Japanese financial giant SBI launches Bitcoin lending service

On November 24, according to foreign media reports, SBI VC Trade, a cryptocurrency service subsidiary of Japanese financial giant SBI Group, is launching a cryptocurrency lending service. SBI also plans to add support for Ether (Ether) and XRP (Ripple) loans in the near future.

SBI is a Japanese financial institution that is primarily involved in the crypto industry. In early October 2020, SBI’s foreign exchange and derivatives division, SBI Liquidity Market, acquired TaoTao, a crypto exchange previously 40% owned by Yahoo Japan’s YJFX. The company also operates its own crypto business through its subsidiary SBI VC Trade.

The new crypto lending platform will allow users to lend cryptocurrencies to SBI and earn interest at a rate of 1% including taxes, the company statement said.

The new service, called VC Trade Lending, will initially support only major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), with SBI also planning to add support for Ether (ETH) and XRP. The minimum loan amount is 0.1 Bitcoin, issued at $1,840, while the maximum amount is 5 Bitcoins, or $92,000.

The company also said it will not charge account management fees or annual membership fees. It will also not charge any fees for deposits in yen or crypto, but will still charge a yen withdrawal fee.