Canada's cryptocurrency lending platform Ledn has introduced $188 million worth of bitcoin-backed loan notes to the traditional asset-backed securities market, Cointelegraph reported on Feb. 19, citing Bloomberg News. The deal is seen as a symbolic transaction showing crypto-based lending expanding into traditional financial markets.
The bitcoin pledged as collateral in the deal totals 4,078.87 coins.
Andre Dragosch (안드레 드라고쉬), head of research at Bitwise Europe, told Cointelegraph that the fact Ledn completed the transaction itself is evidence that bitcoin is beginning to be recognised as safe and legitimate collateral by traditional financial institutions. Jin-sol Bok (복진솔), head of research at virtual asset research firm Four Pillars, said bitcoin-backed loans can be transparently tracked on the blockchain and liquidated programmatically, meaning there is no need to be overly concerned about asset-backed securities risks in this structure.
Ledn, founded in 2018, has originated more than $9.5 billion in loans across more than 100 countries, the company said. Tether, which issues the dollar stablecoin USDT, made a strategic investment in Ledn in November last year.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr