Anchorage Digital launches institutional borrowing structure on the Solana blockchain in the United States allowing firms to unlock liquidity from staked SOL without leaving regulated custody

There’s always been a quiet standoff between traditional finance and decentralized finance.

Big institutions want yield and liquidity, but they also need strict custody controls and regulatory clarity.

DeFi, on the other hand, runs on smart contracts and self-custody — not exactly the comfort zone of federally regulated banks.

Now, Anchorage Digital says it has found a workaround.

In a newly announced partnership with Kamino and Solana Company, the crypto bank is rolling out a structure that allows institutions to borrow against staked Solana — without moving those assets out of regulated custody.

That detail matters more than it might sound at first glance.

Borrowing Without Letting Go

Here’s the friction point this deal is trying to solve: Traditionally, if an institution wanted to use crypto as collateral in a DeFi lending market, it had to transfer assets into a smart contract.

For regulated firms, that’s often a non-starter.

Under the new framework, institutions can stake their SOL, keep it safely parked at Anchorage Digital Bank — a federally chartered crypto bank — and still use that staked position as collateral to borrow onchain through Kamino.

In other words, they don’t have to choose between earning staking rewards and accessing liquidity. They can do both.

Anchorage acts as the collateral manager, monitoring loan-to-value ratios, managing margin calls and handling liquidations if necessary.

The assets stay in segregated custody rather than being directly deposited into a DeFi protocol’s smart contract.

For compliance-focused institutions, that structural tweak could remove a major psychological and regulatory hurdle.

Why Solana Is at the Center of This

The arrangement leans heavily on the Solana ecosystem.

Solana Company — described as the second-largest SOL-based digital asset treasury — is playing a key role in the rollout.

The firm reportedly holds around 2.3 million SOL, according to CoinGecko data.

Solana has spent the past two years rebuilding credibility after the 2022 market turmoil that followed the collapse of FTX, which had been one of its most vocal backers.

Since then, the network has regained developer momentum and seen renewed institutional curiosity, partly because of its speed and lower transaction costs compared to Ethereum.

Kamino, built on Solana, has grown into one of the network’s more prominent DeFi lending protocols, offering automated liquidity strategies and collateralized borrowing markets.

By plugging Anchorage’s institutional custody layer into that system, the trio is effectively building a compliance-friendly doorway into onchain credit.

The Bigger Institutional Play

This move isn’t happening in isolation.

Large asset managers, hedge funds and crypto-native treasuries have increasingly looked for ways to put digital assets to work rather than simply holding them.

Staking offers yield, but it also locks up liquidity.

DeFi lending unlocks liquidity, but often at the cost of custodial control.

Anchorage’s Atlas collateral management platform — which this integration expands — aims to sit in the middle.

It’s part of a broader trend where crypto infrastructure firms are trying to wrap DeFi mechanics inside structures that look and feel more like traditional finance.

For institutions, the pitch is simple: Keep your assets under regulated oversight, continue earning yield, and access borrowing markets without diving fully into permissionless smart contracts.

Regulation Still Looms Large

Of course, all of this is unfolding under a cloud of regulatory uncertainty in the United States.

Lawmakers are still debating how decentralized finance should be treated.

At the heart of that debate is the proposed CLARITY Act, a bill designed to define jurisdictional boundaries and regulatory standards for digital assets and DeFi protocols.

Supporters argue the legislation could reduce confusion about whether the SEC or CFTC oversees various digital asset activities.

Critics, particularly in the DeFi community, say earlier drafts failed to clearly distinguish between centralized intermediaries and decentralized protocols.

Amendments introduced in January added further complexity, and industry groups have warned that without clearer language, developers and governance participants in decentralized systems could face unintended legal exposure.

Amid the stalemate, the Trump administration recently convened industry representatives to discuss unresolved provisions, particularly around DeFi oversight and broader market structure.

For companies like Anchorage, Kamino and Solana Company, regulatory clarity could either accelerate adoption — or reshape these structures entirely.

Why This Structure Could Matter

If successful, the model could become a template.

The ability to borrow against staked assets without relinquishing custody could appeal not only to SOL holders but potentially to institutions holding other proof-of-stake assets in the future.

It lowers operational risk while preserving capital efficiency — two boxes that institutional allocators care deeply about.

It also highlights a subtle shift: DeFi is no longer being pitched purely as an alternative to traditional finance.

Instead, it’s increasingly being engineered to plug directly into it.

What’s Next?

In the short term, attention will likely focus on adoption.

Will institutional treasuries and funds actually use this structure at scale?

Market conditions will play a role. If SOL prices remain stable or rise, borrowing against staked assets becomes more attractive.

If volatility spikes, collateral management and liquidation mechanisms will be stress-tested.

Longer term, the fate of the CLARITY Act — and broader U.S. digital asset regulation — could significantly influence how widely such hybrid models are adopted.

Clear rules may open the door to more banks and asset managers.

Ongoing uncertainty could slow momentum.

Either way, this partnership signals that institutional DeFi experimentation is no longer theoretical.

It’s happening — carefully, and with compliance officers watching closely.

Summary

Anchorage Digital has teamed up with Kamino and Solana Company to let institutions borrow against staked SOL while keeping assets inside regulated custody at Anchorage Digital Bank.

The structure allows investors to earn staking rewards and access DeFi liquidity simultaneously, with Anchorage overseeing collateral management.

The initiative reflects growing institutional interest in decentralized finance but arrives amid regulatory uncertainty in the U.S., where lawmakers are still debating the scope of oversight under the proposed CLARITY Act.

If adopted widely, the model could help bridge the longstanding gap between traditional finance infrastructure and onchain lending markets.