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In DeFi, accounts are assumed to be “unscorable,” so lenders over-collateralize every loan—limiting access and utility. Cred Protocol quantifies on-chain lending risk at scale with one of the first decentralized credit scores, so that trust built on-chain can be priced.
Lending to individuals on the strength of their score is consumer-report delivery, available to certified consumer-credit customers only. The default commercial delivery is not a consumer report and is not to be used to determine an individual’s eligibility for credit. See Delivery modes and contact us before integrating a consumer lending product.
New to credit-based lending? Start with Capital-Efficient Lending, which covers reducing collateral requirements while remaining over-collateralized (100%+). This page covers the next step: lending with less than 100% collateral.

What is Under-Collateralized Lending?

Under-collateralized lending allows borrowers to access more capital than they deposit as collateral. This is how most lending outside DeFi works—and it’s the next frontier for DeFi.

Over-Collateralized

Collateral > LoanDeposit $150 to borrow $100. Safe but capital inefficient.

Under-Collateralized

Collateral < LoanDeposit $50 to borrow $100. Requires trust—enabled by credit scoring.

The Market Opportunity

1

Institutional Under-Collateralized Lending

Happening today through protocols such as Maple Finance and TrueFi. However, loans are approved by governance token-holders, so risk underwriting is fundamentally “human powered” and limited in scale.
2

The Scale Gap

Governance-approved lending works for a few dozen institutional borrowers. It cannot extend to the thousands of treasuries, protocols, agents and power users whose on-chain history already speaks for them.
3

The Missing Piece

To lend at that scale you need to quantify risk algorithmically: a credit score. That’s what we’re building at Cred Protocol.

How Cred Protocol Enables Under-Collateralized Lending

Risk Quantification at Scale

Dynamic Collateral Requirements

Under-collateralized lending requires collateral ratios below 100%. Only the most creditworthy borrowers with verified identity qualify:

Loan Eligibility Framework

Under-Collateralized Tiers

Under-collateralized lending is a premium product requiring excellent credit and verified identity:
Users with scores below 750, previous defaults, or no identity verification should use Capital-Efficient Lending instead, which offers reduced collateral requirements while remaining over-collateralized.

Tiered Access Model


Risk Mitigation Strategies

For Lenders

Spread risk across many borrowers with varying credit profiles. A well-diversified pool can absorb individual defaults while remaining profitable.
Start borrowers with small limits and increase over time based on repayment behavior. This limits exposure while building track record.
Require identity attestations (ENS, Gitcoin Passport) for under-collateralized loans. This adds accountability and reduces sybil attacks.
Monitor borrower positions and credit scores continuously. Early warning systems can trigger margin calls or reduced limits before defaults occur.

Implementation Example


The Vision: Credit Built On-Chain

Under-collateralized lending isn’t just about capital efficiency—it lets a track record built on-chain count for something. Treasuries, protocols and agents with years of visible history can be priced on that history instead of locking up idle capital.

Who Benefits

Products that lend to individuals on these signals use consumer-report delivery, which adds ranked key factors, an inquiry record and a dispute process.

Getting Started

Capital-Efficient Lending

Start here: reduced collateral while staying over-collateralized

Get Credit Score

Assess an address’s credit profile

Get Credit Report

Deep dive into an address’s financial profile

Contact Us

Discuss integration and consumer-credit certification for your lending product