• Private Beta Was the Real Test
• Unilateral Exit Became the Line in the Sand
• A Credit Line, Not a Fixed Loan
• Rates Still Matter
• Bitcoin 2026 Was the Public Test
• Where We Are Now
• What We’re Building Toward

Private → Public Beta.

Nothing beats proof-of-work.

You ship to real users, listen to the hard questions, and let the product become sharper. That was the journey for Surge over the last few months.

On April 27, 2026, we moved Surge from private beta to public beta at Bitcoin 2026 Las Vegas. We chose that setting intentionally. If Surge was going to meet the market, it had to happen in front of Bitcoiners — the people who ask the hardest questions about custody, security, trust, and what actually happens to their Bitcoin.

Over three days, we spoke with Bitcoiners, builders, lenders, investors, and users who want dollar liquidity without selling their Bitcoin. The biggest signal was not just that people liked the product. It was that they understood why it needed to exist.

§Private Beta Was the Real Test

Surge opened its private beta waitlist on October 31, 2025. We saw 100+ signups on day one, then tested the product with Bitcoiners from Presidio Bitcoin, early supporters, and close user circles.

On December 15, we opened it to a broader group of waitlist users. That is when the real feedback started.

The first questions were not about UI. They were about the security model.

Who can move the Bitcoin? What happens if Surge disappears? How does the signer network work? Can the borrower recover collateral if coordination fails? Is the Bitcoin actually segregated on-chain, or is it just represented inside an app?

That skepticism was not friction. It was the right response.

Bitcoiners have seen enough custodial lenders, wrapped Bitcoin systems, and opaque yield products to know that vague security language is not enough. If a product says “non-custodial,” the failure mode has to be clear.

§Unilateral Exit Became the Line in the Sand

Private beta pushed us to make the failure mode explicit.

If Surge stops functioning as expected, the borrower should still have a defined path to recover their Bitcoin after a time lock. That became the core idea behind unilateral exit.

For us, this became a line in the sand: if there is no unilateral exit, it is not truly non-custodial Bitcoin credit.

This was not just a messaging change. It shaped the Bitcoin-side design, signer coordination, lender protection, and the way we explain Surge to users.

§A Credit Line, Not a Fixed Loan

The second major learning was that the credit line model mattered.

Most Bitcoin-backed lending products still feel like fixed loans. Borrow a fixed amount, for a fixed term, repay under fixed conditions.

Surge works differently. Users can activate a credit line against their Bitcoin, draw only what they need, repay when they want, and reuse the line again.

That flexibility matters because most Bitcoiners are not trying to maximize leverage. They want optionality. They want access to dollars when needed, without selling Bitcoin or starting a new loan every time.

We saw this in beta. Users started small, drew credit, repaid, and came back.

That reuse pattern told us the credit line model is not just a nicer label. It changes behavior.

§Rates Still Matter

Security and custody were the hardest questions, but rates mattered too.

Private beta users were clear that Bitcoin-backed credit cannot become a serious market if borrowing remains too expensive.

Surge responded with a multi-market structure under one borrower interface: variable-rate credit driven by utilization and fixed-rate credit for users who want predictability.

During early public beta, average borrowing APR has been around 6.5%, with fixed-rate credit currently available at 9.9%.

Lower rates alone are not enough. But lower rates combined with verifiable collateral, zero rehypothecation, and unilateral exit create a different kind of Bitcoin credit product.

§Bitcoin 2026 Was the Public Test

By the time we launched at Bitcoin 2026, these private beta learnings had shaped the product.

At the booth, people compared Surge directly against other Bitcoin lending products. The feedback we heard repeatedly was that Surge was one of the few products that could clearly explain how the Bitcoin is actually stored and how the system behaves if things go wrong.

Some visitors opened Taproot collateral addresses on block explorers of their choice.

That was the moment the pitch became verification.

Bitcoiners borrow against Bitcoin because they do not want to sell it. But they also do not want to hand it into a black box. The product has to respect that instinct.

That is what Surge is built for.

§Where We Are Now

Since public beta, Surge has reached up to 8 BTC in locked collateral, with Bitcoiners actively borrowing against it.

The iOS and Android apps are live globally. Our new website is live. We are continuing to improve the product based on real user behavior.

Public beta is the next starting point.

Over the next 90 days, we are focused on moving toward full public launch, expanding the Distributed Custody Network with more reputed and aligned signers, completing the next phase of audits, and working with distribution partners who see Surge not just as an app, but as infrastructure for Bitcoin-backed credit.

§What We’re Building Toward

Bitcoin-backed credit should feel more like Bitcoin and less like a bank.

That means users should not have to wonder where their Bitcoin is. They should not have to accept rehypothecation as the default. They should not have to choose between liquidity and sovereignty.

Surge exists to rebuild Bitcoin credit around better principles: verifiable collateral, zero rehypothecation, transparent markets, unilateral exit, and self-custodial access to dollar credit.

Private beta gave us the proof-of-work.

Public beta is where we keep building