“Can a bitcoin-native financial services company replace the bank, broker, and custodian for long-term bitcoin holders — without ever rehypothecating their collateral?”
Founded in 2016 as a bitcoin-backed lending platform, Unchained Capital pioneered collaborative custody — a model where the borrower, Unchained, and a third-party key agent each hold one key in a 2-of-3 multisig arrangement, eliminating rehypothecation risk. Over time, the company evolved from pure lending into a broader bitcoin financial-services platform, adding vault custody, a trading desk, and IRA products. The business deliberately positions itself as an alternative to exchanges and ETFs, targeting long-term bitcoin holders who want real ownership with institutional-grade security.
Unchained Capital discloses Lead Bank as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Unchained Capital does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Lead Bank.
Unchained Capital's crypto products run on Kingdom Trust.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Unchained Capital's stack: Banking / BaaS (Lead Bank); Lending (Bitcoin-backed personal loans, Bitcoin-backed commercial loans and Bitcoin-backed real estate loans); Sponsor bank (Lead Bank); Crypto (Kingdom Trust).
Unchained Capital was founded by Joseph Kelly and Dhruv Bansal and is founded in 2016, headquartered in Austin, TX.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Unchained Capital and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.