What NFTfi does

NFTfi is a non-custodial peer-to-peer lending protocol deployed on Ethereum that enables NFT holders to borrow cryptocurrency against their NFT collateral and lenders to earn yield on crypto against that collateral. Founded in May 2020 by Stephen Young and operating through NFTfi Genesis Ltd (British Virgin Islands), it was the first protocol to let NFT owners unlock liquidity without selling their assets. Core products include NFTfi Borrow, NFTfi Lend, NFTfi Refinance, and the NFTfi Aggregator — a cross-protocol dashboard spanning NFTfi, Arcade, Gondi, X2Fi, Zharta, Metastreet, and Blur — built on a modular smart contract architecture that has processed over $737 million in cumulative loan volume across more than 82,000 loans with zero NFT losses.

The protocol supports wETH, DAI, and USDC across a wide NFT collateral set led by CryptoPunks (over $100M in loan volume), Art Blocks ($36M+), and Doodles ($18M+), and has introduced features such as Flexible Loans (V3), refinancing, multi-collateral bundles, standing collection offers, multi-year loan durations up to five years, and obligation receipts. Revenue mechanics center on an Interface Fee charged to lenders on interest earned (set to 0% during promotional periods) plus optional borrower-paid origination fees introduced in V3. Distribution is entirely self-serve through the global dApp at app.nftfi.com with no traditional sales motion, and the platform has raised approximately $15 million across a 2021 seed, a 2021 Series A led by 1kx, and a March 2024 Series A1 led by Placeholder VC with participation from Maven 11, Sound Ventures, and others.

In June 2026 NFTfi announced a voluntary sunset of the protocol, citing contraction of the NFT market to a size that no longer supports the cost of operations; new loan originations have ceased, refinances are accepted until July 31, 2026, and the front-end is scheduled to go offline on August 31, 2026, while on-chain smart contracts remain deployed and functional.

Name

NFTfi

Legal name

NFTfi Genesis Ltd

Website

https://nftfi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

NFTfi is a non-custodial peer-to-peer DeFi protocol on Ethereum enabling NFT holders to borrow cryptocurrency using NFTs as collateral and lenders to earn yield on crypto. It has processed over $737 million in loan volume since May 2020 and announced voluntary sunset in June 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

DeFi NFT Lending Protocol

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Exchanges (523210)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

NFT Trading, Liquidity & Financialization (AMMs, lending, fractionalization, derivatives) (FSAPAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

NFT Marketplaces & Aggregators (primary/secondary, discovery, cross-market routing) (FSAPAFAB)

Keywords

• NFT lending protocol
• NFT collateralized loans
• Peer-to-peer lending
• DeFi lending marketplace
• NFT liquidity platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Interface Fee: NFTfi charges an Interface Fee to lenders on the interest earned from successful loans. Currently set at 0% of interest earned. No fee for borrowers. The fee is collected automatically through smart contracts.
2. Origination Fees (V3): Optional fees paid upfront by borrowers to start loans, applicable to both fixed and flexible loans. Allows lenders to put an effective floor on interest for early repayment scenarios.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NFTfi operates a non-custodial, peer-to-peer NFT lending protocol deployed on Ethereum that enables NFT holders to borrow cryptocurrency (wETH, DAI, USDC) by pledging their NFTs as collateral without selling the assets. Lenders can submit loan offers against NFT collateral across supported collections to earn interest and potentially acquire NFTs at a discount on default. The protocol is accessed via a self-serve web dApp at app.nftfi.com with companion Borrow, Lend, Refinance, and Aggregator interfaces.

Product overview

NFTfi is a peer-to-peer NFT lending protocol and platform built on Ethereum, operating as a non-custodial application that enables NFT holders to borrow cryptocurrency or provide loans using NFTs as collateral. The core platform comprises the NFTfi Interface (web front-end), NFTfi Borrow, NFTfi Lend, and NFTfi Refinance features. The ecosystem includes the NFTfi Aggregator dashboard for cross-protocol visibility, NFTfi V3 Protocol with Flexible Loans and Fixed Loans options, and specialized features like NFTfi Bundles for multi-collateral loans, Standing Collection Offers, and Private Offers. The platform supports wETH, DAI, and USDC currencies, supports various NFT collections including CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, Doodles, and Pudgy Penguins, and has expanded to include real-world assets and gaming NFTs. The NFTfi Rewards program incentivizes platform usage. Since May 2020, the protocol has facilitated $737M+ in loan volume across 82,000+ loans with no smart contract losses. The protocol announced voluntary sunset in June 2026 due to market contraction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NFTfi Borrow Web interface enabling NFT holders to obtain cryptocurrency loans (wETH, DAI, USDC) by pledging their NFTs as collateral in peer-to-peer transactions on the NFTfi protocol.
• NFTfi Lend Interface enabling lenders to submit loan offers against NFT collateral and earn interest, with risk management features to mitigate defaults and optionality to acquire NFTs at a discount on default.
• NFTfi Refinance Feature enabling borrowers to instantly renew existing loans and extend maturity without repaying the full loan upfront, bypassing traditional rollover complexity, with lenders able to bid on assets while in escrow.
• NFTfi Aggregator Professional-grade cross-protocol dashboard providing unified loan visibility across NFTfi, Arcade, Gondi, X2Fi, Zharta, Metastreet, and Blur, with real-time APR/duration data, advanced filters, and cross-protocol refinancing capabilities for power users.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero NFTs lost in 6 years of operation
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NibblcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNFTfi partnered with Nibbl for an NFT lending competition with Doodles. Nibbl airdropped 0.5 ETH worth of Doodle fractions to addresses that had used NFTfi with Doodle assets.
• BootNodecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with BootNode and Safe to create the first NFT Rights Management Wallet, enabling new functionality for NFTfi users.
• Safe (previously Gnosis Safe)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with BootNode and Safe to create the first NFT Rights Management Wallet, leveraging Safe's multi-signature wallet infrastructure.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Blur: Dominant NFT marketplace that has integrated lending and bidding features. Competes for the same NFT liquidity and capital-efficiency narrative as NFTfi but from a much larger trading-volume base.
• OpenSea: Largest NFT marketplace, with adjacent features (offers, sweeps) that overlap with NFTfi's ecosystem. Indirect competitor for NFT capital and liquidity, and a dominant incumbent in the broader NFT category.

Direct peers

• ParaSpace: NFT-collateralized lending protocol enabling users to borrow against NFTs within a unified liquidity pool. Direct functional peer to NFTfi with overlapping collateral types and target users.
• BendDAO: Early peer-to-pool NFT lending protocol that pioneered using NFTs (especially CryptoPunks and BAYC) as collateral for ETH loans. Closely comparable in mechanism and target assets.
• Arcade: Direct competitor in NFT-backed lending, offering peer-to-pool and peer-to-peer loans for NFT collateral on Ethereum. Comparable product, target users, and category, and explicitly integrated into NFTfi's aggregator.
• Gondi: NFT lending protocol operating on Ethereum with a similar borrower/lender two-sided marketplace. Directly comparable to NFTfi in functionality and integrated into the NFTfi Aggregator.
• MetaStreet: NFT lending protocol offering fixed-rate, fixed-term loans against NFT collateral with automated underwriting. Directly comparable product offering and is integrated into the NFTfi Aggregator.
• Zharta: NFT lending protocol targeting instant liquidity for high-value NFT collections. Comparable peer-to-peer mechanism and target user base, integrated into the NFTfi Aggregator.

Emerging players

• X2Y2: NFT marketplace with peer-to-peer lending functionality. Smaller scale than OpenSea or Blur but offers lending features that compete for the same NFT capital efficiency use case.
• NFTperp: Perpetual futures protocol for NFTs, enabling leveraged exposure to NFT floor prices. Adjacent in NFT financialization but targeting traders rather than collateralized lenders like NFTfi.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nftfi
• GitHubgithub.com/NFTfi-Genesis

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors24 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NFTfi