CatBase

In the decade I’ve been posting here, I’ve never done a product review. But here’s one that may interest readers. I tried out Coinbase’s “borrow” product. This lets customers borrow cash using their BTC as collateral. I didn’t have a need for this, but since it’s becoming a popular retail-facing product for Coinbase and other companies, I wanted to see how easy they’ve made it. I was amazed. The entire process was simple and took just a few minutes. You deposit BTC as collateral and get USDC, which is immediately convertible to USD, then a quick transfer to your linked bank account. It’s seamless and you never leave the platform. The variable APR 30-day average is currently 4.82%. Of course DeFi borrowing has been around a long time. But my sense is that many people in this space don’t realize how easy the process has become for the casual, non-tech user (or how competitive the APRs are). It certainly makes BTC an even more useful and attractive asset to own. My main takeaway was “disruption.” Once you get in the trenches and see how quickly products are evolving in this space, you understand the growth potential -- and how much the legacy Wall Street firms will lose if they don’t adapt and dive in.

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