Big Update Pt.1 on BTCPOP:
On August 25th, btcpop has released its first new major update since Casimir1904 took over the site. Borrower/user verification is now back online, along with bonds and a new fee-structure for loans. We simply want to share our thoughts on this, both regarding the future of the site and how this affects the underlying share.
New user verification
Following the issues with Ardeva and its CEO Lee Barhtolomew, BTCPOP no longer saw it fit to use it for verification of new users. This led to new users not being able to verify their ID on the site, hence not letting them take out any loans. This hurt the growth of the site a lot and the addition of new verification services has been greatly anticipated by shareholders, investors and borrowers alike. As of now, the verification is done by btcpop themselves and is still pretty basic. We encourage investors to take things carefully in the beginning while we wait to see how good the new services are at avoiding stuff like fake ID. On the other hand, we are excited that new users will be able to become verified increasing site usage across the board.
Bonds are back online
Right before the change of pop ownership, bonds was put on a live beta test. It was quickly discovered that the feature should never have been put online and was thus taken down in the interim during the ownership change. These bonds are now back in a live beta version and users are free to create, trade and invest in bonds. In our view bonds are a great addition to the site, really making pop stand out amongst the other competitors in the field. We think the bonds will attract more serious borrowers looking for other ways to fund their ventures, also giving investors a great diversity of investments. If you wanna read more about what makes bonds such a great addition to the regular loans, feel free to check this link (bond vs loan review coming soon).
New fee structure
With this update pop also changed the origination fees for the loans, changing it to a volume-based model instead of the rating-based model used before. While lower fees for higher rated borrowers is nice, we think that this was a clever move as the current rating system is broken. Not to mention, we never really understood why it wasn't this way to being with. This change also makes rep-loans more or less obsolete, meaning new users will need to find other ways of building trust (like having a good description). It will be very interesting to see how this will affect the dynamics of the loan-market as this will be the first of the bigger platforms to move away from fees based on rating. The insurance remains at 1%.
New fee structure:
| Amount borrowed | 0 - 0.5 btc | 0.5 - 1 btc | 1 - 2.5 btc | 2.5 - 5 btc | 5+ btc |
| Fee | 5% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 1% |
Summary
We are pleased to see some of the critical functionality (verification) back online, and some of the old features too. IPOs are currently still being worked on, and we can't wait to see an API! It is exciting to see pop back in the move, and hopefully we will see more exciting features sooner rather than later. That is after all, what has made btcpop stand out from it's competitors: its innovation. We look forward what the future has in store for us here at pop!
If you have any feedback, suggestions or comments, feel free to leave them below!
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https://btcpop.co/Home/21895/TheBitReview
