Dharma, an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency lending startup, has announced that it won’t be accepting any new deposits and loans on its platform in the near future.
The announcement was made via the popular microblogging platform Twitter, and saw the firm reveal that “for now” it’s pausing new deposits and loans on its platform, while assuring users their existing deposits or loans will have a withdrawal option if the funds are currently not locked up.
2/ For now, we're pausing new deposits and loans in Dharma. If you have an existing deposit or loan with Dharma, you'll still be able to access your account and will have the option to withdraw any funds that are not currently locked up.
— Dharma (@Dharma_HQ) August 7, 2019
While scarce on details, Dharma’s announcement noted the ”next chapter of this story is going to be exciting.” Various users reacted with concern on social media, some because of the crypto lending platform’s relatively low volume over the past few months, and others over its nature.
Dharma’s platform is accessible not only using MetaMask but any other Ethereum wallet. The company’s CEO, Nadav Hollander, noted at the time of the platform’s launch that there are a number of ways to earn interest on cryptocurrency holdings in a non-custodial manner, but most require technical knowledge.
Earlier this year Dharma raised over $7 million from investors like Coinbase Ventures. The funds were reportedly used to develop Lever, a platform designed to support instant margin loans for high-volume cryptocurrency investors.
The firm’s marketing team at the time touted it allowed investors to take out a loan in minutes against a number of cryptoasset, with the counter-party risk being eliminated by smart contracts.
