FAQ

Membrane Labs is the infrastructure behind institutional digital asset lending. Its platform gives lending desks, credit funds, prime brokers, custodians, and banks a single operating environment to run digital asset credit programs — managing loans and collateral across counterparties and custodians in real time.

Membrane connects to the custody and wallet infrastructure that institutions already use, allowing clients to run both digital and traditional collateral through the same workflows, the same controls, and the same audit trail.

Membrane is used by institutional lenders, credit funds, prime brokers, custodians, banks and financial institutions expanding into digital asset lending programs. Clients include some of the largest custodians in the digital asset industry as well as institutional lenders. Membrane's clients have managed over $12 billion in loans through the platform, which monitors an average of over $1 billion in collateral daily.

Membrane connects to existing custodians and venues through CustodyLink, its multi-custodian connectivity layer, and sits as the operational and credit management layer on top of that custody infrastructure. Membrane pulls live position and balance data, consolidating activity across venues into one operating environment.

No. Membrane provides infrastructure that enables counterparties to manage their credit agreements. Membrane does not execute, match, or intermediate transactions.

Membrane Labs was founded in 2019 by Carson Cook, PhD, and has been building institutional digital asset credit infrastructure since. The platform has managed over $12 billion in loans across its institutional client base and continues to expand its custody network and product suite as the digital asset credit market matures.

Membrane's Loan Management System is the operational infrastructure that institutional lending teams use to run digital asset credit programs.

It manages the full loan lifecycle — from origination and term structuring through collateral monitoring, margin and liquidation alerts, interest accrual, settlement, and audit — across digital assets and tokenized securities, in a single operating environment connected to the custody infrastructure that institutions already use.

Cryptocurrencies on all major blockchains, stablecoins, tokenized Treasuries and tokenized real-world assets. Institutions can run digital assets and tokenized RWAs through the same margin logic and workflows without requiring a separate system for each asset class.

Collateral is monitored in real time through CustodyLink, Membrane's multi-custodian connectivity layer, which pulls live balance and position data from connected custodians. The LMS tracks required versus posted collateral per loan, enforces configurable LTV thresholds, and generates margin alerts automatically when those thresholds are breached. Top-up, substitution, and collateral release workflows are managed within the platform, with settlement instructions routed through CustodyLink to the relevant custodian.

When a loan breaches a configured LTV band, Membrane generates a margin alert to its client and, on request, to its counterparties. All margin events are time-stamped and logged with full audit lineage. The platform then tracks each margin alert through to resolution.

Yes. The LMS can be deployed independently or combined with Membrane's Collateral Management Engine, Settlement Engine, and CustodyLink as part of the full Credit Management Platform. Institutions typically start with the modules most relevant to their immediate program and expand as their lending operations grow. Each module is available via API or web app.

Yes. The LMS supports multi-entity institutional lending programs, including multiple internal desks, affiliates, and sub-entities within the same operating environment.

The platform is available as SaaS and can also be configured to run on client infrastructure, depending on security and operational requirements. Membrane works with each institution to determine the right deployment approach based on its environment.

Membrane offers a two-sided user profile. Institutions can give counterparties full or limited access to the platform depending on the relationship. Client access can be configured as view-only, enabling counterparties to see relevant loan activity, collateral positions and reports without the ability to take action. Notifications and reporting are configurable per user and per entity.

Yes. Membrane supports configurable email notifications for loan and collateral obligations.

Notifications can be sent to internal teams and borrowers when obligations become due or past due, including missed payments and unresolved margin calls. Notification timing can be configured to reflect each institution’s servicing and cure-period policies.

No. Clients can choose the collateral operating model that best fits their workflow.

Membrane can monitor designated blockchain addresses, or users can provide collateral balances and transaction information directly for each collateral arrangement and its associated accounts.

Membrane helps teams monitor margin call obligations, cure periods and payment status based on configurable workflow settings. When a margin call becomes past due, users can record a partial or full collateral liquidation directly within the relevant collateral arrangement.

Because liquidation procedures often vary by institution, Membrane can also support workflows designed around a client’s specific operational and risk requirements.

Yes. Membrane supports institutions that receive capital through facilities or other borrowing arrangements and then deploy those funds through individual loans.

Teams can record the incoming capital arrangement, book the corresponding loans and associate those loans with the appropriate funding source. This structure helps maintain accurate portfolio-level exposure and economic reporting.

Membrane is also continuing to enhance the way loans and capital providers are directly associated within the platform.

Membrane provides loan and collateral reports designed to support downstream reporting, business intelligence and partner reporting requirements.

These reports can be used to review loan performance, collateral balances and collateral activity. Membrane can also work with clients to develop reporting tailored to the needs of specific capital providers or external partners.

Yes. Membrane includes multiple pricing feeds that can be configured at the collateral arrangement level.

Clients can also stream a custom pricing feed into the platform when a specific loan product, valuation policy or collateral arrangement requires a particular pricing source.

The Credit Discovery Hub is an open RFQ message board that allows institutional lenders, borrowers, prime brokers, and banks to find counterparties for digital asset credit transactions.

It covers both digital asset loan/borrow discovery and stablecoin repo — giving institutions a structured, institutional-grade environment to discover counterparties and surface market interest across credit structures.

The Credit Discovery Hub is open to institutional lenders, borrowers, prime brokers, and banks. Stablecoin issuers can also participate in the stablecoin repo market. Participants use the Hub to find counterparties across digital asset credit markets.

StableRepo is Membrane's stablecoin repo market within the Credit Discovery Hub. It enables institutional counterparties to find funding transactions using stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets as collateral.

Settlement runs through select regulated custodian partners via CustodyLink. StableRepo provides stablecoin issuers with a path to repo-ready status and enables lenders and borrowers to access standardized, institutional-grade stablecoin repo infrastructure.

Counterparties who discover each other through the Credit Discovery Hub can manage the full lifecycle of their credit agreements through Membrane's Loan Management System, Collateral Management Engine, Settlement Engine, and CustodyLink. The Hub is the discovery layer; the Credit Management Platform is the operational layer that manages a credit arrangement.

Membrane employs advanced encryption, multi-factor authentication, IP whitelisting, role-based access controls, and regular security audits. Each user and user group can be configured with permissions on a need-to-know basis. The platform is hosted in SOC 2-compliant infrastructure.