Multicoin wants to turn AI chips into collateral for crypto’s next lending boom

Multicoin Capital partner Shayon Sengupta wants AI companies to borrow stablecoins against GPUs and future computing revenue.In an Oct. 8 research note, Sengupta proposed creating blockchain-based markets where ownership claims on computing hardware, future data center capacity, and customer payments could be traded or pledged as collateral.The proposal comes as AI infrastructure borrowing accelerates, creating opportunities for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to provide capital to companies struggling to fund expensive computing equipment.AI financing boomsThe rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has triggered unprecedented borrowing as technology companies race to build data centers and acquire the powerful chips needed to operate AI models.According to The Kobeissi Letter, US dollar-denominated corporate bond issuance linked to AI reached a record $419 billion in 2026 as of Oct. 21.That represents a 90% increase from the entire 2025 total and a 437% increase from 2024.Major technology companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle, accounted for $157 billion of the borrowing, while investment-grade and high-yield data center and computing companie...