Clearpool’s KYC-compliant marketplace lands on Optimism

Whitelisted borrowers on Clearpool Prime’s private credit marketplace will have visibility to counterparty names and terms

article-image

WindAwake/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks

share

Clearpool has launched its institutional credit marketplace, Clearpool Prime, on Ethereum rollup Optimism. 

Clearpool Prime aims to tap into the $1.4 trillion traditional private credit market, and bring it on-chain. 

All participants who wish to use Clearpool Prime will be mandated to participate in KYC through Securitize ID and AML checks.

According to Jakob Kronbichler the CEO and co-founder of Clearpool, all transactions on Clearpool Prime are on-chain, but only whitelisted borrowers can have visibility into counterparty names and terms. 

“This approach guarantees the transparency of the ecosystem while maintaining a high level of privacy for participants. Additionally, Clearpool Prime routes flows of assets into counterparties’ wallets, minimizing smart contract risks and enhancing security,” Kronbichler said. 

The team notes that 50% of the revenue generated from Clearpool Prime through loans on its marketplace will be allocated to the purchase and burn CPOOL, the protocol’s native token, and the remaining 50% will be allocated to the Clearpool Treasury. 

Clearpool claims over 457 million loans have originated from its platform. DeFiLlama data shows that the protocol currently has a TVL of $44 million and CPOOL has a market cap of $26 million.

The first loan on Clearpool Prime was initiated by Portofino Technologies (borrower) and Azure Tide (lender), Kronbichler said. Clearpool noted that Clearpool Prime had been “tested by many different institutions” but declined to share details. 

Bringing private credit into DeFi

The private credit sector is predicted to grow to $2.7 trillion in the next few years, according to a recent report by JPMorgan, and many other DeFi protocols outside Clearpool are also hoping to capitalize on this.

US Securities and Exchange Commission-registered investment advisor Heron Finance recently introduced robo-advisors via the Goldfinch protocol for private credit, looking to attract investors of all sizes into the crypto sphere. 

Read More: Warbler Labs dogfooding its Goldfinch protocol with Heron Finance

Other protocols, such as Wildcat, take a different approach by providing the infrastructure to facilitate undercollateralized lending contracts on a peer-to-peer basis.


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.

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Built on Solana, Loopscale is an orderbook-based lending protocol that pairs the efficiency of direct market matching with the flexibility and UX of modular protocols. We believe Loopscale can help scale NNAs in Solana DeFi and act as their foundational credit layer. Stablecoin deposits and select USD-pegged Loops on Loopscale are offering competitive yields, with an additional upside from farming the protocol and adjacent ecosystem projects (e.g., OnRe, Hylo) for potential future airdrops.

article-image

A recent mistrial illustrates how juries need more background information when it comes to judging complex systems like Ethereum

article-image

The Senate advanced a bipartisan funding package aimed at ending the shutdown, and bitcoin rose from its $100K bottom

article-image

The team is betting that a 20-minute hardware trust window beats a new alt-L1

article-image

To learn how to navigate the physical world, robots need visual data

article-image

Risks and illiquidity come to surface in the wake of a red October

article-image

Advice from Neal Stephenson, Kyle Broflovski, and Crypto Mom on building in crypto