Thanks to the invention of cryptocurrencies a new kind of financial product has been made possible, the crypto-backed loans. Following is a brief comparison of 10 platforms that providing access to it. As we can see by looking at the table the options vary greatly respect to the interest rates, platforms fees, and currencies accepted. Besides, you should bear in mind the that companies tend have different methods for evaluating borrowers and that according to each particular risk assessment they can offer different financial options. It is interesting to notice also that although many of them claim to be peer to peer loans there are many cases in which the platform is the one that ends up doing the actual money lending. In order to have a broader view of these financial products it use useful to know that in the United States mortgage APR (annual interests rates) are round 4-5% and the average credit card APR is 15.07%.
An interesting feature that most of these lending companies have in common is an automatic mechanism to deal with coins volatility. You need to send a certain amount of crypto to a company’s wallet for backing up your loan, nevertheless the market price of crypto can become significantly lower in just a short period of time. This is why smart contracts play an important part in these new platforms. They allow the triggering of an alarm if the price is below a certain level and if nothing is done after a certain period of time the loan is cancel, the crypto collateral is liquidated and later on sent to the corresponding lender’s wallet.
Following is brief description of the table’s contents. Loan term, minimum and maximum show the ranges of time you can ask a loan for along with its maximum and minimum amounts. Lending, collateral and interests currency enumerate the currencies in which the loan is made, collateral must be deposited and interests must be paid. Interests contains a percentage range at which money is lent, bear in mind that these percentages can vary with time. Time for getting the money states how long it takes since you requested the money until you can actually dispose of it. Repayment type shows when and at which frequencies you need to return the money lent and pay the interests. Fees displays the fees that are left to the platform, and who they are taken from. Loan is done trough enumerates which methods the platform utilizes for transferring the money. Places where it lends has the places of the world where the lending could be done. Finally, foundation date and initial investment contain the year at which the company was created and the capital that it was founded with.
| Company | SaltLending | Nexo | ETHLend | Celsius | BlockFi | CoinLoan | Nebeus | BitBond | GetLine | BTCpop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loan Term | 1 - 36 months | 1 - 24 months | 1 - 12 months | 1 day - 1 year | 1 year (renewable) | 1 day - 60 months (5 years) | 1 - 12 months | 6 weeks, 6 months, 12 months, 36 months or 60 months | 1 day - unlimited | 7 days - 5 years |
| Loan Minimum | 5000 | 1000 | none | 100 | 2000 | 50 | 0.5 BTC | $1,000 or 0.01 BTC | none | 0.01 BTC |
| Loan Maximum | 25000000 | 2000000 | none | none | 10000000 | none | 10 BTC | 25000 | 0.5 BTC for unapproved profiles | 500 BTC |
| Lending Currency | USD | Euro, USD & Tether | BTC, ETH, LEND, DAI | USD | USD | USD, EUR, GBP, CNY, JPY, RUB, CHF, PLN, CZK | USD, EUR, GBP | BTC, USD, KSH (Kenya) | BTC | BTC (but is fiat tied) |
| Collateral Currency | Ether & BTC | Ether, BTC, BNB & Nexo | BTC, ETH, LEND, DAI and 180 more tokens | Ether & BTC | Ether & BTC | BTC, ETH, Litecoin,Ripple, Monero, Zcash & Dash | BTC | BTC | BTC & GET tokens | INST1, BTCpop, BTCM, ETH and Clam (around 200 alt coins) |
| Interests Currency | USD | USD, Euro, BTC, ETH & Nexo | BTC, ETH, LEND, DAI, TUSD | CEL | USD, BTC & Ether | Same as borrowed fiat currency | Same as borrowed fiat currency | BTC & USDT | BTC | BTC |
| Interests (APR = annual % MPR = monthly %) | APR 12% - 22% | APR 5.9% - 11.9% | 0.25% - 5% MPR | APR 5% - 9% | APR 12% - 14% | APR 0% - 100% | APR 27% APR 20% with NBTK 0.01 - 3.00% daily, depending on the lender | APR 7% - 25% Average APR 20% depending on the borrower's rating | 0 - 1% daily depending on the lender | APR 10% - 45%, depending on the borrower & lender agreement |
| Time for getting the money | 1-7 days | 1-7 days | 7 days | 1-2 days | 1-2 days | 3 days | 1 day average | 1 - 5 days | 1- 30 days | time for loan to get funded by BTCpop members |
| Repayment Type | Monthly interests Monthly interests + loan % | Monthly Interests Early Cancelation accepted | Monthly interests + loan % | Monthly Interests + loan % | Monthly Interests | Monthly Interests + loan % Monthly Interests | Monthly Interests Each x% loan paid lowers x% future interests | Monthly Interests + loan % Monthly Interests | Full repayment at the end | Different Fixed repayments scheemes |
| Fees | $25 or 1 SALT for membership 1 - 100 SALT according to the loan value | None | Borrower .25% if collateral LEND, else .5% Lender 5% of interests if collateral LEND, else 10% | None | 1% - 4% of the loan | 1 CLT ($10) for borrowed loan 10% of interest gained by lending | 10% interest gained by lending | Borrower pays 1% - 3%, depending on loan length, lender pays 1% at the end | 30% of lender's profit 0.01 BTC to acces the platform | Borrower pays 1 - 5% of the loan, depending on amount Lender pays 5% |
| Loan is done trough (digital wallets are always used) | Bank transfer | Bank Transfer Nexo credit card | Only Digital wallets | Bank Transfer Debit Card | Bank Transfer or Wire ACH (automatic clearing house) | Debit Card Swift or Sepa Bank Transfer | Wire Transfer Debit Card | Bank transfer | Only Digital wallets | Only Digital wallets |
| Places where it lends | New Zealand, UK and 35 US states | Worldwide | Worldwide except US | Europe & US | 35 US states | Worldwide | Worldwide | Worldwide | Worldwide except Cuba, India, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea and Poland | More than 60 Countries |
| Foundation date | 2016 | 2018 | 2016 | 2017 | 2017 | 2017 | 2015 | 2013 | 2017 | 2014 (refunded in 2016) |
| Initial investment | $48.5 Millon | $52.5 Million | $16.5 Millon | $50 Millon | $56.4 Million | $3.2 Millon | $1.91 Millon | $ 7.6 Millon | $1.2 Millon | Undisclosed amount |
If you liked this article, you might also like:
- Analizing Blockchain Networks with Metcalfe’s and Odlyzko’s laws
- Emerging New Trends in Blockchain Technologies
- What I Have Learned From My Arbitrage Experiences with cryptoassets
Disclaimer: CoinFabrik does not provide financial advice. This material has been prepared for educational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, financial advice. Consult your own financial advisors before engaging in any investment.
