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General FAQ - Lending and Borrowing

Who can take out a loan and what's required to do so?
Any crypto-native entity with a wallet address is eligible for consideration by Lenders to be a Borrower. It helps if the Borrower has revenue and/or can provide collateral.
What's the difference between a Line of Credit and a credit position id?
A credit position is created when a Lender and a Borrower agree that the Lender can deposit an amount of funds in a given token. If a Lender deposits a second, different token into the same Line, then this is treated as a separate credit position and id.
What types of debt?
Currently a Borrower can set up a revolving Secured Line of Credit Facility which in plain language allows a Borrower to borrow up to the amount of credit that any number of Lenders make available. See here for an overview of the key features.
Who can lend and what's required to do so?
The Debt DAO Marketplace is permissionless, meaning that anyone can be a Lender. This said, please read our list of important facts before considering making a deposit.
Which tokens can be borrowed and/or used as collateral or security?
Any ERC-20 token can be deposited by a Lender as a Credit Token (i.e., a token to be borrowed by a Borrower). Any ERC-20 or ERC-4626 token can be deposited by a Borrower to be used as escrow token collateral. Any ERC-20 token and ETH can be a Revenue Token in the case where a Spigot is claiming revenue from a Borrower's collateralized Revenue Contract Tokens must have a price oracle. Tokens used as escrow collateral must be enabled (whitelisted) by an Arbiter.
What terms need to be agreed between a first Lender and a Borrower to start a Line of Credit?
The Borrower and the first Lender set the expiry date (aka deadline or term) of the Line of Credit facility, i.e. the amount of time funds will be available to be borrowed. The deadline is fixed for all credit lines of that Line.
They will also agree on the two interest rates (the cost of the borrowed funds to the Borrower). These are the deposit rate (dRate) for actual funds borrowed and the facility rate (fRate) for funds available but not yet borrowed.
For more details about setting up basic lending and borrowing, see here.
They'll also agree on the token and the amount of the token to be first deposited as well as whether any token collateral is to be deposited by the Borrower (token, amount) and what collateral ratio needs to be maintained.
If the Borrower is going to use its revenue as security for the loan then both parties will have to agree to set that up (see Revenue-Based Lending here).
How is a Secured Line of Credit deployed?
It's a three step process.
- The Borrower and Lender agree on terms
- The Borrower deploys the Line and any related security/collateral
- The Lender makes a deposit that's immediately available for the Borrower to draw down. For a detailed description about how to set up a Line, see here.
Is the interest rate on a Line of Credit the same for each individual credit position?
No, Lenders can set different rates for the same Borrower for different individual credit positions according to how they have assessed either/or 1) the risk of Borrower default and 2) the recovery amount / loss given default in case the Line becomes impaired.
The denomination of the Credit Token can also play a role in setting the interest rates because different tokens have different lending and borrowing yields depending on factors such as supply and demand and expected inflation.
What's the difference between the facility interest rate (fRates) and the drawn interest rate (dRate)?
dRate is the interest rate charged to a Borrower on borrowed / drawn down funds.
fRate is the interest rate charged to a Borrower on the remaining funds available, but not yet drawn down (aka the available headroom).
The fRate compensates a Lender for the opportunity cost of making funds available, irrespective of whether they are actually drawn down by the Borrower.
Can more than one Lender deposit funds?
Yes. Any number of Lenders can deposit any type of ERC-20 token and can offer whatever dRate and fRate they want.
Can more than one Borrower draw down on the same Line of Credit?
This is a feature that's under consideration.
What are the different status of a Line of Credit and what do they mean?
The status can be uninitialized (deployed but not yet active), active (in good health and available to receive lender deposits and for borrowers to draw down), liquidatable (impaired), repaid (no outstanding debt and closed) or insolvent (liquidation did not manage to fully repay the debt).
How can I see the total outstanding debt of a Borrower?
This response is undergoing maintenance [In the Marketplace app, click on getOutstandingDebt next to the Borrower]
How often is accrued interest calculated and on what basis?
Interest is automatically accrued anytime a balance changes on a credit line.
Interest accrues based upon the principal amount drawn down (at the dRate) and on the remaining facility balance available (at the fRate) across a time difference in block times and is based upon a 365.25 day year. See here for more details.
Can I use a negative interest rate?
Debt DAO's contracts do not currently support negative interest rates.
How are Oracles used and for what purposes?
The Oracle is responsible for valuing all the assets of a Line of Credit. This includes token collateral, Credit Tokens deposited by a Lender and Revenue Tokens captured by a Spigot. The standard Oracle at Debt DAO is the Chainlink Feed Registry. See here for more details.
How can a Borrower repay debt?
A borrower can pay off debt partially or fully by depositing Credit Tokens and/or using Revenue Tokens escrowed by a Spigot. For further details, see core lending operations and revenue-based lending operations.
Can a Borrower chose to repay any debt in any order?
No. The app automatically selects which credit line can be repaid using a first-in-first-out (FIFO) repayment queue based on the order in which credit lines are drawn down.
In which order are Lenders' funds available to be withdrawn?
The app automatically selects which credit line can be repaid using a first-in-first-out (FIFO) repayment queue based on the order in which credit lines are drawn down.
As a Lender, how and when can I withdraw funds?
A Lender has the possibility to withdraw all unborrowed deposits at any time through simply requesting a withdrawal.
What's the role of the Arbiter?
The Arbiter is a role in our contracts that works to ensure a fair treatment for the parties to the lending agreement. For more details and for examples of the scope of the Arbiter, see here.
Are liquidations sudden and automatic?
No, but if a Borrower doesn't pay back all debt by the end of the term (expiry date), it will be considered to be in default and the status of the Line of Credit will be changed to liquidatable. After that the Arbiter can choose to liquidate whatever collateral/security is available.
The Arbiter can also discuss other remedial measures between the Borrower and Lenders.
What remedies does a Lender have in case of default?
If the Line is secured then the Spigot and/or any collateral posted will be liquidated up to the amount of principal owed and the corresponding accrued interest due. See here for further detail.
What happens if all Lenders haven't been fully repaid by the end of the term / at the deadline?
The status of the Line will change to liquidatable. If the Line is secured then the Spigot and/or any collateral posted will be liquidated up to the amount of principal owed and the corresponding accrued interest due.