Genesis Global Capital, an affiliate of Genesis Global Trading and which gives loans with crypto as collateral, has disclosed that in the last quarter of 2018, crypto lending grew by 500 million U.S dollars to reach over 1 billion U.S dollars.

In a report dubbed ‘Digital Assets Lending Snapshot’, crypto lending recorded a 100 percent growth in Q4 surpassing the values recorded between the end of Q1 and the end of Q3 which stood at 500 million U.S dollars.

CEO of Genesis, Michael Moro, said:

We are pleased with the strong growth of the lending business and continue to believe that digital asset lending will play an important role in developing this ecosystem. We are committed to investing in this business and expanding globally in 2019.

Moro indicated the fall of crypto prices throughout the year may be the biggest factor that could have contributed to the increase in crypto lending.

According to Genesis, the last two months of 2018 were “the most active months to date” with new hedge funds and trading platforms using Genesis’ ‘spot’ borrow function.

Out of approximately 1.1 billion U.S dollars processed by the firm in 2018, loans accounted for 638 million U.S dollars while borrows accounted for 475 million U.S dollars and 153 million U.S dollars held in active loans.

The firm’s loan portfolio was dominated by Bitcoin at 60 percent with XRP dominating almost 50 percent of the remaining 40 percent.

For Brian Kelly, CEO and Founder of BKCM LLC, crypto lending:

Is an essential step toward the maturation of the asset class. As a fund manager, Genesis is an essential part of my toolbox.

Although Moro does not wish the bears to last another day, he indicated that he is preparing his business to handle an additional 2-year bear dominance.

Do you think crypto lending activities at the firm will continue to increase since crypto prices have not yet recovered from last year’s bear forces?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.