BlackRock Private Credit Fund Curbs Redemptions, Threatening Crypto and DeFi Spillovers

Private credit funds lend directly to companies, holding long-dated, illiquid assets while allowing investors to redeem periodically—a structure prone to maturity mismatches. BlackRock's HPS Corporate Lending Fund has $26 billion in assets, and its restrictions highlight liquidity risks in a global private credit market worth about $3.5 trillion in 2025. The stress could spread to Crypto and DeFi through bank deleveraging and tokenized credit collateral.

On March 6, 2026, BlackRock said redemption requests for the HPS Corporate Lending Fund had reached 9.3% of outstanding shares for the quarter and capped actual redemptions at 5%. Its shares fell 7.17% that day to $955.45. Blue Owl had previously sold $1.4 billion of loans in February to meet withdrawals, while on-chain private credit was nearing $5 billion, increasing the likelihood of risks spreading directly into DeFi.