NFT Lately catches up with Gabe Frank, CEO of Arcade, to discuss liquid lending for NFTs
Can you tell us about your background with Arcade?
My background is in pawn lending. After college, I helped my dad run our family business, making small-dollar loans against physical items like Rolex watches and diamonds. In 2016, someone bought our chain of pawn shops. Then, began working in crypto.
Following this, I began working for two Institutional custodians, BitGo and Curv, before being attracted to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the early 2020. I saw NFTs as an emerging asset class, so I connected it to my experience in pawning, chose a cofounder, and the rest is history.
Please explain Arcade in three sentences:
Arcade.xyz is a Decentralized P2P marketplace for NFT collateralized loans. Liquidity providers access a new source fixed-term DeFi yield. NFT owners access liquidity borrowing against otherwise idle assets.
Why are NFT marketplaces important?
If NFTs are a new asset class, a trusted venue or venues to transact are essential.
How is your marketplace unique compared to others?
Arcade’s marketplace is primarily for loans backed by NFTs. Whereas NFT marketplaces, like Opensea, are venues to buy and sell NFTs. However, we are similar to Opensea because we consider our marketplace as Web3 infrastructure rather than a consumer application/marketplace.
Who would get the most value from Arcade?
Lenders who want to diversify their portfolios by underwriting loans against NFT collections. NFT holders who wish to retain their assets while accessing liquidity.
What have been the biggest hurdles for growth so far?
We are very exposed to market volatility. Our space is very niche right now, so we need the market as a whole to expand.
Can you tell us about Arcade’s future goals?
We see Arcade as a protocol that will last forever. The hope is, eventually, the marketplace becomes a self-sustaining protocol governed by a DAO. We will continue to build new on-chain features, and our goal is to be the dominant application in our category (NFT lending).
Are NFTs here to stay?
NFTs are just getting started. There are so many use cases for the technology that we are just beginning to see explored in ID verification, official documentation, digital IP rights, branding, entertainment and more. As Web3 continues to grow and refine, NFTs will be crucial to a new internet.
How can we keep in the loop with your company?
Follow us on Twitter, join our Discord, and explore the app at Arcade.xyz
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