S&P Global Ratings launches risk assessment framework for onchain lending vaults

S&P Global Ratings now has a way to grade onchain lending vaults. On October 4, 2026, the firm published a framework built specifically to measure the risks inside these vaults. The framework is called “Analytical Approach: Vault Risk Assessments,” or VRA. It aims to tell investors how likely their positions are to be impaired. What S&P is actually grading Onchain lending vaults pool digital assets and route them into blockchain-based lending markets. Under the new framework, S&P’s scope covers vaults pooling digital assets backed by crypto or tokenized real-world assets. Vaults lending against tokenized RWA collateral are included, while direct exposure to tokenized bonds falls outside the VRA’s scope. The VRA is forward-looking. It tries to estimate the potential for investor positions to be impaired, not just describe what has already happened. S&P is explicit on one point: the VRA is not a credit rating. The scale borrows familiar letter grades but adds a “v” suffix. A top score reads AAA(v), which signals minimal impairment risk. The four factors under the hood S&P’s evaluation rests on four main factors: portfolio quality, liquidity pressures, protocol ris...