Decentralized finance — of DeFi — lending protocol dYdX has produced more than $1 billion in loans since launching one year ago. The milestone was driven by consecutive monthly all-time highs during February and March of more than $250 million and $400 million respectively. Nearly 317,000 transactions have been generated across the lending platform. The lending platform currently comprises the seventh-largest DeFi protocol with $22.7 million in locked assets according to DeFi Pulse. DYdX represents nearly 3% of all value locked in decentralized finance. DYdX also notes that its native market has produced more than $530 million in volume over …

American financial technology firms are now able to help Main Street businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis via a federal relief plan, but cryptocurrency-native companies apparently don’t fit the bill. Last week, the United States Small Business Administration released an application form for nonbanks to sign on as lenders under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, referred to as the PPP, so that they can provide low-interest, forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the pandemic. Since then, a number of high-profile fintech companies have joined the scheme, but none of the crypto-focused lenders interviewed by Cointelegraph said they were going …

Square Capital, a crypto-friendly payment firm founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is purportedly among the first Bitcoin (BTC)-related companies joining the United States federal emergency lending program. The firm has received U.S. Treasury and Small Business Administration (SBA) approval to become a lender under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Square to start rolling out PPP applications this week By obtaining approval, Square is officially authorized to support small businesses by providing them with low-interest loans that can be 100% forgiven if used to cover approved costs. Jackie Reses, head of Square Capital, tweeted April 13 that the firm …

Crypto-lending platform Nexo has today, March 25, opened up the option of using PAX Gold (PAXG) as collateral against its loans to retail investors. A pilot scheme in late 2019 was limited to institutional clients and purportedly saw immediate demand for its gold-backed credit lines. Nexo’s announcement means that collateralized borrowing against high-grade gold is now no longer the preserve of the ultra-rich. Launched in September 2019, Paxos’ PAX Gold token is fully-backed by and redeemable for physical gold, stored in secure vaults. Each token represents one fine troy ounce of London Good Delivery Gold, and enables ownership of gold …

Crypto-based lending and borrowing platform Cred is partnering with professional basketball player and entrepreneur Spencer Dinwiddie. A special page has been launched since March 20 for Dinwiddie’s fans to use Cred. The platform lets users earn interest on stablecoins and other crypto assets, with the company advertising a 10% annual interest rate. Lending is also possible by collateralizing the user’s crypto assets. The partnership targets Dinwiddie’s fans to let them earn interest on their stablecoins. Commenting on the announcement, he said: “This partnership comes at a critical time, where I can educate my fans on the power of cryptocurrencies and …

The Celsius Network is the first major cryptocurrency lending platform that is profitable, according to its CEO and founder Alex Mashinsky. Cointelegraph interviewed Mashinsky to learn more about this achievement, how the latest market downturn has affected its business and his outlook on the industry. According to Mashinsky, the company was profitable in 2019 on a net income basis and in 2020 on a free cash flow basis. In March, Celsius Network is expected to post record revenues of over $2 million. Mashinsky explains that his company’s balance sheets are much more solid than of his competitors, “about 90% of …

Following an undisclosed investment into Hqlax from Dutch multinational bank ING on March 6, Cointelegraph spoke to Nick Short, the COO of tokenized securities firm. Short describes ING as one of the company’s “longest-standing strategic partners,” emphasizing that the two firms have collaborated in developing and testing Hqlax’s tokenized securities platform for over two years. The two companies first partnered in 2017, with Hqlax launching an initiative to “develop DLT-driven solutions for more efficient and cost-effective liquidity management and collateral management in the global securities financing markets” alongside enterprise blockchain firm R3 and five banks including ING. ING conducts first …

As Ether’s price sees record losses, MakerDAO, the biggest player in decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Ethereum network, is looking at responses including a shutdown — though that possibility remains unlikely at this point. Markets clobber DeFi Per a March 12 call in response to “Black Thursday” losses, developers and MakerDAO Foundation members weighed the damage that the drop in Ether’s price had done to MakerDAO’s lending protocol. MakerDAO lends DAI for collateral in the form of Ether. As the market for ETH drops, MakerDAO’s protocol automatically sells. The recent market saw losses too dramatic for the protocol’s auctions to …

What is the future of crypto lending? While liquidations are saved for last because of the limited opportunity, it’s important to recognize liquidations are a key part of the crypto-lending ecosystem and critical to the system’s efficiency. Crypto functions as a fantastic collateral because of its ease of sale and liquidity. In comparison to a mortgage, in which a foreclosure and liquidation is an extremely lengthy process, crypto liquidations take mere seconds. As the crypto industry continues to grow, the lending ecosystem is going to remain an absolutely pivotal piece in its success story. In the immediate term, however, this …

Amid the ongoing growth of the cryptocurrency lending industry, major crypto wallet service Blockchain.com launches a new lending product for all users, not just institutions. After first launching an institutional crypto lending desk in August 2019, Blockchain.com is now rolling out its crypto lending service to all users across more than 180 countries, the United Kingdom-based firm announced to Cointelegraph on March 10. Borrow allows users to borrow Paxos Standard against Bitcoin at the launch The new lending product from Blockchain.com, dubbed Borrow, allows to users borrow Paxos Standard stablecoin (PAX) against Bitcoin (BTC) directly from the platform’s native cryptocurrency …

As the cryptocurrency lending industry continues to grow, another major crypto company is getting into the business. BitGo, a crypto firm that claims to handle over 20% of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions, is launching an institutional-level crypto lending service on March 5. The debut of BitGo’s lending feature comes after a several-month-long private beta test. A service similar to traditional lending business Nick Carmi, the head of financial services at BitGo, emphasized that the new crypto lending product was developed with the goal of creating a lending business that is similar to lending services in the traditional financial markets. The …

Celsius Network reports to have more than doubled its interest payments in the three months since its last disclosure. This is one more signal of the continuous growth of the crypto lending industry, as decentralized finance (DeFi) operations attract more funds. As per its Feb. 20 report, Celsius paid over $11 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies as total interest income. This is an increase of 120% from its $5 million figure reported on Nov. 12, 2019. The company is managing $730 million in customer deposits and loan collateral, which is an increase of 62% from …