S&P Global Ratings introduced Vault Risk Assessment (VRA), a new framework for independently assessing risks associated with on-chain digital asset vaults, aimed at improving transparency in the segment for institutional investors.
The S&P Global division launched Vault Risk Assessment (VRA), an analytical framework designed to assess risks associated with digital asset credit vaults. The methodology is intended to provide institutional market participants with a standardized, forward-looking tool for analyzing these on-chain structures.
Credit vaults are pooled investment vehicles that operate directly on blockchain networks. They aggregate depositors’ funds and allocate capital according to a predefined strategy. Investors receive share tokens representing their proportional claims on the vault’s assets and accrued returns. In economic terms, these structures can perform some of the functions of traditional money market funds, private credit funds, private equity funds, and hedge funds, but within an on-chain environment.
According to S&P Global Ratings, total deposits in digital asset credit vaults increased more than 6.6 times over the past 2 years, from $1.5 billion in September 2024 to $10 billion in September 2026.
VRA assesses the relative risk of deterioration in an investor’s position in a credit vault. The resulting assessment isn’t an S&P Global Ratings credit rating and doesn’t indicate the level of returns offered by a specific product.
The methodology analyzes 6 main categories of risk:
credit quality of portfolio assets;
asset and liability liquidity mismatches;
risks associated with the vault curator;
blockchain network risks;
risks associated with the protocols used;
vault security and governance quality.
S&P Global Ratings noted that the transparency of blockchain networks makes it possible to track transactions and the status of assets at a given point in time. However, disclosure around strategies and their associated risks remains inconsistent. VRA is intended to complement transactional transparency with a standardized assessment of the overall risk profile.
Analysts expect institutional investors to use the new tool when selecting on-chain products and developing investment oversight procedures.
VRA isn’t S&P Global’s only tool for the digital asset market. The company previously launched its on-chain Stablecoin Stability Assessments service, which provides real-time assessments of stablecoin stability. The analytics company is also actively integrating traditional market indexes with blockchain infrastructure. S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko tokenized the iBoxx U.S. Treasuries index family, while Dinari, with the participation of S&P DJI, launched a project to tokenize the S&P Digital Markets 50, which combines shares of blockchain companies and digital assets. In July 2026, S&P DJI and Pantera Capital also introduced a digital asset index aimed at institutional investors.
