BitGo and Kalshi Prime have introduced a new cryptocurrency-backed margin financing network designed to help eligible traders access U.S. dollar liquidity without selling their digital asset holdings.
Announced on October 22, 2026, the service, known as HODL Margining, allows customers to use qualifying cryptocurrency assets as collateral to finance margin requirements for eligible trading products on KalshiEX.
BitGo Bank & Trust, an OCC-regulated digital asset trust bank, has become the first qualified custodian participating in the network.
Under the arrangement, Kalshi Katalyst, a lending affiliate of Kalshi Prime, provides U.S. dollar loans secured by Bitcoin, Ethereum or eligible stablecoins held with participating custodians.
The loan proceeds are transferred directly into the customer's Kalshi Prime account, where applicable margin and risk management requirements remain in effect.
A central feature of the network is that pledged digital assets remain in qualified custody rather than being sold or transferred to a trading venue.
The arrangement is intended to give eligible market participants additional financing flexibility while preserving their underlying cryptocurrency holdings, subject to loan obligations and collateral requirements.
The launch reflects growing efforts across institutional digital asset markets to connect regulated custody infrastructure with lending, liquidity management and derivatives trading.
For institutional traders, such services could provide additional ways to manage available capital, although borrowing against volatile digital assets introduces collateral and liquidation risks that require careful monitoring.
