Harbor reached another milestone this week by funding more than $1 million in trade finance transactions utilizing Decentralized Finance or “DeFi.” The fund was launched in the last quarter of 2020 in collaboration with Centrifuge with the goal of bringing a real-world asset like accounts receivable to DeFi, a financial system independent of centralized banking and currencies.
Harbor’s DeFi initiative allows both institutional and retail investors to invest under a traditional fund structure but investments are made in a cryptocurrency called Dai, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.
Harbor is a first mover in utilizing cryptocurrencies for supply chain finance although it is only part of their diversified funding strategy. Other funding comes through more traditional means such as a borrowing base and off-balance sheet participation.
“It’s exciting to be working on the forefront of new technology in international trade. By bringing DeFi to trade finance we are bridging the real economy with new sources of liquidity,” said Bryan Maloney, CEO, Harbor.
Harbor will continue to utilize crypto assets as a source of liquidity for future trade finance facilities and expects to reach $20 million in volume funded with crypto over the next 12 months.
