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In the last article we saw how Ethlend could be used as a financial tool by lenders in a safe and controlled environment. In this article we shall explore how borrowers can utilise the platform to get much needed loans without physical collateral.

First, a quick recap.

What is Ethlend? Ethlend is an advanced ethereum-based, crypto-lending platform that allows users to give/receive loans using digital assets as collateral and in a trust-less environment.

Ethlend is blockchain agnostic when it comes to doing business. One of Ethlends partners AAVE recently announced they would be launching Bitcoin on the Ethlend platform.

This is a valid question. People borrow for a lot of reasons especially in the digital world.

People borrow money to trade. If it doesn't go well and losses are made trading they will then need to borrow money to repay the losses.

People borrow because they want to purchase something that they are unable to pay cash for. This can mean different things

1. They might be living off the grid
2. They might not have cash but have valuable items (such as gold, silver, art).
3. They might have cryptocurrency(such as bitcoin) but not want to risk selling it off and then regretting later when its value goes up.

A common reason for taking a loan is to startup a business. Ideas require capital to implement most likely to buy equipment, supplies, and get a physical unit(office / storage space).

Ever had that inside tip or gut feeling a stock/commodity was about to rise in value? If you knew that stock prices of company XYZ were going to shoot up by 40-60% within the next 24 hours wouldn't you borrow as much as you could to buy in? A quick loan can lead to a quick healthy payday.

These reasons (and more!) are why people borrow. Ethlend allows you to borrow but safeguards both parties. Firstly, You can't borrow what you can't repay so collateral will be required. Eligibility for loans is subject to certain factors that will be assessed regularly to determine trust-rating.

HOW TO GET A LOAN WITH ETHLEND

Step 1. Sign Up With Ethlend

The first step is signing up. This is pretty easy, just fill in the required information and click the confirmation link in your email.

_{Ethlend signup}

After you successfully login, you will be prompted to import your wallet. This external wallet is where you will draw funds from to offer loans or offer as collateral for receiving loans. You can choose to either create a new wallet or import an existing one. The site automatically guides you through thr procedures.

After setting up your wallet, you are now able to give out or take a loan.

You can even take a look at the latest loan offers and requests

_{Ethelend Loan Offers}

Step 2. Apply For Loan

If you decide to borrow funds, You simply click on the Ethlend New Loan Request tab.

Step 3. Choose Your Collateral Currency

As explained earlier, you can use your digital assets as collateral for loans. These digital assets most likely will be cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or digital tokens such as NFTs, real estate tokens or limited edition tokens of value. Here you decide the collateral you have to back it up. In this example, I opted to use Bitcoin as my collateral.

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Step 4. Insert Collateral Amount

Here you decide the value of collateral you wish to put up to support your loan.

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Step 5. Choose Your Loan Currency

You can decide what cryptocurrency you want to borrow. Based on your collateral, the system automatically shows you the value that can be *safely* borrowed to you. You can also opt to borrow less than this recommended amount in order to make the loan safer. In this example, I opted for an Ethereum loan.

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Step 6. Define Loan Duration

Here you can indicate how quickly you intend to pay back the loan. The default system is set to take payment in 1-month installments. so if you choose let's say 60days or 90days then the payment will be split into 2 or 3 installments respectively.

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Step 7. Choose Monthly Interest for the loan

Here you decide how much interest you can pay on top the loan amount. Ethlend recommends between 0.25 - 5% interest. Obviously lenders will want to work with a high interest rate to maximize profit while lenders will want a low interest rate to reduce risk/loss.

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Step 8. Create Loan Request

After filling in all the necessary fields. You can click the "Create" button on the right side of the screen. Notice that Ethlend provides a total overview of the proposed loan request to help you make up your mind about taking the loan.

Ethlend is a disruptive tool in financial services because of its simplicity as well as secure nature. All transactions are executed by Smart Contract so both parties don't have to know or trust each other. Ethlend is poised to be the driving force of economic reforms and have even launched their Baiji release on their mainnet so now users can begin to enjoy the features of the innovative platform.

In the next article, we shall discuss the fundamental features of Ethlend that business owners or traders can utilise to achieve their financial goals.

Feel free to check out the Ethlend website yourself or read about them in the Ethlend State of The Dapps page.

The information contained within this post is not to be taken as financial advice. I am not a financial advisor and none of your investment decisions should be carried out based on any information presented here. Please do you own research before investing in cryptocurrencies or any digital asset. You can lose all of your money by investing wrongly. The information presented in this article is for educational and entertainment purposes only.