The bitcoin (BTC)-backed lending market continues to mature, transferring away from pure hypothesis to providing strong monetary instruments to long-term holders.
In a current interview with CriptoNoticias, Pablo Contreras Villarreal, member of the Firefish workforce—a lending platform Peer-to-Peer (P2P)—, supplied his perspective on the evolution of this sector and why he believes that the expertise created by Satoshi Nakamoto has develop into essentially the most strong monetary assure device at this time.
As with many bitcoin adopters, Contreras’ path was not linear. His first contact occurred in 2018, however preliminary skepticism and market volatility stored him on the sidelines. “They launched it to me in 2018 and I, like many individuals, walked previous me and stated: ‘No, I haven’t got cash now,’ ‘No, it’s totally costly,'” Contreras stated.
Nonetheless, the macroeconomic context of 2025, added to a restructuring of his private life, led him to rethink his place. “That is the time to get into bitcoin,” he advised himself, deciding to deepen his data by the diploma organized by the NGO Bitcoin Argentina.
This tutorial coaching allowed him not solely to grasp the technical foundations of the protocol, but additionally to professionally combine into the ecosystem by Firefish, a agency of Czech origin that sought to develop its market presence in Argentina.
Peer-to-peer and non-custodial lending
The enterprise mannequin that Contreras describes strikes away from conventional banking and centralized cryptocurrency platforms that suffered collapses in earlier cycles. Firefish operates below a logic Peer-to-Peer (peer to look) and non-custodial (with out custody).
Because the interviewee defined, the platform acts as a gathering level between pure individuals: those that want liquidity and have bitcoin to supply as collateral, and people who have capital (in fiat currencies or stablecoins like USDC) and are on the lookout for a return.
The important thing to safety is that the corporate doesn’t contact the funds. «Firefish doesn’t take that bitcoin and negotiate it, but it surely stays in a contract, in a sensible contract which is within the Bitcoin blockchain,” Contreras defined. This ensures that “there isn’t any one to take a position” with customers’ belongings, mitigating the counterparty danger that has affected different entities within the sector.
Bitcoin as “good collateral” for loans
One of many central factors of the dialog revolved across the suitability of bitcoin as a backup asset. Contreras made reference to the “good collateral” thesis, an idea that the platform actively promotes.
When requested whether or not bitcoin is superior to conventional collateral equivalent to gold or actual property, his response was forceful, based mostly on the liquidity demonstrated in the course of the present 12 months.
«Everybody is aware of that in 2025 many, many 1000’s of bitcoins have been launched onto the market that at one other time would have dropped, would have destroyed the value. The big liquidity and sale, that’s, the curiosity in being bought that bitcoin has, is being demonstrated,” he analyzed.
For the interviewee, the intrinsic traits of the digital asset —its 24/7 commerce, its divisibility, its shortage and its international market— They elevate it above different choices. “It has develop into, at this time, a pristine and excellent collateral to, principally, assist any sort of operation,” he said. For that reason, the platform maintains a strict coverage: “Bitcoin solely. It’s a platform by bitcoiners for bitcoiners.
The controversy over privateness and KYC
A delicate subject within the bitcoiner neighborhood is person identification or, in English, Know Your Buyer (KYC). Being a regulated platform in Europe, Firefish requires identification, sparking a debate about privateness versus financial advantages.
Contreras addressed this level pragmatically, noting that Regulatory compliance interprets into direct advantages for the person’s pocket. “Anonymity remains to be costly on this bitcoin world,” he stated, explaining that platforms that don’t require identification are likely to have larger prices as a result of danger concerned.
«I consider that the longer term is a future not less than blended between your bitcoin or your world Non-KYC and the world that’s step by step adopting it,” he stated in a private capability. For him, mass adoption implies some integration with the standard monetary system: “If we wish bitcoin to be adopted, we can’t anticipate whole anonymity ceaselessly.”
Firefish Growth and Threat Administration
Relating to the monetary well being of the loans, the system is predicated on overcollateralization. The interviewee defined that alerts are issued (margin calls) if the worth of bitcoin drops dangerously, urging the person to deposit extra collateral. “These dangerous collateralizations that produce liquidations will not be in Firefish’s curiosity in any respect,” he stated, highlighting that in nearly three years of operation they haven’t carried out pressured liquidations.
The corporate’s income mannequin is clear: a 1.5% annual payment on loans. Wanting forward, the technique of the corporate co-founded by Igor Neumann seems to concentrate on strategic alliances. “They’re learning partnerships. “They’re learning partnerships to have the ability to develop all over the world,” Contreras stated, suggesting that natural progress by native companions is extra viable than opening bodily workplaces in every jurisdiction.
The imaginative and prescient offered by Contreras displays a maturation in the usage of digital belongings: instruments that benefit from the transparency of Bitcoin to supply environment friendly monetary providers, prioritizing technical safety and the solvency of collateral over short-term hypothesis.
