Centrifuge, a blockchain startup focused on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, has launched a new institutional lending marketplace in collaboration with crypto exchange Coinbase and lending firm Morpho.
Tokenization Pioneer Centrifuge Opens Institutional Lending Market with Coinbase and Morpho
The marketplace will operate on Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network Base and will utilize three U.S. Treasury-backed assets tokenized for collateral.
This lending platform combines Coinbase’s Base network and Morpho Vaults with Centrifuge’s Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund (LTF), Midas Short Term US Treasuries (mTBILL), and Hashnote’s US Yield Coin (USYC) tokenized Treasury bonds.
The market aims to provide institutions with a streamlined way to collateralize and borrow against these assets.
Tokenizing traditional financial instruments like Treasury bonds on blockchains has gained traction in recent years, and Centrifuge has been a pioneer in this space since 2017.
The startup initially faced challenges with low liquidity when experimenting with RWA markets on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms like Aave.
However, the introduction of more liquid assets such as short-term Treasury bonds has made lending markets like these increasingly viable.
“With Morpho, this RWA market is meant to provide utility to these tokens,” Centrifuge co-founder Lucas Vogelsang said in an interview.
“If you have a Treasury bond and you need access to USDC for a short period of time, you can get that liquidity instantly without having to redeem the underlying asset or go through a complicated process,” he said.
This initiative marks the first time a permissioned lending marketplace has used Coinbase Verifications, allowing users to self-prove that they have completed Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements through Coinbase, following the Ethereum Verification Standard.
*This is not investment advice.