Kraken rolled out an on-chain warehouse financing platform for crypto-backed lending, bringing to blockchain infrastructure a funding model that has long been used in auto lending, mortgage finance, and consumer credit markets.
Kraken and asset management firm Maple announced the launch of an on-chain structure for issuing loans backed by digital assets. The platform marked the first blockchain implementation of the structured credit infrastructure widely used across traditional financial markets.
The lending platform is denominated in the USDC stablecoin and is designed to fund Kraken’s over-the-counter (OTC) lending program. Capital is provided through a bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle (SPV) established by Maple. The structure allows cryptocurrency holders to access liquidity without selling their digital assets.
Under the arrangement, Kraken affiliates act as the loan originator, seller, and servicer. They also retain an equity interest in the capital structure to align incentives among transaction participants. Loan collateral is held at Kraken Financial, a Wyoming regulated depository institution and qualified custodian. The SPV is administered by independent firm Zaria.
For Kraken, the platform provides access to a scalable funding facility without increasing its own capital base, allowing the company to expand institutional lending across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
For Maple lenders, the structure offers exposure to senior, overcollateralized debt backed by BTC and ETH. All collateral and loan servicing data is available for real-time on-chain verification.
Maple Co-founder and CEO Sid Powell said the infrastructure underpinning the multi-trillion-dollar asset-backed securities (ABS) market in traditional finance had, for the first time, been fully implemented on-chain. He said the platform replicated the investor protections required by institutional market participants.
Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the platform gives institutional clients and cryptocurrency holders access to liquidity without selling their digital assets, improves capital efficiency, and expands the role of cryptocurrencies within the financial system.
Earlier in 2026, Kraken’s parent company gained direct access to the Federal Reserve System through its regulated banking subsidiary in the U.S.
