Hashi launches with $500 million for Bitcoin loans: the collateral stays on the Bitcoin chain

Hold Bitcoin and need cash and you long had only one option: sell. Since October 9, 2026 a second variant is on the table. Mysten Labs, the development firm behind the Sui blockchain, is launching Hashi, a network through which Bitcoin serves as collateral for loans without leaving the Bitcoin blockchain. More than $500 million in capital commitments from over twenty partners stands behind it, according to CoinDesk. The launch runs in phases through October.

For investors in Europe this is, to begin with, news about a product you will not find in your banking app. It becomes interesting at three points: the question of whom you entrust your Bitcoin to, the tax question around the holding period, and the risk that every collateralised loan carries. Bitcoin trades on Sunday at $83,906, or €74,816.

Hashi launches on Sui: Mysten Labs gathers more than $500 million in commitments

Hashi is a network for Bitcoin finance built by Mysten Labs. Bitcoin finance here simply means that Bitcoin already held is put up as security for borrowing instead of sitting unused in a wallet. The loan is paid out in other assets on the Sui chain, not in Bitcoin itself.

The figure travelling through the reports is $500 million. That number comes from the announcement and describes capital committed by more than twenty partners from the industry. The rollout begins in October and proceeds in stages rather than on a single date.

A commitment is not a deposit: starting liquidity remains unclear

The wording deserves a close look here. A capital commitment is a declaration of intent to provide money. No amount sits in the network yet that could be drawn on. Cointelegraph and CoinDesk both describe the $500 million as committed rather than paid-in capital. How much liquidity is actually available on day one, Mysten Labs has not disclosed.

That is no reproach. With a staged launch it is the normal case. It does change what the number tells you. The figure describes the interest of institutional houses in the venture. About the terms on which a loan eventually comes about, it says nothing.

hBTC without a bridge: how Hashi locks Bitcoin and issues a claim on Sui

The technical core is the part that reveals the most about the risk. Hashi works without a cross-chain bridge. A bridge is an intermediary that freezes a balance on one chain and issues a copy on another; over recent years it has been the point at which a great deal of money was lost.

Instead, the Bitcoin is locked in a multisignature vault on the Bitcoin blockchain. Multisignature means several separate keys have to come together before anything moves. In return, a token called hBTC is created on Sui. To exit, you burn your hBTC and receive the Bitcoin back.

The difference from a classic bridge lies in where the collateral sits. It does not leave the Bitcoin chain. What circulates on Sui is a claim on that locked holding.

The multisignature vault: who holds the keys to the deposited Bitcoin

A vault with several keys is safer than one with a single key. It is not the same as self-custody, though. As long as your Bitcoin sits there, control over it is no longer yours alone; you share it with the parties managing the remaining keys.

That is the central trade-off in every collateralised loan on a crypto basis, and it holds regardless of the provider. For a general grounding, the mechanics behind interest rates and risks are set out in our comparison of lending providers. It also lists the questions worth putting to a provider before handing over a balance.

BitGo, Anchorage Digital and Ledger: the partners behind the launch

The firms involved include, according to the available reports, BitGo, Bullish, Cumberland, FalconX and Ledger. Anchorage Digital is likewise named as a launch partner. These are names from the institutional part of the industry: custodians, trading houses, market makers.

That line-up explains where the capital commitments come from. At the same time, the list tells you who Hashi is primarily aimed at. A network whose launch partners are trading desks and custodians is built for professional counterparties first, not for a private portfolio.

Aftermath, Concrete and Fluid: who is to operate the Hashi vaults

The vaults themselves, meaning the pools from which loans are issued, are to be operated by separate providers. Aftermath, Concrete and Fluid are named. In practice that means Hashi lays the rails and others run on them.

For you that has a consequence which is easily missed: the terms of a loan, meaning the collateralisation ratio, the interest rate and the threshold for forced liquidation, are set by the respective vault operator and not by the network. No figures on these are publicly available at launch.

Certora and CommonPrefix: what the two security reviews cover

Two reviews are documented. Certora examined the smart contracts, meaning the program code executed on Sui. CommonPrefix reviewed the MPC cryptography. MPC stands for multi-party computation, a procedure in which several participants compute jointly without revealing their respective key shares.

An audit is a snapshot of the code reviewed. It evidences that specialists have looked, and it is no promise that nothing will happen in live operation. This year's events have shown in several places that gaps can also appear at the seams between audited components.

A trillion dollars of idle Bitcoin: the market Sui is aiming at

Sui justifies the venture with an estimate of its own: around a trillion dollars in Bitcoin lies unused, without working in financial applications. The number is the provider's assumption about the size of the market, not a measured sum.

The thought behind it is sound. Bitcoin generates no yield of its own. There is no staking in the protocol, no interest from the chain itself. Every form of return on Bitcoin arises because somebody else pays for it, and with that comes counterparty risk.

Borrowing against it instead of selling: the holding period under section 23 EStG

In Germany, the holding period decides the tax treatment of privately held crypto assets. Under section 23 of the Income Tax Act, a gain from a private disposal transaction is tax-free where more than a year lies between purchase and sale. Sell before that and the gain is taxed at your personal rate.

This is precisely where the appeal of a loan against Bitcoin lies: no sale takes place, so the period runs on. Whether that holds in every case depends on the details of the construction. Where the collateral is liquidated, that is a disposal with all its tax consequences. The question of whether locking Bitcoin and issuing a different token is to be treated as a swap for tax purposes also has no blanket answer in such models.

Nobody on the internet will give you reliable advice on this; your tax adviser will, looking at your case. That is no empty phrase: for a product a few days old, no settled administrative practice on this question exists yet.

Liquidation risk: when the price pushes collateral below the threshold

A collateralised loan works as long as the collateral is worth enough. Should the Bitcoin price fall, the value of the security sinks while the debt stays the same. Once the ratio drops below an agreed threshold, the collateral is sold in whole or in part to cover the debt.

That is the point at which an idea meant to avoid a sale turns into a forced sale, and typically at the worst possible moment. Bitcoin has lost 1.76 percent over the past seven days and therefore sits in a quiet phase. That has been different several times over the course of the year.

Authorisation in Europe: MiCA covers trading, not lending

Since the European regulation on markets in crypto assets, MiCA for short, providers of certain services need authorisation. These include trading, custody and the exchange of crypto assets for customers. Issuing loans against crypto assets is not in that catalogue.

One practical consequence for you follows. With an authorised exchange you can look the permission up in a register. With a lending offer on a blockchain there is usually no such checkpoint, and no deposit guarantee either. The protection you take for granted with a bank product is absent here.

Custody: hBTC on Sui is a claim, not your Bitcoin

A token representing a locked holding is economically something other than the holding itself. It depends on the lock holding, on key management working, and on the redemption route staying open. Should one of those elements fail, the token on the other chain will not help you.

If you want to keep your Bitcoin balance permanently outside constructions of this kind, there is no way around holding it yourself. Which devices are suitable for that, and how they differ, is set out in our overview of hardware wallets.

SUI at $1.14: the token carries the network, not the loan

Hashi runs on Sui, so the question of the chain's token arises. SUI trades on Sunday at $1.14, or €1.016. The token pays for transactions in the network and secures it. It is neither the collateral nor the currency of the loan.

A common short circuit runs: more activity on a chain automatically means a higher price for its token. That relationship is not documented. What a phased launch in October brings in actual transaction volume can only be measured once it has run.

What remains open: terms and starting liquidity

Three things are not public as matters stand. First, the terms of the individual vaults, meaning collateralisation ratio, interest rate and liquidation threshold. Second, the liquidity genuinely available on day one. Third, the precise schedule by which the October phases follow one another.

As long as those details are missing, the offer cannot be compared with an existing credit product. Wait until the terms are published and you miss nothing that could not be caught up on later.

Bitcoin loans on Sui: $500 million is committed, not deposited

The news is the launch, not the finished product. Three steps make sense if the topic concerns you:

1. Check authorisation before moving a balance. For every provider where you buy or hold crypto assets, the permission can be looked up. Which houses are authorised in Europe is shown in our overview of regulated crypto exchanges.
2. Settle the custody question. Bitcoin locked as collateral is no longer in your hands alone. For the holding that is meant to stay with you, our hardware wallet comparison is worth a look.
3. Document the holding period. When you bought decides the tax. Keep acquisition dates in order and you can evidence the one-year period; the tax tools and portfolio trackers help with that.

(As of October 11, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)