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- July 15, 2025
Hemi Takes Bitcoin From Cold Storage to Hot Yields
Programmable Bitcoin on Hemi could reshape our concept of the best self-custody model by unlocking secure, non-custodial DeFi yields.

There was a time when it made sense to advocate for the cold storage of Bitcoin. As a self-custody solution, cold storage is as robust as options come, and serves as an effective alternative to potentially insecure hot wallets.
Before Hemi, there may not have been a reason to activate Bitcoin locked in cold storage. Bitcoin was a payment system, a store of value that offered speculative benefits, but not much beyond that.
Fast forward. Today, Hemi has introduced a rapidly expanding programmable Bitcoin ecosystem that unlocks Bitcoin’s potential in a growing DeFi ecosystem. With Hemi, Bitcoin goes from a speculative asset to one that maintains its store of value while generating additional passive returns. Already, over $1 billion in TVL is active in Hemi’s growing DeFi ecosystem.
Exposure To Yield, Not Risk
Bringing Bitcoin to Hemi from cold storage is simple, secure, and non-custodial. Hemi doesn’t sacrifice security to activate BTC. It features native trust-minimized tunnels, allowing BTC to be transferred to the network without central parties in control or wrappers, maintaining control and security of any assets ported through.
Once on Hemi, BTC becomes more than its held value. It’s possible to use BTC in ways that were never before possible, earning in lending markets, contributing to liquidity pools, and in crosschain dApps able to connect directly to both Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems. The world of DeFi was once cut off from the asset that started it all, the one with the longest unbroken chain of secure transactions, and which holds the greatest store of value. Not anymore.
Take advantage of high APR and collect daily rewards by joining the Hemi Merkl campaign and providing liquidity to BTC-backed trading pairs:
Supply liquidity to SushiSwap V3 (WETH / hemiBTC) | APR: 44.59% | TVL: $54.13K | Daily Reward: $66.13 |
Supply liquidity to SushiSwap V3 (hemiBTC / USDC.e) | APR: 79.19% | TVL: $22.35K | Daily Reward: $48.50 |
Supply liquidity to SushiSwap V3 (hemiBTC / satUSD) | APR: 96.47% | TVL: $15.11K | Daily Reward: $39.94 |
You can also earn additional Hemi Points while racking up yields on BTC-backed assets across the Hemi ecosystem. Provide liquidity for hemiBTC or bfBTC on Spectra to receive retroactive rewards. Boost pools such as hemiBTC/USDC.e, hemiBTC/ETH, bfBTC/msBTC, and hemiBTC/satUSD on protocols including Sushi, oku, iZUMi, and DODO.
Check the Hemi Absinthe and Hemi Merkl dashboards often to see the full list of opportunities to stack Hemi Points, BTC yield, and daily rewards.
Hemi Doubles Down on Bitcoin’s Security
Hemi goes further than most networks when it comes to securing consensus, ensuring that no malicious actors can co-opt the system. It uses a hybrid Proof-of-Proof (PoP) protocol that inscribes hashed transaction data roots onto Bitcoin blocks. In the near term, Hemi uses an optimistic Proof-of-Stake mechanism to provide initial finality for transactions. Meanwhile, Hemi’s native awareness of Bitcoin’s state allows the network to monitor for published roots. When a block with those roots reaches sufficient confirmations, Hemi achieves superfinality, where reversing the network’s history would require the attacker to overpower Bitcoin and Hemi simultaneously.
As Hemi enables the conversion of inactive Bitcoin from storage to an earning asset, it also upholds the core tenets of decentralization that make Bitcoin resilient, right down to consensus design. Wherever possible, Hemi reinforces security while expanding possibilities with Bitcoin programmability.
Hemi is Bitcoin’s Best Option
Once, cold storage might have been the best option for Bitcoin. But now that Hemi provides seamless access to a vibrant Bitcoin-enabled DeFi ecosystem, without compromising its integrity.
Don’t let Bitcoin sit idle and accrue an opportunity cost in the gains that could be earned through Hemi’s growing BTCFi ecosystem. Now is the time to put Bitcoin to work.