APR11.99%(Fixed)
Risk score90High
Lava enables instant USD loans using Bitcoin collateral through its self-custody wallet, requiring no credit checks or KYC. Launched circa 2023, it uses on-chain guarantees and leverages DLCs for trustless lending.
Interest rate
Fixed (e.g. 9.99%)
Currency support
USDC, LavaUSD
Fees
2%
Collateral
BTC
LTV
Up to 50%
Loan type
Consumer
Liquidation LTV
95%
Margin call
N/A
KYC
No
Total loan issued
N/A
Launch year
2024
Loan duration
1-12m
Support
Email
Loan value
$100 - $100,000
Total risk score90High
Collateral
0/10
What are you pledging? Native BTC is safest; wrappers, bridges, or paper IOUs add redemption risk.
Native BTC (on-chain UTXO).
Rehypothecation
0/10
Will your BTC be re-used? More hidden leverage → bigger blow-up chance.
Non-rehypothecable collateral.
Custody
0/10
Who can move the coins? Scores quorum design, recovery paths, and (for CeFi) bankruptcy-remote segregation.
DLC escrow with unilateral refund. Borrower’s Bitcoin is locked in a timelocked script that allows them to reclaim unilaterally after timeout.
Security & Governance
10/10
How battle-tested are code and ops? Counts audits, bug-bounty, certs, and hardware key isolation.
Lava’s closed-source mobile app generates the borrower's private key, with no source code or audit available. Lava also currently runs the only Sibyls oracle at oracle.lava.xyz. The internal oracle key lets Lava sign any price and immediately sweep collateral, yet the company provides no public audit or SOC-2 report.
Platform
0/10
Is the chain or bridge robust? Rates consensus security and smart-contract attack surface.
Native Bitcoin script.
Oracle
7/10
How is price fetched and signed? Independence, on-chain proofs, refresh speed, circuit breakers.
Open-source Sibyls oracle blends Bitstamp, Gate.io, Kraken and Binance prices, but Lava alone signs and publishes the output via an off-chain API. No on-chain verification.
Liquidation Buffer
4/10
How much room and time before liquidation? Combines LTV gap, grace window, and flash-crash guards.
Origination LTV is around 50%, with liquidation at 95%, giving a 45% buffer but no grace window — liquidation happens instantly, exposing users to intraday price swings.
Rate & Term
2/10
Can interest spike mid-loan? Looks at fixed vs variable APR and funding duration match.
Fixed APR, funding opaque.
Transparency
7/10
Can outsiders verify code & solvency? Rewards open-source + live PoR; punishes black boxes.
Oracle and loan-script repos are open-source, but the production wallet app, Solana contracts, and reserve attestations for LavaUSD remain closed; no proof-of-liabilities.
Loan Currency
7/10
What asset do you borrow? Native-BTC best; fiat stables graded on reserves, audits, censorship risk.
Lava disburses loans in LavaUSD, its own Solana stablecoin backed only by self-published monthly reserve statements—no live proof-of-reserves or independent audit. Borrowers can immediately swap those dollars to USDC on Solana inside the Vault or off-ramp via bank ACH/wire, but both paths still depend on Solana’s uptime. The network has suffered repeated multi-hour halts, most recently a five-hour main-net freeze on 6 Feb 2024 and several outages in prior years. A thin-history, mid-tier stable-coin plus reliance on a chain with documented availability issues squarely maps to ladder level 7 for Loan Currency.
Privacy
2/10
How exposed is your identity? Scores KYC depth, data storage, and breach history.
No KYC.
History
4/10
Have they proven themselves? Measures years live, audit/OSS footprint, and incident track record.
< 1 yr in-production, no incidents.
Jurisdiction
2/10
Which legal system backs you? Rates clarity of licensing, creditor rights, and enforcement.
Delaware, US.