Sub-primate lending: $5.3 million in Bored Apes used as loan collateral are at risk of being liquidated

August 19, 2022

Sub-primate lending: $5.3 million in Bored Apes used as loan collateral are at risk of being liquidated

Chart showing the floor price of the Bored Ape collection over the last 30 days. On July 20 the floor price was 92.7 ETH; it is now at 69.4 ETH.

Bored Ape Yacht Club floor price over the last 30 days (attribution)

When people started sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars into Bored Ape NFTs, it wasn't long before people came up with the genius idea of using those NFTs as collateral for loans. BendDAO is one such platform offering the service, allowing people to post their Ape as collateral in exchange for a crypto loan equal to 30–40% of the Bored Apes collection's floor price. At one point, one borrower had 10,000 ETH (~$17.5 million) in loans from BendDAO against his 60-ape-strong collection (though he since repaid the loans).

However, NFTs in general haven't been doing so hot lately, and the Bored Apes haven't been immune from the slump. As the Bored Apes collection floor price has decreased, more than 15% of the apes used as collateral for BendDAO loans are in the "danger zone" — close to being auctioned off. These 45 apes are valued at roughly $5.3 million. Liquidation could lead to cascading liquidations, as the auctions could themselves cause the floor price to decrease.

As Bennett Tomlin put it, "I hate that y'all somehow created a risk for cascading liquidations of JPEG backed loans".