Australian Lending Startup Loda Gets $15M to Further Crypto Collateralization Efforts

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

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

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

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 against crypto, 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 home, car, boat or trip, Loda is attempting to provide its users the means to do just that.

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

Those who believe in cryptocurrency as a long-term investment may borrow the cash in the short-term and still benefit, as the person who takes the loan "still captures all the potential upside" of an appreciating crypto's price.

"This is appealing to crypto holders who want access to cash but don’t want to sell," Dalton-Bridges said. "The benefits of borrowing against crypto are namely that you are not selling your crypto but are still able to access cash in the here and now, and at low-interest rates."

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