What happens if…

Plain answers to the questions people actually worry about.

…the price of my collateral crashes?

As your collateral falls in value, your LTV rises toward the liquidation threshold. You get margin-call notifications (at levels you can customize) and can top up collateral from your wallet at any time. If the position still crosses the threshold, it can be liquidated — but only the amount needed to cover what’s owed is converted, and unused collateral returns to you in kind.

flowchart TD
    A[Price falls] --> B[Margin-call alert]
    B --> C{You top up?}
    C -- Yes --> D[Position healthy again]
    C -- No --> E[Liquidation converts only what is owed]
    E --> F[Unused collateral returned in kind]

…the franc strengthens against the euro?

This only applies to CHF loans. The Letter of Credit is in EURC, sized with an FX buffer that depends on the loan term. We watch that coverage independently of collateral price.

• About half the buffer used: an information email. No action needed.
• Most of the buffer used: we ask you to add a supplementary Letter of Credit.
• Buffer almost exhausted and no extra LoC: the loan can be called. Surplus EURC is returned to your wallet in EURC, not converted into francs.

…I miss my repayment?

The Letter of Credit expires 5 days after maturity (loan maturity plus 5 days). If you don’t repay, Helva redeems the LoC, converting enough collateral to cover principal plus accrued interest (with the 3-month minimum) plus fees. Proceeds go only to Helva’s Safe, enforced by the contract. The lender is made whole per the settlement order, and unused collateral returns to you in kind. See Repaying your loan.

…I want to repay with collateral instead of fiat?

You request it in the app. Helva executes the redemption. Only what you owe is converted. Unused collateral returns in kind. Proceeds go only to Helva’s Safe, enforced by the contract. The loan is marked repaid only after on-chain confirmation. A fee applies. Conversion may be a taxable event depending on your jurisdiction. See Repaying your loan.

…Helva or Anvil’s website goes down?

Your collateral lives in your own on-chain vault, not on Helva’s servers. Helva’s monitoring and liquidation run directly against the on-chain contracts, independent of any frontend. Anvil also has a permissionless liquidation backstop: even if monitoring failed entirely, an unhealthy position can still be liquidated by anyone, with proceeds defaulting to the LoC’s defined beneficiary.

…Helva’s app were compromised?

An existing Letter of Credit is on-chain. A compromised app cannot rewrite it. Do not sign a new prompt that does not match Verify your transactions. Helva reads every Letter of Credit from the chain before activating a loan, so a loan with the wrong beneficiary is not activated.

…Helva lost a key?

No single lost key freezes operations. The admin Safe is 2-of-3, so the other two keys can replace the lost one. Funds already in the 2-of-2 redemption Safe need both of those signers to move out. If one of those keys is lost, the admin Safe can point later redemptions at a new Safe. See Operational security.

…the lender wants to seize my collateral early?

They can’t. The LoC beneficiary is operated by Helva, not the lender, and conversions happen only under the conditions in your contract — never at the lender’s discretion. See Helva’s underlying entity.

…I post too much collateral?

If collateral value rises, you can withdraw the excess as long as you stay above the minimum collateral factor. You can also top up when the position is tight — all from your own wallet, no approval needed.