Steve McGarry

Startups, Stunts, Crypto-currencies, P2P Lending, and of course Brogramming.

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Just Buy Cryptocurrency, Don’t Understand It.

I found out about bitcoin in February of 2013 and fell in love with the concept. Unfortunately, I was to late to get into mining and decided to not buy any coins at $79. (No ‘Ragets’ right?)

I studied bitcoin throughout the year during it’s ups and downs (MtGox) and became fascinated by the decentralized currency.

People being able to instantly send .25 of a bitcoin to a loved on in China for a .0000011 transaction fee blew my mind. Travelers could withdraw USD from a bitcoin ATM without dealing with banks.

I was, and still am, fully submerged in the startup scene, so money was tight and investing was slim to none. I nickel and dimed it basically.

After spending a year day trading (regular stocks) I figured I would try day trading with bitcoin. I understood the overall concept, [blockchain](blockchain.info), exchanges, “parts” of the bitcoin protocol, and most importantly how to...

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The Top P2P Lending Platforms

Until more P2P lending platforms launch, most investors and borrowers are running to the top two P2P players.
Here are some quick metrics on the top two industry giants:

  1. [Lending Club](lendingclub.com): San Francisco, CA (USA)

With over $3 billion in loans to borrowers [Lending Club](lendingclub.com) is the industry leader.

Lending-Club-Issued-Loans-2013.jpg

Check out the Lending Club blog [HERE](blog.lendingclub.com)

  1. [Prosper](prosper.com): San Francisco, CA (USA)

Many investors have claimed to have seen better returns using [Prosper](prosper.com) over [Lending Club](lendingclub.com), but they both have their perks. Many investors enjoy the automation of Prosper for their investments.

Prosper-October-Loans.png

Check out Prospers blog [HERE](blog.prosper.com)

Now that the P2P lending industry has been pioneered there is room for other companies to jump on board and help disrupt the formal/ancient bank loan industry.

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The P2P Lending Puzzle

Quick Scenario:
You’re about to go through a 12-week software programming school that costs $10,000.
For whatever reason, you don’t have the full tuition payment up front for your classes.
You want to get tuition paid and start doing what matters, learning. This is when P2P Lending comes into play. You can borrow a peer-to-peer loan with a fair interest rate and make payments without dealing with a bank.

My suggestion, borrow from a P2P platform.

Why?

Because in the new world of Peer-to-Peer lending, literally everyone wins.

The two main pieces to the Peer-to-Peer puzzle:
Borrowers (you) sign up by entering your credit information (to make sure you are capable of obtaining and paying off the loan.) After being verified to borrow, you can post your loan to a peer-to-peer platform of your choice. (The top platforms in the US are Lending Club and Prosper)
Lenders (investors) go...

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