As we approach the announcement of our first tokenized operation and the mainnet launch, I would like to take a moment to explain why we built Lend and why we believe we're contributing to solving one of the most significant problems for web3 investors.
I have been building in crypto since 2017.
This cycle was exhausting for the average market participant. The structure of this market has changed a lot, and by the end of 2024, our industry was clearly going through a crisis. Every micro-narrative that emerged was just another extractive iteration of the greater fool theory, each time less and less disguised (it peaked during the celeb meta, which was clearly the grand finale).
The real issue for crypto long-term investors
90% of the yield in web3 is still crypto native.
You can get ~3% on flagship protocols in a calm period and suddenly 8% during raging bull markets. This means on-chain portfolios are still tied to the same waves that move the rest of the market.
We believe that more and more people will manage most of their net worth on-chain. But in this context, we badly need a yield that is predictable and exogenous to the crypto markets.
As cycles are bound to disappear and crypto volatility to flatten, we believe that we'll see a change in how cryptocurrency investors behave. Most investors are currently either long-term holders or traders trying to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. This paradigm is probably going to be less efficient & open the way for a more diversified way of seeing things.
Stop gambling & protect your capital
When taking a step back to look at what the web3 industry has produced since ~2016, you realize that most web3 products' end goal is to make their users gamble. One of Lend’s strongest value propositions is that we're building a tool to protect users' capital and contribute towards long-term portfolio management.
We designed a tokenization framework that helps users reach that goal.
Instead of tokenizing the underlying real estate itself, we tokenize the bonds attached to the asset. This gives users exposure to what truly matters: the yield generated by the asset, not the asset’s operational complexity. It also gives us significantly more flexibility in how we structure, manage, and execute deals.
Our top priority is sourcing high-quality, risk-adjusted opportunities, supported by SATE, our Real Estate partners. Their expertise helps us filter, validate, and secure assets that match our standards for stability, transparency, and predictable cash flows.
We also chose the hard path: building this product from within France, a country known for strict investor protection and rigorous regulatory expectations. This forces us to design instruments that genuinely protect users’ capital and take accountability for the real risks associated with the assets we offer users.
Lend is designed to feel web3 native.
Yes, dealing with securities means you cannot be fully decentralized, and that is fine. What matters is that we keep the user onboarding smooth (maintaining a rolling set of non-KYC operations), keep access open where regulation allows it, and avoid drowning users with unnecessary friction.
The most important part of Lend is liquidity.
Most RWA projects ignore this and end up creating locked, illiquid positions that do not improve anyone’s portfolio. For us, the secondary market is not an optional feature. It will be our main focus, and I believe that the level of liquidity we can bring there will define the success of our platform.
Investors must be able to rotate back into stablecoins quickly. That is the real value of tokenization.
We're about to announce the specs of the first tokenized operations and the official mainnet release date. We're anticipating that this first deal will be sold-out quickly! Make sure you register for the pre-deposit campaign here
Onward & upward,
- Lucas - Co-Founder @ lend.xyz