Crypto exchange Kraken has launched Flexline, a crypto-backed loan product that allows Kraken Pro users to borrow against their digital asset holdings without selling them.
According to Wednesday’s announcement, the fixed-rate loans carry terms ranging from two days to two years, with proceeds issued in crypto or stablecoins that can be traded on the platform or withdrawn, depending on regional eligibility.
The company describes its eponymous product as “geared toward beginners and individual investors, while Kraken Pro is for advanced and institutional traders.”
Using Flexline, customers can post supported cryptocurrencies as collateral and receive funds almost instantly. Annual percentage rates range from 10% to 25%, according to Kraken’s website, though the exchange did not disclose specific loan-to-value ratios.
Collateral is held in segregated wallets and included in Kraken’s Proof of Reserves attestations, which the exchange says verify client assets on a 1:1 basis. Collateral may be liquidated if maintenance requirements are breached or the loan reaches maturity without repayment.
Source: Kraken
Kraken said loans can be repaid early using an account balance, but are subject to an early repayment fee. The product is not available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom or the United States.
The new features come a day after Kraken announced tokenized equity perpetual futures on its regulated derivatives platform, giving eligible non-US clients 24/7 leveraged exposure to major US stock indexes, gold and individual companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Tesla.
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Crypto-backed lending gains momentum across exchanges, DeFi and traditional finance
Kraken’s launch comes amid a broader resurgence in crypto-collateralized lending across exchanges, decentralized finance and even traditional financial institutions.
Coinbase recently expanded its collateralized loan product to support additional digital assets, allowing eligible US users to borrow up to $100,000 in $USDC ($USDC) against tokens including $XRP ($XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA) and Litecoin (LTC) without selling.
Source: Coinbase
Outside the exchange sector, US mortgage lender Rate introduced RateFi, a program that enables qualified borrowers to use verified cryptocurrency holdings to meet underwriting requirements without liquidating their assets, permitting digital assets to count as reserves and, in some cases, income.
Meanwhile, decentralized lending markets continue to scale. DeFi lending protocols hold about $51.9 billion in total value locked (TVL), with about $30.8 billion actively borrowed, according to DefiLlama data.
Aave accounts for nearly half of that total with just under $26.9 billion in TVL, followed by Morpho protocol at around $5.8 billion.
Onchain lending protocols. Source: DefiLlama
Institutional capital is also moving deeper into the niche. On Feb. 15, Apollo Global Management partnered with Morpho to support blockchain-based lending infrastructure, with the $940 billion asset manager saying it could acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens as part of the collaboration.
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