Australian startup Loda, a lender that accepts crypto as collateral, has completed its first liquidity pool with the help of some prominent investors in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Loda has attracted more than 15 investors who poured $ 15 million into the first of the lender’s three completed institutional liquidity pools, according to a press release on Friday,

The remaining two pools, which are still online, will be completed once demand demands it, Dion Dalton-Bridges, CEO and founder of Loda, told CoinDesk via Telegram.

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Participation in the first liquidity pool came from Framework Ventures, Spartan Capital, One Block, Mechanism Capital, Liquefy Labs, Apollo Capital, Maven 11, Ledger Prime, Cluster Capital, Signum Capital, X21 and others.

Loda’s initial iteration is one of the first of its kind in the country, allowing users “one of the only ways” to borrow Australian dollars for cryptocurrency, Dalton-Bridges said.

The platform allows users to park their crypto assets on the platform in exchange for dollars as a means of accessing capital.

While banks don’t accept crypto as collateral to borrow money for a house, car, boat, or trip, Loda tries to provide its users with the means to do so.

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“An example of a traditional secured loan is where someone uses a house to borrow more money. All that is happening here is that we are introducing a new form of collateral, which is the crypto itself, ”said Dalton-Bridges.

Those who believe in cryptocurrency as a long-term investment can borrow short-term money and still benefit from it, because the person taking the loan “always captures the full upside” of a price. of a crypto that appreciates.

“This is attractive to crypto holders who want access to cash but don’t want to sell,” said Dalton-Bridges. “The advantages of borrowing against crypto are that you don’t sell your crypto but can still access money here and now, and at low interest rates. “

The founder estimates that a flat rate on all loans will be placed somewhere in the 5% range once the platform goes live in August.

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