Highlights

Key Talking Points

These key messages explain how Firefish works and what makes it unique. They help you understand the product and communicate it clearly. Check out our explainer videos as well – they complement these points and make your explanations even easier.

1. Why borrow against Bitcoin?

Instead of selling Bitcoin to make payments, pay taxes, or fund a business, you can borrow against it.
This keeps you long Bitcoin, short fiat, lets your benefit from future price appreciation, and helps you avoid capital-gains tax.

2. What Firefish is

Firefish is a non-custodial P2P marketplace for Bitcoin-backed loans for individuals and institutions.
Borrowers post a loan request.
Lenders choose a loan requests and fund them to earn fixed yield with fully overcollateralised loans.

3. How a loan works

The borrower posts a loan request on the marketplace
A lender filters the marketplace and chooses a loan request
The borrower confirms the loan and locks the BTC collateral into a 3-of-3 non-custodial multisig escrow (see next chapter)
Then, the lender sends fiat (EUR, CHF, CZK, PLN) or USD (currently as USDC stablecoin) directly to the borrower
The borrower confirms he received the money and the loan becomes active
Every loan is repaid in one lump sum at the end of the term, no monthly payments
Early repayment (full amount!) can be requested anytime and is usually approved quickly by the lender
No credit check or bank history is required. You already own the hardest money in human history.

4. Security: No rehypothecation, Bitcoin-native

Rehypothecation of the collateral is technically impossible.

Firefish is a secure way to borrow against your Bitcoin, without the need of trusting a custodian:

No custody risk. Firefish never holds your Bitcoin
Firefish source code is publicly available
Our non-custodial protocol in easy terms: Firefish works with pre-defined and unchangeable transactions. Firefish chooses which of the 4 pre-defined transactions become active.
Neither borrower nor lender need to manage cryptographic keys
No wrapping, no bridging, no staking, no shitcoin-risk

5. Collateral safety

Bitcoin collateral can move only in two directions:

1. Back to the borrower, or

2. To the liquidation address (usually the lender himself), never to Firefish.

There are two liquidation modes:

Self-Liquidation (recommended): BTC goes directly to the lender's wallet. In case of price liquidation, lender earns the liquidation premium (up to 5% of the total loan amount)
Firefish-Liquidation (for nocoiners): Our liquidation partner liquidates the collateral and sends you fiat to your bank account (or USDC to your wallet)

6. Why to invest in Bitcoin-backed loans?

Lenders invest in over-collateralised BTC-backed loans and earn fixed interest rates of 5-15% p.a.
If a loan is liquidated under self-liquidation mode, lenders also earn up to 5% liquidation fee on top.
Loans are usually repaid early in full amount.
With Firefish-Liquidation, lenders don't need a Bitcoin wallet.

7. Loan-to-Value (LTV) & liquidation

Every loan is backed by at least 200% collateral
If BTC falls and the LTV reaches 95%, collateral is liquidated to protect the lender
Borrowers can deposit more BTC at any time to lower their liquidation price and stay safe

We don't promote reckless gambling. Always highlight liquidation risks and remind users they can add extra BTC to lower their liquidation price. Better safe than sorry!

8. Firefish is "Zombie-apocalypse-proof"

In the very unlikely case that Firefish disappears entirely, borrowers can reclaim their BTC one month after loan maturity via a recovery transaction they can download in the loan menu. The legal obligation to repay the lender remains!

9. Terms, speed & market dynamics

Current terms: 3-24 months (we are working on longer terms)
Firefish is a marketplace, so interest rates are market-driven, not centrally set
The higher the interest rate, the faster the approval
Longer loan terms and higher amounts = higher interest rates
Besides the marketplace we also offer OTC deals and investment vehicles for HNWI and institutional lenders
"Instant Loans" are also available at a slightly higher rate

10. Loan rollover: Live off your Bitcoin

Borrowers can repay a loan using a new Bitcoin-backed loan (a loan rollover).
If BTC appreciates and risk management is sound, repayment can be deferred far into the future - the same strategy used by billionaires to stay long on their assets while borrowing against them.

Rollovers are manual by design to keep everything fully non-custodial. Automatic rollovers are being explored, but only if they can be implemented safely and without adding too much complexity.