Spark pushes DeFi stablecoin liquidity into institutional crypto lending

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Spark is expanding access to its $9 billion stablecoin liquidity pool to institutional markets through two new offerings: Spark Prime and Spark Institutional Lending. These products aim to bridge on-chain capital with off-chain borrowers, such as hedge funds and trading firms, who operate under traditional compliance requirements. Spark Prime introduces a margin lending model allowing collateral deployment across centralized exchanges, DeFi venues, and custodians under a unified risk framework powered by Arkis' engine. Spark Institutional Lending caters to firms preferring fully custodial participation, enabling borrowing against collateral held in regulated custodians like Anchorage Digital. According to Sam MacPherson, co-founder of Spark's core contributor Phoenix Labs, this move formalizes previous institutional support and addresses the larger, estimated $33 billion off-chain crypto lending market by maintaining overcollateralized loans for enhanced safety.

(Source：CoinDesk)