Wirex launches crypto lending in UK despite ‘crypto winter’ woes

Rick Steves

WXT is Wirex’s native token, much like CEL was to Celsius.

Wirex has made its crypto-backed credit lines available to UK users, with WXT as a token to be used as collateral, in an effort to expand the Wirex Credit program to new regions with additional features.

Launched last month in Europe and Asia, Wirex Credit allows users to borrow crypto-backed credit lines of up to $100,000. Now, the crypto lending service is available in the United Kingdom as well.

Firms within the DeFi space are lining up to take Celsius’ place as leaders in crypto lending. Wirex launched the product so its 5 million users can instantly borrow stablecoins starting at 0% interest, with no origination or set-up fee. Users can take out up to 5 credit lines at once, with no credit or affordability checks required.

Pavel Matveev, CEO and Co-Founder of Wirex, commented: “Wirex has a long-standing reputation of delivering easy to use crypto products for the everyday consumer. Wirex Credit brings a hugely competitive offering, allowing users quick and easy access to access to crypto-backed credit lines. We’re continuing to develop the product to offer more choice of tokens to be used as collateral to open a credit line. With our largest customer base in the UK, it’s great to be able to expand Wirex Credit to these users.”

WXT is Wirex’s native token

Customers can use BTC, ETH, and now WXT as collateral, and instantly receive NXUSD, USDC, USDT, and DAI as credit. Users repay when they want and only pay interest for the days the credit line is live.

In the coming weeks, Wirex will continue to expand the Wirex Credit offering, including the release of many more popular tokens as options for collateral, and cross-collateral borrowing allowing users to combine different assets in their portfolio for a loan.

WXT is Wirex’s native token, much like CEL was to Celsius. CEL plunged in recent weeks as the crypto lender restricted withdrawals amid the crypto winter which also ruined Terra/LUNA. Celsius has filed for bankruptcy and users are expected to be served last.

The crypto crash was widely expected to happen as it was the case many times before ever since Bitcoin was created. That didn’t stop many investors from being hurt as Bitcoin and the whole cryptocurrency market plunged throughout the year.

What retail and even some institutional participants didn’t realize was that they were relying on flawed projects or badly managed operations that eventually brought clients down with them.

Due diligence is now the name of the game as the digital asset space learns from its past mistakes to come out of the ‘crypto winter’ stronger than it was before.

Read this next

Institutional FX

Cboe Australia launches BIDS offering after successful migration of Chi-X

“Executing the migration of Chi-X’s technology platform was a tremendous industry-wide effort and we thank our customers, vendors, regulators and other market participants for their strong engagement and support over the past year.”

Institutional FX

Sucden Financial launches access to 25 of China’s futures and options contracts

“We are delighted to offer clients access to three key futures markets in China, the world’s largest commodity consumer.”

Industry News

Kraken sponsors Williams Racing to expand institutional reach and fan engagement

“Kraken’s partnership with Williams Racing shows what is possible when you combine a great mission with excellence, innovation and breakthrough performance. These are both iconic brands that have stood the test of time. We’re excited to engage with both Kraken’s and Williams Racing’s global communities, showcasing the power and life-changing impact of crypto and Web3.”

Retail FX

FXChoice taps Acuity’s news, sentiment tools, calendars, trade ideas on MT4/5

“Our tools are designed with the end-user in mind and are engineered to present insightful and actionable market data in an accessible way to help traders manage risk by identifying potential market movements before they occur and ultimately make better decisions on how, when, and where to invest.”

Digital Assets

BlockFi to refund $103K to Californian users

Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi will refund more than $100,000 to its California-based users who continued to repay loans even after the company halted client withdrawals following a liquidity crisis.

Institutional FX

SimCorp and FlexTrade team up to strengthen Open Platform

Broker-neutral technology firm FlexTrade Systems announced that its solution FlexTRADER EMS has been certified for integration with SimCorp, a provider of integrated, front-to-back, multi-asset investment management solutions.

Digital Assets

MicroStrategy prepays Silvergate loan, trims loss on BTC bet

MicroStrategy, spearheaded by one of bitcoin’s most vocal proponents, has prepaid the $205 million bitcoin-backed loan it took out from insolvent crypto-focused Silvergate Bank in March 2022.

Executive Moves

UK spread better InterTrader hires Joe Rundle as CEO

Multi-regulated online trading provider InterTrader has publicly revealed its newest appointment, having onboarded industry veteran Joe Rundle as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Digital Assets

Federal judge puts brakes on Voyager sale to Binance

A federal judge temporarily halted the proposed deal to sell bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets to Binance US after a request by the United States government for an emergency stay.

<