RCN July 2020 Recap
Tags: Lending, Fintech, Ethereum, Blockchain, Finance

Collateral-backed Loans’ Release

After a year-long development process — which started with the deployment of RCN Protocol v4.0 Diaspore and included the creation of new smart-contracts, an API upgrade and the implementation of a dedicated UI — Collateral-backed Loans have been released! The new feature — already available on the Credit Marketplace — introduces borrowers to RCN for the first time, allowing them to request funds by posting crypto collateral. In addition, this release makes RCN one of the first and only projects offering both DeFi and CeFi lending and borrowing features.

Collateral-backed Loans allow borrowers to set custom borrowing terms.

Unlike Pool-based lending alternatives, RCN’s Collateral-backed Loans offer fixed interest rates with no fluctuations during their term. In addition, they have zero platform-related fees and absolutely no spreads between lending and borrowing rates, making lending more profitable and borrowing less expensive.

However, their greatest feature is customizability: RCN’s Collateral-backed Loans offer borrowers the chance to choose their borrowing and collateralization currencies, Annual Rate, amount, duration and Collateral Ratio. Here are the current alternatives:

Borrow and collateralize in USDC & RCN.

5–15% Annual Rate (APR).

Any amount.

15 to 90 days duration.

duration. 200% Minimum Collateral Ratio (LTV).

Withdraw and repay borrowed funds in RCN.

You can start borrowing on RCN now here.

Collateral-Backed Loans’ UX/UI Improvements

Together with Collateral-backed Loans’ release, the feature’s UX/UI (User Experience and User Interface, respectively) was enhanced based on the feedback provided by preliminary user testing. The implemented improvements include the following:

The Borrowing Portal’s UI was re-designed to include a preview of the requested Loan, featuring its most important variables. In addition, the “Collateral Amount” field was programmed to display its minimum required value by default, speeding up the collateral supplying process for the borrower.

featuring its most important variables. In addition, speeding up the collateral supplying process for the borrower. The Loan Repaying Dialog was altered to display the amount being repaid and the outstanding debt in both the Borrowing Currency and the Repaying Currency, specifying the exchange rate between them. In addition, a button enabling the borrower to repay the full outstanding amount with one click was included.

specifying the exchange rate between them. In addition, a button was included. All Collateral-Backed Loans’ related screens’ UX copy was expanded with the addition of multiple informative text components — such as tooltips, snackbars and pop-up dialogs — to provide a friendlier and more guided user experience, especially for first-time borrowers. The most important highlighted aspects include the different steps that comprise the borrowing process — which requires the user to complete separate transactions for requesting and collateralizing a loan — and the setting of the Collateral Ratio — which describes the relation between the value of the collateral and the value of the debt.

RCN Featured in The Infinite Machine

RCN got featured in “The Infinite Machine”!

On July 14 Ethereum reached a new milestone with the publication of the first book about its history: The Infinite Machine. How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum, by Camila Russo, writer, journalist and founder at The Defiant, one of the first DeFi-specialized media outlets.

RCN had the honor to be one of the projects included in the book as a pioneering initiative in Ethereum-based lending with the story of Alvaro Yermak, an Argentine bank teller who used the protocol to borrow Argentine Pesos (ARS) in a more convenient way than the one even his own bank could offer him. Here is a brief excerpt about it:

“What Alvaro didn’t know was that on the other side of his loan wasn’t Ripio lending him the money. There was an investor, who could be anywhere in the world but let’s say South Korea because many of Ripio’s enthusiasts are concentrated there. The application exchanged Alvaro’s ether for the Ripio Credit Network’s token, called RCN, and from RCN to pesos and then back again when the loan was paid. The lender got his loan plus interest back in ether. The loan itself was a smart contract that automatically executed the exchange. The Ethereum-based digital token and network enabled a worker in a far-flung province of Argentina to borrow from an anonymous investor, who was probably on the other side of the world. Neither knew who the other was. There were far fewer intermediaries involved in the process than with a regular bank loan, so Alvaro was able to get a better rate, and the global network allowed him access to a larger pool of potential lenders. The investor on the other side made a sizable return.” - Camila Russo (The Infinite Machine’s author).

If you want to learn more about Ethereum’s history and how RCN is fostering financial inclusion in Latin America using the network, you can find several places to get a copy of the book here.

RCN Credit Marketplace’s New FAQ Section

With the goal of allowing users to easily find answers to the main questions they might encounter while using the Credit Marketplace, a new FAQ section was created. The included questions and answers were selected considering the most frequent queries currently made by the users, and will be updated on demand as new ones are asked on RCN’s Official Chat Group and other social media platforms.

You can check the new FAQ section here.

RCN Continuous Feedback Program

To better gather and process the users’ opinions and suggestions about RCN’s progress, a series of feedback forms were created. The first one includes questions about each of the project’s areas — including Product, Development, Design, and Communications — and allows users to mention aspects they think need improvement or new features they would like to see implemented. The obtained feedback will be considered in the Credit Marketplace’s future updates to optimize the platform for its users’ needs and preferences.

You can answer the Continuous Feedback Program form here.