Kraken and onchain asset manager Maple have launched a digital asset-backed lending facility designed to bring institutional structured credit infrastructure onto blockchain rails.
The USDC-denominated warehouse facility will fund Kraken’s over-the-counter lending business, allowing institutional clients to borrow against Bitcoin and Ether holdings without selling their assets. The structure uses a bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle (SPV), with Kraken Financial acting as custodian of the collateral.
The companies said the facility replicates protections widely used in traditional asset-backed lending markets, including senior financing, independent administration, and bankruptcy remoteness.
Maple provides senior capital, while Kraken retains exposure within the capital structure to align incentives.
“For the first time, the infrastructure behind traditional asset-backed credit markets has been adapted to a fully onchain environment,” said Sidney Powell, CEO and co-founder of Maple.
Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the facility gives institutions and crypto holders access to liquidity without having to liquidate their digital assets.
The facility also provides Maple lenders with overcollateralized yields backed by Bitcoin and Ether, with collateral balances and loan performance recorded onchain.
Earlier this month, Kraken introduced tokenized U.S. equities for eligible international clients through a partnership with Backed Finance. The exchange also added ChatGPT, Grok, and Claude integrations, allowing clients to connect live brokerage accounts for portfolio analysis and AI-assisted trade instruction generation.
