Pencil Finance completes $1M onchain lending cycle for 6.6K students in Southeast Asia
Reported by Cointelegraph · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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Summary
Pencil Finance completed a $1 million fully onchain student loan cycle, providing financing to approximately 6,600 students across 118 schools and universities in Southeast Asia. The platform acted as the lender, deploying capital that was repaid with yield, and the cycle was funded by Animoca Brands, Open Campus, and New Campus through a senior and junior tranche structure. This is claimed to be the first fully onchain lending cycle transparently recorded on the blockchain for student loans.
Why it matters
The development highlights the use of blockchain technology to offer financing to students underserved by traditional lenders, suggesting a new transparent financing model for educational loans. The source does not elaborate on broader market or policy implications.
Key context
Pencil Finance’s operation involved a tranche structure with fixed and variable returns and first-loss risk, funded in July 2025. The initiative targeted students underserved by conventional lenders, with 50% female borrowers and 93% from lower-income households. The article references growing use of tokenized real-world assets in issuing loans, citing a Brazilian example of tokenized cattle as collateral.
Key numbers and entities
Pencil Finance, Animoca Brands, Open Campus, and New Campus are the primary organizations involved. The loan cycle was $1 million, with about 6,600 students benefited and 1,050 receiving direct funding. The timeframe for funding was July 2025.
What remains unclear
The long-term performance of the loans, specific terms for borrowers beyond tranche structure, and how repayment yields compare to traditional lending are not detailed. The source also does not specify the blockchain platform used or regulatory considerations.