How it works

Here’s the whole journey in 60 seconds, then the same flow as a diagram.

The 60-second version

1. A borrower requests a loan and chooses the amount, duration and collateral asset.
2. The borrower deposits collateral into their own self-custodial Anvil vault (they can do this before identification is finished).
3. The borrower passes an ID check and questionnaire, then completes video identification. The request becomes visible to lenders only after video identification.
4. A lender browses requests and accepts one. Both parties sign Swiss-law contracts (Helva sends them already pre-signed with a qualified electronic signature).
5. The borrower reserves the collateral against the loan amount using a Letter of Credit (LoC) — see The Letter of Credit.
6. Helva issues the lender a guarantee; the lender sends fiat to Helva’s clearing account.
7. Helva forwards the funds to the borrower by bank transfer.
8. At maturity, the borrower repays principal + interest; the funds are forwarded to the lender and the collateral reservation is released.

The full lifecycle

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    actor B as Borrower
    participant H as Helva
    participant A as Anvil vault
    actor L as Lender

    B->>H: Create loan request
    B->>A: Deposit collateral to self-custodial vault
    B->>H: Email plus ID check
    B->>H: Video identification
    H-->>L: Request becomes visible
    L->>H: Accept request
    H-->>B: Contracts already QES-signed by Helva
    H-->>L: Contracts already QES-signed by Helva
    B->>A: Reserve collateral via Letter of Credit
    H-->>L: Issue guarantee
    L->>H: Send fiat to clearing account
    H->>B: Forward funds by bank transfer
    Note over B,L: Loan is active, collateral monitored
    B->>H: Repay principal plus interest
    H->>L: Forward repayment
    A-->>B: LoC released, unused collateral back in kind

Settlement at launch

Rail	Status	For whom
IBAN (Swiss bank transfer)	Live — CHF and USD	Standard borrowers and lenders
EUR, GBP, and EURe on Gnosis Chain	We’re working on it	See Gnosis / EURe

What stays true the whole time

• Your collateral stays in your own vault. Helva never holds the coins. Helva holds the right to convert the reserved amount, as agent for the lender.
• Helva (via Anvil) can never convert more than the LoC amount — unused collateral is returned to you in kind.
• The position is monitored 24/7, and you get margin-call notifications with customizable thresholds.

Next: Borrower overview →