BlockFi To Support Litecoin, GUSD For Crypto Loans

BlockFi, a leading crypto-to-U.S. dollar lender, has announced support for Litecoin, as well as Gemini’s GUSD for use toward loans. The company creates debt and credit products and plans to further diversify on a global scale.

The news represents BlockFi's first expansion of accepted collateral into top-10 cryptocurrencies, the company said. 

Global Expansion

“We’re excited to add support for GUSD and LTC and to welcome the Litecoin community to our platform,” BlockFi co-Founder and CEO Zac Prince said in a statement. “BlockFi is already the lowest-cost, no-token crypto-backed lender in the U.S., and we’re planning to expand our services to more collateral types and geographies in the short term.”

The newly incorporated GUSD option will enable BlockFi to fund loans at any time, as opposed to only during U.S. bank hours. Additionally, the company said it intends to continue the expansion by supporting several other major cryptocurrencies as options for collateral — an integral step toward providing reliable and timely global leverage, according to the press release.

“This announcement is a big step toward BlockFi’s global expansion, which has been a part of our vision since the company’s founding,” said BlockFi co-Founder and vice president of operations Flori Marquez.

“It’s easy to forget that people in many parts of the world do not have access to low-cost credit. We look forward to providing that stability to residents of countries with less stable currencies.”

The Rise Of Crypto

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S., Gemini Trust Company, recently announced GUSD, a new currency that is FDIC insured, federally audited and entirely backed by the U.S. dollar.

The GUSD deposit balance is examined monthly by a registered public accounting firm, according to the BlockFi announcement. 

In July 2018, BlockFi received $52.5 million of funding from digital currency and blockchain technology investment firm Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC. This became the inaugural institutional investment in cryptoasset-backed loans within the industry, according to BlockFi. 

Some of BlockFi’s main competitors are BitBond, BeeLend, Money Token and EthLend.

Want to learn more about companies in the fintech industry? The Benzinga Fintech Summit is a gathering of the top leaders in payments, lending, capital markets, blockchain and cryptocurrencies in San Francisco Nov. 14.

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