Liqwid Labs
Liqwid Labs operates Liqwid Finance, a non-custodial DAO-governed lending and borrowing protocol on Cardano that lets users earn yield on deposited assets and borrow against collateral. The protocol serves the long tail of Cardano DeFi participants via a self-serve app with no KYC.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Liqwid Labs does
Liqwid Labs, LLC operates Liqwid Finance, a non-custodial, decentralized peer-to-peer lending and borrowing protocol built on the Cardano blockchain via immutable smart contracts. Users connect Cardano wallets (Nami, Eternl, Flint) to the self-serve app at app.liqwid.finance to deposit Cardano native assets and earn variable yield, or to borrow against deposited collateral without selling tokens. The protocol is governed by the Liqwid DAO, in which LQ token holders submit and vote on proposals covering market parameters, partnerships, and protocol upgrades — there are no off-chain intermediaries, no KYC, and no subscription tiers. Liqwid v2, launched in 2024, added Aqueduct (liquidity routing), Tap, a new API, an updated app interface, and a loan origination fee mechanism on top of the existing interest-spread economics.
The business model is purely transactional: the DAO earns revenue from the spread between lender yields and borrower interest rates plus loan origination fees from v2, with a portion directed to an LQ token buyback program. Monthly DAO revenue was reported at $20,000–$30,000+ for January of the disclosed period, against $32M in protocol TVL on a broader Cardano DeFi ecosystem that surpassed $1.1B. Liqwid distributes roughly 150,000 LQ tokens per month to lenders, borrowers, and stakers as participation incentives, and operates Protocol Owned Liquidity (POL) that compounds treasury returns. The corporate entity (Liqwid Labs, LLC, US-domiciled) developed much of the initial software but the protocol runs autonomously via smart contracts under DAO control; no institutional investors or parent company are identified beyond the $2.7M December 2022 funding round led by cFund.
Distribution is product-led and community-led through Discord, Twitter/X, Substack, and a formal governance forum hosting 150+ proposals, with no paid marketing or sales motion. Key ecosystem partnerships include Minswap (reciprocal 1:1 treasury token exchange with 10-year lockup and triple-farm incentives), Circle (USDCx stablecoin integration following March 2026 mainnet launch), and broader Cardano Foundation/LayerZero infrastructure — all reinforcing Liqwid's position as the largest DeFi lending protocol on Cardano.
Liqwid Labs firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Liqwid Labs
- Legal name
- Liqwid Labs, LLC
- Website
- https://liqwid.finance
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Liqwid Labs operates Liqwid Finance, a non-custodial DAO-governed lending and borrowing protocol on Cardano that lets users earn yield on deposited assets and borrow against collateral. The protocol serves the long tail of Cardano DeFi participants via a self-serve app with no KYC.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Liqwid Labs industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Decentralized Finance Lending Protocol
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Decentralized Lending & Borrowing Protocols (FSADAMAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Decentralized Lending Protocols (DeFi Money Markets) (FSADAFAB), Decentralized Lending & Credit Markets (overcollateralized/undercollateralized, P2P) (FSAPAEAA), Liquidity Management & Market-Making Protocols (FSADAMAH)
Keywords
Where Liqwid Labs is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Liqwid Labs business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Interest Income from Borrowing: Lenders deposit Cardano assets and earn interest on their deposits. Interest accrues continuously on borrowed positions. The protocol acts as the intermediary matching lenders and borrowers, collecting spread income. Monthly DAO revenue reported at $20,000-$30,000+/month based on January figures.
- Loan Origination Fees: Liqwid v2 introduced a loan origination fee charged when users open new loan positions, providing an additional revenue stream to the protocol beyond interest spread.
- LQ Token Buyback Program: Protocol revenue is used to buy back LQ tokens from the open market, reducing circulating supply and returning value to the DAO treasury and token holders.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | No subscription tiers; users interact directly with on-chain markets |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Liqwid Labs product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Liqwid Labs operates Liqwid Finance, a decentralized peer-to-peer lending and borrowing protocol built on the Cardano blockchain. Users deposit Cardano native assets to earn variable interest yield and borrow against their collateral to access instant on-chain liquidity without selling tokens. The protocol is governed by the Liqwid DAO via the LQ governance token and collects interest-rate spread and loan origination fees as revenue.
Product overview
Liqwid Finance is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol on the Cardano blockchain. The platform offers a unified product consisting of the core Liqwid Protocol, which enables users to lend assets and earn yield, borrow against collateral, and stake LQ tokens for governance participation. The ecosystem includes the Liqwid App for user interaction, the Liqwid Governance Forum for DAO participation, and the LQ token as the native governance asset. Liqwid v2 introduced new features including Aqueduct (yield distribution) and Tap. The protocol is governed by the Liqwid DAO with community-driven on-chain governance.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Liqwid Protocol Decentralized peer-to-peer lending and borrowing protocol on the Cardano blockchain, enabling users to earn interest on deposited Cardano assets and access instant liquidity through collateralized loans.
- LQ Token Native governance and utility token of the Liqwid protocol, used for staking rewards, on-chain governance voting, and programmatic yield distributions to lenders, borrowers, and stakers.
- Liqwid v2 Version 2 of the Liqwid protocol, introducing Aqueduct liquidity routing, Tap, a v2 API, and an updated v2 app interface, along with a loan origination fee mechanism.
- Liqwid Governance Forum Community-driven on-chain governance platform for the Liqwid DAO ecosystem, enabling token holders to submit proposals, participate in community discussion, and vote on active proposals using LQ voting power.
Quantifiable outcome
- Total Value Locked (TVL) reached $32 million on Liqwid Finance, with the broader Cardano DeFi ecosystem surpassing $1.1 billion
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Liqwid Labs
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Liqwid Labs technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature6 records
Liqwid Labs partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CirclecoreCircle's regulated USDCx stablecoin launched on Cardano mainnet on March 1, 2026, capturing 36% market share. Over 15 million USDCx tokens were minted at launch with immediate liquidity pool integrations across DeFi protocols including Liqwid. Circle provides the infrastructure (issuance, compliance, settlement) enabling USDCx to function as a stable asset within the Cardano DeFi ecosystem.
- MinswapcoreLiqwid and Minswap DAOs proposed a comprehensive partnership including a 1:1 token exchange ($1 of LQ from Liqwid DAO treasury exchanged for $1 of MIN from Minswap DAO treasury), creation of an LQ/MIN pool on Minswap v2, triple farm incentives (2% of LQ token supply over 12 months), and Protocol Owned Liquidity (POL) bootstrapping. A 10-year legal contract prevents either DAO from selling the exchanged tokens. Minswap DAO agreed to delegate 50% of acquired LQ voting power to Cardano community members or SPOs.
- Cardano FoundationminorThe Cardano Foundation's Reeve framework was used by Grant Thornton Switzerland to complete the first global on-chain financial audit. Liqwid DAO operates within the Cardano ecosystem governed by the Foundation's standards and participates in Catalyst governance.
- Grant Thornton SwitzerlandminorGrant Thornton Switzerland completed the first global on-chain financial audit using the Cardano Foundation's Reeve framework, validating the integrity of on-chain financial processes within the Cardano ecosystem.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Liqwid Labs competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Aave: Aave is the largest decentralized lending protocol in DeFi, operating across Ethereum and multiple chains with billions in TVL. It is directly comparable to Liqwid as a non-custodial, algorithmic-rate, overcollateralized lending protocol, though Liqwid is chain-constrained to Cardano and operates at a much smaller scale.
- MakerDAO: MakerDAO is the largest DeFi credit protocol, enabling users to collateralize crypto assets and mint DAI. Comparable to Liqwid in its on-chain lending/CDP architecture, but materially larger and more diversified across RWA and multi-chain deployments.
Direct peers
- Compound Labs: Compound is the foundational algorithmic, overcollateralized lending protocol on Ethereum offering supply/borrow markets with utilization-based interest rates. It mirrors Liqwid's core architecture (algorithmic rates, pool-based lending, on-chain governance) and represents the direct category benchmark for Cardano's first major lending protocol.
- Morpho: Morpho is a peer-to-peer lending layer built on top of Aave/Compound that optimizes interest rates for lenders and borrowers. It represents a direct architectural analogue to what Liqwid v2's Aqueduct/Tap features may target — better capital efficiency and rate optimization within a Cardano-native context.
- Radiant Capital: Radiant is a cross-chain omnichain money market protocol enabling lending across multiple chains via LayerZero. It is directly comparable to Liqwid's Cardano lending model plus its emerging cross-chain ambition given LayerZero's Cardano integration.
- Silo Finance: Silo is a lending primitive that enables the creation of isolated lending markets with permissionless assets, designed as the base layer for other lending frontends. Comparable to Liqwid in market-segmentation philosophy and as a newer-generation lending architecture (analogous to Liqwid v2 features).
Emerging players
- Spark Protocol: Spark is the lending product of the MakerDAO/Sky ecosystem, offering supply/borrow markets with DAI savings rate features. Comparable as a newer-generation lending protocol with governance-driven parameter control, similar in lifecycle stage relative to Liqwid's v2 launch.
Regional players
- JustLend: JustLend is the leading DeFi lending protocol on the TRON blockchain, offering supply/borrow markets with algorithmic rates. Comparable as the dominant lending protocol on a non-Ethereum chain, serving as a useful benchmark for chain-specific lending leadership similar to Liqwid's position on Cardano.
- Venus Protocol: Venus is the dominant algorithmic money market and synthetic stablecoin protocol on BNB Chain. Comparable to Liqwid as the leading lending-native protocol on a specific chain, with similar architectural choices around algorithmic rate-setting and on-chain governance.
Others
- Minswap: Minswap is the largest DEX on Cardano and a strategic partner of Liqwid via a 1:1 token exchange and 10-year lockup. It is comparable as the leading Cardano DeFi protocol occupying a different (DEX/infrastructure) layer but operating in the same ecosystem with deep integration.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Liqwid Labs social profiles
Digital presenceLiqwid Labs financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Liqwid Labs leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Liqwid Labs funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Liqwid Labs M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Liqwid Labs
What does Liqwid Labs do?
Liqwid Labs operates Liqwid Finance, a decentralized peer-to-peer lending and borrowing protocol built on the Cardano blockchain. Users deposit Cardano native assets to earn variable interest yield and borrow against their collateral to access instant on-chain liquidity without selling tokens. The protocol is governed by the Liqwid DAO via the LQ governance token and collects interest-rate spread and loan origination fees as revenue.
Is Liqwid Labs a public or private company?
Liqwid Labs is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Liqwid Labs founded?
Liqwid Labs was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Liqwid Labs based?
Liqwid Labs is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Liqwid Labs make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Interest Income from Borrowing is the primary driver. The others are loan Origination Fees and LQ Token Buyback Program.
Who are Liqwid Labs's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Aave and MakerDAO. Direct peers are Compound Labs, Morpho, Radiant Capital and Silo Finance. Spark Protocol is listed as an emerging player. Regional players are JustLend and Venus Protocol. Minswap is listed as an others.
Does Liqwid Labs have an API?
No public API is recorded for Liqwid Labs.
What industry is Liqwid Labs in?
Liqwid Labs's product category is Decentralized Finance Lending Protocol. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSADAMAA, Decentralized Lending & Borrowing Protocols, with a secondary code of FSADAFAB, Decentralized Lending Protocols (DeFi Money Markets). Its SIC code is 6200.