Crypto lending platforms let users supply assets to a market or borrow against supported collateral. A supplier may earn interest from borrowing activity. A borrower can access another asset without immediately selling the collateral, but must maintain the required support for the loan.
Supplying assets and borrowing are separate uses
Supplying means depositing an asset into a lending market or vault. Borrowing means taking out an asset under the platform’s loan rules. A platform can offer both functions, yet the available markets, rates and collateral requirements differ for each side.
Compare the specific market
- Assets: what you can supply, borrow or use as collateral.
- Rates: base interest, any incentives and how often the rate changes.
- Access: deposit minimums, available liquidity and withdrawal conditions.
- Loan controls: borrowing limit, liquidation threshold and repayment options.
Displayed rates often change with market utilization, meaning the share of supplied assets currently borrowed. A rate that includes reward tokens can also change as their price or distribution changes.
Understand the loan before opening it
Loan-to-value compares the debt with the collateral’s value. If collateral falls or debt grows through interest, the position can reach its liquidation threshold. The interface should clearly show these measures and how adding collateral or repaying debt changes them.
A DeFi portfolio tracker can help follow supported deposits and debts. If you want to compare interest-based lending with liquidity-pool strategies, yield farming tools cover that broader activity. Lending positions carry protocol, asset and liquidity risks; deposits are not automatically equivalent to insured savings.