Wilmington Trust Joins USD.AI as Escrow Agent

USD.AI has partnered with Wilmington Trust, a subsidiary of M&T Bank, as Escrow Agent for future AI infrastructure financing.

New loans will first fund into an escrow account for up to 120 days, from purchase order completion through shipment, delivery, and installation of the AI infrastructure. Yield begins at loan signing, and escalates to the permanent rate upon server installation.

Funds in escrow earn up to a 7% APR, approximately 350 bps above T-bill rates.

The Wilmington Trust escrow account gives non-DeFi native borrowers and OEMs a familiar, regulated touchpoint that meets their existing due diligence standards. At the same time, capital providers earn increased yield from the moment funds enter escrow.

How it works

USD.AI GPU loans are executed when the borrower places their purchase order and funds their equity deposit. From there, the process runs in two steps.

Loan Closing: documents are signed and funds go into escrow.
Loan Funding: servers are delivered, installed, and verified, at which point escrow is released to the OEM and the formal loan begins.

Once the loan has funded, the legal and structural requirements locked in at closing take effect:

Bankruptcy-remote SPV: if the borrower defaults, the protocol holds a direct claim on the hardware and contracts. No other creditors have a claim to assets.
Loan agreement: defines covenants, events of default and loan terms. Must be executed prior to escrow.
Perfected security interest: held over the servers, bank accounts, customer contracts, and equity in the borrowing entity, meaning USD.AI has a legal right to seize those assets upon default.
Debt service reserve account: held at the SPV level, a cash or USDai buffer inside the SPV to cover loan payments if there are delays in revenue collection.

If the loan is not originated within 120 days (i.e. the purchased hardware fails to arrive on time) funds including interest are returned to the protocol.

Loans in escrow are now visible under Active Loans on the USD.AI dashboard, giving holders full visibility from the moment a deal is signed

Why Wilmington Trust

Wilmington Trust is one of the largest institutional trust companies in the United States, with $213.5 billion in assets and $84.2 billion under management. It administers collateral and escrow arrangements for structured finance transactions across the traditional capital markets, the same legal and financial infrastructure that backs corporate bond issuances, ABS deals, and equipment financing at institutional scale.

Bringing that infrastructure into USD.AI’s GPU financing means the escrow arrangement carries the same legal standing and counterparty credibility as any conventional structured credit transaction.

When an OEM asks for proof of funds, the answer is a Wilmington Trust escrow account, which provides the level of institutional credibility required to execute 8 and 9 figure loan transactions.