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Bitcoin lender Ledn to roll out ETH, USDT interest accounts

September 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Spurred on by user requests, Bitcoin lending firm Ledn is rolling out an Ethereum yield product.

Despite its roots embedded in Bitcoin (BTC) lending, lending platform Ledn has announced the launch of an Ether (ETH) yield offering following user requests for a shielded alternative to manually staking Ether.

The Cayman Islands firm has added an ETH offering to its Growth Accounts products, which currently offers users ring-fenced facilities to earn interest on Bitcoin and USD Coin (USDC) deposits.

An announcement shared with Cointelegraph highlighted user calls for a means to earn interest from ETH holdings without having to manually stake and manage Ether through liquid staking pools.

The lending firm also notes that its Growth Accounts are specifically ring-fenced from Ledn’s other products and services. Deposited ETH is only exposed to the counterparty that generates yield off the staked amount, which means that user deposits will remain unaffected if Ledn were to go bankrupt.

This is particularly pertinent given the high-profile failures of some of the cryptocurrency industry’s most prominent crypto lending firms. The likes of Celsius, Voyager and Three Arrows Capital highlight the potential pitfalls of over-extended and questionable lending practices that have plagued the industry.

Ledn chief strategy officer Mauricio Di Bartolomeo said that Ledn users have continually inquired about an Ether offering and remained confident that it would be a favorable alternative to self-managing ETH staking:

“This yield option is significantly easier to set up than native ETH staking. Looking forward, we’re working towards rolling out ETH support across the entire Ledn suite of products in the coming months.”

Ledn also announced that it will be launching a second stablecoin Growth Account, with users set to be able to deposit and earn interest on Tether (USDT) tokens from Oct. 12. These new offerings will not be available to United States or Canadian users.

Ledn is not the only Bitcoin-first company to gradually roll out support for cryptocurrencies other than BTC. Casa, a noncustodial wallet platform that began as a Bitcoin-only service, rolled out multisignature ETH self-storage in June 2023.

In August 2023, Ledn announced a partnership with Cayman Islands real estate company Parallel that would enable cryptocurrency users to invest in property to attain eventual residency.

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Bitcoin-backed property investment becomes new avenue for Cayman Islands residency

August 24, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Bitcoin financial services firm Ledn’s ties with the Cayman Islands open a doorway for crypto users to use their funds to obtain real estate “golden visas.“

The Cayman Islands has long been an idyllic beach getaway for tourists, but the archipelago could soon welcome Bitcoin (BTC) holders as new residents through BTC-backed loans used to invest in real estate.

Bitcoin banking firm Ledn, which is registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority as a virtual assets service provider (VASP), is providing an avenue for Bitcoin holders to use their BTC as collateral for loans to invest in real estate on the islands.

This is just one avenue that prospective new residents of the islands could take to obtain citizenship, with investments over $2.4 million in real estate in the Cayman Islands qualifying a buyer for permanent residency.

Speaking directly to Cointelegraph, Ledn CEO Adam Reeds unpacked a new partnership with local real estate agency Parallel, which has also facilitated a number of cryptocurrency-based property sales in the Cayman Islands.

“Ledn will provide real estate buyers in the Caymans with crypto-backed loans, which Parallel will accept as a means to finance purchases. Parallel will only accept borrowed funds if they’ve been loaned by Ledn — it is an exclusive partnership in this sense.”

According to Reeds, Parallel handles conversion to fiat currency if either a buyer or seller prefers the option over a cryptocurrency payment. Meanwhile, Ledn’s portion of any transaction will be fiat-free, paid in either BTC or United States dollar-backed stablecoins.

“Parallel is a crypto-centric real estate broker in the Caymans, so users can now finance their purchase of real estate completely fiat-free.”

It is also possible for cryptocurrency holders to pay for a property with crypto in the Cayman Islands through Parallel. Reeds, however, highlighted a potential draw card in that investors can leverage their BTC holdings as collateral without selling a portion.

“Then if or when BTC goes up, your loan-to-value ratio goes down, so your house is appreciating, and so is the asset you’re borrowing against.”

Given that Parallel has previously sold real estate in cryptocurrency-facilitated transfers, Reeds added that both companies have seen demands for the service to finance significant property transactions.

The real estate firm sold a $10 million property in December 2022, which was paid for entirely in cryptocurrency. The company is also registered as a VASP with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, allowing it to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.

Both Ledn and Parallel must adhere to comprehensive compliance requirements as part of their registration with the local monetary authority.

The concept of attaining residency by investment involving cryptocurrencies is not entirely new. Vanuatu claims to be the first country to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment to obtain citizenship by investment.

A number of other countries have emerged as cryptocurrency-friendly destinations to try and obtain citizenship. Portugal, Malta and El Salvador have all emerged as relatively crypto-friendly countries, but it is still not possible to directly invest in Bitcoin to obtain or be eligible for residency.

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