Kraken Institutional Partners with Upshift for Custom Institutional Vaults
Kraken Institutional has partnered with Upshift to offer qualified clients permissioned, custom institutional vaults with onchain yield strategies accessible directly through Kraken's custody solution. Assets deployed into vetted strategies are represented by receipt tokens held in segregated custody with no pooling or rehypothecation.
Key Takeaways
- 1## Partnership and Integration Kraken Institutional and Upshift, a multi-chain vault infrastructure provider that raised a $10 million Series A led by Dragonfly in March 2025, have integrated permissioned custom vaults into Kraken's qualified custody offering.
- 2Eligible institutional clients can now deploy assets into vetted onchain yield strategies without opening separate wallets or onboarding additional providers outside the Kraken relationship.
- 3## Custody and Risk Structure Vault positions are represented by receipt tokens held in segregated Kraken custody and valued at their redeemable amount.
- 4The structure involves no pooling or rehypothecation of client assets, preserving segregation typically expected in institutional custody arrangements.
- 5The integration combines qualified custody, prime brokerage, liquidity and execution, and onchain yield access within a single institutional relationship.
Partnership and Integration
Kraken Institutional and Upshift, a multi-chain vault infrastructure provider that raised a $10 million Series A led by Dragonfly in March 2025, have integrated permissioned custom vaults into Kraken's qualified custody offering. Eligible institutional clients can now deploy assets into vetted onchain yield strategies without opening separate wallets or onboarding additional providers outside the Kraken relationship.
Custody and Risk Structure
Vault positions are represented by receipt tokens held in segregated Kraken custody and valued at their redeemable amount. The structure involves no pooling or rehypothecation of client assets, preserving segregation typically expected in institutional custody arrangements. The integration combines qualified custody, prime brokerage, liquidity and execution, and onchain yield access within a single institutional relationship.
Market Context
The partnership addresses institutional demand for yield strategies without requiring customers to fragment their counterparty relationships or custody arrangements. Institutions have increasingly sought integrated platforms that combine execution, custody, and yield-generating opportunities as DeFi has matured.
Why It Matters
For Traders
Institutional traders can now access yield strategies through established custody without operational friction; execution and settlement remain within the Kraken ecosystem.
For Investors
The partnership signals institutional adoption of onchain yield and vault infrastructure; Upshift's funding validates the infrastructure sector's expansion into custody-integrated models.
For Builders
Integration of third-party vault protocols into institutional custody solutions creates a template for how yield infrastructure connects to regulated prime brokers.
