Cryptocurrency lending company Genesis Global Trading processed $1.114 billion in borrows and lends last year, according to the recently released Digital Asset Lending Snapshot for Q4 2018. At the end of Q3 2018, the company published its first Digital Asset Lending Snapshot, which reported that Genesis Global Trading only processed $553 million at the time counting from the start of its activity in March 2018. Thus, the company concludes that “Q4 loan originations increased more than 100% in the final three months of 2018 compared to the prior six-month period.” The company claims that, despite a 44 percent price decline …

Mike Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital is reportedly raising at least $250 million to offer loans to crypto-related firms, according to an unconfirmed report published by American news site Business Insider on Jan. 23. Citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter, the news outlet claims that Galaxy Digital is purportedly planning to close the first fundraising round for its crypto credit fund in March. A Galaxy representative has reportedly declined to comment on the issue to Business Insider. According to the article, Galaxy’s lenders will be able to get their loans by using crypto assets, real estate and …

Spain’s second largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), has closed a €150 million loan using blockchain technology with Porsche Holding, the largest car distributor in Europe. The news was reported by financial news site Finextra Dec. 14. The transaction is reportedly BBVA’s first blockchain-based loans deal with a non-Spanish borrower. The bank has to date arranged several blockchain-based loans with Spanish corporate customers, including a syndicated loan of $150 million for partly state-owned Spanish national electrical grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) in November, and a €100 million long-term bilateral corporate loan with Spanish engineering firm ACS. Finextra …

Major NGO the Russian Authors' Society (RAO) will launch a blockchain-based financial platform for intellectual property-secured loans, according to Russian news outlet TASS Nov. 16. RAO’s CEO Alexander Sukhotin revealed that the project, dubbed CoFi, is at its final stages of development and is set to be launched in the first quarter of 2019. The platform intends to bring together potential intellectual property rightsholders and investors that are ready to provide loan funds. The intellectual property market is facing a significant need for a system that will enable direct communication between rightsholders and investors, in order to issue loans secured …

Crypto loans company Salt Lending Holdings Inc., once associated with high-profile crypto industry stalwart Erik Voorhees, is facing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe over its 2017 $50 million token sale, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Nov. 15. Founded in 2016, Salt — which uses clients’ crypto holdings as collateral against fiat currency loans — is reported to have received a subpoena from the securities regulator this February, according to “sources familiar with the matter.” Among other issues, the SEC is said to be investigating whether Salt’s 2017 token sale was a noncompliant securities offering (i.e. whether …

Spain’s second largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), has carried out a blockchain-based syndicated loan of $150 million, U.K.-based global financial news agency Finextra reports Wednesday, Nov. 7. The syndicated bank transaction has been conducted on a private blockchain network through a group of three funding banks including French banking group BNP Paribas, Japan’s bank holding Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and BBVA. Acting as the sole underwriter of the transaction, BBVA also secured the participation of a partly state-owned Spanish company Red Eléctrica de España, as well as two legal advisors, U.K.-based multinational law firms Linklaters and Herbert …

U.K.-based bank Natwest will integrate a new blockchain platform based on R3 Corda technology for use in the syndicated loans market, financial news platform Mondovisione reports today, October 18. The new platform, dubbed “Fusion LenderComm,” was developed by blockchain consortium R3 and fintech enterprise Finastra, and aims to streamline the global market for syndicated loans — loans whose size or degree of risk means that more than one lender underwrites them, as part of a “syndicate” of two or more financial institutions. Natwest’s move comes roughly a year after a pilot of the platform was undertaken with participation from several …

Institutional cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) broker Genesis Global Trading revealed its loans spin-off processed over half a billion dollars in its first six months in a new report Thursday, Oct. 18. Genesis, which began its digital asset lending activities in March, revealed its current order book consists of $130 million in outstanding loans, a figure which has “steadily grown” since inception, it says. Total cash flow reached $553 million for all supported assets. “Over the past year, through client feedback and the rise of derivative marketplaces, we saw a meaningful increase in the number of market participants wanting to borrow and/or …

Crypto-focused merchant bank Galaxy Digital has recently led a $52.5 million fundraising round for crypto-lending firm BlockFi, according a blog post by the company July 24. Galaxy Digital CEO and founder Mike Novogratz confirmed in a tweet that he is, “excited to get into the crypto lending business.” With the new round of investment, the startup will reportedly be able to expand its business outside the U.S. and to support more cryptocurrencies. BlockFi, featuring “loans backed by your cryptoassets,” offers corporate and retail loans on their digital asset holdings. BlockFi currently offers loans on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). The …

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has signed a new blockchain-based loan with civil engineering firm ACS Group, according to the BBVA’s official statement July 19. BBVA, a multinational Spanish banking group, signed an agreement with ACS to provide a long-term bilateral corporate loan of €100 million ($117 million). The new blockchain-powered loan contract will reportedly boost the efficiency in financial processes of the company, allowing for better transparency and traceability of contractual process. Settling the loan on a blockchain allows both parties to independently monitor the stages of a contract, as well as the conditions. The pilot also includes digitization …

Bitcoin.com’s CEO Roger Ver and COO Mate Tokay have become advisors to a fintech startup MoneyToken, as reported in MoneyToken’s announcement. The partnership between MoneyToken and Bitcoin.com may bring new benefits to the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community, as BCH will be available as accepted collateral on the MoneyToken lending platform, says the joint press release. According to Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver is also an advocate of Bitcoin Cash and one of the key influencers in the crypto community because of his early investments - since 2011 - in crypto-related startups including Ripple, Blockchain.info, Bitpay and Kraken. Ver’s company, MemoryDealers, became the …

Billionaire tech businessman and one of the Shark Tank show’s “shark investors,” Mark Cuban has recently sat down with Kitco News, an outlet specialized on covering news about precious metals, to talk about his opinions on investing in various assets, including Bitcoin and gold. When asked about what is the safest investment right now, Cuban didn’t say stocks, gold or Bitcoin (BTC). Instead, he argued that paying off your credit cards, student loans, or “whatever debt you have” is “probably the best investment” you can make. “The reason for that is whatever interest you have - it might be a …