Make your own investment with bitcoins lending.

This is a risky business, especially with new companies that seem to underwrite a lot of these loans. Be very careful who you decide to lend money to. Global marketplaces are all well and good until someone fails to honor their debt obligation or simply takes the money and runs and there is really nothing you can do. However, I won’t let the few bad apples spoil the idea – yes, if you do it intelligently, you may make a good return on your Bitcoin investments through lending Bitcoins to others.



Bitbond: Bitbond is more curated than BTC Jam and usually lends to small businesses, which are far more secure than individuals in this case (since it is tougher to scam by applying for a business loan instead of personal loan). It is a peer to peer lending marketplace like Lending Club or Prosper, except it is global in scope. They denominate all the loans in USD, so do be aware of that. This can be good or bad, of course, depending on the price movement of BTC/USD. Still, the proposition carries its risks, so don’t invest anything you can’t afford to lose.

BTC Jam: This is the largest peer to peer lending marketplace but unfortunately also has a lot of scams, so be very careful. It is almost like the wild-west of investing/lending. I am sure there are plenty of legitimate users who borrow and pay back, but there are also many who have no intention of ever paying back. Know the risks before you give anyone your Bitcoins.

Loanbase: Loanbase is another company that is working in the peer-to-peer Bitcoin lending. It promises that the loan doesn’t affect your credit score, which is a mixed blessing, since there is a higher incentive to default. The loan volume has been steadily increasing, and the average returns advertised are above 7% for a ‘balanced’ portfolio as opposed to cautious or aggressive. However, the data points go back only several months and you should be careful in extrapolating this data. It hasn’t even seen a full business cycle, after all!