC at trusted venues while earning yield
Hong Kong, Feb. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Core Foundation, in partnership with Maple Finance, BitGo, Copper, Hex Trust announces lstBTC, a new liquid, yield-bearing Bitcoin token designed for institutions to earn returns on idle Bitcoin . By transforming Bitcoin into a productive asset, lstBTC offers holders a way to put billions of dollars back into their pockets while maintaining security, compliance, and liquidity. Designed to unlock capital efficiency while maintaining security, compliance, and liquidity, lstBTC enables institutions to earn sustainable yield on idle Bitcoin holdings without disrupting existing custody arrangements.
Unlocking Yield-Bearing Bitcoin Collateral
For years, institutional Bitcoin holders have faced a tradeoff: keeping BTC as a secure store of value or sacrificing security or liquidity to earn yield. lstBTC changes this dynamic by allowing institutions to earn yield paid in Bitcoin without transferring BTC away from trusted custodians.
With over $500 billion in Bitcoin accruing fees in custodial accounts, lstBTC unlocks significant savings. It allows institutions to generate sustainable yields on Bitcoin holdings while maintaining principal security, liquidity, and capital efficiency within industry-standard custody practices. Maple Finance brings its expertise in institutional credit markets and risk management to lstBTC by overseeing yield generation strategies that align with regulatory and risk standards. Maple helps lstBTC holders simplify earning yield without transferring BTC out of custody. By integrating lstBTC into its broader institutional infrastructure, Maple Finance helps institutions maximize capital efficiency without sacrificing security.
“The lack of Bitcoin yield options has been a noticeable void in the market for some time. Maple is proud to partner with CORE on lstBTC which enables institutions to earn yield on their BTC without giving up the security of trusted custodians,” said Sidney Powell, CEO and Co-Founder at Maple Finance
How lstBTC Works
Institutions can mint lstBTC by depositing Bitcoin with trusted custodians like BitGo, Copper, or Hex Trust.
- lstBTC accrues yield while remaining fully liquid—institutions can trade, transfer, or pledge lstBTC as collateral.
- When redeemed, holders receive their original Bitcoin plus accrued yield in kind, delivered directly to their custodial accounts.
lstBTC leverages Core blockchain’s Dual Staking mechanism, enabling Bitcoin to earn CORE rewards while securing the network. Maple Finance, a trusted investment manager, employs defined strategies with institutional-grade risk management to optimize yield transparently, while the custodian ensures compliance and asset security.
This approach ensures capital efficiency, security, and scalability, offering institutions a seamless way to earn yield on their Bitcoin holdings without disrupting existing workflows.
What Sets lstBTC Apart
Unlike alternative Bitcoin yield solutions, lstBTC is designed specifically for institutions, without asset transfers or unnecessary risk.
- No custody changes required – Institutions keep their Bitcoin with existing custodians.
- Real BTC Yield - Earn BTC-denominated yield via Core’s Dual Staking mechanism without bitcoin leaving the custodian.
- Fully liquid and scalable – lstBTC can be traded, transferred, or pledged as collateral while the underlying Bitcoin earns yield.
- Built for institutional use cases – Seamlessly integrates into existing and new portfolio strategies to increase returns.
"This partnership is a breakthrough for institutional Bitcoin holders," said Hong Sun, Institutional Contributor at Core DAO. "lstBTC finally allows institutions to earn yield on their Bitcoin while maintaining their existing custodial and security frameworks. By combining the Core blockchain’s Dual Staking, Maple Finance’s risk-managed strategies, and the trusted custodial infrastructure of BitGo, Copper, and Hex Trust, lstBTC sets a new standard for institutional Bitcoin solutions.”
Redefining Bitcoin for Institutional Investors
lstBTC empowers institutional customers—portfolio managers, ETP issuers, accredited investors, and market makers—to maximize Bitcoin productivity without compromising security or operational efficiency. With the most trusted names in asset management, digital asset custody, liquidity, and risk management behind it, lstBTC sets a new standard for institutional Bitcoin yield.
For more information on lstBTC and how it can help institutional Bitcoin holders generate yield securely, visit lstbtc.coredao.org or contact inquire@coredao.org.
About Core
Core is Bitcoin’s first Proof of Stake (PoS) layer and the largest Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, merging the unparalleled security of Bitcoin with the scalability of the Satoshi Plus consensus. Core’s Dual Staking empowers Bitcoin holders to potentially earn secure and sustainable yields by staking both BTC and CORE, all while retaining full control of their assets.
Over 5,500 BTC and 165M CORE are currently staked on the Core blockchain, enhancing Bitcoin’s utility and security. Core is the most Bitcoin-aligned EVM blockchain with ~80% of Bitcoin mining hash power contributing to the network’s security. This breakthrough has amassed millions of Core adopters — over 40M unique addresses, 350M+ transactions, and over $850M TVL since its mainnet launch in January 2023.
For more information, visit coredao.org.
About Maple Finance
Maple Finance, launched in 2021, is DeFi’s institutional lender, offering institutional-grade lending markets that are transparent and verifiable on-chain. As a leader in decentralized finance, Maple is building a global lending ecosystem focused on innovation and accessibility. Central to this ecosystem is the SYRUP token, introduced in 2024, which empowers the Maple community through staking, governance, and shared protocol growth. Together, Maple is driving the next generation of institutional credit markets in DeFi.
For more information, visit www.maple.finance.
About BitGo
BitGo is the leading infrastructure provider of digital asset solutions, delivering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, and settlement services from regulated cold storage. Since our founding in 2013, we have focused on enabling our clients to securely navigate the digital asset space. With a large global presence through multiple regulated entities, BitGo serves thousands of institutions, including many of the industry's top brands, exchanges, and platforms, as well as millions of retail investors worldwide. As the operational backbone of the digital economy, BitGo handles a significant portion of Bitcoin network transactions and is the largest independent digital asset custodian, and staking provider, in the world.
For more information, visit www.bitgo.com.
About Copper
Since being founded in 2018, Copper has been building the standard for institutional digital asset infrastructure with a focus on custody and collateral management. Underpinned by multi-award-winning technology, Copper has built a comprehensive and secure suite of products and services required to safely custody and trade digital assets. At the core of Copper’s infrastructure is ClearLoop, which enables clients to manage collateral and settle trades across multiple exchanges, while mitigating counterparty risk and increasing capital efficiency.
For more information, please visit: www.copper.co.
About Hex Trust
Established in 2018, Hex Trust offers regulated institutional digital asset custody, staking and markets services to builders, investors and service providers. Get access to our comprehensive, secure and regulated suite of services built on our proprietary and fully integrated infrastructure.
For more information, visit www.hextrust.com.
CONTACT: core (at) transformgroup.com
