As we head to the weekend, here’s a little something on which to ruminate: yet more money – serious money or silly money? You decide – heads to cryptoland from a mainstream finance industry that’s desperate to find out what’s going on and how to make money in the new arena.
Crypto infrastructure provider Fireblocks has raised $133 million in a Series C funding round to fuel its efforts to bring traditional banks and fintechs into the digital asset arena.
The round was led by Coatue, Ribbit, and Stripes with strategic investment from The Bank of New York Mellon and SVB.
Fireblocks began life providing the infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets to crypto-native institutions and exchanges.
Now it wants to work with more traditional banks and fintechs, which are facing growing demand from customers and investors to enable digital asset products and services.
BNY Mellon itself, recently formed an enterprise-wide digital asset division to help clients invest in crypto markets.
Latest Loan Offer
The latest loan offer on site has an A-rating and an annual rate of interest of 7 per cent. The term of the loan is 12 months. The offer, just launched, is now 50 per cent filled.
Historical Performance And IFISA Process Guide
That figure is the result of over £20 million of loans facilitated on the site, as we bring individuals looking for a good return on capital together with carefully vetted small companies seeking funds for growth. Bear in mind that lenders’ capital is at risk. Read warnings on site before committing capital.
All loans on site are eligible to be held in a Money&Co. Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA), up to the annual ISA limit of £20,000. Such loans offer lenders tax-free income. Our offering is an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) that can hold the peer-to-peer (P2P) business loans that Money&Co. facilitates. For the purposes of this article, the terms ISA and IFISA are interchangeable.
So here’s our guide to the process:
The ISA allowance for 2020/21 is unchanged from last tax year at £20,000, allowing a married couple to put £40,000 into a tax-free environment. Over three years, an investment of this scale in two Money&Co. Innovative Finance ISAs would generate £8,400 of income completely free of tax. We’re assuming a 7 per cent return, net of charges and free of tax here.
Once you have made your initial commitment, you might then consider diversifying – buying a spread of loans. To do this, you can go into the “loans for sale” market. All loans bought in this market also qualify for IFISA tax benefits.
Risk: Security, Access, Yield
Do consider not just the return, but the security and the ease of access to your investment. We write regularly about these three key factors. Here’s one of several earlier articles on security, access and yield.