Thesis, a venture studio launched in 2014, today announced a Bitcoin layer 2 called Mezo, which the company describes as a Bitcoin economic layer. The launch follows a $21 million Series A raise led by Pantera Capital and with participation from Multicoin, Hack VC, and Draper Associates, among others.

Thesis says Mezo is distinct from other L2s because it enables users to access applications that facilitate the use of Bitcoin tokens, promoting a circular Bitcoin economyit can be more than savings technology.

What I think distinguishes an economic layer versus any other chain is that its doing good for Bitcoin both the money and the network. And then, its doing good for individual Bitcoin holders, Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis and founder of Mezo, told Fortune.

Mezo takes the otherwise inert Bitcoin holdings of HODLers and puts them to work, the company said, in a points program called the Proof of HODL. The longer their Bitcoin deposits are stored, the more a contributors HODL score multipliers.

We want to make sure that people that have Bitcoin can actually run this chain, Luongo said, and the longer customers use their tokens with Mezo, the more aligned they become with the chain.

For a users role in securing the network, Mezo provides yieldgiving Bitcoiners something for doing what they would otherwise be doing: HODLing Bitcoin.

Whatever happens on this chain is good for people that hold Bitcoin, and its good for people who use Bitcoin on the chainI think thats key, he explained. Anyone whos ever really touched the asset should be able to earn on their Bitcoin. It shouldnt just be something like a pet rock or something thats sitting on the shelf, you know?

Mezo was built to deepen the capabilities of the Bitcoin infrastructure by aiding cheaper and faster transactions without deviating from the networks foundational principles, the company said in a statement. The permissionless layermeaning a public blockchain with no restrictions nor central administratorleverages a neutral smart contract infrastructure to offer a broader range of applications on the Bitcoin network, the company said.

The layer 2 will go live with ecosystem support from Thesis-built tBTC, which allows for trust-minimized bridging to various ecosystems. Mezo highlights the immense potential of tBTC in making Bitcoin a productive asset, Anjan Vinod, principal at ParaFi Capital, said in a statement.

This feels like a breakthrough moment for Bitcoin as a technology, not just an asset, Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of Pantera Capital, added. The Bitcoin community has been great at holding their Bitcoin for a long time, but theyre also ready to put their assets to work.

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Mezo, a Bitcoin L2 that lets HODLers earn yield, debuts after $21 million Series A led by Pantera - Fortune