Loan Or Lease (LOL) might seem like just another Lending Platform but dig a little deeper and you will notice that it actually stands out in several key areas.
Prior to LOL, I had never heard of a Reverse ICO. In fact, I wasn't even aware that such a thing existed. Technically, it doesn't. The idea was first broached by the LOL team when they decided they wanted a working product in place that investors could try out prior to investing in the project. This meant that investors would have access to their coins almost immediately upon making their investment and also allow them to start staking the coins for additional rewards via Proof-of-Stake.
This is in stark contrast with conventional ICOs where developers would present their ideas to the public in hopes of receiving funding. Investors in these ICOs can never be certain the project they invested in would come to fruition and they could wait months or even years before anything resembling a working product is launched. The Reverse ICO is the LOL team's attempt to mitigate some of those risks for would-be-investors.
Running a masternode on a Raspberry Pi isn't something new but the LOL team went one step further and offered a free Raspberry Pi3 with the first 100 masternode purchases (The 100 Raspberry Pi3 Masternode Packages have been fully redeemed).
The free Raspberry Pi3 can be shipped as is or pre-configured with the necessary masternode software. This caters broadly to the two types of investors likely to purchase the masternode packages: the uninitiated (like me) who know next to nothing about setting up a masternode and to whom the mere idea is enough to bring on a nasty case of heartburn; and the more technologically savvy who would enjoy customising the free Raspberry Pis to suit their own special requirements. Let's not forget that a Raspberry Pi masternode is environmentally friendly and consumes less electricity compared to more conventional masternodes.
Lending platforms generally promise high returns in the range of 30-50% a month or more. Some of these lending platforms also allow for, or even actively encourage, referrals or affiliates which give an additional share of the profits for every member in the downline. This has resulted in a few rags-to-riches stories and, most lending platforms are consequently regarded as golden geese or get-rich-quick schemes.
There are no referral schemes or profit sharing or promised high returns in the Loan Or Lease model. In fact, the only returns come from the 25% APR stake rewards and the 45-50% transaction rewards for masternode holders. This may seem counter-intuitive since loans are generally expected to be profitable but there's actually a good reason for it and this will be briefly touched on in the next section.
This is where Loan Or Lease truly stands out. LOL is a decentralised peer-to-peer lending network that cuts out the middleman. Unlike most lending platforms where funds are held and controlled by a third party, the LOL lending platform gives users full control and responsibility for their funds and the terms of their loans.
Essentially, the loaner is free to decide how much to loan, how much to be repaid, and how long the loan would be for. Other conditions and considerations can then be added or tweaked to suit the loaner's preference and comfort level. This means that the return on investment is completely dependent on the terms set by the loaner.
For a quick overview on LoanOrLease, please refer to my earlier post.