Hex Trust, a Hong Kong-based digital asset firm that offers institutional-grade custody, staking, and trading solutions, has announced expanded support for Stacks (STX), a leading layer-2 (L2) Bitcoin (BTC) network, as well as sBTC, Stacks’ decentralized asset based on Bitcoin, per information shared with Finbold on Thursday, April 10.
Already a partner of the Stacks Asia Foundation, the Hex Trust, which maintains $5 billion in assets under custody (AUC), aims to integrate Stacks-based assets and implement on-ramps to Stacks DeFi applications.
The trust is licensed in key markets on the continent, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai, making it uniquely positioned to meet the institutional demand in these markets, where holdings tend to be highly concentrated.
Giorgia Pellizzari, Hex Trust’s Head of Custody, reflecting on recent developments, stated that:
“The explosive adoption of sBTC by top-tier institutions reflects its transformative potential to unlock Bitcoin’s value in DeFi.”
Hex Trust’s partnership with Stacks echoes a high level of demand
Indeed, per a Bitcoin Builders Association report from December 2024, tokenized Bitcoin represents a $1 trillion opportunity.
sBTC offers Bitcoin-denominated yield, decentralization, and a user experience reminiscent of native Bitcoin. Institutional demand has been anything but sluggish — early adopters of sBTC included UTXO, SNZ, Jump Crypto, Asymmetric Research, and Sypher Capital, as well as Luganodes, which doubles as a validator. Within 24 hours of the second cap launch, sBTC’s capacity tripled, reaching 3,000 BTC.
Developments such as these highlight sBTC’s leading position in the cryptocurrency space as a connective element between Bitcoin and DeFi applications. The project’s next milestone, the release of a withdrawal functionality, is expected in the coming weeks.
