Zest Protocol Brings Bitcoin Collateral Vaults to Mainnet
Zest Protocol has launched a mainnet demo of its Bitcoin Collateral Vaults, allowing users to deposit real BTC into self-custodial vaults on Bitcoin L1 and borrow real USDC against it.
This marks the first full public-mainnet deployment of Zest Protocol's native-Bitcoin collateral vault infrastructure.
The demonstration runs on mainnet with real BTC and real USDC, capped per wallet. Users can test the full flow at small size: deposit BTC into an individual Bitcoin Collateral Vault and borrow USDC on Ethereum.
Zest Protocol's Founder, Tycho Onnasch, stated that they've spent five years on programmable Bitcoin, first on Stacks and now on Bitcoin itself. Today you can put real BTC in a vault on Bitcoin and borrow against it on mainnet. That's why Zest Protocol exists: turning Bitcoin from an idle asset into productive capital.
The protocol's native token, ZEST, was launched in May 2026 via Binance Alpha.