Kraken, Maple launch onchain warehouse facility for crypto-backed institutional loans
Kraken and Maple launched an onchain warehouse financing facility for crypto-backed loans, bringing a traditional credit-market structure into institutional digital asset lending. The setup uses a bankruptcy-remote SPV and USDC funding to support Kraken’s OTC lending business. Maple provides senior financing, while Kraken keeps a stake in the transaction, allowing Kraken to scale lending without committing more balance-sheet capital. The facility is designed around Bitcoin- and Ether-backed, senior overcollateralized exposure that can be tracked onchain. Kraken affiliates originate, sell, and service the loans; Kraken Financial holds the collateral; and an independent administrator oversees the SPV. Terms and size were not disclosed. The launch comes as tokenized credit expands rapidly, with market value rising to more than $6.2 billion from about $1.87 billion a year earlier. It also follows broader recovery in crypto lending after the 2022 collapse, as firms rebuild institutional credit infrastructure.
