What Does the Frgmnt Integration Give Institutions?
Anchorage Digital has partnered with stablecoin protocol Frgmnt to give institutional clients direct access to fUSD and its yield-bearing sfUSD token through Anchorage’s regulated custody platform.The integration allows clients to hold, mint, redeem, stake and unstake fUSD without establishing a separate custody relationship or moving assets outside Anchorage’s infrastructure. That could lower an operational barrier for institutions interested in accessing onchain stablecoin strategies while retaining assets within an established custody environment.Frgmnt operates on Base and issues fUSD against USDC deposits. The protocol then deploys backing assets across onchain lending markets, while users can stake fUSD to receive sfUSD and earn returns generated by those underlying strategies.Frgmnt said sfUSD was producing an annual percentage rate of 13.32% as of Sept. 4. The rate is not fixed and can change alongside borrowing demand, lending rates and conditions across the DeFi markets used by the protocol.
How Large Is Frgmnt Today?
The partnership gives Frgmnt access to institutional infrastructure well before the protocol has reached meaningful scale. Frgmnt currently has approximately $100,000 in total value locked, according to DeFiLlama data, and remains in a capped, invite-only beta.The protocol plans to open access to the public and increase its deposit cap on Sept. 15, making the Anchorage integration notable because institutional custody support is arriving before that wider launch.The small amount of capital currently deposited means sfUSD’s headline yield should be viewed in the context of an early-stage product. A 13.32% APR is materially higher than the yields available on conventional cash products, but the return depends on onchain lending strategies rather than a guaranteed bank deposit rate.As deposits grow, returns could change as additional capital is allocated across lending venues. Investors will also need to assess the credit, smart-contract, liquidity and counterparty risks embedded in the underlying strategies rather than looking only at the stablecoin wrapper.
Investor Takeaway
Why Is Anchorage Expanding Beyond Basic Custody?
The Frgmnt deal adds to Anchorage Digital’s push to become a regulated access point for stablecoins, staking and other onchain financial products rather than functioning only as a storage provider for digital assets.Anchorage Digital Bank is a federally chartered U.S. crypto bank supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The wider Anchorage Digital platform was valued at $4.2 billion in February after Tether invested $100 million in the company.Tether also selected Anchorage Digital Bank in January to issue USAt, its U.S.-focused stablecoin designed around the requirements of the GENIUS Act. That agreement moved Anchorage further into stablecoin infrastructure by placing it on the issuance side of the market as well as custody.The company has also expanded into payments and treasury services. Mexico’s Grupo Salinas partnered with Anchorage in May to support blockchain-based dollar transfers, cross-border settlement and treasury activity through its Coinpro digital asset business.
Can Regulated Custody Become the Gateway to Onchain Yield?
Anchorage has been following a similar strategy in staking. An integration with Marinade Finance in April added access to Solana staking strategies, while native staking for TRX was introduced in July.The common theme is keeping institutional assets inside a regulated custody framework while allowing clients to interact with products that traditionally require direct participation in blockchain protocols.For institutions, that model can simplify wallet management, internal controls and operational processes. It does not remove the economic risks of the underlying protocols, however. A token held through a regulated custodian can still be exposed to smart-contract failures, lending-market stress or changing yields.Frgmnt will therefore provide a useful test of whether institutional investors are willing to move beyond conventional stablecoin custody into stablecoins that package onchain lending returns. Its Sept. 15 public launch and higher deposit limit should provide the first clearer indication of demand.For Anchorage, the broader opportunity is to become the regulated layer through which institutions access those products. If that model gains traction, custody could increasingly become the entry point not just for holding digital assets, but for accessing stablecoin issuance, staking and onchain yield from the same institutional platform.