Citrea Launches Mainnet - Enabling Bitcoin to Be Used for Lending, Trading, and USD Settlement

Founders Fund-backed Bitcoin platform, Citrea, unveils  Bitcoin-secured application platform, unlocking institutional and worldwide access to Bitcoin-denominated markets

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Citrea, the Bitcoin application platform backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, announced the launch of its mainnet, enabling capital market activity directly on the Bitcoin network. Citrea also has gone live with ctUSD, its U.S dollar-denominated stablecoin issued by MoonPay and powered by M0, designed to align with the forthcoming GENIUS Act guidelines. Together, the Citrea mainnet and ctUSD provide an institutional-grade USD settlement and liquidity layer for Bitcoin-based financial activity.

Despite Bitcoin's roughly $1.3 trillion market capitalization, on-chain data shows that more than 61 per cent of BTC, has not moved in over a year, highlighting the scale of capital that remains economically idle due to the lack of native application infrastructure.

"Bitcoin is the world's largest digital asset, yet its role in financial markets has been largely constrained. As demand for Bitcoin exposure grows, much of that activity remains off-chain, relying on intermediaries," said Orkun Kilic, co-founder and CEO of Chainway Labs, the company building Citrea. "By bringing Bitcoin-secured financial applications on-chain, the Citrea mainnet enables capital to be deployed, managed, and settled directly within Bitcoin-native markets. Native settlement through ctUSD provides the bridge to fiat systems, supporting use cases such as BTC-backed lending and institutional credit."

Citrea developed its lending infrastructure in collaboration with leading DeFi participants, including Morpho and UltraYield by Edge Capital. Citrea's native offerings will leverage on-chain and off-chain strategies from premier digital asset institutions like Keyrock to deliver safe, transparent, BTC yields.

"Citrea is addressing a huge market opportunity in helping to make Bitcoin truly programmable, a feature the asset has historically lacked in a scalable way," said Bridget Harris, Associate at Founders Fund. "In building both developer-focused and user-facing products which leverage Bitcoin's security, Citrea fundamentally scales the Bitcoin economy as a whole."

"Citrea enables deeper, more native engagement with BTC by bringing capital markets, stablecoin liquidity, and application infrastructure directly onto Bitcoin," said Will Nuelle, General Partner of Galaxy Ventures. "By making Bitcoin a more active financial asset, Citrea strengthens its role within global financial systems and expands the ways institutions and users can securely build on top of the network."

Citrea's approach has meaningful implications for long-term demand, miner incentives, and how institutions engage with Bitcoin. Citrea enables institutions to pursue more capital-efficient strategies with greater control and flexibility than off-chain venues. As block subsidies decline over time, Citrea aligns network security with real economic usage. 

The Citrea mainnet and ctUSD are now live. Learn more at citrea.xyz

About Citrea  

Citrea is the Bitcoin application layer, enabling institutions and users to access Bitcoin capital markets. The platform aims to expand Bitcoin's financial utility while remaining anchored to the network's security model. Citrea is backed by investors including Founders Fund, Galaxy, Maven 11, Delphi Digital, Erik Voorhees, Balaji Srinivasan and more. 

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