Hong Kong-headquartered crypto exchange Diginex, which listed on Nasdaq in October, announced it’s adding borrowing and lending facilities. The tech means customers will be able to lend and earn interest on their bitcoin assets and ether, which is the asset of the Ethereum network, as well as borrow these cryptocurrencies against their existing crypto holdings.
The new integrated borrowing and lending platform will manage the entire lending lifecycle, actively managing collateral throughout the term and is expected to complement derivatives and trading tools including cross-collateralization, portfolio margining and capital efficiency products that are being rolled out.
Richard Byworth, CEO of Diginex, said in a statement: “Borrowing and lending provides yield to this asset class and a necessary hedge for derivative and volatility traders as we continue to expedite the growth of crypto derivatives.”
The crypto borrowing and lending market has increased tenfold over the past 12 months. In 2020, crypto-backed loan volumes grew to $10 billion from just $1bn in 2019, driven by increased investment activity from institutions.
The market for yield enhancement opportunities for crypto assets has grown as hedge funds and institutional investors look for facilities that will allow them to earn an additional return on their crypto holdings and to enable margin trading.