IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v58y2021ics0275531921000647.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What determines interest rates for bitcoin lending?

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Shuai
  • Hou, Xinyu
  • Ba, Shusong

Abstract

This study analyses the determinants of interest rates in the cryptocurrency lending market using a unique database from the Decentralised Finance platform. We confirm the existence of both mediation and moderation effects in the cryptocurrency lending market by employing a moderated mediation model. First, the empirical results show that the interest rate is closely related to the loan-to-value ratio, which works as the mediation variable in lending. Second, the interest rate reveals a clear connection with price fluctuations of Bitcoin. This brings up the momentum phenomenon in the lending process and incentives borrowers to acquire more money, leading to pro-cyclical speculation. Third, the lending amount reflects a moderation effect in the lending market, and the net effect of the currency price on the interest rate turns negative when the loan amount exceeds a threshold, resulting in the ‘seesaw’ effect in cryptocurrency lending. The above findings confirm that cryptocurrency lending reflects a certain degree of option characteristics and complies with the risk-debt model, which provides more evidence for understanding the momentum phenomenon and investor behaviour in the cryptocurrency lending market.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Shuai & Hou, Xinyu & Ba, Shusong, 2021. "What determines interest rates for bitcoin lending?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:58:y:2021:i:c:s0275531921000647
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101443
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531921000647
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101443?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vanessa S. Tchamyou & Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "Information Sharing and Financial Sector Development in Africa," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 24-49, January.
    2. Cretarola, Alessandra & Figà-Talamanca, Gianna, 2020. "Bubble regime identification in an attention-based model for Bitcoin and Ethereum price dynamics," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    3. Michael Bailey & Eduardo Dávila & Theresa Kuchler & Johannes Stroebel, 2019. "House Price Beliefs And Mortgage Leverage Choice," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 86(6), pages 2403-2452.
    4. Asongu, Simplice A. & Le Roux, Sara & Biekpe, Nicholas, 2017. "Environmental degradation, ICT and inclusive development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 353-361.
    5. Cheah, Eng-Tuck & Mishra, Tapas & Parhi, Mamata & Zhang, Zhuang, 2018. "Long Memory Interdependency and Inefficiency in Bitcoin Markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 18-25.
    6. Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "CO2 emission thresholds for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/023, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    7. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2018. "Educational quality thresholds in the diffusion of knowledge with mobile phones for inclusive human development in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 164-172.
    8. Qi, Min & Yang, Xiaolong, 2009. "Loss given default of high loan-to-value residential mortgages," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 788-799, May.
    9. Bouri, Elie & Gupta, Rangan & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Roubaud, David, 2017. "Does Bitcoin hedge global uncertainty? Evidence from wavelet-based quantile-in-quantile regressions," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 87-95.
    10. Elie Bouri & Mahamitra Das & Rangan Gupta & David Roubaud, 2018. "Spillovers between Bitcoin and other assets during bear and bull markets," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(55), pages 5935-5949, November.
    11. Zięba, Damian & Kokoszczyński, Ryszard & Śledziewska, Katarzyna, 2019. "Shock transmission in the cryptocurrency market. Is Bitcoin the most influential?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 102-125.
    12. Urquhart, Andrew, 2016. "The inefficiency of Bitcoin," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 80-82.
    13. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    14. Bariviera, Aurelio F., 2017. "The inefficiency of Bitcoin revisited: A dynamic approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1-4.
    15. Shiyun Li & Yiping Huang, 2020. "Do Cryptocurrencies Increase the Systemic Risk of the Global Financial Market?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 28(1), pages 122-143, January.
    16. Jamal Bouoiyour & Refk Selmi & Mark E. Wohar, 2019. "Bitcoin: competitor or complement to gold?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(1), pages 186-191.
    17. Berger, Allen N. & Frame, W. Scott & Ioannidou, Vasso, 2016. "Reexamining the empirical relation between loan risk and collateral: The roles of collateral liquidity and types," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 28-46.
    18. Koutmos, Dimitrios, 2018. "Bitcoin returns and transaction activity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 81-85.
    19. Bouri, Elie & Molnár, Peter & Azzi, Georges & Roubaud, David & Hagfors, Lars Ivar, 2017. "On the hedge and safe haven properties of Bitcoin: Is it really more than a diversifier?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 192-198.
    20. Vanessa S. Tchamyou, 2019. "The Role of Information Sharing in Modulating the Effect of Financial Access on Inequality," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 317-338, July.
    21. Yukun Liu & Aleh Tsyvinski, 2018. "Risks and Returns of Cryptocurrency," NBER Working Papers 24877, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Ji, Qiang & Bouri, Elie & Gupta, Rangan & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Network causality structures among Bitcoin and other financial assets: A directed acyclic graph approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 203-213.
    23. Balcilar, Mehmet & Bouri, Elie & Gupta, Rangan & Roubaud, David, 2017. "Can volume predict Bitcoin returns and volatility? A quantiles-based approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 74-81.
    24. Grunert, Jens & Weber, Martin, 2009. "Recovery rates of commercial lending: Empirical evidence for German companies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 505-513, March.
    25. Nadarajah, Saralees & Chu, Jeffrey, 2017. "On the inefficiency of Bitcoin," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 6-9.
    26. Cheah, Eng-Tuck & Fry, John, 2015. "Speculative bubbles in Bitcoin markets? An empirical investigation into the fundamental value of Bitcoin," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 32-36.
    27. Dyhrberg, Anne Haubo, 2016. "Bitcoin, gold and the dollar – A GARCH volatility analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 85-92.
    28. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata K., 2019. "Hedging bitcoin with other financial assets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 30-36.
    29. Fry, John & Cheah, Eng-Tuck, 2016. "Negative bubbles and shocks in cryptocurrency markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 343-352.
    30. Esa Jokivuolle & Samu Peura, 2003. "Incorporating Collateral Value Uncertainty in Loss Given Default Estimates and Loan‐to‐value Ratios," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 9(3), pages 299-314, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Reinhard, Stijn & Naranjo, María A. & Polman, Nico & Hennen, Wil, 2022. "Modelling choices and social interactions with a threshold public good: Investment decisions in a polder in Bangladesh," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    2. Mustafa Tevfik Kartal & Mustafa Kevser & Fatih Ayhan, 2023. "Asymmetric effects of global factors on return of cryptocurrencies by novel nonlinear quantile approaches," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1515-1535, June.
    3. Sarkodie, Samuel Asumadu & Ahmed, Maruf Yakubu & Owusu, Phebe Asantewaa, 2022. "COVID-19 pandemic improves market signals of cryptocurrencies–evidence from Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aurelio F. Bariviera & Ignasi Merediz‐Solà, 2021. "Where Do We Stand In Cryptocurrencies Economic Research? A Survey Based On Hybrid Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 377-407, April.
    2. Flori, Andrea, 2019. "News and subjective beliefs: A Bayesian approach to Bitcoin investments," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 336-356.
    3. Corbet, Shaen & Lucey, Brian & Urquhart, Andrew & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2019. "Cryptocurrencies as a financial asset: A systematic analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 182-199.
    4. Andrea Flori, 2019. "Cryptocurrencies In Finance: Review And Applications," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(05), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata K., 2019. "Hedging bitcoin with other financial assets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 30-36.
    6. Zhou, Siwen, 2018. "Exploring the Driving Forces of the Bitcoin Exchange Rate Dynamics: An EGARCH Approach," MPRA Paper 89445, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Kang, Woo-Young & Spagnolo, Fabio & Spagnolo, Nicola, 2021. "Cyber-attacks, spillovers and contagion in the cryptocurrency markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. Haffar, Adlane & Le Fur, Eric, 2021. "Structural vector error correction modelling of Bitcoin price," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 170-178.
    9. ORĂȘTEAN Ramona & MĂRGINEAN Silvia Cristina & SAVA Raluca, 2019. "Bitcoin In The Scientific Literature – A Bibliometric Study," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 14(3), pages 160-174, December.
    10. Chu, Jeffrey & Chan, Stephen & Zhang, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Bitcoin versus high-performance technology stocks in diversifying against global stock market indices," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 580(C).
    11. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Adewuyi, Adeolu O. & Albulescu, Claudiu T. & Wohar, Mark E., 2020. "Empirical evidence of extreme dependence and contagion risk between main cryptocurrencies," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    12. Helder Miguel Correia Virtuoso Sebastião & Paulo José Osório Rupino Da Cunha & Pedro Manuel Cortesão Godinho, 2021. "Cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Overview and future perspectives," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 21(3), pages 305-342.
    13. Ahmed H. Elsayed & Giray Gozgor & Chi Keung Marco Lau, 2022. "Causality and dynamic spillovers among cryptocurrencies and currency markets," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2026-2040, April.
    14. Muhammad Owais Qarni & Saiqb Gulzar, 2021. "Portfolio diversification benefits of alternative currency investment in Bitcoin and foreign exchange markets," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-37, December.
    15. Panagiotidis, Theodore & Stengos, Thanasis & Vravosinos, Orestis, 2019. "The effects of markets, uncertainty and search intensity on bitcoin returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 220-242.
    16. Isah, Kazeem O. & Raheem, Ibrahim D., 2019. "The hidden predictive power of cryptocurrencies and QE: Evidence from US stock market," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 536(C).
    17. OlaOluwa S. Yaya & Ahamuefula E. Ogbonna & Robert Mudida & Nuruddeen Abu, 2021. "Market efficiency and volatility persistence of cryptocurrency during pre‐ and post‐crash periods of Bitcoin: Evidence based on fractional integration," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 1318-1335, January.
    18. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Chatziantoniou, Ioannis & Gabauer, David, 2019. "Cryptocurrency market contagion: Market uncertainty, market complexity, and dynamic portfolios," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 37-51.
    19. Li, Mu-Yao & Cai, Qing & Gu, Gao-Feng & Zhou, Wei-Xing, 2019. "Exponentially decayed double power-law distribution of Bitcoin trade sizes," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 535(C).
    20. Matkovskyy, Roman, 2019. "Centralized and decentralized bitcoin markets: Euro vs USD vs GBP," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 270-279.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bitcoin lending; Interest rate; Loan-to-value ratio; Moderated mediation model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:58:y:2021:i:c:s0275531921000647. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.