The developers of the Dharma protocol, which allows users to borrow and lend digital assets with “trustless collateralization in over 50 different ERC-20 tokens,” have officially launched their platform.
Users will now be able to “earn interest or take out a line of credit” against their cryptoasset holdings “from anywhere in the world.” Dharma’s announcement revealed. Notably, users will not be required to provide their bank account details and there will also be “no identity checks required,” Dharma’s management noted.
According to a detailed thread posted from Dharma’s official Twitter account, the company’s public launch will allow users to earn interest on their crypto investments. As explained by Dharma’s team members, “anyone with an internet connection” will have access to Dharma’s services – as the protocol’s developers have “built a user experience in line with today’s most popular internet products.”
In order to borrow or lend cryptocurrencies through Dharma’s platform, users will not be required to use MetaMask. Any crypto wallet can be used to access Dharma’s lending services with only “a few clicks.” Moreover, users need not manage their private keys while using Dharma’s crypto platform as they can “sign transactions with a 4 digit pin.”
Nadav Hollander, the CEO at Dharma, told Coindesk: “We are doing fixed-term loans with fixed rates” and that investors will only be able to earn interest on their cryptoassets if the borrower actually uses them for transactions.
Hollander added:
There are a handful ways to earn interest on your crypto in a non-custodial manner, [however] pretty much all of those require a high degree of technical knowledge.
“User-First, Rather Than Developer-First”
Explaining Dharma’s long-term business strategy, Hollander noted: “We made a decision strategically as a company to go user-first rather than developer-first. With all that being said, the underlying smart contract is still primarily open source.”
Through its pilot program, the developers of Dharma had been providing loans to around 2,500 users. According to data from Dharmalytics, a third-party explorer service, loans worth a total of $1.16 million in principal have been borrowed as of April 5th, 2019. The funds have reportedly been issued across 1.575 loans.
Commenting on the initiative, Brendan Forster, the co-founder and COO at Dharma, said:
We see the broader shift to blockchain-based financial services as the beginning of a much more efficient, programmable, and equitable financial system.
