Crypto investing could get a boost as credit-reporting deal to ease borrowing

• TransUnion and Spring Labs announced a partnership to put credit data on the public blockchain.
• The deal could allow lenders to more accurately judge the risk profiles of cryptocurrency investors.
• Some investors could get lower borrowing rates or obtain loans without having to put up collateral.

Credit data company TransUnion will partner with technology firm Spring Labs to make credit information available on public blockchain networks, potentially easing crypto investors' access to capital.

The companies announced Wednesday that TransUnion's off-chain analytics and insights will be accessible on-chain via Spring Labs' new ky0x Digital Passport.

The move, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, should enable lenders to more accurately judge the risk profiles of cryptocurrency investors seeking to borrow money. That means some investors could get lower borrowing rates or obtain loans without having to put up collateral in form of bitcoin or other digital assets.

"With TransUnion's identity and credit data, we're providing the first building block to bringing reputation on-chain, in turn helping create a more efficient DeFi lending environment that can offer better loans, more available liquidity, and ultimately accelerate adoption in the space," Spring Labs CEO John Sun said.

In making credit data available on the blockchain, Spring Labs said the ky0x Digital Passport will allow users to provide personal information to "access permissioned smart contract applications while preserving the privacy of their off-chain identity."

The new collaboration, according to TransUnion, also will allow more companies to remain compliant with regulators while still accessing and developing crypto applications.

The crypto and digital asset space ballooned in 2021 to a peak of $3 trillion, though it has wavered to start the new year amid the hawkish outlook from the Federal Reserve. While various crypto support levels have been broken, some analysts still expect the bear market to be short-lived.