Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency platform, recently launched a specialized lending service geared towards institutional clients in the U.S., stepping in where previous market players like Genesis and BlockFi faltered.
This development was discreetly made public on September 1, when a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled that an impressive $57 million had already been secured for this venture.
Details from an insider reveal that clients can lend their money, primarily in the form of cryptocurrency assets, to Coinbase. In return, they'll receive collateral that surpasses the loan's worth. This act of over-collateralization serves as an essential protective measure against potential pitfalls.
This arrangement enables Coinbase to offer secured loans to their institutional trading clients, reminiscent of the key brokerage services that traditional banks extend.
Last year saw institutions Genesis and BlockFi, who offered somewhat similar lending services, grapple with considerable financial downturns which nudged them into bankruptcy proceedings, either in totality or partially.
It's essential to highlight the distinction between this recently introduced service and Coinbase's previously canceled "Lend" program. The latter was targeted at individual customers and faced resistance from the SEC. The current program, tailored for institutional clients, assumes that large investors possess the acumen for such dealings, resulting in a more lenient regulatory framework.
A representative from Coinbase shared that institutions are now presented with an opportunity to lend their digital assets to the platform under standardized conditions that align with a Regulation D exemption. This move highlights Coinbase's dedication to modernizing the long-standing financial system by tapping into the potential of cryptocurrency.
Such an approach not only offers increased economic opportunities for individuals but also underlines the company's intent to consistently develop dependable cryptocurrency tools and services.
Coinbase's goal, the representative indicated, is to foster an environment where other pioneers in the field can help bring a vast new audience – close to a billion users – to the cryptocurrency domain.
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