The institutional interest for Bitcoin yield products is booming as firms look to access liquidity without having to sell their BTC for cash. This demand, in turn, is being filled by infrastructure providers like Solv Protocol, which are establishing the type of institutional-grade infrastructure that these firms require. As for Solv Protocol, it currently has more than 25,000 BTC locked in its protocol with value exceeding $2 billion.
Ryan Chow, co-founder and CEO of Solv Protocol, presenting at the Token2049 conference in Dubai on May 1. He did point to the massive, tidal change in institutional appetite for Bitcoin yield products just in the last couple of years. For one, he underscored the growing corporate embrace of Bitcoin as a treasury asset, led by companies such as Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy).
Rising Bitcoin Holdings Among Public Firms
Bitwise announced that publicly traded companies boosted their Bitcoin holdings by 16.1% in the first quarter of 2025. This huge increase is indicative of new interest and adoption of cryptocurrency by these companies. Firms went on to add a total of 95,431 BTC over the quarter leaving Q1 with public firms holding approximately 688,000 BTC. Public firms added ~2.2% to their total Bitcoin stacks. Today, their combined worth is up to a staggering $56.7 billion, with each BTC worth $82,445.
Chow applauded public firms such as Strategy for contributing to the normalization of BTC as a treasury asset.
"MSTR is a very successful derivatives kind of use case based on Bitcoin […] That’s also Bitcoin finance" - Ryan Chow, co-founder and CEO of Solv Protocol.
Solv Protocol's Institutional Focus
There are many yield-generating strategies being developed, but Solv Protocol is placing emphasis on regulatory and cultural needs. The company is building infrastructure specifically with institutions in mind, knowing that the level of compliance and the weight of specific cultural considerations matter.
"Sharia compliance is something that we prepared for a long time [...] you have to pass it before you really serve them through your platform" - Ryan Chow, co-founder and CEO of Solv Protocol.
Solv Protocol has over 25,000 BTC locked in, representing over $2 billion dollars. This record-breaking sum demonstrates just how much demand for its services there is.
The Future of Bitcoin in DeFi
Ryan Chow expects as much as 100,000 BTC to pour into ecosystems knit together with blockchains like Solana. This transition marks a larger move toward using Bitcoin in decentralized finance (DeFi). He stressed the need for Bitcoin to utilize network staking as a way to both secure networks and add real-world utility to the asset.
"Bitcoin as the largest asset class here, you can stake your Bitcoin to secure the network […] that makes us feel like if it is the answer to really bring utility and also use case" - Ryan Chow, co-founder and CEO of Solv Protocol.
Companies such as Coinbase are already allowing borrowers to use their Bitcoin as collateral for loans of up to $1 million. This step importantly underscores the increasing entrenchment of Bitcoin into our monetary landscape.
