Coinbase creates crypto lending service for institutional clients: CoinDesk

Quick Take

Coinbase has raised $57 million for a new crypto-lending platform aimed at servicing institutional customers.
Users will be able to lend Coinbase capital that the cryptocurrency exchange can then turn around and lend to institutional clients, CoinDesk reported, citing an anonymous source.

Coinbase has raised $57 million for a new crypto lending service, CoinDesk reported, citing both a Securities and Exchange Commission filing and an anonymous source.

The U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange plans to borrow primarily crypto assets from customers and then turn around and lend it to "institutional trading clients," according to the report.

The proposed platform is unlike the retail lending program Coinbase cancelled in 2021, said the report.

"With this service, institutions can choose to lend digital assets to Coinbase under standardized terms in a product that qualifies for a Regulation D exemption," a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk in a statement.

Coinbase working to 'update the financial system'

"Coinbase is working to update the financial system that was built over 100 years ago, leveraging crypto to provide people with more economic freedom and opportunity," it continued.

Coinbase's plan to lend crypto to institutional clients comes in the wake of Genesis and BlockFi's troubled efforts in providing crypto-lending services.