The Digital Asset Advocacy Group (DAAG), which promotes safe and regulated crypto lending, is seeking to educate consumers on digital lending opportunities and risks.
“Crypto lending creates tremendous opportunities,” Laura Adams, a DAAG member and personal finance expert, said. “This new industry generates jobs and reduces financial costs for businesses, but it also, more importantly, provides access to capital for individuals in underbanked communities and helps establish a new pool of investment opportunities for all participants.”
DAAG officials acknowledged that while crypto lending industry benefits are clear, consumers should be made aware of risks and protection methods amid navigating the new industry.
“Sadly, any bad actor or predatory practice from a company operating within the crypto-lending space has the opportunity to do much harm — not just to individuals but to the industry as a whole,” Adams said. “Through more consumer education and by holding crypto-lending platforms accountable to existing protections and safe-lending practices, we can encourage innovation, keep consumers safe and ensure more have access to the opportunities created by such an exciting new industry.”
DAAG has cited Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data determining 45 million American adults are considered credit invisible — aving no credit score or thin credit files without enough information to create a credit score.
Crypto loan consumers should have the ability to review the terms and conditions of a loan agreement in a complete and easy-to-understand written format, possess the ability to contact a crypto lender’s customer service and receive a timely response and be protected from unconscionable contract terms.