Lending and borrowing have become words that are associated with Bitcoin. This is the same with traditional finance where lending and borrowing remain a big part of the ecosystem. However, there has not been an intersection of these three. This has mostly stemmed from the distrust of traditional finance toward bitcoin. The digital asset which remains largely unregulated did not provide the kind of backing tradfi wanted. That is until now.
Bitcoin-Backed Loans In Tradfi
Investment bank Goldman Sachs has announced the introduction of Bitcoin-backed loans. In what is a first for a major U.S. bank, Goldman Sachs has expanded its crypto offerings to include these bitcoin-backed loans. It is the first secured lending facility of its kind which will lend out cash that is collateralized by BTC.
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Mostly, banks have shied away from the cryptocurrency due to its highly volatile and unregulated nature. Nevertheless, various institutions have taken to providing services that revolve around cryptos such as asset and wealth management, trading, and investment. All of which remains a far cry from cash loans that use bitcoin as collateral.
A move like this will see not only Wall Street embrace the cryptocurrency faster but other factions of the traditional finance will begin to move in this direction.
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Goldman Sachs has no doubt evolved in its view of bitcoin over time. Less than two years ago, the bank did not believe that the cryptocurrency was an asset class. Since then, it has not only recognized it as an asset class but has been offering its clients a way to trade the cryptocurrency. It also boasts a crypto research team that publishes reports on the crypto market. Over the months, these reports have been mostly bullish toward digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Crypto Collaterals
Although this is the first for a major bank to accept bitcoin as collateral for a loan, it is in no way a novel concept. The rise of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space has seen users being able to borrow against their crypto holdings for a long time. There are DeFi protocols dedicated to this in the space.
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In this regard, traditional finance is playing catch-up to DeFi which requires no paperwork for individuals to secure a loan. With a deal like the one Goldman Sachs is offering, it can help to bridge the gap between traditional and decentralized finance.
Bitcoin is trading at $38,927 at the time of this writing, down 2.64% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Bitcoin Lending, chart from TradingView.com