An Australian artificial intelligence infrastructure company has secured up to $500 million in onchain financing, highlighting how blockchain based credit is emerging as an alternative to traditional bank lending. Sharon AI said the facility will fund the expansion of its GPU powered computing infrastructure across the Asia Pacific region, supporting the training and deployment of large scale AI models. The structure allows the company to access capital more quickly than conventional financing channels, which often rely on lengthy credit assessments and balance sheet guarantees. Instead, the loan is backed by physical GPU hardware that is verified and represented onchain, aligning capital access directly with deployed infrastructure. The initial phase of the rollout is expected to begin this quarter, with a first tranche of funding allocated to new compute capacity. The deal reflects growing demand for flexible financing models as AI infrastructure costs rise globally.
The credit facility was provided by USD.AI and is structured as non recourse financing, meaning repayment is tied to the performance and value of the collateral rather than the borrower’s broader assets. GPU hardware deployed by Sharon AI is converted into tokenized collateral, enabling lenders to monitor utilization and performance directly onchain. This approach removes the need for traditional credit checks and intermediaries, reducing friction for both borrowers and capital providers. The model is increasingly attractive for infrastructure heavy sectors such as AI, where capital intensity is high and speed of deployment is critical. By bypassing banks and private credit funds, firms can align financing more closely with operational metrics, while lenders gain greater transparency into asset quality and risk exposure.
The transaction also points to a broader shift toward tokenization in private credit markets. Blockchain based lending platforms are increasingly positioning real world assets as collateral for onchain loans, improving visibility and liquidity in an otherwise opaque segment of finance. Executives across the digital asset industry argue that private credit is a natural fit for tokenization due to its limited transparency and fragmented access. USD.AI has already approved more than $1.2 billion in similar GPU backed facilities for other AI focused companies, signaling growing institutional comfort with the structure. As tokenized credit scales, it may reshape how infrastructure projects are financed, blending elements of traditional lending with blockchain based settlement and reporting. The model suggests that onchain finance is moving beyond crypto native use cases into core industrial funding.
