A new generation of high-octane crypto ventures are expanding risk-taking with new forms of digital asset loans, three years after a market crash triggered a wave of insolvencies for lenders across the industry.
A San Francisco-based lender called Divine Research says it has extended around 30,000 unbacked short-term loans since December, working with OpenAI chief Sam Altman’s iris-scanning crypto group World to identify borrowers.
Crypto lending — a highly risky part of the digital assets market — blew up in 2022 after a fall in cryptoasset prices triggered a spiral of defaults and bankruptcies, culminating in the collapse of the FTX exchange.