Title: I&#x27;ve noticed a lot of ads related to crypto lending (&quot;make your assets work for you&quot;) and recently noticed a remark in the comments section on HN where someone mentioned they avoid taxation by taking a loan on their bitcoin. However, I haven&#x27;t seen much discussion about this practice, or much attention in media.<p>It looks like this is growing very rapidly (e.g. [0], though not sure how reliable this source is), so it seems significant to the evolution of the market. It looks like mostly people are lending to themselves (so that they effectively have leveraged&#x2F;borrowed bitcoin) rather than lending to others.<p>Is this a tax loophole that makes bitcoin very attractive for people trying to keep their money &quot;off-shore&quot;? Is it a tactic to get more bitcoin for the same amount of dollars? Is this a sign that bitcoin is maturing and starting to back economic activity (after all, paper money also started as bank IOUs on gold)? I&#x27;m not sure whether to see this as a major red flag, or whether legitimate new markets are forming here.<p>[0] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ambcrypto.com&#x2F;how-did-bitcoin-lending-become-so-popular&#x2F;
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