Ledn Shifts to Bitcoin-Only Lending to Appeal to Bitcoin Maxis

Cryptocurrency lender Ledn has announced significant changes to its business model, shifting to a bitcoin-only lending approach starting July 1. The Cayman Islands-registered company will discontinue support for ether, focusing exclusively on bitcoin to simplify its product offerings and align more closely with the principles of bitcoin. This move is seen as an attempt to appeal to the segment of the crypto community known as "Bitcoin Maxis," who advocate for bitcoin as the sole necessary cryptocurrency.

Ledn's co-founder, Adam Reeds, emphasized the company's return to its roots and the principles that inspired bitcoin. "With our new hyper-focus on Bitcoin-only lending, we’re going back to our roots and principles that inspired Bitcoin to begin with," Reeds stated in an emailed announcement. This strategic shift aims to reduce risk by eliminating the lending of client assets to generate yield. Bitcoin offered as collateral for loans will remain fully in Ledn's custody or that of its partners, ensuring that client assets are not reused to create leverage or inflation, a model that traditional finance relies on but that bitcoiners instinctively reject.

Cryptocurrency lending faced significant challenges during the crypto winter of 2022, with several prominent companies, including BlockFi, Voyager, Celsius, and Genesis, facing insolvency. Ledn, however, managed to survive the turmoil and is now positioning itself to revitalize the BTC-backed lending sector. The company's simplified product offering, coupled with a more favorable regulatory environment for crypto in the U.S., is expected to support this resurgence, according to co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo.