We made Bitcoin history today!
- Ledn issued the world’s first bitcoin-backed ABS bond!
- First-ever investment grade rating on a bitcoin product by S&P
- Over 2X oversubscribed
A truly transformative transaction for @hodlwithLedn and the lending industry.
Onwards!
Ledn has issued the first investment grade-rated bitcoin-backed ABS in the digital asset industry.
The senior notes under the offering were rated BBB- by S&P. Plus, the ABS has been 2x oversubscribed, with institutional demand exceeding the $188 million offering size.
This is the first time a major global rating agency has provided independent, institutional validation of a digital asset lending portfolio.
Learn more: https://t.co/NqXq9UVeZH
🎙️NEW EPISODE: Venezuela, Debt & the Case for Bitcoin Loans
Mauricio @cryptonomista grew up watching Venezuela collapse. Hyperinflation destroys savings, and destroys trust in every institution meant to protect you. He came out of it with a framework for money that most people in stable economies never develop.
⚡ Venezuelan hyperinflation
⚡ Governments are short fiat
⚡ Bitcoin-backed loans
⚡ First Bitcoin ABS bond
⚡ Debt as a tool!
🎧 Link to full episode below!
🎙️ Venezuela, Debt & the Case for Bitcoin Loans
Ep. 141 with @cryptonomista
Mauricio Di Bartolomeo is the Co-founder of @hodlwithLedn , the leader in Bitcoin-backed lending. He grew up in Venezuela, living through the early tremors of what would become one of the most dramatic monetary collapses in modern history, before coming to Canada in 2003. His front-row seat to hyperinflation under Chavez and Maduro shaped a deeply practical understanding of how money, debt, and institutional trust actually function, and gave him the conviction to build Ledn, which has issued over $10 billion in loans since 2018 and holds an estimated 30% market share in consumer Bitcoin-backed lending globally. We cover what hyperinflation actually feels like from the inside, why the wealthy borrow while everyone else is told to save, the philosophical debate over whether Bitcoin-backed debt is morally sound, and what the recent seismic shifts in Venezuela's political landscape mean for an oppressed country.
→ Please like, comment, share & follow — to help me beat the suppressing algo's. Thank you!
00:00 - Coming Up...
01:24 - Introduction: Mauricio Di Bartolomeo
03:28 - The First Bitcoin Asset-backed securities (ABS) Bond
07:26 - Institutional Appetite: S&P Ratings & the ABS Market
10:25 - How Bitcoin-Backed Loans Work: Risk, Liquidation & Trust
14:15 - Ad Break: Ledn, Trezor & Abundant Mines
17:10 - Debt as a Tool: The Bitcoin-Backed Loan Philosophy
19:48 - Venezuela & Chavez: Growing Up With Inflation
21:34 - Inflation vs. Hyperinflation: Two Different Phenomena
29:20 - Surviving Hyperinflation: Your Second Job Is Converting Your Paycheck
31:29 - Shorting Fiat: How the Wealthy Use Debt to Build Wealth
39:18 - Debt and Bitcoin
43:21 - Venezuela: Frozen in Time
44:55 - Signs of Hope: What Changed on January 3rd
48:30 - Bitcoin 2026: Conference Outlook
💥DROPPING TOMORROW💥
The government is short fiat. Are you long?
Mauricio @cryptonomista lived through Venezuelan hyperinflation and came out the other side with a framework most people never learn until it's too late. Bitcoin, debt, and how the wealthy actually think about currency. Stay tuned 🎧
The Week Ahead:
Monday: EU Unemployment rate, earnings from $HIVE
Tuesday: EU Inflation data
Thursday: U.S. Congress hearing with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins
Friday: U.S. & Canada Unemployment rate
Catch the full details in our Bitcoin Economic Calendar for the week of June 1st!
my current (bitcoin:native) financial stack:
@river is now my bank account. This has an hourly bitcoin:native buy (supercharged) and also auto buys 1% of each direct deposit paycheck. I keep at least 3 months of expenses here (earning 3.3% in $BTC).
(I still maintain another account with about $1500 in it for check image deposit, occasional Zelle/ATM use, and sending wires when necessary. Hopefully @Leishman and team will add these features soon.)
@robinhood is my long term savings. every paycheck I send about 20% to a 50/50 mix of $SATA and $STRC, earning 11.5-13%.
@hodlwithLedn is used for short term liquidity beyond what is available in (2) to borrow against $BTC when I would otherwise face a sale. I then pay off this loan and return the $BTC before reallocating to (2). @robinhood makes it very easy to swap $SATA / $STRC for $USDC and send to Ledn to repay the loan incrementally.
collectively this works pretty well for me as a tiered high yield $BTC -centric financial stack that avoids selling any $BTC at all costs particularly during bear markets.
my IRA and brokerage $BTC is held in multi-sig cold storage with @unchained.
as previously noted, my $MSTR (with a smaller amount of $ASST and $MTPLF) are held in corporate savings (401(k), HSA) accounts that cannot hold $BTC.
What actually happens when you borrow against your Bitcoin?
In this 12-minute video I walk through my first BTC-backed loan with @hodlwithLedn: why I took it, how it works, and why LTV is the number that matters most.
Not financial advice, just my experience.
🚨 Lanzamos el curso:
“Bitcoin y Autodefensa Financiera en la Era de la Hipervigilancia”.
https://t.co/Rw8inyKV9W
Siguiendo con la misión de Escuelita Bitcoin de hacer accesible el conocimiento y poder escalar esta educación a más personas que hablan español
✅ 11 módulos grabados
✅ Grupo privado
✅ Videollamadas semanales
✅ Acompañamiento durante 1 año
💰 Único pago de 21 USD
⚡ Con el código LEDN tienes 50% de descuento y te queda en solo 11 USD
The Week Ahead:
Monday: U.S. Markets closed for Memorial Day Holiday
Tuesday: Inflation data from Australia, SEC Chairman Atkins speech
Thursday: Unemployment rate from Mexico, Brazil, Japan
Friday: Bitcoin Options Expiration with $6.48B in notional with a max pain price of $75K, Bitcoin Mining Difficulty expected to drop by -0.50% to 135.93TH
Catch the full details in our Bitcoin Economic Calendar for the week of May 25th!
Australia’s New Capital Gains Tax Changes..
Meanwhile Bitcoiners are learning how to live off strategic Bitcoin-backed loans without selling a single sat.
@hodlwithLedn#Bitcoin
How many people want to use their bitcoin as collateral?
@hodlwithLedn's commissioned survey found that 88% of crypto holders in the U.S. and Australia would consider borrowing against their digital assets, but only 14% currently do!
What's holding people back? Not the tech.
@kiwilambnz@hodlwithLedn Rates are also key, and we're making progress narrowing the gap vs "traditional" loans.
Our top loan tier starts at 9.99% APR and a HELOC is at 7.26% APR.
A key difference is that at Ledn, your credit capacity is determined by your bitcoin. Not by your job or credit score.
We believe the gap between those who want to borrow, and those who do, will close.
Over the next decade, bitcoin-backed loans will grow into a $1 Trillion industry.
We're building for that future.
Read more about it here: https://t.co/etuKsW7Qlh
What's missing is trust.
How to you bridge that gap?
Resilience (perfect 8+ year track record)
Transparency (Proof of Reserves)
Investment-grade rated institutional funding (Bitcoin ABS bonds)
Not a sponsored post, but I want to give credit because without platforms like @hodlwithLedn either buying more bitcoin, a house, car, real estate etc. would not be possible unless you sold your bitcoin. Which for obvious reasons you wouldn’t want to do.
As any smart person should do, continue to hodl #bitcoin