Kraken, Maple launch on-chain warehouse for OTC loans

Kraken is partnering with decentralized lending platform Maple to create an on-chain warehouse facility that will fund the exchange's over-the-counter lending program. The facility will allow institutional and high-net-worth clients to borrow USDC by posting BTC, ETH and other digital assets as collateral. The financing uses a revolving line of funding modeled on asset-backed securities to back crypto-secured loans onchain.

Under the arrangement, Maple will provide senior financing through a bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle designed to protect facility assets if either firm faces financial distress. Kraken will serve as loan originator, seller and servicer and will take a junior, first-loss position to absorb losses before Maple's lenders. Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution, will hold the underlying collateral. Independent administrator Zaria will act as administrative agent for the SPV.

The structure adapts the asset-backed securities model used in auto and mortgage markets to digital-asset collateral, aiming to give institutional participants legal and structural protections similar to traditional finance. Maple chief executive Sidney Powell described the arrangement as bringing long-established ABS infrastructure onchain, saying, “The infrastructure that powers a multi-trillion-dollar ABS market in traditional finance has never existed onchain, until now.”

Kraken expects the warehouse to support its OTC lending business, including Flexline, a crypto-secured lending product launched earlier this year, by providing external capital without requiring the firm to lock large amounts of its balance sheet. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi noted the facility will let institutions and crypto holders access liquidity without selling assets and create new ways for digital assets to be used within the financial system.

Maple lenders, including institutional investors and retail participants via products such as syrupUSDC, will gain exposure to senior, overcollateralized yield backed by BTC and ETH. Because loan and collateral balances are recorded onchain, Maple says lenders will be able to verify collateral levels and loan performance in real time.

Maple was founded in 2019 and focuses on institutional-grade overcollateralized lending and asset management. Kraken's parent company, Payward, filed a confidential S-1 with the SEC in November as part of preparations for a public offering. Kraken previously raised $800 million across two tranches from investors including Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, Tribe Capital and Citadel at a reported $20 billion valuation.