Policy Updates 

Cayman Islands Investor PR Program Gets Crypto-Backed Loan Option

Christian Henrik Nesheim , , , , , , ,
Editor
Christian Henrik Nesheim

Financial services firm Ledn, which is a licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, has partnered with Parallel, a local real estate agency, to provide loans for qualifying property acquisitions to investors in the territory’s residence by investment program.

The program allows those who invest between CI$500,000 and CI$2 million (various investment options and residency durations are available) in local real estate to obtain residency in the British Overseas Territory. Henceforth, crypto-holders will be able to take out a home loan with Ledn, using their bitcoin (or other cryptocurrency) as collateral, and use the funds to buy real estate through Parallel.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ledn CEO Adam Reeds explained that “Ledn will provide real estate buyers in the Caymans with crypto-backed loans, which Parallel will accept as a means to finance purchases.”

If the buyer or seller prefers to pay or receive fiat rather than cryptocurrency, Parallel would handle the crypto-to-fiat conversion, Reed pointed out. Should they prefer to conduct the whole transaction without fiat, however, crypto-to-crypto transactions are also possible, thanks to the Cayman Islands’ virtual-asset-friendly rules. In any case, Ledn’s commission of the transaction would be fiat-free, he emphasized, and payable in either BTC or USD-backed stablecoins.

The Ledn CEO highlights that while crypto-holders could also buy properties with cryptocurrencies outright, rather than taking out a loan, he anticipated most would prefer to borrow against their crypto to finance a purchase, rather than sell their current crypto-holdings.

In this case, he remarked, “if or when BTC goes up, your loan-to-value ratio goes down, so your house is appreciating, and so is the asset you’re borrowing against.”

Parallel, the real estate brokerage, already have considerable experience with crypto-facilitated real estate acquisitions: In December 2022, the agency sold a $10 million property to a buyer who paid entirely in cryptocurrency.

The partnership between Ledn and Parallel is an exclusive one, commented Reed: “Parallel will only accept borrowed funds if they’ve been loaned by Ledn.”

IMI Pros who can help with Cayman Islands residency