The Defiant

Tesla Taps MakerDAO-Powered Lender for $7.8M Real Estate Deal

Tesla is financing a repair center with a MakerDAO-powered loan.

By: Samuel Haig Loading...

Tesla Taps MakerDAO-Powered Lender for $7.8M Real Estate Deal

On March 30, 6s Capital, a commercial lender powered by MakerDAO, closed a real estate financing deal worth $7.8M for Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle company and the second-largest publicly-traded Bitcoin holder.

The news comes amid MakerDAO’s push to further embrace real-world assets (RWAs). In March, a Maker governance proposal suggested that the project embrace RWAs by integrating with undercollateralized lending protocols. The move was intended to diversify and bolster both its reserves and collateral, but received some criticism from the community.

Maker also integrated with asset financing protocol Centrifuge last year, allowing the platform’s asset originators to borrow DAI against non-crypto collateral, including real estate, mortgages, and invoices.

‘RuneKek’, as MakerDAO’s co-founder Rune Christensen goes by on Twitter, shared the news that 6s Capital’s deal with Tesla had been finalized in a March 31 tweet after it was announced on the Maker governance forum the previous day.

“A Maker vault was just used to finance a real estate deal with Tesla…RWA szn is coming sooner than you think.”

RuneKek, MakerDAO co-founder

The $7.8M loan will be used to finance a new repair and collision center for Tesla. The credit line provided to Tesla is expected to increase to $14.2M when a second project from the electric vehicle manufacturer is completed later this year.

MakerDAO forum-goer ‘aburban90’ responded to the news, commenting ‘we… closed our first deal with Tesla yesterday? Smells bullish.”

6s Capital was launched in 2020 to facilitate loans via the MakerDAO protocol in response to the poor availability of credit amid the covid pandemic. The firm currently services four firms including Tesla. It also works with automotive firm O’Reilly Auto Parts, food and beverage franchise Wawa, and vehicle repair company Service King, to finance real estate investments.

6s Capital accesses MakerDAO’s vaults as a client of RWA Company. On its website, RWA Co. describes itself as “serv[ing] as a bridge between institutional borrowers and decentralized finance” by specializing in helping its clients to access MakerDAO’s vaults.

RWA’s CEO is Gregory Di Prisco, the former head of business development at the Maker Foundation.

The firm says it only works with clients that are “experienced loan originators with a diversified balance” or “asset managers seeking leverage or liquidity against diversified portfolios.”

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Currently, RWA appears to have just two clients: 6s Capital and Huntingdon Valley Bank.

[CORRECTED 4/6 to add the name of MakerDAO’s cofounder]

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