Gabe Frank, the co-founder and CEO of NFT-backed loan provider Arcade, likens his startup to the pawn shops, owned by his dad in El Paso, Texas, that he worked at growing up.

“What they do is they enable liquidity, they take custody of the asset, they make a loan. If the borrower doesn't come back, then the pawn shop keeps the asset and they can sell it,” Frank said. “The protocol that we have today, Arcade, looks a lot similar to a pawn shop.”