Help guides

How to create a Lend offer?

Create a Lend offer when you want to lend out Cryptocurrency.

  • Go to the offer creation page and select the “To Lend” side.
  • Decide what amount, what currency (and if required, the relevant blockchain), what period, and for what interest rate you are ready to lend at. Please note that the interest rate you choose will be applied for the whole period of the Contract (not APR).
  • Next you choose the LTV ratio, which determines the relative amount of the collateral the Borrower will need to lock in escrow in order to proceed. Higher LTV ratio entails a higher risk of contract liquidation. LTV is calculated by dividing the debt amount (including interest) by the LTV % chosen.
    Example 1. Input: 30% LTV, 100 USDC, 3% Interest rate. Collateral amount: (100 x 1.03%) / 30% = 343 USDC (to be converted into BTC at the current exchange rate)
    Example 2. Input: 70% LTV, 100 USDC, 3% Interest rate. Collateral amount: (100 x 1.03%) / 70% = 147 USDC (to be converted into BTC at the current exchange rate)
    Conclusion: Higher LTV ratio = less collateral.
  • In order to increase efficiency, you can set specific working hours for your offer, during which your offer will be listed and available to Borrowers.
  • After all of the required fields have been completed, you can tick the box “Enable” and press “Create” in order to publish your offer and make it visible in the offer list.

After you have published your offer, you will be forwarded to the summary of your offer, where you will be able to edit, disable or delete your offer if needed. At this stage, your offer is already being displayed to potential Borrowers and you can find it in the list of Borrow offers.

How to create and complete a Lend contract?

When your offer gets accepted by the Borrower or you have accepted an offer to Lend, you will be notified accordingly. Please note that notifications will be received at each stage of the contract and after every direct message received on the platform. When the contract gets created, it will be displayed in the list of your contracts in the “My contracts” tab.

Pending stage

You can review the contract terms and either accept or cancel the contract. You have 12 hours to make a decision. In order to proceed with the contract please “Accept” it and enter the information requested:

  • Cryptocurrency repayment address - the address the debt will be repaid to (can be amended afterwards);
  • Bitcoin release address - address that will be used in case the contract enters forced liquidation, or if the Borrower decides to repay his/her debt in BTC (can be amended afterwards).

After entering both addresses, you will be requested to confirm your payment password (or to both create and confirm for new users) in order to generate a unique escrow account for your Contract. When the Payment password has been entered and confirmed by both Lender and Borrower, the escrow account is generated and the Contract is transferred into the Depositing stage.

Depositing stage

The Depositing stage lasts for 12 hours, at this stage the Borrower will be depositing the required BTC amount (collateral + Lending commission) in escrow. After all requested confirmations are in place (1 confirmation required), the Contract will be transferred into the Payment stage.

Payment stage

The payment address is now being displayed to you, and you can proceed with the payment. The payment time is 8 hours.

NEVER PROCEED WITH THE PAYMENT BEFORE RECEIVING ALL OF THE CONFIRMATIONS AND THE PAYMENT ADDRESS FROM OUR SIDE!

After you have completed the payment, please copy the link to the transaction (from the blockchain explorer, in the web browser) and enter it in the pop-up window. Click “Submit” and wait until the Borrower confirms safe receipt. Borrower has 4 hours to confirm payment. After Borrower confirms payment, the Contract is transferred into the in progress stage.

In progress stage

The Contract remains in this stage until the repayment date, or forced liquidation (if any). You can update the repayment address anytime until the repayment date.

Repayment stage

After the Contract period is over, it will automatically be transferred into the Repayment stage. Borrower will have 24 hours to complete the repayment before the Lender is able to start Forced liquidation. After the repayment is done, Borrower uploads a payment transaction link and you will either confirm or reject it. You have 12 hours to confirm that the repayment was received. When the funds are received and the link is confirmed, the Contract is transferred into the Completed stage.

Completed stage

The contract has been successfully completed. The Borrower can now release the collateral back to his/her wallet.

For more detailed information about LTV, collateral amount, Forced liquidation, etc., please visit our FAQ section.

How to create a Borrow offer?

Create a Borrow offer when you want to borrow Cryptocurrency.

  • Go to the offer creation page and select the “To Borrow” side.
  • Decide what amount, what currency (and if required, the relevant blockchain), what period, and for what interest rate you are ready to borrow at. Please note that the interest rate you choose will be applied for the whole period of the Contract (not APR).
  • Next you choose the LTV ratio, which determines the relative amount of the collateral you will need to lock in escrow in order to proceed. Higher LTV ratio entails a higher risk of contract liquidation. LTV is calculated by dividing the debt amount (including interest) by the LTV % chosen.
    Example 1. Input: 30% LTV, 100 USDC, 3%. Collateral amount: (100 x 1.03%) / 30% = 343 USDC (to be converted into BTC at the current exchange rate)
    Example 2. Input: 70% LTV, 100 USDC, 3%. Collateral amount: (100 x 1.03%) / 70% = 147 USDC (to be converted into BTC at the current exchange rate)
    Conclusion: Higher LTV ratio = less collateral.
  • In order to increase efficiency, you can set specific working hours for your offer, during which your offer will be listed and available to Lenders.
  • After all of the required fields have been completed, you can tick the box “Enable” and press “Create” in order to publish your offer and make it public.

After you have published your offer, you will be forwarded to the summary of your offer, where you will be able to edit, disable or delete your offer. At this stage, your offer is already being displayed to Lenders and you can find it in the Lenders offer list.

How to create and complete a Borrow contract?

When your offer gets accepted by the Lender, or you have accepted an offer to Borrow, you will be notified accordingly. Please note that notifications will be received at each stage of the contract and after every direct message received on the platform. When the contract gets created, it will be accessible in the list of your contracts in the “My contracts” tab.

Pending stage

You can review the contract terms and either accept or cancel the contract. You have 12 hours to make a decision. In order to proceed with the contract please “Accept” it and enter the information requested:

  • Cryptocurrency payment address - the address the debt payment will be transferred to;
  • Bitcoin refund address - the address that will be used to refund your collateral after the contract has been completed (can be amended afterwards).

After entering both addresses, you will be asked to confirm your payment password (for new users, to both create and confirm it) in order to generate a unique escrow account for your Contract. When the Payment password has been entered and confirmed by both Lender and Borrower, the escrow account is generated and the Contract is transferred into the Depositing stage.

Depositing stage

Depositing stage lasts for 12 hours, at this stage you are asked to deposit the required BTC amount (collateral + Lend commission) in escrow. After you have sent the funds to escrow and all requested confirmations are in place (1 confirmation required), the Contract will be transferred into the Payment stage.

Payment stage

The Lender now sees your payment address and is asked to complete the payment within the next 8 hours. After the Lender completes the payment, they must attach the link/s to the payment transaction, and the link/s will be validated automatically. After the link is validated, you will be asked to confirm the receipt, and the Contract will be transferred into the "In Progress" stage. You can start a dispute when the timer expires.

In progress stage

The Contract remains in this stage until the repayment date, or forced liquidation (if any). You can partially or fully repay the loan anytime until the repayment date by making a partial or early repayment. Note, that in order to avoid force liquidation of your contract, you should keep the LTV ratio below 90%. The current LTV ratio is always displayed in the specific Contract. You can always balance the LTV by sending more Bitcoin to escrow (increasing collateral) or by making a partial repayment (decreasing the debt amount).

Repayment stage

After the Contract period is over, it will automatically be transferred into the Repayment stage. You will have 24 hours to complete the repayment before the lender is able to transfer the Contract into the Forced liquidation stage. After the repayment is done, you are asked to upload a payment transaction link and the Lender is asked to confirm or reject it within the next 12 hours. When the funds are received and the link is confirmed, the Contract is transferred into the Completed stage.

Completed stage

The contract has been successfully completed. You can now refund the collateral back to your Bitcoin wallet. You will also have the option to change your Bitcoin address at the refund stage.

For more detailed information about LTV, collateral amount, Forced liquidation, etc., please visit our FAQ section.

How Lend at Hodl Hodl ensures security

Multisig escrow

Lend at Hodl Hodl ensures user's safety by providing a unique multisig escrow for every Contract created on our Lending Platform. During the Contract, the Bitcoins remain locked in the multisig escrow (P2SH) address on the blockchain.

In order to release the Bitcoin from escrow, two (out of three) keys are needed – one belongs to the Borrower, one belongs to the Lender, and the other belongs to Lend at Hodl Hodl. This system ensures that both Borrower and Lender are protected from scams, since no transaction can happen without a signature from two of the three parties.

The Borrower is not able to refund the Bitcoin from escrow without the approval of a second party, and the Lender is not able to receive the Bitcoin, unless Forced Liquidation occurs. Lend at Hodl Hodl uses its key in case there is a Dispute.

Two-Factor Authentication

The Lend at Hodl Hodl Platform provides you with the option to use an advanced level of security – Two-Factor authentication (2FA).

In addition to your email address and password, 2FA requires you to enter a 6-digit code that was generated in an authenticator app on your device, such as Google Authenticator or Authy. This makes it impossible to log into your account without accessing your 2FA code.

More information is available in the "What is Two-Factor Authentication" section.

Trusted Devices

The trusted devices feature at Lend at Hodl Hodl is an additional level of security. After activating it, every time a new device attempts to access your account, you are required to confirm the new device by email before being allowed to log in from the new device.

More information is available in the "What are Trusted Devices?" section.

Dispute resolution system

Whenever there is a problem during a Contract, both parties are able to start a Dispute if they cannot resolve the issue by themselves.

Once a Dispute has been started, the support manager will study the case, and give you further instructions on how to resolve the Dispute.

Risks and precautionary measures

Why is it insecure to transfer Cryptocurrency before the Collateral is locked in escrow?

Do NOT release a Loan in favor of the Borrower if you are not sure that the Collateral is locked in escrow, otherwise, your Loan will not be secured and there will be no repayment guarantee.

Collateral Calculator

Enter the details of your contract to calculate the collateral amount required.