What Firefish does

Firefish is a Prague-based, non-custodial peer-to-peer marketplace for Bitcoin-backed loans, founded in 2022 and operating globally. The platform connects two sides: Bitcoin holders seeking fiat or stablecoin liquidity without selling their BTC, and yield-seeking investors providing capital secured by Bitcoin collateral at approximately a 2:1 ratio. Two product modes are offered - Standard Loans (marketplace-matched, user-defined parameters with 14-day validity) and Instant Loans (pre-defined fixed rates with immediate funding, provided through a related servicing entity). The company reports $650M+ in lifetime processed loan volume, 6,000 BTC of collateral secured, 26K+ completed loans, and 30K+ users, with borrowing rates starting from 5% APR over 3-24 month tenors and no monthly installments.

The underlying Firefish Protocol is built in Rust with a WebAssembly-compiled borrower client and is open source on GitHub with verifiable deterministic builds. Collateral is locked in a 3-of-3 multisig escrow on Bitcoin mainnet, governed by Price Oracle and Payment Oracle mechanisms that add signatures to pre-signed closing transactions covering Repayment, Default, Liquidation, Cancellation, and Disaster outcomes. After the borrower's ephemeral key is discarded, only pre-signed transactions can move collateral, providing trust-minimized custody without requiring Discreet Log Contracts. Distribution escrow is handled by a nominated agent (tedsig solutions s.r.o.), and a Liquidation Exchange Service converts collateral to fiat or stablecoin at 95% of market BTC price for non-Bitcoin-native investors.

Revenue is generated primarily through a 1.5% per annum origination fee denominated in Bitcoin and deducted from collateral at origination, with secondary Bitcoin network fees. The go-to-market is community-led, anchored by endorsements from Bitcoin thought leaders (Knut Svanholm, Slush, Eli Nagar, Kicom, Roman Reher) and earned media in Wired.cz, Forbes.cz, LSEG, and BitcoinNews. The company raised a $1.8M seed round in April 2025 from Braiins and Miton C, holds MiCA authorization as a crypto-asset service provider under the National Bank of Slovakia, and operates through three Slovak-registered legal entities (Firefish Europe s.r.o., Firefish Peer Servicing s.r.o., Firefish Labs s.r.o.). Geographic scope spans global stablecoin services with regional fiat (EUR, CHF) availability under MiCA regulation.

Name

Firefish

Legal name

Firefish Europe s.r.o.

Website

https://firefish.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Firefish operates a non-custodial peer-to-peer marketplace for Bitcoin-backed loans, serving BTC holders seeking liquidity and yield-seeking investors globally. The Prague-based platform combines a 3-of-3 multisig escrow protocol with MiCA licensing, having processed over $650M in loans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin lending marketplace

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Financial Vehicles (525990)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Credit Marketplaces, Aggregators & Loan Routing (FSADAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Decentralized Lending Protocols (DeFi Money Markets) (FSADAFAB), Stablecoin Payment Rails & Settlement Networks (Issuer-Led) (FSADADAF)

Keywords

• Bitcoin lending marketplace
• Peer-to-peer lending
• Crypto-backed loans
• Non-custodial escrow
• Bitcoin collateral loans

Headquarters

HQ city

Praha

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Origination Fee: Firefish charges borrowers a 1.5% per annum origination fee on the notional loan amount. This fee is denominated in Bitcoin and deducted when transferring collateral to the escrow. This is the primary revenue stream.
2. Bitcoin Network Fees: Bitcoin blockchain transaction fees are deducted from the collateral amount. These cover the prefund, escrow, and closing transactions. Fee bumping (Child-Pays-For-Parent) is supported for timely transaction confirmation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Firefish operates a peer-to-peer Bitcoin-backed lending marketplace that connects Bitcoin holders seeking fiat or stablecoin liquidity (borrowers) with lenders seeking yield, using a non-custodial 3-of-3 multisig escrow on Bitcoin mainnet. Its product suite includes Standard Loans priced by the marketplace, Instant Loans at fixed rates, Auto Invest automation for lenders, and the Alternative Fund, all built on the open-source Firefish Protocol.

Product overview

Firefish operates as an open lending marketplace connecting Bitcoiners, institutions, and investors for Bitcoin-backed loans. The platform consists of two primary product lines: Firefish Borrow (enabling borrowers to obtain fiat or stablecoin loans secured by Bitcoin collateral without credit checks) and Firefish Invest (allowing lenders to fund Bitcoin-backed loans and earn interest). Within Firefish Borrow, users can choose between Standard Loans (peer-to-peer loans with customizable parameters posted to the marketplace) or Instant Loans (pre-defined loans provided instantly through Firefish Peer Servicing s.r.o.). The Firefish Invest offering includes Auto Invest for automated lending and an Alternative Fund for diversified exposure. The platform is powered by the open-source Firefish Protocol, which implements a non-custodial escrow system using Bitcoin mainnet multisig escrow with Price Oracle and Payment Oracle mechanisms. All loans are secured by Bitcoin collateral at a 2:1 ratio, with flexible terms from 3–24 months and rates from 5%, supporting EUR, CHF, and USDC currencies with global availability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Standard Loan Peer-to-peer loan option on the Firefish marketplace where borrowers post a loan request with their BTC collateral and lenders bid/accept the posted terms; interest rate is determined by marketplace demand rather than a fixed schedule.
• Instant Loan Fixed-rate loan option on the Firefish marketplace enabling borrowers to lock in a predetermined interest rate and receive funding immediately, without waiting for marketplace lender matching.
• Auto Invest Automation tool for lenders that programmatically deploys lending capital into marketplace Standard Loans according to predefined parameters, removing the need to manually select each loan.
• Alternative Fund Pooled, passively-managed fund product on Firefish that allows lenders to gain exposure to the marketplace's BTC-collateralized lending book without directly selecting individual loans.
• Firefish Protocol Open-source, non-custodial Bitcoin lending protocol that powers the Firefish marketplace, using a 3-of-3 multisig escrow on Bitcoin mainnet with Price Oracle and Payment Oracle components implemented in Rust with a WASM client.

Quantifiable outcome

• $650M+ in loans processed; 6000+ BTC secured; 26K+ loans completed

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• tedsig solutions s.r.o.coreTechnology or Integrationtedsig solutions s.r.o. (Prague, Czech Republic) serves as the Escrow agent for the Distribution escrow mechanism. They handle secure settlement of Bitcoin collateral distribution to respective beneficiaries (Lender/Liquidator or Borrower) according to Firefish's Distribution escrow rules.
• Firefish Labs s.r.o.coreTechnology or IntegrationFirefish Labs s.r.o. (Prague, Czech Republic) provides technology and other support services related to the operation of the website, application, and other services. This is a related entity providing critical technical infrastructure.
• iDenfycoreTechnology or IntegrationiDenfy (Kaunas, Lithuania) provides KYC/AML identity verification services for Firefish. Firefish uses iDenfy's platform to verify user identities as part of compliance with anti-money laundering regulations before permitting access to lending/borrowing services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Celsius (historical): Celsius was a major centralized crypto lending platform that offered yield and loans against BTC collateral before its 2022 collapse; historically a direct competitor in the Bitcoin-collateralized lending space, frequently cited by Firefish as a counterexample to centralized custody.
• Aave: Aave is the largest decentralized liquidity protocol offering crypto-backed lending and borrowing; both operate as open marketplaces where users supply capital and borrow against crypto collateral, though Aave is multi-chain and algorithmic while Firefish is Bitcoin-only and non-custodial.
• Compound: Compound is a foundational DeFi money market protocol for crypto-collateralized lending with algorithmic interest rates; directly comparable as an on-chain lending marketplace, with the key distinction being Firefish's Bitcoin-only, P2P, non-custodial architecture versus Compound's algorithmic pool model.
• MakerDAO: MakerDAO enables borrowing of DAI stablecoin against crypto collateral via collateralized debt positions; comparable as a decentralized, crypto-collateralized lending platform, though MakerDAO uses pooled liquidity and overcollateralized vaults rather than P2P matching.
• Ledn: Ledn is a centralized Bitcoin-backed lending platform offering loans secured by BTC collateral to retail and institutional clients; directly comparable as a Bitcoin-collateralized lender, though Ledn is custodial while Firefish is non-custodial.
• Nexo: Nexo is a centralized crypto lending platform offering fiat and stablecoin loans against Bitcoin and other crypto collateral; directly comparable business model (crypto-collateralized lending), with Firefish's non-custodial P2P architecture as the differentiator.
• SALT Lending: SALT Lending is a Bitcoin and crypto-backed lending platform offering asset-collateralized loans; comparable as a Bitcoin-collateralized lender serving both retail and institutional borrowers, though SALT has historically been more centralized.
• Unchained Capital: Unchained Capital is a Bitcoin financial services company offering Bitcoin-collateralized loans with multisig custody; comparable as a Bitcoin-backed lender, with strong overlap on non-custodial ethos and multisig security architecture.

Others

• Braiins (investor/partner): Braiins is a Bitcoin mining and infrastructure company (Braiins OS, Slush Pool) that co-led Firefish's seed round; included as ecosystem/strategic partner rather than direct competitor, providing Bitcoin infrastructure adjacency and ecosystem access.

Emerging players

• Arch (by Gebruikers): Arch is an emerging Bitcoin DeFi lending protocol that enables lending against Bitcoin collateral on its network; comparable as a newer-generation Bitcoin-collateralized lending platform emphasizing decentralization and capital efficiency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firefish_io
• GitHubgithub.com/Firefish-io
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firefishlabs
• Instagraminstagram.com/firefish_io

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 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 Firefish