Jane Street Dives Into DeFi With $25M USDC Loan

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