Lend at Hodl Hodl: True P2P Bitcoin lending is here

“Shifting over to today, we see similarities between bitcoin savers and the historical VOC shareholders: they are often long-term committed, they have a relatively high concentration of their wealth tied up in the asset, they don’t like to sell it as that triggers capital gains taxes, and as millennials they have ambitions to make further investments. Going forward, we expect the use of bitcoin as collateral for borrowing to become increasingly widespread.” — The Bitcoin Reformation, Tuur Demeester.

For the last couple of months, the Hodl Hodl team has been silent, and there was a good reason for this. Since the beginning of 2020, we have been preparing something revolutionary that we believe can add huge value to Bitcoin’s ecosystem. We have been researching — both DeFi and Bitcoin’s lending space — for quite some time, and in spring of 2020, we decided that we can combine the best of these two sectors, and create a unique product — a non-custodial Bitcoin-backed P2P lending platform. So over these last few months, we have been devoted to developing lend.hodlhodl.com — a new way to lend and borrow globally without KYC.

Why have we decided to add lending functionality to Hodl Hodl?

In September, we delivered a speech at MCC 2020 where we outlined the main properties of Bitcoin’s DeFi. There is the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, so we came up with Hodl Hodl’s Hierarchy of DeFi. It’s not made from the bottom to the top, rather, it’s a triangle which sums — in our opinion — the main properties of DeFi projects. And these are: No custody, No KYC, No fiat.

Property one: Non-custodial. Being non-custodial is a core element for every decentralized project out there. In most cases — not only — does this approach ensure a higher level of security, but it also allows your customers to be in control of their own funds. Your keys, your coins.

Property two: Non-KYC. Property one usually leads to property two. KYC creates unneeded friction and barriers to entry, and storing your private data with a third-party is not very decentralized.

Property three: Non-fiat. Yes, you read it right. Not having fiat, with all the fiat gatekeepers out there, helps you to create a proper P2P platform. If you look at the most successful DeFi projects you will understand that they are operating without fiat involvement. Instead, fiat is replaced with stablecoins. Such an approach allows you to move the payment part into a real P2P spectrum because stablecoin payments, just like Bitcoin payments, are happening with no middleman involved. Fiat payment institutions can block, reverse, and freeze operations between peers. Removing that type of risk makes your solution more censorship resistant.

Keeping all of these core DeFi properties in mind, we’ve decided to build Lend at Hodl Hodl. But of course it’s more than that:

1. Everyone can become a lender and/or borrower. It works just like a regular P2P platform, but instead of buying/selling you will be lending/borrowing.
2. You set your own terms. If you don’t like the existing offers, create your own offers with the terms that you want.
3. Truly P2P. Only P2P collateral and payments. Your collateral will be Bitcoin, and all payments will be made with stablecoins.
4. No borders. By removing fiat we also remove borders. Now everyone can lend money to everyone, and everyone can borrow from everyone.
5. Keep hodling. We believe that Lend at Hodl Hodl will support hodlers, by giving them the option to not sell their bitcoins, even if they need some liquidity. This is a perfect tool for the BULL MARKET.
6. Zero-KYC. You only share your crypto addresses with your counterparty. No banking details, no locations, nothing.
7. Simple Bitcoin DeFi. Our lending platform is way more simple than existing Bitcoin lending products. Combining our experience in building non-custodial tech, feedback and market research, we’ve developed a simple Bitcoin DeFi solution. You will need less than 1 minute to sign up, and less than 2 minutes to place your offer or accept an existing one.

Furthermore, we would like to announce that Lend at Hodl Hodl will be our first solution available for US users. Yes, you heard it right — US bitcoiners will be able to use this Hodl Hodl solution in one week from the launch date. Stay tuned!

As we are releasing new products, we would like to understand the most popular use cases, and we would be happy to receive feedback from early adopters. In order to support our first batch of customers, we are decreasing our commission to 1% for one month.

Finally, we would love to thank all of those who inspired us to develop this new solution. Huge thanks goes to:

• Existing investors — WhalePanda, Ambroid, and others.
• Our new investors that joined us during our recent Series A round — Lemniscap and Fulgur Ventures.
• Tuur Demeester for The Bitcoin Reformation that served as an inspiration.
• Matt Odell for your Tweet that served as a call to action.
• DeFi developers from the whole crypto ecosystem for both the good and bad practices.
• The amazing Bitcoin community for your trust, faith and ongoing support!

Join us today and enjoy your financial freedom!

Thank you all! Your terms. Your keys. Your coins.

Hodl Hodl team