# Introduction {% embed url="" %} ## What is Arkis? Arkis is a **digital asset prime brokerage credit protocol** for institutional borrowers and lenders to interact in a zero-trust environment. Lenders get decentralized, secure credit provision vehicles with whitelisting, guaranteed repayment flow, and the maintenance of benefits from overcollateralization due to protocol control over assets within the ecosystem. Borrowers can achieve maximum capital efficiency within a guarded environment with up to 5x leverage and exotic collateral and margining options. ### **The DeFi Ecosystem** The DeFi market is characterized by its fragmentation across several axes: * **Blockchains**: Asset positions are spread across multiple blockchain, complicating the management of assets and leverage strategies across these platforms. * **CeFi / DeFi**: Liquidity is fragmented across centralized and decentralized venues. While DeFi has yields, CeFi still provides the deepest spot and liquidity for derivatives. Asset Managers operate in both domains and seek portfolio margining across them. * **Protocols**: Asset Managers engage with a multitude of protocols, diversifying their investments across different activities. This diversification can allow for a portfolio where the aggregate performance may offset individual losses. ### **Arkis’s Approach** Arkis aims to address these sector challenges through a series of targeted solutions: * **Margin Trading through Smart Contracts**: By utilizing smart contracts, Arkis is able to offer leverage that optimizes capital use while maintaining a framework for risk management. * [**Portfolio Margining System**](https://docs.arkis.xyz/home/prime-brokerage-101/what-is-portfolio-margin): Instead of evaluating each position in isolation, Arkis employs a unified approach to maintenance margin calculation, considering the trader’s entire portfolio within Margin Account and centralised exchange subaccount. This method allows for the potential offsetting of losses in one area with gains in another, thereby increasing capital efficiency. * **Yield for Lenders**: Lenders on Arkis earn yields on their assets by financing trading operations of worlds best hedge funds and asset management firms onchain. Arkis ensures that the lender's funds are secure by providing a safe investment vehicle for position monitoring and liquidation.
> Arkis Protocol helps Asset managers get capital-efficient, flexible leverage. Lenders earn passive yield by providing their assets for leverage operations while Arkis facilitates the process so it's secure for both sides. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.arkis.xyz/home/overview/introduction.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.