ETHLend winds down loanbook in favour of Aave ‘flash loans’
Crypto-backed peer-to-peer platform ETHLend is no longer in operation, just weeks after parent company Aave launched its new ‘flash loans’ feature.
The ETHLend website no longer allows visitors to browse its marketplace or access finance.
“To all good things come an end. We are proud to say we have launched Aave. Aave is an easier and quicker way to provide liquidity or borrow assets,” a note on its website said.
“ETHLend will remain active only for current users to close down loans.”
This comes just weeks after the Aave Protocol officially launched on the Ethereum blockchain on 9 January 2020, offering instant-access ‘flash loans’ to users without the need for collateral.
In a blog post, an Aave spokesperson explained that the tool had been “designed for developers/people with some technical knowledge”, and aims to facilitate risk-free lending backed by at least 16 types of cryptocurrencies.
“Flash loans enable a customised smart contract to borrow assets from our reserve pools within one transaction on the condition that the liquidity is returned to the pool before the transaction ends,” said the spokesperson.
“If this does not happen, the transaction is reversed to effectively undo the actions executed until that point, guaranteeing the safety of the funds in the reserve pool.”
Aave was established in September 2018 with the aim of filling the gaps left by fintech firms such as PayPal, Skrill and Coinbase, by introducing new products and services, such as Aave Pocket, Aave Lending (SaaS), Aave Gaming, Aave Custody and Aave Clearing.
The newly-launched Aave Protocol has been described as a “decentralized, open-source, and non-custodial money market protocol” where depositors can earn interest by providing liquidity to lending pools.
ETHLend allowed borrowers request loan amounts and post other digital currencies as collateral, while paying interest on the loans. In its first month of operation, it funded $2m (£1.52m) of loans.
ETHLend and Aave chief executive Stani Kulechov has been asked for comment.
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