Blockchain.com, a popular cryptocurrency wallet service and blockchain data provider, will now allow users to borrow against their holdings.

The firm announced its new “Borrow” service, saying it will be offering loans in US dollar-denominated stablecoins against Bitcoin (BTC) holdings held in the Blockchain Wallet. Loans are available worldwide open to wallet holders immediately after collateral has been made available, the firm said.

Blockchain.com Adds Dollar-Pegged PAX Token

Although it did not specify which stablecoins loans would be paid out in, Blockchain added last year’s dollar-pegged PAX token to its wallet.

The new Borrow product comes after Blockchain opened an institutional lending desk last August, a service that in its first month climbed from $10 million in originations to $10 million by November.

“Institutional and retail investors have the same financial goals – grow wealth and manage risks – but the tools at their disposal are vastly different,” said Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of Blockchain. “Now, with our suite of trading products and Borrow, retail users can trade like the big guys without selling the crypto they’ve stockpiled or leaving their Wallet.”

Lending has become a rapidly growing sector in the cryptocurrency industry, with similar services already launched by Blockchain rivals such as Binance. Crypto companies Babel and BitGo announced in March that they will have outstanding loans of $380 million and $150 million respectively.

Investors are also eyeing the potential of the crypto lending space, as BlockFi has raised more than $48 million in two funding rounds in 2019 and 2020 with Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) loans.

Blockchain previously only provided its wallet (now with a claimed 46 million-plus downloads) and blockchain data streams, but last July launched a crypto exchange service called The Pit.

Blockchain.com announced last month that it is leading a fund-raising process to its trading partner Wintermute Trading. Blockchain.com Ventures, Blockchain.com’s venture arm, has completed a seed funding round for Wintermute Trading, a United Kingdom-based algorithmic trading firm.

0 0 vote Article Rating