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 finance chain that taps into Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- BOB has picked Anchorage Digital as its crypto custodian.
- Move comes as Bitcoin DeFi sees its total value locked hit $9.3 billion.
The decentralized finance ecosystem has received a further boost as crypto bank Anchorage Digital becomes a preferred custodian. This support will provide institutions with an avenue to further participate in Bitcoin DeFi via BOB’s hybrid chain.
BOB offers a hybrid zero-knowledge rollup that combines Ethereum’s (ETH) DeFi innovation and Bitcoin (BTC)’s security. Anchorage Digital is set to 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 N.A. and on Anchorage Digital Singapore.
The former is a U.S. federally chartered crypto bank, while the latter is a Major Payment Institution regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Anchorage also supports BOB via its self-custody wallet, Porto.
Anchorage Digital boosts Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem
BlackRock and Cantor Fitzgerald are among institutions to tap into Anchorage Digital’s crypto solution, with BlackRock adding the crypto bank as a custodian for the spot exchange-traded fund, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, in April.
As such, the move to support BOB is one more pillar added to the growing Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.
Per details on DeFiLlama, over $9.33 billion in total value locked is currently in decentralized finance protocols deployed on Bitcoin. The DeFi TVL on the network that underpins the benchmark digital asset with over $2 trillion in market cap, stood around $4.6 billion in Nov. 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 custody support for BOB is another step forward in buoying adoption across BTCfi.
“Bitcoin has been time-tested as one of the most secure and established networks. It’s tremendously exciting to see smart contract capabilities grow on Bitcoin, paving the way for new applications that blend Bitcoin’s security with new use cases. At Anchorage Digital, we’re proud to support innovators like BOB and to empower institutions to participate,” said Nathan McCauley, chief executive officer of Anchorage Digital.
Institutions and retail investors can earn yield on their BTC holdings via platforms like BOB, which currently boasts over $250 million in TVL.
Per DeFiLlama, most of the total value locked in BTC-related DeFi networks is on the restaking protocol Babylon, with over $5.68 billion. Lombard Finance and Threshold Network, both of which support Bitcoin and Ethereum, currently hold $1.18 billion and $606 million, respectively.
