Nasdaq-listed Longfin to open up Ziddu smart contracts to P2P lending

GLOBAL fintech group Longfin Corp is planning to make its Ziddu cryptocurrency smart contracts available for peer-to-peer lending.

Micro-cap company Longfin listed on America’s Nasdaq late last year. It offers foreign exchange and financing to small businesses, and recently forayed into cryptocurrencies with the acquisition of microlender Ziddu.com, a move which sent its share price soaring 2,600 per cent in a week.

Ziddu.com provides smart contracts which are available on cryptocurrency Ethereum’s blockchain and can be used as alternative finance solutions within trade finance and FX markets, without the need for a middleman or underwriter.

Longfin said it has subsequent plans to make the contracts available for P2P lending, as well as warehouse financing, structured products, and FX or OTC derivatives.

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Longfin said that the P2P lending market is estimated to reach around $225bn (£161bn) by 2020, and is “of key importance to companies today”.

“It will take some time for the technology to develop to maturity and for the market to shake out,” said Venkat Meenavalli, chairman of Longfin.

“In the meantime, Longfin has developed a high degree of interest and effort into the development of smart contracts. We see them as a critical component in distributed ledgers for pre- and post-settlements, and there is an opportunity in creating a ripe scenario for disruption.”

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Longfin is one of a number of small companies that have seen their shares rocket simply because of their involvement in cryptocurrencies as the hype around Bitcoin continues.

Bitcoin shed more than 10 per cent to drop below the $10,000 mark this week, half what it was worth at its peak, because of fears regulators are considering a clampdown.

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