What PRISM is not
PRISM is not a lender. It never makes a loan, never holds one on its balance sheet, and is never the lender of record. That is a deliberate design choice, not a technicality — it is what keeps PRISM out of lending licences and out of credit risk. PRISM also does not compete with the originator’s bank. The bank’s money is cheaper and always will be, because it is priced off the US base rate. PRISM competes with the originator’s own equity, which is far more expensive.How PRISM earns
A structuring fee when a pool is created, and a servicing fee on the notes outstanding. PRISM is paid the same whether the pool performs well or badly, which is the point — it means PRISM has no incentive to hide a bad pool, and no balance sheet exposed to one.Where it runs
Arc
Circle’s Layer 1 carries the pool — receivables, tranches, the waterfall and
the first-loss floor. USDC is the native gas token.
Solana
Carries distribution. Junior and mezzanine risk capital is raised here.
USDC
Every pool is denominated in it. CCTP and Gateway move it between the two
chains.
Start here
How it works
The four layers, a worked example, and the life of a pool from onboarding to
maturity.
Core concepts
What a tranche is, what first loss does, and why the originator is the risk
that matters.
Go further
For originators
What you get, what it costs, and what we need from you before a pool opens.
For investors
The three notes, where each starts losing, and what you cannot do.
Risk and protections
The four controls, the Goldfinch case study, and where protection stops.
Economics
Where the money goes, and why the asset has to earn 15% or more.
Architecture
Two chains, the Circle products in use, and what version one deliberately
excludes.
Disclosures
What PRISM has not done, which numbers are assumptions, and the risks we
cannot remove.