coindesk.com
Decentralized finance (DeFi) credit marketplace Credix Finance has opened a new private credit lending pool using the layer 1 blockchain Solana, the firm said Wednesday.
Lenders can capture near 11% annual yield investing in insurance-protected private credit to Colombian farmers backed by receivables, said Credix, which believes the pool could swell to $150 million over the next months based on capital demand in the country.
The new offering comes as DeFi and traditional finance are becoming increasingly intertwined, with crypto native firms working with legacy financial institutions to bring old-school instruments such as private credit and bonds – often referred to as real-world assets (RWAs) – to the blockchain. The tokenization of RWAs could disrupt finance by making capital markets more efficient, transparent and accessible, and could be a $4 trillion-$16 trillion market by 2030, a Boston Consulting Group report said.
Digital asset investor demand for RWAs surged this year to capture rising yields in traditional lending markets. This also came as participants became disillusioned with crypto lending after last year’s dramatic implosions.
Colombia-based fintech firm Clave and its affiliate Liquitech underwrite and originate the loans in Colombian pesos via a bankruptcy remote trust and pledge the receivables as collateral. The underlying private note is settled through the Credix platform in USDC stablecoin. CESCE Colombia, subsidiary of Spanish Export Credit Agency, insures the receivables.
“This groundbreaking initiative not only brings a unique offering to the market but also holds power to make a significant social and economic impact by providing crucial financial support to farmers in Colombia," Thomas Bohner, chief executive of Credix, said in a statement.
Accredited investors can deposit USDC stablecoin in the pool and expect a 11% annualized yield (APY). This is significantly higher than the 2.6% APY available for lenders on DeFi protocol Aave, according to DefiLlama.
The first investors of the pool include Solana Foundation, the developer entity behind Solana, and digital asset market maker Keyrock.
Credix’s new offering follows rival credit marketplace Maple Finance’s tax receivables pool introduced earlier this year, which originated $36 million in loans since January.
The size of the blockchain private credit market reaches $557 million, according to RWA data service RWA.xyz.