Pencil Finance Secures $10M for Student Loans
Pencil Finance Secures $10 Million for Student Loan Financing
April 30, 2025 – Pencil Finance, a decentralized student loan platform built on EDU Chain and co-incubated by Animoca Brands and HackQuest, announced a $10 million liquidity injection from Open Campus and Animoca Brands. This funding will serve as loan collateral to facilitate DeFi student loans on the Pencil Finance platform.
Pencil Finance aims to revolutionize student loan financing by bringing it on-chain. The platform connects investors with verified student loan originators through tokenized loan bundles, promoting transparency and efficiency.
EDU Chain and the EDU Token
EDU Chain, a Layer 3 blockchain on Arbitrum Orbit, is specifically designed for educational apps and on-chain education finance (EduFi). It's powered by the EDU token, listed on major exchanges including Binance, KuCoin, Gate.io, Bithumb, MEXC, and Bitmart.
Addressing a Trillion-Dollar Market
With the global student loan market estimated at $3 trillion (Market Research Future, April 2025), and recent policy changes potentially increasing defaults, the need for accessible and transparent financing solutions is critical. This investment aims to address this urgent need.
Key Quotes
- Yat Siu, Animoca Brands: "Blockchain is redefining education funding. This initiative boosts transparency and Web3 adoption for millions of students globally."
- Frank Li, Pencil Finance: "Blockchain lets us reimagine student lending, offering transparency, efficiency, and global access."
- Harry Zhang, HackQuest: "This shows blockchain’s real-world impact in education. On-chain loans empower students and create new opportunities for investors."
How Pencil Finance Works
Pencil Finance employs a dual-tranche capital structure, allowing whitelisted users to provide liquidity to loan pools, choosing between a Senior Tranche or Junior Tranche based on their risk tolerance and desired returns. Loan deployment and repayment are transparently managed on-chain.
Pencil Finance recently issued its first loan to HackQuest, which will use the funds to incentivize student developers learning about EDU Chain.
About Open Campus, Animoca Brands, and HackQuest
Open Campus is a DAO building an on-chain education network. Animoca Brands is a Web3 leader focused on digital property rights and the open metaverse. HackQuest provides Web3 development education.
Disclaimer: This is sponsored content and should not be considered financial advice. Codeum is not responsible for any losses.
About Codeum
Codeum is a leading blockchain security and development platform offering smart contract audits, KYC verification, custom smart contract and DApp development, tokenomics and security consultation, and partnerships with launchpads and crypto agencies. We help ensure the security and success of blockchain projects.