Bessie Liu

Clearpool has launched its institutional credit marketplace, Clearpool Prime, on Ethereum rollup Optimism.&nbsp;



Clearpool Prime aims to tap into the<a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/private-credit-outlook-considerations"> $1.4 trillion</a> traditional private credit market, and bring it on-chain.&nbsp;



All participants who wish to use Clearpool Prime will be mandated to participate in KYC through Securitize ID and AML checks.



According to Jakob Kronbichler the CEO and co-founder of Clearpool, all transactions on Clearpool Prime are on-chain, but only whitelisted borrowers can have visibility into counterparty names and terms.&nbsp;



“This approach guarantees the transparency of the ecosystem while maintaining a high level of privacy for participants. Additionally, Clearpool Prime routes flows of assets into counterparties&#8217; wallets, minimizing smart contract risks and enhancing security,” Kronbichler said.&nbsp;



The team notes that 50% of the revenue generated from Clearpool Prime through loans on its marketplace will be allocated to the purchase and burn CPOOL, the protocol’s native token, and the remaining 50% will be allocated to the Clearpool Treasury.&nbsp;



Clearpool claims over <a href="https://clearpool.finance/">457 million loans</a> have originated from its platform. DeFiLlama data shows that the protocol currently has a TVL of <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/clearpool">$44 million</a> and CPOOL has a market cap of <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/clearpool">$26 million.</a>



The first loan on Clearpool Prime was initiated by Portofino Technologies (borrower) and Azure Tide (lender), Kronbichler said. Clearpool noted that Clearpool Prime had been “tested by many different institutions” but declined to share details.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bringing private credit into DeFi</h2>



The private credit sector is predicted to grow to <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/private-credit-outlook-considerations">$2.7 trillion</a> in the next few years, according to a recent report by JPMorgan, and many other DeFi protocols outside Clearpool are also hoping to capitalize on this.



US Securities and Exchange Commission-registered investment advisor Heron Finance recently introduced robo-advisors via the Goldfinch protocol for private credit, looking to attract investors of all sizes into the crypto sphere.&nbsp;



Read More: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/onchain-private-credit-investing">Warbler Labs dogfooding its Goldfinch protocol with Heron Finance</a>



Other protocols, such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/undercollateralized-lending-wildcat">Wildcat</a>, take a different approach by providing the infrastructure to facilitate undercollateralized lending contracts on a peer-to-peer basis.



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Clearpool’s KYC-compliant marketplace lands on Optimism

DeFi credit marketplace Clearpool will launch on Optimism’s OP mainnet after it secured 150,000 OP tokens, worth about $202,000, from the Optimism Foundation.



Clearpool is designed to let institutional borrowers create single-borrower liquidity pools and compete for uncollateralized liquidity from a network of decentralized lenders.&nbsp;



Lenders can use supported wallet infrastructure to lend to whitelisted institutions and earn rewards without having to lock up their cryptocurrencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Clearpool is currently deployed on Ethereum, Polygon and Polygon zkEVM. It has a total value locked (TVL) of $31.32 million and a market capital of $7.71 million, according to information available on <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/clearpool">DeFiLlama</a>.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/clearpool-scales-uncollateralized-lending-marketplace-to-polygon">Clearpool scales uncollateralized lending marketplace to Polygon</a>



The protocol will also work with Idle Finance, a yield automation protocol that also received 150,000 OP in grant funding to enable Yield Tranches (YTs) on OP mainnet.&nbsp;



YTs are capital pools which are designed to mitigate risks, they generate tranche yields through various market neutral yield strategies, allowing for the segmentation of risks and yields.



Matteo Pandolfi, founder of Idle, said that this latest launch is designed to advance the on-chain <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/defi">DeFi</a> credit market, whilst creating new standards in risk diversification. 



“Users have the power to customize their DeFi strategies to match their risk tolerance, enabling them to construct a yield portfolio that aligns with their financial goals and aspirations,” Pandolfi said in a statement. 



Updated Oct. 25, 2023 at 12:45 pm ET: Clarified updated TVL.



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Credit marketplace Clearpool is headed for OP’s mainnet

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_623ab4c2bf008" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Prominent crypto institutions Wintermute, Amber Group and Folkvang have indicated an appetite to borrow up to $90 million on the platform</li>
 <li>Lenders only require access to a Web3 wallet, which provides both institutions and individuals &#8220;equal access&#8221; to yield opportunities, Clearpool said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



After months of development, decentralized capital markets protocol Clearpool is now live via its mainnet launch on the Ethereum network.



While the project has launched on Ethereum, there are plans to launch via blockchain scaling solution Polygon &#8220;soon,&#8221; Clearpool said in a release on Tuesday.



The Singapore-based project aims to provide a marketplace for institutional unsecured liquidity that leverages its native token CPOOL. Similar to <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/maple-finance-originates-1b-of-loans-in-10-months/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maple Finance</a> by design, Clearpool attempts to feed liquidity into capital markets for borrowers and lenders utilizing crypto while providing a return for investors hunting moderate yield.



Clearpool said it has over $100 million of capital committed for deployment via a range of liquidity partners including the likes of CoinShares, GBV Capital, Hex Trust and Sino Global Capital.



&#8220;We have been impressed by the team&#8217;s vision to increase lending capacity and capital efficiency for borrowers while balancing risk and exposure for lenders,&#8221; CoinShares&#8217; Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors said.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;We look forward to providing lending capacity to the market through Clearpool and working with the team to build and deploy new solutions to improve the efficiency of capital across the crypto capital markets ecosystem.&#8221;</blockquote>



Single borrower liquidity pools have been set up by crypto institutions&nbsp;Wintermute,&nbsp;Amber Group&nbsp;and&nbsp;Folkvang, all of which have displayed an early borrowing appetite. Amber and Wintermute have indicated their intentions to borrow between $25 and 50 million each, while Folkvang is seeking up to $40 million, per the release.



A further 30 borrowers from &#8220;leading crypto and traditional financial institutions&#8221; are also expected in the coming months, Clearpool said. Borrowers must complete a &#8220;comprehensive&#8221; know your customer (KYC) process and pass real-time risk scoring measures as well as be willing to stake solely in CPOOL.



Lenders meanwhile need access to a Web3 wallet connection to gain access, which provides both individual and institutional lenders &#8220;equal access&#8221; to the yield opportunities. Circle&#8217;s USDC on Ethereum is the first asset that can be lent to the protocol&#8217;s borrower pools with future plans to launch on multiple chains, the protocol said.



Founded in June of last year by Hex Trust CEO Alessio Quaglini and Robert Alcorn, a former trader at First Abu Dhabi Bank, Clearpool is backed by a number of prominent investors including Sequoia Capital India, Arrington Capital and Sino Global Capital, among others.



“The launch of Clearpool, in less than one year since the project was first conceived, is testament to the strength and capability of the team, community and partners that have come together to build its vision,&#8221; Alcorn said.



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