Bitcoin-Backed Bonds Debut on Wall Street
Bitcoin-backed bonds have made their debut in the Wall Street asset-backed securities (ABS) market, raising $188 million. Ledn, a crypto lending platform, sold bonds tied to Bitcoin-collateralized consumer loans to institutional fixed-income investors.
The deal, which marked the first time Bitcoin-backed loans were packaged into rated bonds and sold to these investors, was structured through Ledn Issuer Trust 2026-1. This trust pools short-term, fixed-rate balloon loans extended to U.S. borrowers, with the loans secured by 4,078.87 Bitcoin held as collateral.
According to preliminary documentation from S&P Global Ratings, dated Feb. 9, the senior Class A notes were assigned a rating of BBB-, while the subordinated Class B notes received a rating of B-. The investment-grade tranche was priced at a spread of roughly 335 basis points over a benchmark rate.
Bitcoin's inclusion in this traditional ABS structure signals that major financial institutions increasingly view it as legitimate collateral, said Andre Dragosch, head of research Europe at Bitwise. He pointed to JPMorgan's own Bitcoin-backed loan offerings as further evidence of this trend.