Anchorage Digital, the platform that operates the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, is partnering with Build on Bitcoin to expand institutional access to decentralized finance on Bitcoin.
Summary
- Anchorage Digital now supports BOB, a decentralized financial chain using Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- BOB has chosen Anchorage Digital as its crypto custodian.
- The move comes as Bitcoin DeFi sees its total value reach $9.3 billion.
The decentralized finance ecosystem has received further boost as crypto bank Anchorage Digital becomes a preferred custodian. This support will offer institutions the opportunity to further participate in Bitcoin DeFi via BOB’s hybrid chain.
BOB offers a hybrid zero-knowledge rollup that combines the DeFi innovation of Ethereum (ETH) and the security of Bitcoin (BTC). Anchorage Digital will bring regulated access to the platform.
Institutions and asset holders looking for this gateway to the Bitcoin Finance (BTCfi) ecosystem can do so via BOB’s native token on Anchorage Digital Bank NA and on Anchorage Digital Singapore.
The former is a crypto bank chartered by the US federal government, while the latter is a major payment institution regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Anchorage also supports BOB through its self-custodial wallet, Porto.
Anchorage Digital strengthens the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem
BlackRock and Cantor Fitzgerald are among the institutions looking to leverage Anchorage Digital’s crypto solution, with BlackRock in April adding the crypto bank as the custodian for its spot exchange-traded fund, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
As such, the move to support BOB is yet another pillar added to the growing Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.
According to details from DeFiLlama, more than $9.33 billion in total value is currently locked up in decentralized financial protocols deployed on Bitcoin. The DeFi TVL on the network that supports the digital asset benchmark, with a market cap of over $2 trillion, was approximately $4.6 billion as of November 2024.
A year later, the ecosystem has more than doubled in size. The TVL reached an all-time high of $11.5 billion in October 2025.
Enabling guardianship support for BOB is a new step forward in promoting adoption within BTCfi.
“Bitcoin has proven to be one of the most secure and established networks. It is extremely exciting to see the capabilities for smart contracts on Bitcoin grow, paving the way for new applications that combine the security of Bitcoin with new use cases. At Anchorage Digital, we are proud to support innovators like BOB and enable institutions to participate,” said Nathan McCauley, CEO of Anchorage Digital.
Institutions and retail investors can earn returns on their BTC holdings through platforms like BOB, which currently has over $250 million in TVL.
According to DeFiLlama, the majority of the total value captured in BTC-related DeFi networks is on the recovery protocol Babylon, with over $5.68 billion. Lombard Finance and Threshold Network, which both support Bitcoin and Ethereum, currently hold $1.18 billion and $606 million respectively.
