Cryptocurrencies are currently establishing themselves as an asset class in their own right. As with any other asset class, various organizations are gradually developing many financial products for cryptocurrencies, including the so-called crypto loans.

1. What are crypto loans?

Crypto loans are secured loans where a certain amount of an asset (cryptocurrency), often kept in cold storage, must be deposited as collateral to obtain a loan. As a rule, the applicant must perform an identity check and if accepted, the merchant can deposit crypto and get a loan. If the recipient of the crypto loan is unable to repay the stated amount on time, the lender could liquidate the cryptocurrency that the recipient used as collateral.

From a business point of view, crypto loans have two sides: one side is the granting of the loan to a customer on the agreed terms and the other side is the financing of this process. There are platforms that offer crypto loans and provide liquidity with income products such as rental, staking or savings accounts. As a rule, customers invest money for a certain period of time in order to achieve interest and passive income.

2. What are the advantages of crypto loans?

Apart from the fact that they are much easier and faster to get than a traditional loan, crypto loans are so popular because a loan against cryptocurrencies means that you can keep your digital assets in case the price rises.

With a crypto loan, you can HODLen and at the same time ensure that you have new funds. Such a loan can be considered if you are convinced that the coin will hold its value, but need a certain amount of liquidity and available funds to pay for everyday expenses, rent, bills, and other things.

Crypto loans are based on a blockchain. That is, they are immutable because transactions cannot be changed. This makes them more trustworthy. In addition, it often takes only one day to get a loan, as the identity check is often minimal. However, this varies from platform to platform. The only requirement is usually an official identification document (since there is no need to carry out a credit check unlike in bank loans where you need to improve your credit score by getting a Net 30 account from companies).

3. What are the risks of crypto loans?

The first and biggest risk is that companies that make such loans may become insolvent, as in the case of the crypto platform Celsius, which recently filed for bankruptcy.

Another risk is the way the cryptocurrencies or collateral are stored. There are two types of crypto exchanges. On the one hand, centralized exchanges such as Coinbase or Nebeus, where control is largely in the hands of a third party. In addition, there are also decentralized exchanges where the private keys (and thus access to your digital assets) are stored only by the owner of the account and not by a third party. Both types of exchanges have their advantages and risks.

Another risk to consider is the volatility of cryptocurrencies. If a user takes out an entire Ethereum (ETH) as a loan at a price of 4,000 US dollars and the price drops significantly, the value of the security is lower and there could be a demand for additional margins. That’s a risk that comes with the volatility of cryptocurrencies in general and isn’t necessarily related to loans. But this risk must be taken into account in any case.

In addition, there are tax and regulatory risks associated with decentralized platforms, as many of these companies do not adhere to regulatory protocols such as identity checks or anti-money laundering measures. Decentralized lending is therefore accompanied by a certain degree of uncertainty. Centralized platforms, on the other hand, comply with such regulations. Therefore, the above risk does not exist with these and consequently, they are safe.

ALSO READ: How Online Gaming Are Influenced By Cryptocurrency

4. How to take out crypto loans?

To borrow money, you have to choose the right platform. There are many platforms that offer crypto loans, but not all of them are safe and compliant.

Before you apply for a loan, you should definitely make sure that the platform is secure. It is always advisable to carefully review the Platform and consider the Platform’s registrations, licenses, trusted partners, and security measures, such as the approach to asset retention and insurance.

When looking for the right platform, you also have to choose the right provider for your own needs, because not everywhere the same assets are accepted as collateral or the same credit conditions are offered. For example, you cannot get a loan in $MATIC on all platforms.

When applying for a crypto loan, the amount of the loan depends on the amount of collateral that an investor can deposit. A common measure is a loan-to-value ratio, which refers to the amount of the loan and the value of the collateral. Crypto loans usually have very low loan-to-value ratios due to the volatility of the crypto market, but that depends on the particular platform.

One of the platforms that enable crypto loans is Nebeus. This uses cold storage, which means that the private keys or access to your cryptocurrency are kept offline where hackers can’t reach them. Through Nebeus you can get a quick loan with 0 percent interest for 3 months.

Loans can be obtained immediately. The only thing that is needed is an identity check, crypto collateral, and the acceptance of the loan agreement. This entire process is handled almost immediately via the app or desktop platform.

Nebeus also offers flexible loans that have a loan-to-value ratio of up to 80 percent. More than 9 coins are accepted as collateral. Nebeus also offers the ability to buy or sell cryptocurrencies and stablecoins at the market rate with a fixed fee of 0.5 percent per trade.

5. How can you lend or borrow your cryptocurrency?

With this business model with crypto loans, the question arises as to how the platforms finance the loans offered.

Several platforms use profitable products such as crypto renting or staking, where a client blocks their digital assets for a certain period of time and receives rewards for this, which they can use for the purpose of liquidity. Here, the platforms use the money that has been blocked for a certain period of time to provide liquidity for the loans.

If you want to borrow your cryptocurrency, you need to find a good platform for it. Here you have two options. With a fixed interest rate, the exchange rate is set by a control center, such as the platform used. A flexible exchange rate depends on the level of supply and demand at the time of a transaction.

When lending cryptocurrencies, it is important how long the assets are locked and unavailable for trading, as this varies depending on the platform and they are subject to market fluctuations. However, lending stablecoins, which are usually not affected by the volatility of the market, is worthwhile if the user does not want to use them in the short term.

Some platforms specialize in only one crypto financial solution (such as granting crypto loans), while others offer multiple services. For example, Nebeus also offers four crypto loan programs where you can borrow over 20 coins: two allow you to borrow cryptocurrencies that offer up to 6.5 percent return per year, and the other two allow you to borrow stablecoins that offer up to 12.85 percent return per year. In addition, there is the peculiarity that you can borrow one coin and be rewarded with another.