Hex Trust, a leading digital assets financial institution specializing in custody, staking, and market services, today announced expanded support for Stacks (STX) and sBTC, Stacks’ decentralized Bitcoin-backed asset, further cementing its role in advancing Bitcoin DeFi adoption. This development follows Hex Trust’s existing partnership with the Stacks Asia Foundation to integrate Stacks-based assets and DeFi on-ramps.
With Bitcoin holdings highly concentrated in Asian and UAE markets, Hex Trust is uniquely positioned to meet institutional demand in these regions. Clients are increasingly seeking ways to put their Bitcoin to work safely and securely. sBTC has emerged as the ideal solution, offering Bitcoin-denominated yield, unmatched decentralization, and a seamless user experience akin to native Bitcoin. Additionally, institutions can deploy sBTC across leading applications such as Zest, ALEX, and Hermetica, making it a compelling integration for Hex Trust’s clients.
The announcement follows sBTC’s rapid institutional uptake, with major firms like Jump Crypto, UTXO Management, SNZ, and Asymmetric Research joining the ecosystem. These institutions contributed to tripling sBTC’s capacity to 3,000 BTC within 24 hours of the second cap launch, underscoring sBTC’s growing traction as a bridge between Bitcoin and decentralized finance. sBTC’s next milestone is the release of withdrawal functionality in the coming weeks.
“Hex Trust’s support for STX and sBTC aligns with our mission to empower institutional clients with secure, compliant access to Bitcoin’s evolving utility,” said Giorgia Pellizzari, Head of Custody at Hex Trust. “The explosive adoption of sBTC by top-tier institutions reflects its transformative potential to unlock Bitcoin’s value in DeFi.”
Kyle Ellicott, Executive Director at the Stacks Asia Foundation, added: “Hex Trust’s expanded support strengthens the infrastructure for Bitcoin DeFi in Asia and globally. Their integration of sBTC and STX underscores the maturing ecosystem around Bitcoin’s programmable future.”
Founded in 2018, with over $5 billion in assets under custody, Hex Trust provides fully-licensed institutional-grade digital asset financial solutions to over 400 institutional clients. With licenses in key global financial hubs—including Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai—Hex Trust continues to enable safe market access for digital asset investment. The integration of STX and sBTC enhances its offering for clients seeking exposure to Bitcoin Layer-2 innovation and decentralized applications.
About Hex Trust
Established in 2018, Hex Trust offers regulated institutional digital asset custody, staking, and markets services to builders, investors, and service providers. Get access to our comprehensive, secure, and regulated suite of services built on our proprietary and fully integrated infrastructure. For more information, visit Hextrust.com or follow Hex Trust onLinkedIn, X, and Telegram.
About Stacks
Stacks, the leading Bitcoin L2, enables smart contracts and decentralized applications to use Bitcoin as a secure base layer. The Nakamoto release, activated on October 29, 2024, brought faster speeds and transactions that are as irreversible as Bitcoin’s once confirmed. This set the stage for sBTC, a programmable Bitcoin asset, which launched on December 17, 2024. Stacks is the current leading Bitcoin L2 by developer traction and market cap and is helping unlock Bitcoin and its $1T in passive capital as a fully programmable, productive asset. The Stacks (STX) token, used as gas on the L2, was the first to undergo an SEC-qualified sale in the United States. The project explicitly decentralized with the mainnet launch in 2021. In the Stacks ecosystem, there are currently 30+ contributing entities including a non-profit Stacks Foundation, a developer tooling company Hiro, Xverse, Trust Machines, Mechanism, Bitcoin L2 Labs, ALEX, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, and more.
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