Case summary
What happened
Bitbond began as a blockchain-based peer-to-peer lending marketplace serving small-business borrowers and global investors. In 2019 Bitbond Finance issued the BB1 security token, whose proceeds were intended in part to finance SME loans originated through the marketplace. In a May 2020 company update, Bitbond said it was concentrating on tokenized securities, had returned its asset-broker licence, and would refrain from further loan origination while continuing to administer the existing SME loan portfolio. This record covers the historical marketplace and related lending exposure only; Bitbond's current tokenization software business remains active and is not classified as a failed lending platform.
Customer result
Customer outcome
Unknown
The company's successful continuation as a tokenization provider does not establish settlement of every historical lending or BB1 obligation. Marketplace contracts and security-token rights remain separate.
- Estimated recovery
- Not classified. Bitbond said it would continue managing the existing SME loan portfolio after stopping new originations, but the reviewed sources do not establish a uniform completion or recovery result for marketplace lenders, borrowers, or BB1 token holders.
- Repayment started
- —
- Repayment completed
- —
- Confidence
- Medium
Asset treatment
Terms risk
Varies by product
Marketplace lender claims and BB1 token-holder rights must remain separate. Offering descriptions, projected coupons, intended use of proceeds, loan servicing, issuer obligations, subordination, maturity, and redemption conditions should not be collapsed into a single ownership conclusion.
- Affected product
- Bitbond peer-to-peer SME loans, legacy lender accounts, and BB1 security-token claims
- Confidence
- High
Bitbond's historical marketplace lender positions, SME borrower obligations, and BB1 security-token rights were governed by different contracts and legal entities. The current tokenization-infrastructure terms do not replace or retroactively define those historical rights.
Known unknowns
Uncertainty
The exact 2013 marketplace launch day and the completion status of every borrower loan, lender claim, and BB1 token obligation were not established. The 28 May 2020 end date represents the first-party announcement that new loan origination had ceased, not proof that every legacy position had settled on that date.
Chronology
Historical record
Bitbond begins operating a blockchain lending marketplace
Bitbond was founded in Berlin in 2013 and began operating a regulated blockchain-based marketplace for small-business loans and global investors.
The first-party company history provides the year but not the exact launch day; 1 January is a sortable approximate date.
Bitbond Finance launches the BB1 security-token offering
Bitbond Finance introduced the BB1 token, with a stated plan to use a substantial portion of proceeds to finance SME loans originated through Bitbond's global lending platform.
BB1 token rights, issuer obligations, and marketplace lender or borrower claims are separate and are not treated as interchangeable.
Bitbond stops new loan origination and pivots to tokenization
Bitbond said it had shifted its focus to tokenized securities, returned its asset-broker licence, stopped originating new loans, and would continue administering the existing SME loan portfolio.
The operating company continued as a tokenization provider; this event ends only the product-scoped historical lending-marketplace record.
Source record
Evidence dossier
Filter by claim, reliability, source type, and whether evidence is linked to a specific event.
Event
1 sourcesBitbond's State of the Union 2020
Bitbond · 2020-05-28
First-party update says Bitbond shifted toward tokenized securities, returned its asset-broker licence, stopped further loan origination, and continued administering the existing SME loan portfolio.
launch date
1 sourcesBitbond company history
Bitbond
First-party company history states that Bitbond was founded in Berlin in 2013 and began as a regulated blockchain lending platform.
status
1 sourcesBitbond tokenization infrastructure
Bitbond
Current official site presents Bitbond as institutional tokenization infrastructure. It supports classifying the historical lending marketplace as ended while keeping the current company outside that failure classification.
terms risk
1 sourcesWhat is the Bitbond STO?
Bitbond · 2019-03-05
First-party description of the BB1 security-token issuer, intended use of proceeds, coupon structure, and relationship to SME loans on the Bitbond lending platform. Token rights are not equated with ordinary marketplace lender claims.
No evidence records match the current filters.
Comparative records