Written by: Eric Bank
Edited by: Lillian Guevara-Castro
Reviewed by: Adam West
Key Takeaways
- Keeta and Solo have joined forces to introduce the world's first blockchain-based credit bureau, with a vision of building more portable, inclusive credit information.
- The new model would be able to streamline underwriting by combining on-chain activity with conventional financial information.
- Eric Schmidt, a supporter of Keeta and former Google CEO, brings significant credibility to the cause.
Keeta, a startup funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, has collaborated with digital wallet provider Solo on a blockchain-based, native credit bureau.
The platform, introduced in early June 2025, offers alternative data sources to revolutionize how lenders determine a borrower’s creditworthiness and expand lending opportunities to underserved populations.
Keeta CEO Ty Schenk said its blockchain is the first to tackle the scale and regulatory overhead needed for an on-chain credit bureau.
Schmidt’s participation could be an indication that blockchain is transitioning from buzzword into infrastructure, particularly as mainstream financial organizations consider Web3 integrations. The new bureau is meant to supplement, rather than replace, traditional credit reports with an additional stream of provable information.
What It Means for Lenders
The announcement comes as banks continue to turn to alternative sources of data as a way of increasing accessibility as well as reducing underwriting risk.
Conventional credit files exclude precisely those populations blockchain seeks to serve: consumers who are underbanked, unbanked, or gig workers who don’t necessarily have strong FICO files but whose digital footprints are high. That’s where Keeta and Solo come into play.
Solo has provided short-term borrowing for consumers using digital identity, transaction history, and trust scores from social interactions for a long time. Keeta, on its end, ensures a decentralized record for Web3 reputation and on-chain activity.
Together, the two companies are attempting to bridge Web2 and Web3 — allowing people to use blockchain-issued credentials to be eligible for traditional financial products.
The firms are marketing the bureau as compliance-savvy as well. Using blockchain technology to obtain consent for data sharing would allow lenders to authenticate applicant information while still ensuring it stays private.
And since it’s a decentralized system, users retain ownership over their documents. That is different from how it is traditionally done, with bureaus controlling centralized consumer files.
Why It Could Matter
Though preliminary, the potential implications are significant. Banks and fintechs that bundle Keeta’s solutions may be able to decrease onboarding friction, specifically for thin-file or invisible-to-credit customers. That can mean quicker decisioning, reduced fraud, and greater alignment between lender and borrower.
Eric Schmidt brings gravitas, but adoption is what ultimately matters. The platform must have acceptance from lenders, regulators, and consumers as well as operate at scale. Integration with legacy credit bureaus, or at least APIs tied into current underwriting software, will probably be required for widespread use.
If it is successful, however, it could open a new era in the practice of credit scoring, one where a consumer’s on-chain activity and off-chain behavior both contribute toward economic opportunity.
That would be especially relevant for subprime consumers, who live largely outside the perimeter of mainstream financial data capture.
With lenders seeking new methods of assessing risk and expanding availability, Keeta and Solo’s decentralized credit bureau may give a glimpse into a more open, technology-based approach. Meanwhile, it’s an experiment worth observing.
