Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 16th March Company: BlockFi Role: CEO

BlockFi is a platform that brings financial services to bitcoin, and with their platform, you can earn interest on bitcoin deposits and take out collateralised loans.

While BlockFi has operated successfully in the space for several years and survived market challenges, such as the March 2020 crash, Bitcoiners often criticise their business model. 

“Not your keys, not your coins” is an important message regarding bitcoin, and some view custodial lending platforms as antithetical to this, questioning whether 6% interest per year is worth the risk on an asset that, on average, appreciates 200% a year.

While it is a personal choice, there is also a subset of bitcoiners that spread misinformation and unsubstantiated claims against BlockFi and other lending platforms.

To address the risk-reward of BlockFi and answer some of the questions & misconceptions, I talk to BlockFi CEO Zac Prince. We discuss building the present and future of Bitcoin capital markets, the demand for crypto-liquidity and BlockFi’s solutions to the challenges of managing risk in this growing financial frontier.