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About Thesis
Thesis is a crypto development studio focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem, building and funding projects related to decentralization and freedom tech. Its core business includes developing tBTC, a Bitcoin cross-chain protocol, Mezo, a Bitcoin financial layer, and Fold, a Bitcoin rewards app. These products aim to solve the problem that Bitcoin holders cannot safely and decentralizedly participate in DeFi, as traditional solutions often require trusting custodians or centralized institutions. Thesis uses threshold signatures and decentralized custody to enable Bitcoin to be used on other blockchains in a decentralized way while maintaining asset control.
In the past six months, Thesis has continued to advance the Mezo ecosystem, including launching Mezo Prime, an institutional-grade Bitcoin yield product, and partnering with custodians like Anchorage Digital to enhance compliance and security. It has also expanded its influence through events like Bitcoin 2026. Overall, Thesis is exploring Bitcoin programmability and financial applications, but faces challenges such as intense competition and regulatory uncertainty.
Thesis was founded in 2014 by Matt Luongo, initially as a venture studio exploring Bitcoin use cases. Its first product, Fold, launched the same year, allowing users to earn Bitcoin rewards on everyday purchases, establishing an early model for Bitcoin consumer adoption.
In 2017, the studio began developing Keep Network, cryptographic infrastructure for private data on public blockchains, which later evolved into Threshold. This laid the technical groundwork for decentralized Bitcoin interoperability.
2020 marked a significant milestone with the launch of tBTC, a decentralized tokenization protocol that bridges Bitcoin 1:1 to Ethereum without a custodian, opening BTC to DeFi. This positioned Thesis as a pioneer in non-custodial cross-chain solutions.
In 2021, Thesis raised a $21 million Series A co-led by ParaFi Capital and Nascent, with participation from a16z, Paradigm, and Draper Associates. The funding validated the studio model itself rather than a single product.
2023 saw the studio pivot toward BitcoinFi, launching Mezo, a Bitcoin economic layer for borrowing and yield, and Acre, a liquid staking protocol. These products shifted the focus from payments to making Bitcoin a productive asset.
In 2025, Mezo launched its full-stack Bitcoin economy on mainnet and partnered with Anchorage Digital, a regulated custodian, signaling institutional adoption. Additionally, Thesis co-founded the BitcoinFi Accelerator with Boost VC and Draper Associates, funding early-stage startups across infrastructure, DeFi, and SocialFi, with the first cohort raising over $14 million post-graduation.
In the past half year (2026-03-05 to 2026-09-05), Thesis's key progress:
In March 2026, Thesis completed a $3.6M seed round to accelerate growth of portfolio products including Fold, Mezo, tBTC, Acre, Taho, and new venture R&D ().
On April 1, 2026, Thesis launched the MEZO token. Mezo is positioned as Bitcoin's decentralized lending layer, enabling a circular Bitcoin economy where "BTC is lent, MEZO earns." Locked BTC becomes veBTC and earns passive yield; locking MEZO into veMEZO boosts veBTC yield up to 5x ().
Threshold's tBTC hardened security in May 2026: optimistic minting was paused due to malicious activity; all tBTC now mints via sweeping (~6–7 hours); reaffirmed the self-managed tss-lib; added institutional sales lead to expand real Bitcoin yield ().
Future focus: MEZO marks a new "you are your own bank" phase. Official plans include moving BTC-backed dollars across chains, migrating idle BTC to productive platforms, treating Bitcoin as the strongest collateral, and building a circular credit market around lending, spending, and on-chain yield ().
Co-founders: Corbin Pon (Co-founder, Thesis; also founded Fold, ex-Lockheed Martin, Georgia Tech CS) and Matt Luongo (CEO, Thesis; ex-founder of Fold, crypto veteran).
Core executives: Victoria Chan (COO, ex-Coinbase Director, Google 10+ yrs), Michael Gluzman (Chief Design Officer, ex-Coca-Cola design lead, founding designer of Fold), Harsharn S. (BD & Strategy Director, ex-consensus/DeFi roles).