- Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald has launched a Bitcoin lending operation with $2 billion in initial financing, partnering with custodians Anchorage Digital and Copper.
- The former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, is now the US Commerce Secretary, highlighting growing connections between traditional finance leaders and cryptocurrency markets.
- This institutional entry comes as the crypto lending sector recovers from multiple high-profile failures, including BlockFi, Celsius, Genesis Global Capital, and Voyager.
Wall Street financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald has officially entered the cryptocurrency lending market, launching a $2 billion Bitcoin financing operation in partnership with digital asset custodians Anchorage Digital and Copper. The move comes after the firm first announced its intentions to develop a Bitcoin lending business in mid-2023.
The initiative gains additional significance as Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald’s former CEO, now serves as the US Commerce Secretary in the current administration. This connection represents another bridge forming between traditional financial leadership and the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
“We are thrilled to partner with Anchorage Digital and Copper, whose industry-leading security solutions will help us deliver best-in-class digital asset custody services to our clients,” stated Michael Cunningham, Head of Bitcoin Financing at Cantor Fitzgerald. “We are launching with $2 billion in initial financing and expect to substantially grow the operation over time.”
Anchorage Digital, a key partner in the venture, holds a unique position as the only federally chartered digital asset bank in the United States. The company received its charter during the final days of the previous Trump administration and has secured approximately $500 million in funding from prominent backers including VISA and KKR. Beyond custody services, Anchorage will also function as collateral manager for Cantor’s Bitcoin lending operations.
“Our partnership marks a major step forward for the Bitcoin financing ecosystem—built on the safety and security of federally regulated digital asset custody,” explained Nathan McCauley, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital. “By combining the best of traditional finance with the best of crypto, we are expanding the horizon of what is possible for institutions in Bitcoin.”
This institutional entry comes at a pivotal moment for cryptocurrency lending, a sector still recovering from numerous high-profile failures. Following the collapse of the Terra stablecoin ecosystem, several major crypto lending platforms faced bankruptcy, including BlockFi, Celsius, Genesis Global Capital, and Voyager. These failures created market gaps that established financial institutions are now beginning to fill.
Unlike these failed startups, Cantor Fitzgerald brings decades of experience in risk management to the cryptocurrency lending space. The firm maintains elite status as one of just 25 primary dealers in US Treasury markets. It already has significant cryptocurrency connections through its largest digital asset client, stablecoin issuer Tether, for whom Cantor manages Treasury collateral. The source of the initial $2 billion Bitcoin financing remains unclear, potentially involving Tether or other institutional partners.
The new Bitcoin lending operation leverages Swiss-headquartered Copper’s custody infrastructure alongside Cantor Fitzgerald’s institutional reputation and Anchorage Digital’s regulatory status to create what appears to be a more resilient approach to cryptocurrency lending than previous market entrants.
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