In Largest-ever NFT-backed Loan, 101 CryptoPunks Put Up as Collateral

Blockworks Exclusive: The loan has an APR of 10% with a 30-day duration

article-image

Source: MetaStreet

share
  • The loan was completed by NFT liquidity scaling startup MetaStreet on lending platform NFTfi
  • “By having an active borrowing and lending market [in NFTs], you create productive assets that are otherwise viewed as unproductive,” Conor Moore, co-founder of MetaStreet, told Blockworks

In what has been billed as the largest-ever NFT-backed loan, an anonymous borrower just took out an $8 million loan collateralized by their collection of 101 CryptoPunks.

The loan has an APR of 10% and a 30-day duration. It was facilitated by liquidity scaling solution MetaStreet on peer-to-peer lending platform NFTfi.

The financing is seen by industry participants as a bellwether of the future of lending secured by digital collectibles — a market expected to grow as institutional interest in the sector continues to build.

Conor Moore, co-founder and chief operating officer of MetaStreet, told Blockworks the loan is “orders of magnitude larger” than previous NFT (non-fungible token) financing. MetaStreet helped to complete another record-breaking loan last year — a $1.42 million loan collateralized by an Autoglyph.

Moore did not disclose the identity of the borrower, who he referred to as “whale,” or someone who holds large amounts of cryptocurrency.

MetaStreet, which has eight full-time employees, secured $3 million in seed financing and $11 million in initial protocol liquidity earlier this year. The firm provides a layer of financial infrastructure to NFTs, specifically lending protocols such as NFTfi and Arcade.

“It’s sort of like how Fannie Mae works in the US housing market. You’ve got a big aggregation vehicle through which originators can sell loans that then get batched up and split into different tranches,” Moore said. “Those different tranches allow for more optimal capital efficiency.”

NFT collectors, co-founder and CEO of MetaStreet David Choi said, want to free up capital more efficiently and don’t want their cryptoassets to accumulate “virtual dust.”

“I think [NFT] borrowing markets will just grow bigger and bigger, which means its purchasing power will increase,” Choi said. “It’s like instead of putting all of your money into buying a house, you get a mortgage, which means you don’t have to pay that 90% until later. [With MetaStreet], I think we’re extending the purchasing power of the entire industry.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (1).jpg

Research

As AI supercharges surveillance, privacy becomes a prerequisite and the winning stack will combine confidentiality with selective disclosure. Zcash’s Tachyon, composable standards on Ethereum/Solana, and compliance-aware pools aim to make private rails the new norm.

article-image

The derivatives giant will extend futures and options access to round-the-clock trading in early 2026

by Blockworks /
article-image

Global fiber network goes live as SEC clears 2Z token for utility use

by Blockworks /
article-image

The SPAC transaction positions Avalanche Treasury Co. as a Nasdaq-listed vehicle for institutional AVAX exposure by 2026

by Blockworks /
article-image

The collaboration brings regulated money market fund exposure to Polygon, with custody provided by Standard Chartered

by Blockworks /
article-image

FG Nexus teams with Securitize to bring its Nasdaq-listed equity onchain, offering tokenized stock trading through Ethereum

by Blockworks /
article-image

Sponsored

Taiko launches binding onchain governance and appoints three directors with expertise in global regulation, business strategy and blockchain tech

by Sponsored /