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Crypto Lending
The Story
Crypto winter has come for crypto lending platforms.
What are those?
They lend crypto to borrowers, like a bank does with cash, and pay interest to people who deposit their crypto with them. Borrowers can put up their crypto as collateral to take out loans in stablecoins or fiat currency (think: US dollars). Lending platforms you might've heard of: Celsius, Voyager, and BlockFi.
Wait, didn’t they…
Yep. In July, Celsius and Voyager filed for bankruptcy after the loans they made to a crypto hedge fund couldn’t be repaid. BlockFi borrowed money from the crypto exchange FTX to stay afloat, but that only made things worse. Hint: Last month, FTX filed for bankruptcy, bringing BlockFi down with it.
What’s the deal?
These platforms are often interconnected. They lend crypto to one another (not just customers) and often make high-risk bets that don’t always pay off. So when one crypto lending platform can’t repay its loans, investors might panic and start pulling out their money. Then lenders begin calling in their loans, which can’t be repaid. At which point, a crypto lending platform might freeze customer withdrawals to prevent a run on the bank (hi, Voyager). This can lead to a loss of confidence in crypto, a crash in crypto markets, and investors losing money.
theSkimm
Crypto lending offers a new way to invest outside of traditional finance. Investors can make money from crypto lending platforms, but they can lose it, too. Especially if the platform they use goes under.
and also...this
Who’s getting grilled by congress…
FTX. The House and Senate held hearings this week to understand how the collapse of the crypto exchange could impact the broader crypto market, and what lawmakers can do to protect investors. Notably absent from the hearings: Sam Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, who was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after criminal charges were filed against him.
Who’s saying ‘please keep HODLing’...
Binance. The world’s largest crypto exchange temporarily halted customer withdrawals of the stablecoin USDC this week. This came after customers withdrew $1.9 billion from the platform in a 24-hour period. Why? A not-so-glamorous audit might have spooked investors.
What’s giving the crypto market a boost…
Cooling inflation. Bitcoin and Ethereum rose on Tuesday after Consumer Price Index data showed that inflation might be slowing down.
What’s having a Lehman moment…
asking for a friend
Q: What's a typical day in the life of a crypto swing trader?
Ashley Caines: As a swing trader of six years, my typical day consists of doing research. I use automations to run most of my trades (auto buy-ins and auto sell-offs), which makes trading way less emotional. I typically follow all of the dedicated news accounts for the exchanges I use and the coins I'm holding. In total, I use six different cryptocurrency exchanges and am in about 10-15 automated trades at a time. My notifications tell me if I am nearing a sell-off price for one of my currencies and I use this information to decide how much longer I want to stay in the trade. I keep a running list of new currencies to buy into once I exit current ones, constantly regenerating my funds to invest. I'm still trading off of profits from my first trades six years ago. No new money in. When I’m researching, I’m reading news and white papers, but also studying currency charts to spot patterns of how many times a currency multiplies its value in a year on average. For example: ETH might triple its value twice in a year. A coin's pattern helps me determine what price I think is best to enter at and how much profit I think I can safely make in a short amount of time. The key difference between gambling and investing in cryptocurrencies is research.
Ashley is a self-taught cryptocurrency swing trader who’s been trading since 2017. She entered the web3 space when study and adoption were very individualized. Now she leads and grows web3 native communities across Discord, Telegram, and Bunches, fostering collective education and empowerment. Her answer has been edited for length and clarity. This section was created in partnership with our friends at AfroTech. Join the AfroTech Web3 Discord community here.
thing to know
ZKP
Aka zero-knowledge proof. For many crypto fans, privacy is a part of the appeal. Enter: ZKP, a type of cryptography that allows one person (the prover) to convey to another (the verifier) that a piece of information is true without revealing exactly what that info is. Example: A customer can confirm they’re the appropriate age to access an age-restricted product (like alcohol), without actually revealing how old they are by using an algorithm that takes in data and returns an answer of either ‘true’ or ‘false.’
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