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FAQ
The product in a few words
A platform that makes it easy and fast to structure, distribute and operate financial products at scale.
What is AmFi?
AmFi is an on-chain financing platform that makes it easy and fast for fintechs to structure, distribute and operate their own financial products. We connect fintechs with local and global investors and implement the best capital market practices to replace bureaucratic processes with code. We're a team of third time founders with over 10 years of experience in fintechs and capital markets.
Who is the team behind AmFi?
The AmFi team has extensive experience and a proven track record in developing innovative technologies for financial services, products and infrastructure in Latin America. We have developed many solutions for Traditional Finance including regulated institutions and B2B/B2C fintechs.
Why blockchain?
Blockchain provides a better infrastructure to support the development of financial markets. It enables efficient distribution of financial products to global investors and standardization of credit products through smart contracts. Tokenization of funds flowing into lending pools creates an inviolable, secure, and transparent on-chain credit history that is perfect for potential investors to analyze and make better investment decisions. Blockchain technology is already being used by major financial institutions such as Nubank, Itaú and BTG Pactual.
Why is AmFi cheaper and faster compared to traditional instruments?
Process standardization and automation is an expertise that the team behind AmFi brings to the table, allowing our pools to be faster and cheaper than traditional lending instruments.
What are the advantages for fintechs?
AmFi provides fintech companies with more options and access to liquidity, making it easier for them to structure, distribute and operate their financial products at scale. AmFi offers a complete package for fintech companies looking to set up a new lending business, and we can mention the following main benefits:
- Fewer service providers, resulting in a cheaper, more transparent, and efficient financial product
- Lower initial capital, setup and maintenance costs
- Faster structuring of a financial product and disbursement of funds
- The possibility of running the operation with fewer employees
- Better accessibility, especially for SMEs and new market entrants
What are the advantages for investors?
Through AmFi Pools, investors can access new and enhanced financial products backed by eligible, verified and auditable tokenized financial assets. This means that the operational performance of the pools is inviolably registered on-chain and can be checked by investors. Moreover, the legal structure of the pools is fully compliant with all regulations. AmFi acts as a link between Originators and Investors by providing a system of eligibility criteria.
What are the advantages for borrowers?
With the optimizations made by AmFi, borrowers have easier and cheaper access to credit.
How can I participate in AmFi Pools?
There are three ways to interact directly with AmFi:
Originators: businesses with an already established network of clients, and interested in offering banking services to this group or optimizing a financial service they already provide.
Investors: investors interested in fixed-yield on-chain investments backed by real-world assets. Currently, AmFi is conducting a closed beta limited to Brazil.
Borrowers: any borrower in supported countries can access capital through AmFi Pools and using their available eligible assets as collateral.
Does AmFi provide loans?
AmFi does not provide loans directly, these are made through the pools that are operated by Originators. Borrowers interested in taking a loan in a particular pool must contact the Originator that operates it.
Is AmFi a blockchain?
No, it is not. AmFi is built on the blockchain, starting on the Avalanche network.
Why Avalanche?
The major reasons why we chose Avalanche:
- Low cost and high transaction speed;
- With a high total value locked (TVL), Avalanche is a blockchain with many protocols and we see an opportunity to partner with some of them;
- Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is the most widely used and supported technology in the market;
- Avalanche is currently one of the most decentralized chains.
How can I follow the AmFi community and updates?
There are several ways to get involved in the AmFi community, and the best ones are:
What is ABRL?
ABRL is the stablecoin created to enable loans through the AmFi platform and is pegged 1:1 to the Brazilian real.
What is the Lift Program?
Lift is an ecosystem to support innovation proposals in the National Financial System.
The growing number of participants presenting projects based on blockchain technology shows that regulators support blockchain innovation, and AmFi is working with them to develop a secure and sophisticated product. Learn more here.
What is the Next Program?
Next is the largest acceleration program for fintechs in Brazil and is specifically designed for fintechs with high growth potential.
AmFi is one of the eight companies selected to participate in the project. We have undergone mentoring and special training with regulatory experts, which has allowed AmFi to become increasingly aligned with regulators.
How exactly does a pool work?
Check out our in-depth presentation on how pools work.
What currency are the loans denominated in?
Our first operating market is Brazil, and all loans are denominated in the Brazilian real.
How is the APY percentage of each pool determined?
Each operation has its own risk-reward profile. A higher risk operation will have a higher APY, and a lower risk operation will have a lower APY.
Are AmFi pools under- or over-collateralized?
Pools can be fully or partially collateralized, depending on the behavior of the originator portfolio and the RWA used as collateral.
What wallets are supported by the dApp?
The dApp supports Metamask and WalletConnect.
Users who are not familiar with crypto wallets can use our custodial wallet service.
Can we extract reports from AmFi's system? Are they online?
Yes, the pool performance reports are available online on our platform.
Do originators have access to all the information filled in by customers?
At first, originators do not have access to KYC information, for LGPD reasons. But yes, you have access to information about who invested and how much.
What type of structured facility can AmFi provide to its users?
AmFi is developing an on-chain credit infrastructure alongside off-chain payments and legal solutions that comply with current local regulations. This way, the operational experience is as smooth as possible and can be easily executed when needed.
What are the requirements for KYC/KYP?
AmFi is developing an on- and off-chain engine validation process and framework so that our protocol can easily interoperate with the traditional market.
This includes the following:
For Investors: there are different requirements depending on whether the Investor is Brazilian or foreign, individual or institutional. If you are interested, please contact us here.
For Originators: we extensively screen originators for their ability and experience to originate good credit operations, as well as their reputation and criminal history. If you are interested, please contact us here.
What is the role of the KYP for Originators?
To increase trust in the platform and attract as many investors as possible to the pools, we will have Originators with a verified identity and a bio, which helps to give more visibility and information about the Originator, its history and reputation. AmFi's role is to reinforce trust between the platform's players, ensuring formality and best market practices.
What are "real-world assets"?
Real-world assets (RWAs) are financial assets that can be tokenized and used in digital transactions. Some examples are: contracts, CCBs, service invoices and judicial assets.
What is tokenization?
Asset tokenization is the conversion of real assets into digital assets using code. Read more about it here.
How are real-world assets and tokenization used on the AmFi platform?
AmFi tokenizes real-world assets that will back the operation of our originators.
To finance the pools, real debentures are issued. As investors allocate in the pools, they buy parts of this debenture and receive tranche tokens, a kind of receipt for their investment.
In addition, with tokens the process is faster, more transparent and cheaper, as it is entirely done through codes.
What is AmFi Factory for?
In short, AmFi Factory is where Originators set the parameters to be used in the pool following the Originator's needs.
How many parameters are there to customize the pools?
Currently there are more than 80 fields to be filled in.
How do I set up a wallet?
The most widely used wallet is MetaMask. You can download it, set up your wallet, create a strong password and write down your recovery phrase. Check out the details in our tutorial.
To use our custodial wallet service, you just need to go through a KYC check. If you do not provide a wallet address, we will create a custodial wallet for you.
What exactly is the structure offered by AmFi?
AmFi is a technology platform that uses traditional financial market structures in a more effective and innovative way to create tokenized operations. The company/startup is free to set up its own Lending Pool.
The Lending Pool is based on the tripod: (i) smart contracts, (ii) bank orchestration and (iii) SPV/securitization (separate equity). Smart contracts are responsible for the tokenization. Banking orchestration coordinates transfers between accounts. The SPV/securitization company is the structure in which the issued instrument (financial debenture, certificate of receivables) will be controlled.
The Originator will have this entire structure at their disposal to assemble their Lending Pool based on the criteria that make sense for the operation and for their asset portfolio.
AmFi offers the entire structure for the company to operate. The company must provide the documentation requested at the time of onboarding, with information on the company's operation, partners, use of resources, growth plans, etc.
That can vary greatly, depending on several factors such as the type of asset, the investment strategy, among other things.
Some pools may have investment terms of just a few months, while others may have terms of several years.
How does AmFi billing work?
The charge is made monthly on the value of the operation. In addition, there is a one-charge setup fee and if the originator uses AmFi to access investors in the market, we charge a percentage of the allocated amount. All compensation information will be turned over to the originator for evaluation.
Is it possible to charge a commission fee for origination?
You will be able to charge the pool an origination fee in the amount you want, it is only important that this is very clear for investors. Of course, high fees can be frowned upon and alienate interested parties, but at the end of the day, it is the originator's decision.
Can I settle the assets before the term (resell) if this is necessary?
Yes, the assets are held by the pool so you, as an Originator, can choose what to do with them.
Can my company be the originator and charge the commission while I am the fund manager?
Yes, the compensation can be:
- Fixed fee for each asset originated: % on the acquisition value;
- Operation fee: equivalent to the management fee - it would be a monthly % on the pool's net worth.
We generally recommend one or the other.
What is the total cost to obtain credit using the AmFi structure?
After document analysis and understanding of the operation, we send you a personalized proposal for each case.
What happens if an asset suffers a loss? Does the investor take the loss?
Yes, Junior Tranche funds are used first to cover any losses. After this guarantee is exhausted, the loss is passed on to senior tranche investors and this is one of the main reasons why we work with portfolios and not individual assets.
What happens if the pool does not reach the stipulated performance/profitability?
Initially, the remuneration of the Senior tranche "eats" the subordinated tranche. As there is a limit, Senior tranche investors may incur losses in extreme cases. In any case, the Subordinate serves as a cushion and will be directed to the Senior tranche investors in case of poor performance.
Does the AmFi Pools replace traditional structures (securitization, debenture, credit fund) or is it a generic and different name that AmFi assigns to these structures?
In the case of debentures and securitization companies, we do not replace them, but rather use technology to bring more speed and efficiency to these structures. For example, with blockchain transparency, it is possible to have a mark-to-market debenture and a securitization with automatic bank orchestration.
About credit funds, we are an alternative for operations that need this type of structure. Most of our active operations involve this scenario.
Are there any guarantees required by investors to carry out the investment regarding the originator and/or its founders?
The guarantee of the operation is made through the very subordination that the originator places, Fiduciary Assignment of the flow and existing balances in a Linked Account that will be opened in the name of the company for the operation, in addition to obligations that may exist in the structure, such as the constitution of a reserve fund and repurchases of defaulted assets.
There may also be personal guarantees in the operations. This will depend on the robustness of guarantees, triggers and mechanisms to ensure a healthy operation.
What is the responsibility of the originator in delivering the result to investors?
The originator's responsibility is to ensure that its assets continue to perform in the best possible way so that the structure set up is viable and delivers the results pre-agreed with investors. To this end, the company must continue to originate good quality loans, maintain a good relationship with its customers and, when applicable, collect delinquent loans as quickly as possible.
The company is not obliged to deliver a result, however, there is responsibility in case of eventual fraud or bad formalization. There may also be supplementary obligations, such as repurchase obligations.
Does AmFi effectively help the originator raise money from investors or is it just a vehicle? If so, do you charge any commission on the amount raised?
AmFi can help the originator access the capital market, both directly and indirectly with partners. There is a charge on the amount raised according to AmFi's proposal after analysis of the structure.
What types of investors does AmFi access?
Currently, we work with institutional investors such as asset management companies, investment funds and family offices.
Does AmFi also invest in Lending Pools?
No. AmFi is limited to being a technological platform that uses traditional financial market structures in a more effective and innovative way to create tokenized operations.
Nothing prevents an AmFi employee from investing in a pool but AmFi as a company does not.
What happens if AmFi goes bankrupt?
Investors continue to own the assets and originators maintain their responsibilities and must continue to operate within the agreed rules, even without the AmFi platform.
One important thing is that if AmFi goes bankrupt, the SPVs of the pools are not affected, both because they are in a separate corporate structure, and because in the securitization there is asset segregation, that is, the money in the securitization companies belongs to the tokenholders (debenture holders) and not to the AmFi's partners.
What are stablecoins?
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain price stability relative to other assets, often fiat currencies. For example, each stablecoin paired with a dollar is worth one dollar. They are used to minimize the volatility of crypto assets prices while maintaining the security, speed, and other benefits of transactions on blockchains.
How is ABRL used on the platform?
ABRL is used in all transactions that involve a transfer of liquidity: loans, investments and expenses collection. It also allows platform participants who have passed a KYC (Know Your Customer) check to move their capital between the banking system and the blockchain (on-ramp/off-ramp) in an extremely simple and reliable way.
How can I buy ABRL?
To buy ABRL, investors must go through a KYC process and, once approved, transfer reais via TED to the stablecoin account, which is kept apart from AmFi. Once the transfer is completed, the amount is stored in a smart contract and is available on the platform for that investor to claim as ABRL.
How does ABRL peg work?
Fiat-backed stablecoins have 1:1 parity with a fiat currency. For example, each stablecoin paired with a dollar is worth one dollar. This is the most popular model among digital assets. For it to work, there must be fiat currency in the bank accounts of the issuers of these stablecoins. This is the type of stablecoin used in our protocol. After an investor makes a request and it is approved through MetaMask (wallet used on AmFi), the ABRLs are created and backed by the reais in the AmFi account with a 1:1 peg.
Is it possible to use ABRL outside of the AmFi platform?
Currently, only KYC’d users can withdraw ABRL exclusively through the AmFi platform, and AmFi does not provide liquidity for use of ABRL outside of the platform. But stay tuned. 😏
Who can invest in AmFi Pools?
KYC'd investors interested in fixed-yield on-chain investments backed by real-world assets.
Currently, AmFi is conducting a closed beta limited to Brazil.
What cryptoassets can I supply to the Pools?
The Pools accept ERC-20 tokens, but the Pools operating now grant loans in reais, so at the moment we are using ABRL as a stablecoin.
What is Tranche Token?
It is like a "digital receipt" that represents how much you have supplied to the pool.
Learn more about tranche tokens here.
What is the difference between Junior Tranche and Senior Tranche?
- Junior: first-loss capital designed to align the interests of originators with those of investors in the senior tranche. This way, the originator has "skin in the game" because if the expected return on the senior tranche is not achieved, this will result in losses for the originator.
- Senior: capital with priority for receiving returns, with fixed returns but with lower risks.
Does each investor receive the token at the same value?
The pool starts with a fixed number of tokens issued between junior and senior tranches as decided by the Originator.
The pool starts in funding status and is only able to start operation after a minimum funding volume (also indicated by the Originator) is reached. During funding, all investors enter the same initial amount (1 ABRL/token).
After the operation starts, the price of the tokens changes according to the performance of the pool, so new investors who buy remaining tokens will pay more (or less) depending on the performance of the Originator in the pool operation. For a senior tranche with an annual payment promise of 12%, the token value starts at 1 ABRL and starts to increase as soon as the pool starts operating (after one day of operation, the token value is 1.0003 ABRL) .
Of course, this increase in value only takes place as long as there are assets in the smart contract PL to support that value. If at some point in time the value of the assets is not enough to achieve this profitability, the value of the token will remain the same until new assets are added.
When do I receive yield?
- Senior tokens accrue yield every 24 hours according to the target APY.
- Junior tokens accrue yield every 24 hours according to the interest rate of the loans.
How long after the investment can I withdraw the funds?
In a continuous operation, the capital allocated by investors is held for a certain period of time, it is only possible to withdraw at the end of the operation and as soon as repayments of the purchased assets take place, the pool will have cash again to buy other assets.
In a non-continuous operation, assets are purchased only once and as repayments occur, these amounts are amortized to investors.
What happens if the expected profitability is not delivered?
Under the investor's bias, it is an investment and, therefore, there is no guarantee of profitability. In cases of fraud and/or fault or intent, there is liability.
Why can't a common investor invest in the Junior Tranche?
Only Originators can invest in Junior Tranches to ensure that they have the highest risk exposure and are aligned with the interests of the Pool.
Why do I need to approve transactions before investing?
Token approvals are necessary because they allow the AmFi dApp to transfer your tokens from your wallet to the Pool.
Will we make capital calls with investors according to origination?
There is no capital call. Investors contribute to the pool and the capital is available for the Agent to operate. If an investor wants to increase their position in the pool, they can do so at any time, as long as there are still tokens available (as each pool has a limited amount of tokens, determined at its creation).
How will the SPV accrue investor interest?
Interest is accrued continuously from the beginning of the transaction, according to the debt instrument between the SPV and the Investors. Information on amounts owed/interest is available on the blockchain.
How will I know when there are funds to be withdrawn or when amortizations occur? Will I need to keep track of the platform?
The platform notifies investors by email when there is an amount to be withdrawn.
What is the operational part like for an investor? Is it necessary to sign documents? How much time does the investor spend to make an investment?
The only time spent by the investor is doing his due diligence on the operation, all other approval and operationalization flows are resolved between AmFi and the originator.
In the KYC process, we collect all the authorizations and consents necessary for the subscription of the generated debenture to take place.
The only additional effort for an investor after investing in a pool is to request a withdrawal when the operation is over.
How do you screen borrowers and what happens if they do not repay?
We use documents and data-provider APIs as anti-fraud measures (to ensure borrower identity, asset existence, and asset validity for the pool).
The Originator performs credit analysis on the Borrowers and assets, and credit policy will vary from pool to pool. If they do not repay, the Agent is required to take a variety of actions against the Borrower, and AmFi supports the Originator with services, automation and legal infrastructure to that end.
These may start as simple as a phone call and may go as far as legal action against the Borrower. Ultimately, the business of financing real-world assets is one of the most lucrative and long-standing financial services in Brazil. The use of blockchain simply adds transparency, traceability, and enforceability to the many well-established practices in this industry.
Who can get a loan through AmFi Pools?
Each pool has a different target group, and the kind of borrower and type of operation it finances are described on the page dedicated to that pool.
One pool may focus on individual people financing a large purchase of equipment that the Originator sells, while another may focus on a specific niche of companies (such as schools or truck deliveries) that have a close business relationship with the Pool Originator.
What types of collateral are required to get a loan through AmFi pools?
The type of collateral depends on the pool and is described (along with other information) on the page dedicated to that pool.
The most common are CCBs (credit notes issued by financial institutions) and service invoices. The type of collateral depends on the pool and is described (along with other information) on the page dedicated to that pool.
The current list of possible loan collateral is:
- Invoices;
- A wide range of judicial assets;
- Credit notes.
What is an SPV?
Pool SPV ("Special Purpose Vehicle") is the legal entity that represents the pool. Lending Pool SPV is the set of smart contracts that agents implement in the pool's business rules. Both live together, the point is that for what is on-chain to have legal validity, we need the legal entity.
What is a debenture?
Debenture is a credit instrument used by Pool SPVs to legally raise capital with investors. It’s a fully regulated and compliant lending instrument widely used in securitization operations.
Is AmFi registered and compliant with the recent CVM Resolution 60, which regulates securitization companies?
The securitization company formed by AmFi is not subject to registration with the CVM as it only carries out private offerings and for professional investors.
How are taxes levied on the operation?
The securitization company is responsible for the taxes related to the operations, excluding from the triggering events situations where the taxpayer is not the securitizing company.
If I make a profit by investing in a pool, what taxes will I have to pay?
The rate varies according to the investment period, following the regressive income tax table:
Up to 180 days: 22.5%
From 181 to 360 days: 20%
From 361 to 720 days: 17.5%
Over 720 days: 15%
This value refers to the profit made, not the amount invested.
*This applies to Brazilian investors.
These answers are valid at the time of writing (Mar. 2023) and in the context of the Brazilian market; they may vary by country.
What is the minimum funding amount to access the capital market with AmFi?
The minimum amount is BRL 2M. We are currently working with two models: from BRL 2M to BRL 25M for the formation of Pool of Pools (PoP), that is, a Lending Pool that invests in Lending Pools in this volumetry range, and between BRL 25M and 30M for ("exclusive") Lending Pools.
Is a pre-existing track record/credit portfolio required to access the capital market? If so, what is the minimum size of the portfolio in terms of value and number of operations? How old should the portfolio be?
It may vary, but the free portfolio for operations must have at least between BRL 3M and BRL 5M. As for the track record, the older the portfolio, the better, as it will bring more clarity to the behavior of assets given the economic cycles it has gone through and the credit policy applied by the company.
What is the expected rate of return or other minimum market indicator that investors require to invest in or allocate funds to build a particular loan portfolio?
Merely as a reference, operations usually come out between CDI + 4% p.a. and CDI + 9% p.a., but the return can vary greatly according to the risk of the operation.
When setting up a structure involving credit, be it FIDC, securitization or debenture issue (or some of them combined), what percentage of the amount is normally invested by the originator and investors?
This can vary greatly due to the type of asset, its quality, average maturity and market conditions, however, the minimum investment by the originator is around 20%.
Can the founders of the originating company respond with personal assets for the payment of the debt or for some other point?
In this type of structure, it is not usual in the market.
Last modified 8mo ago