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Jane Street Dives Into DeFi With $25M USDC Loan
The Wall Street trading firm made its first DeFi investment last month, backing decentralized lending protocol Bastion.
Updated May 11, 2023, 5:33 p.m. Published May 3, 2022, 1:29 p.m.
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Prominent trading firm Jane Street has made its first stride into decentralized finance (DeFi), borrowing $25 million in USDC from BlockTower Capital via DeFi marketplace Clearpool, with plans to eventually increase that amount to $50 million, Clearpool confirmed in a press release Tuesday. Bloomberg first reported on the news.
- Clearpool is a platform where institutions can access uncollateralized loans from a network of lenders. It is backed by investors including Arrington Capital, Sequoia Capital, Sino Global Capital and HashKey.
- "This is the first time that a major Wall Street institution has entered into a borrowing transaction on a DeFi protocol," Clearpool noted in its press release.
- BlockTower general partner Sanat Rao told Bloomberg that DeFi protocols typically earn 15% to 25% in annualized interest, but declined to specify the rate BlockTower will receive from Jane Street.
- Jane Street made its first DeFi investment last month, backing decentralized lending protocol, Bastion.
- The New York firm also provides liquidity for Bitcoin and Ethereum on Robinhood and made its first crypto trade in 2017.
- In January, Jane Street's Turner Batty described crypto trading as “a clear growth area” and that the number of people at Jane Street working on cryptocurrency has "never been higher."
Read more: Near DeFi Project Bastion Reveals $9M Funding Round on Heels of BSTN Airdrop Plans
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