Anchorage Digital is adding decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities to its Porto wallet, enabling institutions to make swaps and access liquidity through the product. The move brings another wallet option to institutional investors.
The DeFi capability is made possible through a Uniswap integration. Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of Anchorage Digital, billed the integration as enabling institutions in DeFi to “move at crypto-native speed — without compromising security.”
Among the company’s Porto wallet clients are Maple Finance, the Sui Foundation and decentralized exchange dYdX. Other companies that have rolled out institutional wallets or platforms include Blockdaemon, Fireblocks, Consensys and Fordefi.
Institutional DeFi refers to the participation of regulated financial institutions such as banks, asset managers, and hedge funds in decentralized finance ecosystems.
This emerging sector typically combines the transparency and accessibility of DeFi protocols with the compliance, risk management, and governance standards required by institutional players.
According to DeFiLlama, Uniswap has $4.57 billion in total-value-locked (TVL), a common measure in DeFi that speaks to the health and liquidity of the ecosystem.
Anchorage Digital, headquartered in San Francisco, California, had a valuation of $3 billion in December 2021 when it raised $350 million from a bevy of investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Apollo Funds. BlackRock has partnered with Anchorage Digital for custody services.
Related: Anchorage Digital buys Mountain Protocol, USDM stablecoin winds down
DeFi TVL fluctuating in 2025
According to DefiLlama, the decentralized finance sector has seen ups and downs since June 2024, with capital locked across all chains and protocols reaching $106 billion at this writing, down from $137 billion six months ago.
DeFi TVL and other statistics. Source: DeFiLlama
Institutional interest in crypto has been on the rise as regulatory clarity for digital assets has increased around the world. For institutions, DeFi can offer many benefits, including faster transaction speeds and settlements.
Magazine: X Hall of Flame: DeFi will rise again after memecoins die down: Sasha Ivanov