Web3 Crowdlending: Is Sustainable Yield Possible?

Earlier this year, Gold Car Rent, a corporate vehicle rental company in Dubai, sought growth capital to expand its fleet and meet rising demand from long-term corporate clients.

Instead of turning to traditional bank financing, the company raised capital through 8lends, a Web3-based crowdlending platform that connects global investors with real-world business loans.

The financing was backed by collateral, specifically a fleet of Mercedes-Benz Vito vans owned by Gold Car Rent, which were appraised and used to secure the loan.

The loan capital itself was released in stages, with each tranche unlocked only after the required documents and invoices were verified. Repayments are made from operating income generated by long-term B2B rental contracts.

Under this structure, investors can see that returns are tied to business performance rather than a complex yield structure. For the company, the arrangement provided access to global capital without lowering underwriting standards.

Gold Car Rent’s story shows what’s quietly shifting in the DeFi yield segment through peer-to-peer (P2P) lending mechanisms. To learn more about this, BeInCrypto recently spoke with Aleksander Lang, CFO & Co-Founder of Maclear — the company behind 8lends.

We explored why investors are increasingly turning toward stable-income crowdlending, how platforms like 8lends are adapting institutional credit practices to Web3 infrastructure, and whether this model can become a sustainable source of passive income for crypto investors.

Two Models, Two Risk Profiles

Peer-to-peer lending or crowdlending existed long before crypto and DeFi. Marketplace lending platforms spent years connecting investors with small businesses that traditional banks wouldn’t touch. The pitch was simple: earn fixed returns by funding real economic activity.

But the model also comes with trade-offs. Because many P2P platforms allow borrowers who fall outside conventional bank criteria, default risk can be higher than in traditional lending. Credit losses depend largely on the platform’s underwriting standards, loan structure, and recovery processes, as well as the underlying business performance of borrowers.

At the same time, many traditional P2P platforms are constrained by jurisdictional boundaries, limiting both investor access and cross-border diversification and tying risk management and enforcement to local legal frameworks.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) approached the same problem from a different angle. DeFi lending protocols allow users to lend and borrow crypto assets through smart contracts, often using overcollateralization and automated liquidations to manage default risk.

By removing intermediaries and geographic restrictions, DeFi dramatically expanded access to lending markets and introduced different forms of capital efficiency.

In its early growth phase, parts of the DeFi yield ecosystem blurred the line between lending income and incentive-driven returns. Some protocols supplemented organic lending yields with token emissions or relied on optimistic assumptions about liquidity and collateral stability.

Anchor Protocol on Terra became the most visible example. During its prime era, it offered roughly 20% APY on UST deposits by combining lending activity with subsidized rewards. When the underlying stablecoin failed in 2022, the entire structure collapsed.

Why Investors Are Rethinking Yield After DeFi’s Boom and Bust

However, Terra’s failure forced the industry to reassess how sustainable yields were being generated. Lang observed the same shift taking shape among investors. While confidence in high-yield narratives eroded, he noted that users did not reject crypto itself.

“People still liked crypto and all its advantages, like convenience, speed, and global access, but after seeing so many high-yield projects fall apart, their mindset started to change. When you see a platform promise ‘20% risk-free’ returns and then collapse overnight, or a big service suddenly freezes withdrawals, it leaves a significant impression.

So instead of chasing the next APY, users began looking for products backed by real business activity. They wanted something they could clearly understand: where the money comes from, who the borrower is, and how the returns are generated. Real cash flow, not slogans or inflated marketing campaigns,” Lang opined.

Lang argued Web3 crowdlending sits between those two worlds. Rather than reinventing yield, it applies established lending mechanics while using blockchain infrastructure to expand access, standardize transparency, and make performance verifiable across borders.

“It allows people to stay in the crypto space while getting something predictable and easy to understand, based on actual performance rather than promises,” he told BeInCrypto.

Bringing Credit Discipline On-Chain

Lang then explained how 8lends combines elements of DeFi and traditional crowdlending in its operational model. While the platform was developed by a team with extensive experience in Swiss P2P lending through Maclear, it was not designed as a direct extension of a Web2 platform.

Instead, the focus was on rethinking how the credit process should be structured and presented in a decentralized environment, taking into account the different expectations of investors across both ecosystems. He said:

Lang also recognized that Web3 users are accustomed to updates as they happen. Rather than waiting for a final outcome, they want to follow progress along the way. As a result, 8lends reorganized how information is presented so investors can track developments in a clear and timely manner, while preserving the rigor of the underwriting process.

Consistency was the final requirement. Lang stated that Maclear built its reputation on strict, repeatable procedures, including document checks, financial analysis, and ongoing monitoring. He added:

For the company, this is where blockchain provides tangible benefits. Funding flows, repayments, and performance data can be shown as they occur. Smart contracts apply the same rules consistently, reducing operational risk. At the same time, the system remains accessible to users globally, while preserving the same credit discipline behind the underwriting process.

Proof of Loan: How 8LNDS Supports Participation Without Replacing Yield

In addition to utilizing blockchain infrastructure to improve transparency and access, 8lends also introduced 8LNDS, a native token, to support participation within the platform’s Web3 crowdlending ecosystem. Unlike many DeFi-native tokens, 8LNDS is designed to reinforce engagement and long-term participation rather than alter the economics of the lending product itself.

Lending yields on 8lends remain fixed, asset-backed, and tied to borrower performance. The token operates alongside that structure, supporting rewards, loyalty mechanics, and additional benefits for active lenders across both traditional and Web3-native audiences.

“It didn’t launch through a public sale or a push for early liquidity. Instead, it began as an earn-only token with distribution tied directly to activity on the platform,” Timoshkin explained.

8LNDS is distributed through platform participation via 8lends’ Proof of Loan mechanism, appearing when users fund real-world business loans. In this structure, token distribution reflects actual lending activity, while investor returns continue to come solely from loan repayments generated by operating companies.

What Web3 Crowdlending Needs to Prove

As the conversation drew to a close, Lang outlined the qualities he believes Web3 crowdlending must demonstrate to reach mainstream adoption. Transparency around borrowers and loan terms, clear and understandable risk assessment, and returns generated from real repayment activity rather than incentives were central to that view.

He also stressed the importance of being honest about liquidity, noting that fixed-term loans should behave like fixed-term investments, not products that promise instant exits.

For Lang, the clearest signal of success would come from changes in investor behavior rather than headline growth metrics. When crypto investors begin treating business-backed lending as a standard portfolio component, evaluated on credit fundamentals instead of yield promises, it would indicate that Web3 crowdlending has entered a more mature phase.

“And it doesn’t take much to see that shift. If even 5% to 10% of the average Web3 portfolio ends up in real-world lending, that’s already a signal that crowdlending has moved from a niche idea into a normal passive-income option,” he noted.