TL;DR:
- Kraken Institutional partnered with Upshift to launch permissioned custom vaults accessible through Kraken’s qualified custody solution for eligible clients.
- Clients can deploy assets into curated DeFi, CeFi, PayFi and RWA strategies without separate wallets, providers or operating infrastructure.
- Vault positions return as receipt tokens held in segregated Kraken custody, with no pooling or rehypothecation, while rewards remain variable and onchain risks continue for institutions using them directly.
Kraken Institutional has partnered with Upshift to launch permissioned custom vaults for eligible clients, bringing curated onchain yield strategies directly inside Kraken’s qualified custody experience. The integration lets institutions deploy assets without opening separate wallets, onboarding additional providers or building new infrastructure across chains. That sounds convenient, but the larger point is strategic: custody is being repositioned as a deployment layer. Kraken is trying to make idle institutional capital productive, while keeping the relationship, reporting and controls within a familiar custody framework.
We’re proud to partner with @upshift_fi to offer permissioned, dedicated vaults to institutions
Each vault is built around your institutional strategy, asset mix and risk parameters. No shared pool or counterparties
Put your treasury to work with Kraken Institutional 👇 pic.twitter.com/Z5VXRJThBX
— Kraken Institutional (@KrakenInsto) July 15, 2026
The partnership combines Kraken’s qualified custody, exchange liquidity, prime execution, OTC services, staking and margin financing with Upshift’s multi-chain vault infrastructure. Upshift raised a $10 million Series A led by Dragonfly in March 2025, and provides the offering’s vault layer. Kraken says the model can support DeFi, CeFi, PayFi and real-world-asset strategies across more than 30 chains. The offering is not a generic yield pool, but a curated institutional structure designed around specific risk, liquidity and strategy parameters.
Custom vaults turn custody into capital deployment
The mechanics matter because institutional custody cannot behave like retail DeFi. Clients can deploy assets from existing custody accounts into selected vault contracts, while a receipt token representing the position returns to segregated Kraken custody. That receipt token is not pooled or rehypothecated and is reflected at redeemable underlying value on custody statements. Controls remain visible at the vault, protocol, chain and token level. The design tries to preserve institutional accounting discipline, even while assets move into onchain strategies.
Upshift builds dedicated vaults around each client’s asset mix, liquidity needs and risk parameters, rather than pushing everyone into shared pools. Kraken argues this removes the historical trade-off between secure custody and putting funds to work. Aya Kantorovich, Upshift CEO and co-founder, said institutions have long faced operational overhead when sourcing yield across exchange, OTC and onchain markets. The promise is yield without operational sprawl, with fewer wallets, counterparties and protocols to manage.
Availability remains controlled. Institutional Vaults are rolling out to eligible Kraken Institutional and Kraken Custody clients in supported jurisdictions, subject to onboarding, eligibility and strategy-specific terms. Rewards are variable and not guaranteed, and onchain smart contracts carry technology, market and operational risks. Kraken does not control third-party protocols. The product advances institutional DeFi access, but does not remove the risks that made institutions cautious in the first place.
