Global banking regulator the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is working to establish how much capital lenders should hold to cover the risks generated by dealing with cryptocurrencies. Business Reporter published the news on Nov. 7 that the Basel Committee — which includes banking regulators from the United States, Europe and Japan — agreed to publish a paper on the prudential treatment of crypto assets. At the end of a two-day meeting in Madrid, the committee said that banks should take into consideration the riskiness of cryptocurrencies when considering crypto asset exposure: “The Committee reiterated its view that the …

Nexo, a crypto lending institution, announced that it has lowered the interest rates on its instant crypto credit lines. Lowest rates in the blockchain ecosystem In a press release published Oct. 22, Nexo announced that it was lowering interest rates on its credit line service after securing long-term cost-efficient financing. The instant lending platform claims that they now offer the lowest rates in the ecosystem. Nexo’s crypto credit lines reportedly start at 5.9% with no minimum repayment requirements and no credit checks and are available across more than 200 jurisdictions. Nexo allows digital asset holders to borrow against a basket …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the launch of the eighth phase of its lending product on Oct. 7. In this phase, Binance will start offering 14-day fixed-term lending products. The subscribers will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The subscription period begins on Oct. 10 and ends on Nov. 10, while interest will be paid immediately after the term matures. An annualized percentage yield of 10% The digital assets included in the program are Binance Coin (BNB), Bitcoin (BTC), Binance USD (BUSD), EOS, Ethereum Classic (ETC), Ether (ETH), Chainlink (LINK), Tether (USDT) and XRP. The annualized percentage yield on …

The credit rating arm of financial services giant Morningstar is developing a blockchain platform for the $117 trillion debt securities industry. Morningstar Credit Ratings is building an evaluation system for debt securities issued as tokens on a blockchain, Forbes reports on Oct. 2. Michael Brawer, COO at Morningstar Credit Ratings, stated that the firm is working with a number of blockchain-oriented firms who are seeking to issue debt instruments on a blockchain. According to Forbes, Morningstar rates a wide range of assets based on their past returns to investors on a scale of one to five. The company reportedly started …

Online payments processor Stripe announced the launch of its lending service Stripe Capital for the internet businesses in the United States. On Sept. 5, Stripe announced the launch in a blog post, noting that — once approved — access to funds is usually granted on the next day. The press release states: “Stripe Capital’s full integration with Stripe means there’s no lengthy application, eligibility is determined quickly, funds hit a user’s Stripe account the next business day, and businesses can repay as they earn. [...] In addition to serving Stripe users directly, Stripe will also extend Stripe Capital to its …

San Francisco-based nonprofit Kiva, a company that crowdfunds loans for financial inclusion, has launched a blockchain platform for credit history with the government of Sierra Leone. According to a Reuters report on Aug. 21, Kiva and the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, jointly launched the blockchain initiative in Freetown, the country’s capital. Biometric data collected by the government, such as fingerprints, will be used by the platform to give lenders a way of obtaining the credit history of loan applicants. Individuals looking to borrow money would have a digital wallet for loans, and their transactions would be recorded …

The holding company of cryptocurrency-friendly Silvergate Bank, Silvergate Capital Corporation, announced that the firm plans to offer cryptocurrency-collateralized loans. In an S1/A form filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 15 the bank notes: “We believe there may be attractive opportunities to provide digital currency borrowing facilities to deepen our high quality customer relationships and further enhance our interest income.” In the document, the firm states that it found significant demand for cryptocurrency-related borrowing. The service would consist of the client providing crypto assets or U.S. dollars as collateral in exchange for significantly greater credit. The …

Digital asset lender DrawBridge Lending (DBL) announced that it received funding from cryptocurrency commercial bank Galaxy Digital. A fiat-crypto lending and investing service DrawBridge announced in a press release published on Aug. 8 that it received funding from Galaxy Digital, further strengthen DBL’s fiat-crypto lending and investing capabilities. Furthermore, the two firms reportedly plan to jointly develop a co-branded special-purpose loan funding vehicle to provide structured financing against institutionally held crypto assets. Michael Novogratz, CEO and founder of Galaxy Digital, commented on the development: “The institutionalization of digital assets is still relatively nascent despite increasing momentum and interest from a …

San Francisco-based crypto lender Dharma has decided to pause new deposits and loans on its platform. Dharma announced their decision in a series of official Twitter posts on Aug. 7. Their second tweet in the series reads: “For now, we're pausing new deposits and loans in Dharma. If you have an existing deposit or loan with Dharma, you'll still be able to access your account and will have the option to withdraw any funds that are not currently locked up.” While not appearing to offer any further details, Dharma assured the public in the rest of their posts that they …

American cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has secured $18.3 million in a funding round led by Valar Ventures. The Series A funding round saw participation from a number of crypto-focused investors, including Winklevoss Capital and Galaxy Digital, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Aug. 6. Other investors included ConsenSys Ventures, Akuna Capital, Avon Ventures, Susquehanna, CMT Digital, Morgan Creek and PJC. Peter Thiel’s Valar makes its first crypto investment Per the report, Valar, which led the BlockFi’s new funding round, has made its first investment in a crypto-related company. Based in New York, Valar is one of three venture …

Instant crypto loans firm Nexo is launching a MasterCard-branded cryptocurrency credit card. The development was announced in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Aug. 2. “World’s first” Nexo claims the Nexo Card to be the first card in the world that enables users to spend the value of their cryptocurrency without in fact spending it. In addition, the card does not consider annual and monthly and foreign exchange fees. Describing the operational concept of the card, Nexo said: “When using the Nexo Card to purchase goods and services, you actually pay using your Nexo flexible open-ended revolving credit line …

Cryptocurrency lending and borrowing platform Celsius Network has topped $300 million in coin deposits in the course of 12 months and completed over $2 billion in coin loan origination, according to a press release published on Aug. 1. “Fastest growing lending platform” Since July 2018, when the Celsius started lending operations, it has originated more than $2.2 billion worth of coin loans and surpassed $300 million AUM in customer deposits and collateral from loans under management. In total, Celsius has completed over 160,000 coin loans trades and distributed over $3 million in interest payments. As the company further explains, its …