FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

What is BTCJam?

BTCJam is the first peer-to-peer lending network powered by Bitcoin.

How do I invest in a BTCJam listing?

First make sure you have Bitcoins. You can learn how to get Bitcoins here. Next you must register for a BTCJam account and fund it by using the "Add Funds" button at the dashboard. Then you can proceed to the listings section. Please read our How to Invest in Bitcoin Loans and Rules for Lenders pages.

Why should I get loan on BTCJam?

There are many great reasons to get a loan on BTCJam. Here are our favorite ones:

• Low interest rates
• Fast and Easy Online Process
• Available Globally
• Secure and Confidential

Read more on why you should get a loan here, and more here to see if getting a loan on BTCJam is right for you.

How should I invest on BTCJam?

We believe you should diversify your investments. Read our blog post on diversification, and another blog post on the Three Rules of Peer to Peer Lending for Investors.

How do I borrow bitcoins on BTCJam?

After you have opened your BTCJam account you will need to provide some personal information like identity, address and credit data in order to build a borrower profile. This information will be verified by BTCJam, and if it passes our verification process you can compose your loan listing. Please, check our borrower overview page.

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What is Bitcoin and how do I purchase some?

You can learn about Bitcoins and where to get them here.

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I submitted my identity, credit, and/or address documents, how long is the response time for results?

It usually takes 2-3 business days to receive a response on the status of your submitted documents.

My identity submission received the action "Face Required", what does this mean?

For "Face Required", please submit a photo of you holding your ID to the side of your face. Here is an example from Leslie, one of BTCjam's community members.

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How is credit rating determined?

Your credit rating on BTCJam is determined by many variables. Most importantly you can improve your score by having your identity, address, credit score and social accounts verified. Those factors and your history on BTCJam will be the most influential factors to improve your rating.

Is a high BTCJam Rating a guarantee of repayment?

No, although the BTCJam Rating can be used to calculate the loan risk, you cannot use it as your only indicator. Please check our Rules for Investors page.

My BTCJam rating lowered after I have activated a listing, what happened?

The number of open credit lines is taken into account when your rating is calculated. After you start repaying your loan the rating will improve.

How do I get my profile 100% completed?

There is a series of variables that contribute to your profile reaching 100% completion.

Requirements for your profile completion include:

• Address verified
• Identity verified
• Phone number verified
• Credit score or proof of income verified
• Facebook synced
• LinkedIn synced
• Ebay synced
• Paypal synced
• e-Wallet synced
• and Received a reference

I have done everything that contributes to my profile being 100% completed, why is it still at 90%?

If your PayPal or eBay account has been created recently, the system will not include them into your profile completeness.

I connected my social media account, but my credit rating still reads "No"?

We do not accept social media accounts that have been created in recent time.

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Does BTCJam moderate the listings?

No. After verifying his personal information the user is free to create the listing using any amount and payment parameters he wishes. Please, beware of unusually high returns and check our Investor Guidelines page.

Is BTCJam responsible for the loan repayment?

No. This is a peer-to-peer bitcoin lending platform, the borrower is responsible for all repayments. If the borrower defaults, the loan is sent to our arbitration partner net-ARB.com.

Can I use BTCJam to borrow other currencies?

No. All BTCJam loans are made in bitcoin.

What types of loans can be made with BTCJam?

BTCJam supports two types of loans: Bitcoin loans and Linked Loans.

Bitcoin loan means that if you borrow 3 BTC you will owe 3 BTC, regardless of the market price of BTC. This type of loan is only recommended if your income is denominated in BTC. For example, if you are a miner.

Linked loans means that you are effectively taking out a Bitcoin loan that is indexed with the market price of BTC in the date of the loan activation.

If the price of 1 BTC is $500 USD and you borrow 10 BTC for 180 days, you will owe $5,000 plus the interest, paid back over the 6 months, regardless of what the BTC price is. If the BTC price rises to $1,000 right after you activate your listing, you only owe 5 BTC, equivalent to the $5,000 plus the interest you selected.

This makes a lot of sense if your income is in fiat currency and you do not want to expose yourself to Bitcoin volatility. This rule applies to both borrowers and investors. Therefore, unless you are planning to buy mining hardware, we strongly recommend that you take a loan linked to an exchange rate. For example, CoindeskUSD.

Here is a chart explaining the two types of loan.

When can I access the funds on my listing?

As soon as your listing is 70% funded, you may activate the loan and access your funds.

What is "Safe Search" in the listings page?

Safe Search filters out listings that have interest rates below the recommended amount.

How is the recommended interest rate determined?

The suggested interest rate is based on your credit rating, but also your loan history, payment behavior, outstanding debt, and many other variables that are used to calculate the risk of the listing.

I am not going to be able to payback my loan on time, what should I do?

We advise that you to keep an open line of communication with your lenders. That way they stay informed, and you can work on paying off your loan.

My listing is about to expire, can I extend the expiration date?

Unfortunately, we cannot extend listings beyond than their set expiration date.

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What is note trading?

You can trade your investments by creating sell orders (a.k.a. "Notes") for them. Once the note is sold the subsequent loan payments attached to that investment will be paid to the note's buyer.

How much can I list my sell order for?

You can price your note at any rate you choose.

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How am I secure on BTCjam?

On BTCjam, you can enable two-factor authentication on your account. With two-factor authentication, you can secure your withdraws, investments, and creation of loans.

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When is a loan sent to arbitration?

If a borrower does not make payments as required by the terms of the loan, a Notice of Default will be sent to the borrower. Simultaneously, the investors will receive a letter to encourage finding a solution. If the Default remains uncured for 90 calendar days, the entire loan will be sent to our arbitration partner, net-ARB.com. Net-ARB is an independent firm, having no ties to BTCjam.com or any of its officers.

What does the arbitration process entail?

Our arbitration partner, net-ARB, will review the loan terms, certify default and issue an Award in favor of the investor(s) for the full amount still owed. The Arbitration Award is binding and cannot be appealed. This Award may be used to procure a judgment against the borrower in a court of law. (Net-ARB will provide the investor(s) with all other information necessary to pursue a judgment.)

Which loans can be subjected to arbitration?

All loans made after 03/30/2013.

When is a loan sent to arbitration?

When it is overdue for more than 90 days.

Do I need to submit the loan to arbitration myself?

No, the loans are sent to arbitration automatically. The borrower and all the investors will be notified when this happens.

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Why am I unable to rate another user?

You must receive enough positive ratings and have your identity verified to be considered eligible to rate another user. If you are a lender trying to rate one of your borrowers, then you must have your identity verified and invested more than 0.02 BTC.

What are motions?

A borrower can request a motion for a pure Bitcoin loan where the price of Bitcoin has dramatically increased. The borrower will specify the new amount of the loan then all the investors will be notified and will vote if they agree upon the new terms. The votes are weighted by the amount invested. If majority rules, then the terms will be changed.

Which image formats do you accept?

For identity and address document verification, we accept .png and .jpeg. For credit or proof-of-income verification, we accept .png, .jpeg.

Can I put a link in my username?

We can not permit links in usernames since they could possibly lead to malicious or untrustworthy sites.

What is the minimum size for a file that I can upload?

There is no minimum, and the maximum is 5MB.

A user is harrassing me, how do I proceed?

Report the user and e-mail [email protected]

When I try to withdraw my funds, I receive an "Error Excecuting Transaction" message.

Please check your payout address to see if the correct one is configured. If the address is valid, try the transaction again in 10-15 minutes.

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