Mezo: Turning Bitcoin Into a Living Financial Economy

Bitcoin is the most trusted and battle-tested digital asset in the world. Yet for most of its history, using Bitcoin in everyday financial activity has meant one thing: selling it. That tradeoff has forced users to choose between liquidity today and long-term conviction tomorrow.

Mezo is building a different path.

Mezo introduces a Bitcoin-first financial network that allows users to unlock liquidity, earn yield, and transact without giving up ownership of their BTC. Instead of treating Bitcoin as a passive store of value, Mezo turns it into an active financial asset while preserving the principles that made Bitcoin valuable in the first place.

At Node.Monster, we are proud to support this vision by operating a validator and helping secure the Mezo network as it grows.

TLDR

• Mezo is a Bitcoin-focused Layer 2 designed for real financial utility
• Users lock BTC and borrow MUSD, a stablecoin fully backed by Bitcoin
• Mezo enables up to 90% Loan-to-Value borrowing, maximizing capital efficiency
• The network combines Bitcoin security with EVM programmability and Cosmos-based performance

What Is Mezo

Mezo is a Bitcoin-native financial network designed to let users live on Bitcoin without selling it. The core idea is simple but powerful: Bitcoin should be usable for borrowing, spending, and earning, while remaining a long-term asset.

Users deposit BTC into Mezo as collateral. Against that collateral, they can borrow MUSD, a stablecoin backed entirely by Bitcoin. This gives users immediate liquidity while their BTC remains locked, owned, and exposed to future upside.

This model creates a circular Bitcoin economy where value stays within the Bitcoin ecosystem instead of flowing out into fiat rails.

The Core Concepts Behind Mezo

Understanding Mezo starts with two key metrics: Loan-to-Value (LTV) and Individual Collateral Ratio (ICR). These determine how much you can borrow, how safe your position is, and when liquidation risk appears.

What Is LTV and Why It Matters

Loan-to-Value, or LTV, measures the size of your loan relative to the value of your collateral.

For example: If you deposit $100,000 in BTC and borrow $90,000 in MUSD, your LTV is 90%.

Mezo allows an LTV of up to 90%, significantly higher than most Bitcoin-backed lending platforms. This is a significant advantage for users who want to maximize capital efficiency without selling their BTC.

A higher LTV means:
• More liquidity per BTC deposited
• Fewer assets sitting idle
• Greater flexibility for spending, investing, or managing cash flow

Whether you are covering a major expense, deploying capital into new opportunities, or managing treasury liquidity, Mezo’s high LTV model allows you to do so while staying fully exposed to Bitcoin.

How Mezo’s 90% LTV Bitcoin Loan Works

At the heart of Mezo’s borrowing system is MUSD, a stablecoin fully backed by Bitcoin. When you borrow on Mezo, you are not selling your BTC. You are opening a Collateralized Debt Position (CDP) managed entirely by smart contracts.

Here is how the process works step by step:

1. Deposit Bitcoin
You deposit BTC into a secure, non-custodial smart contract. Mezo is built on the tBTC bridge, meaning your BTC is converted into tBTC, a decentralized ERC-20 token that is always backed 1:1 by on-chain Bitcoin reserves. This allows Bitcoin to interact with smart contracts while remaining verifiably backed.

2. Mint MUSD
Against your deposited BTC, you mint MUSD. This is effectively your loan. The amount you can mint depends on the LTV you choose, up to the 90% maximum.

3. Access Liquidity
Once minted, MUSD is fully yours. You can:
• Use it in DeFi applications
• Swap it for other assets
• Convert it to fiat
• Spend it through supported integrations

Throughout this process, your original BTC remains locked and remains yours.

4. Repay and Reclaim
To retrieve your BTC, you repay the borrowed MUSD plus any accrued interest. Once the debt is settled, your Bitcoin collateral is fully unlocked and returned to you.

Understanding ICR and Liquidation Risk

While high LTV borrowing is powerful, it requires active position management. This is where the Individual Collateral Ratio (ICR) becomes critical.

What Is ICR

Your ICR is the ratio between the value of your locked Bitcoin collateral and the amount of MUSD you have borrowed.

Mezo requires a minimum ICR of 110%. This means that for every 100 MUSD borrowed, you must maintain at least $110 worth of BTC as collateral. A 110% ICR corresponds roughly to the 90% maximum LTV.

Liquidation Risks

Bitcoin is volatile, and so if the price of BTC falls, the value of your collateral drops, which lowers your ICR.

If your ICR falls below 110%, your position becomes under-collateralized and eligible for liquidation. Liquidation is an automated on-chain process where the protocol seizes and sells part or all of your BTC collateral to repay the outstanding MUSD debt. This protects the solvency of the system, but it means losing your Bitcoin. Read more about liquidation risks here. 

How to Avoid Liquidation

Responsible borrowers actively manage their ICR. Most prudent users maintain a buffer well above the minimum, often 150% ICR or higher, to protect against market volatility.
If your ICR approaches the liquidation threshold, you have two main options:

1. Repay Part of Your Loan
You can acquire MUSD on the market and repay a portion of your debt. Reducing the debt immediately increases your ICR.

2. Add More Collateral
You can deposit additional BTC into your position. Increasing collateral while keeping debt constant also raises your ICR.

Why Mezo’s 90% LTV Model Stands Out

Many platforms offer Bitcoin-backed loans, but Mezo’s approach stands out for several reasons:

• Capital efficiency with one of the highest LTVs available
• Full decentralization with on-chain, non-custodial smart contracts
• Bitcoin-aligned design using BTC as collateral and gas
• Transparent risk mechanics driven by ICR and on-chain pricing

Mezo is designed for Bitcoiners who understand risk, value sovereignty, and want maximum utility from their assets.

How to Get Started with Mezo: 

The Mezo experience is intentionally simple.

Step 1: Deposit Bitcoin
Users lock BTC as collateral on the Mezo network. Ownership does not change, and the BTC remains secured.

Step 2: Borrow MUSD
Based on the deposited collateral, users borrow MUSD at transparent, fixed rates.

Step 3: Put MUSD to Work
MUSD can be spent, saved, deployed into yield products, or used across DeFi applications.

Step 4: Keep Full Bitcoin Exposure
The original BTC remains locked and continues to represent the user’s long-term Bitcoin position.

Node.Monster’s Role in the Mezo Network

Node.Monster supports Mezo by operating a validator and providing professional-grade infrastructure that strengthens network security and reliability.

Our role includes:

Validator Operations
We actively participate in Mezo’s consensus by running a dedicated validator.

High Availability Infrastructure
Our setup uses global redundancy, monitoring, and failover systems to ensure consistent uptime.

Institutional-Grade Standards
With over a decade of experience in blockchain infrastructure, we bring practices built for long-term scalability and trust.

As Mezo grows in users, liquidity, and economic activity, resilient validator infrastructure becomes increasingly critical.

Conclusion

Mezo is redefining how Bitcoin is used. Instead of forcing users to choose between holding and spending, it allows both. Bitcoin becomes productive capital without sacrificing ownership, sovereignty, or long-term belief.

Node.Monster is excited to support Mezo at this stage and help lay the technical foundation for a Bitcoin-powered financial future. Get started here- https://mezo.org/feature/borrow