P2P investing glossary: key Maclear terms explained

AMLA (Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act) 

The primary Swiss law governing AML obligations for financial intermediaries. Maclear is required to comply with AMLA as a condition of its PolyReg SRO membership.

Authenticator App

An authenticator app is a smartphone application that generates TOTP codes for two-factor authentication. The most widely used example is Google Authenticator, available for iOS and Android. When you link an authenticator app to your Maclear account, it generates a new 6-digit code every 30 seconds that you use to confirm your identity at login. The codes are generated locally on your device and do not require an internet connection.

APR (Annual Percentage Rate)

APR is the annualized interest rate on a loan, expressed as a percentage of the principal. On Maclear, the APR shown on each project page is the fixed rate the borrower pays — and the rate investors earn — over the life of the loan. It does not include bonus programs.

AROI (Annualized Return on Investment)

AROI is used on the Secondary Market to show the projected annual return on an investment being bought or sold, regardless of how much of the loan term remains. Formula: (Expected Earnings ÷ Remaining Period) × (365 ÷ Principal Purchased). It allows buyers to compare Secondary Market listings on equal terms.

Available Funds 

Available Funds are funds in your Maclear account that are not currently committed to any project — they are free to invest, withdraw, or use on the Secondary Market. In the platform interface, this balance is displayed as Maclear Balance (for standard projects) or MacPay Balance (for ACL/African projects). Funds in Reserved, Prefunded, or Funded status are not part of Available Funds and cannot be withdrawn until the loan is repaid or sold on the Secondary Market.

AutoInvest

AutoInvest is a Maclear feature that automatically allocates funds to projects matching a set of predefined criteria — such as interest rate range, loan term, and risk score. It allows investors to deploy capital without manually selecting each project. AutoInvest only applies to projects that enter Open status after the strategy is created.

Base (blockchain)

Base is a Layer 2 blockchain built by Coinbase on top of Ethereum. It processes transactions faster and at significantly lower cost than Ethereum Mainnet — typical fees on Base are a few cents. All 8lends smart contracts, investments, repayments, and withdrawals operate on Base. Every transaction is publicly verifiable on the Base block explorer at basescan.org.

Bonus Investments

Bonus investments are funds credited to an investor's account under Maclear bonus programmes — including the Welcome Bonus, Loyalty Bonus, Voucher, and €500+€30 bonus. Bonus funds are automatically invested in the qualifying project and cannot be withdrawn as cash. They appear in the tax statement as a separate income line. Each programme has its own eligibility conditions and crediting rules.

Cashback

Cashback is a bonus credited to an investor who registered on Maclear via a referral link. It is calculated as a percentage of the interest earned on investments made within the first 90 days after registration. Cashback is credited to the investor's account balance, not automatically reinvested. It appears in the tax statement as a separate income line.

Claim Assignment Agreement

When a project reaches its funding target, investors hold a claim assigned through a Claim Purchase and Assignment Agreement. In this structure, Maclear acts as Collection Agent and Collateral Agent on behalf of all investors: it collects repayments, manages collateral, and in the event of default, initiates enforcement proceedings. By signing this agreement at the point of investment, investors authorize Maclear to act on their behalf throughout the loan lifecycle.

Collateral Agent

Maclear acts as Collateral Agent on behalf of all investors in a funded project. In this role, Maclear verifies and monitors the collateral pledged by the borrower, conducts collateral valuations, and manages enforcement proceedings — including the sale of pledged assets — if the borrower fails to meet payment obligations.

Collection Agent

Maclear acts as Collection Agent on behalf of investors to collect scheduled repayments from borrowers and distribute them proportionally. In the event of default, the Collection Agent initiates debt recovery procedures and legal proceedings on behalf of all investors in the project.

Credit History Score

Credit History Score is a borrower reliability metric used on the Maclear platform, reflecting the payment history and track record of the borrowing company. Scores range from 1 to 10, where a higher score indicates a stronger repayment record. In AutoInvest Advanced Settings, investors can filter projects by a minimum Credit History Score between 6 and 10.

Default

A default occurs when a borrower fails to meet their loan repayment obligations and Maclear's recovery process has been initiated. In a default scenario, Maclear as Collateral and Collection Agent begins enforcement proceedings — including collateral realization — and distributes recovered funds proportionally among investors.

Debt-to-Equity Ratio (DE)

Debt-to-Equity Ratio (DE) is a financial metric that measures the proportion of a borrower's total liabilities relative to shareholders' equity. Formula: Total Liabilities ÷ Shareholders' Equity. A lower ratio indicates a less leveraged company with a stronger balance sheet. On Maclear, DE is used as an optional filter in AutoInvest Advanced Settings, with a selectable range of 0.2 to 4.0.

Enforcement

Enforcement refers to the legal process Maclear initiates as Collateral Agent when a borrower defaults. It includes enforced collection, sale of pledged assets, and distribution of recovered funds to investors. Enforcement is initiated after soft collection efforts have been exhausted.

Financial intermediary

A company that facilitates financial transactions between two parties (here: investors and borrowers) without itself being a bank. Maclear operates as a regulated financial intermediary under Swiss law.

FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority)

Switzerland's top financial regulator. FINMA does not directly supervise Maclear but approves and oversees the SRO framework under which PolyReg — and therefore Maclear — operates.

Form A

Form A is a one-time compliance document confirming that an investor is the beneficial owner of the funds they invest on Maclear. It is required under Swiss financial regulation and is generated automatically after a user's first investment. Until Form A is signed, no further investments or AutoInvest are available.

Grant Thornton AG 

An independent Swiss auditing firm operating under FINMA-approved SRO standards. Grant Thornton AG conducted an audit of Maclear AG in November 2024, validating the platform's readiness for crowdlending activities and confirming strict adherence to Swiss AMLA regulations.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) 

EU law governing how personal data of EU residents must be collected, stored, and processed. Maclear complies with GDPR requirements for all investors. Personal data is handled in accordance with GDPR and the Swiss Data Protection Act, as set out in Maclear's Privacy Policy.

Gas Fee

A gas fee is the cost paid to a blockchain network for processing a transaction. On Base, gas fees are typically a few cents per transaction and are paid in ETH — a small ETH balance is required in your wallet to execute any operation on 8lends. Gas fees go to the Base network, not to 8lends. Investors pay no fees to the platform itself.

GTC (Good 'Til Cancelled) 

GTC is a listing instruction used on the Maclear Secondary Market. When selling an investment, the seller checks the GTC checkbox to confirm that the listing should remain active until either a buyer purchases it or the 14-day expiry window closes. Without this confirmation, the listing is not submitted. GTC listings are automatically removed after 14 days if not purchased.

Interest

Interest is the return an investor earns on a funded loan. On Maclear, interest accrues daily once a project reaches Funded status and the repayment schedule is published. Payments are distributed monthly according to the schedule. The interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan and shown on the project page as APR. Interest does not accrue during Reserved or Prefunded status.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

KYC is the identity verification process every investor must complete before depositing funds or investing on Maclear. It is a mandatory requirement under Swiss AML law. KYC involves submitting a valid government-issued identity document and a live selfie through the Sumsub verification platform.

KYB (Know Your Business)

KYB is the company verification process required for legal entities registering on Maclear. It covers both the company itself and the individuals behind it — including the company representative and beneficial owners (UBOs). KYB requires submission of company registration documents and representative ID.

LTV (Loan-to-Value)

LTV is the ratio between the loan amount and the value of the collateral backing it: LTV = Loan Amount ÷ Collateral Value. A lower LTV means the collateral more than covers the loan — greater security for investors if the borrower runs into difficulty. A higher LTV may come with a higher interest rate but also carries more risk. LTV is displayed on every project page.

Non-custodial Wallet

A non-custodial wallet is a crypto wallet where the private keys — and therefore full control over the funds — belong entirely to the user. There is no third party that can access, freeze, or recover the funds. Examples include MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and SafePal. On 8lends, investors connect a non-custodial wallet to invest; the platform never holds the wallet's private keys. If the seed phrase is lost, access to the wallet cannot be recovered.

PEP (Politically Exposed Person)

A PEP is an individual who holds or has held a prominent public position — such as a government official, senior executive of a state-owned company, or their close associate or family member. Maclear does not onboard PEPs. All investors confirm their PEP status during registration.

POA (Proof of Address)

POA is a document verifying an investor's residential address. It is required as part of the Maclear verification process and must be submitted before depositing funds or making a first investment. Accepted documents include utility bills, bank statements, tax bills, and lease agreements — issued within the last 3 months and showing the investor's full name and address.

PolyReg SRO

PolyReg Services GmbH is a Swiss self-regulatory organization (SRO) supervised by FINMA. Maclear AG is a member of PolyReg SRO, which means the platform operates as a regulated financial intermediary under Swiss AML law. SRO membership is the regulatory framework under which Maclear conducts its operations.

Proof of Loan

Proof of Loan (PoL) is the 8lends bonus mechanism that awards investors +6% of their investment amount in 8LNDS tokens after a funding pool closes. The number of tokens is calculated by dividing 6% of the invested USDC amount by the 8LNDS price at pool close. Tokens are distributed over a 10-month vesting schedule: 2.5% unlocked immediately, then 2.5% per week for 39 weeks.

Primary Market

The Primary Market is where new investment projects are listed and open for funding. Investors can browse available projects, review borrower profiles and risk scores, and commit funds directly. The minimum investment on the Primary Market is €50.

Project Statuses

Provision Fund

The Provision Fund is a reserve maintained by Maclear that covers investor interest payments if a borrower misses a scheduled payment. It is replenished from 2% of every project commission paid by borrowers. The fund currently covers interest payments; coverage of principal repayments is expected to follow as the fund grows.

Referrer Reward

A referrer reward is income earned by an investor who referred a new user to Maclear. The reward is calculated as a percentage of the interest earned by the referred user on investments made within their first 90 days after registration. Referrer rewards are credited to the referrer's account balance and are reflected in the tax statement as a separate income line.

Reserved

Reserved is an investment status indicating that an investor's funds have been committed to a project but the project has not yet reached its full funding target. Funds in Reserved status do not earn interest. If the project does not reach its target, reserved funds are automatically released back to the investor's balance.

UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner)

A UBO is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity — typically an individual holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises effective control. On Maclear, UBO identification is required as part of company verification (KYB → Article 19). All UBOs are subject to AML screening and sanctions checks before a company account is approved.

USDC

USDC is a stablecoin issued by Circle, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. One USDC always equals one USD. Each token in circulation is backed by cash or short-term US Treasury securities, audited monthly. On 8lends, all investments, interest payments, and principal repayments are denominated in USDC. It combines dollar stability with the speed and programmability of blockchain settlement.

TOTP (Time-Based One-Time Password)

TOTP is a type of two-factor authentication code that is generated locally on your device using a time-based algorithm. The code changes every 30 seconds and is valid only for that interval. Because TOTP codes are generated offline and never transmitted over the internet, they are significantly more secure than SMS or email-based codes. Google Authenticator and similar apps use the TOTP standard.

Risk Scoring

Maclear's proprietary Risk Scoring system assigns every borrower a credit rating on a scale from AAA to D, based on three dimensions: financial risk, qualitative risk, and coverage and liquidity risk. The rating determines the interest rate offered to investors — higher-risk projects carry higher rates. Projects that do not meet the minimum scoring threshold are rejected before listing.

Skribble 

Skribble is a Swiss-based electronic signature provider compliant with EU eIDAS and Swiss ZertES digital signature regulations. Maclear uses Skribble to collect investor signatures on Form A — the beneficial ownership declaration required by SRO PolyReg regulations. The document is sent to the investor by email after their first investment and signed electronically through Skribble. The signature is legally valid under Swiss and EU law.

Secondary Market

The Secondary Market is where investors can buy and sell existing investment positions before the loan term ends. Sellers can list their investment at a discount to the original price; buyers can acquire positions with remaining loan duration. The minimum transaction amount on the Secondary Market is €30. A 2.5% fee applies to the seller. Listings that are not purchased within 14 days are automatically removed.

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area)

SEPA is a European payment integration initiative that allows euro-denominated bank transfers between participating countries under unified conditions. Maclear accepts deposits and processes withdrawals exclusively via SEPA transfers. All investors must hold a bank account in a SEPA-participating country.

Stablecoin

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a stable reference asset — typically the US dollar, euro, or gold. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, a stablecoin does not fluctuate with the crypto market. USDC is a dollar-pegged stablecoin used on the 8lends platform for all investment operations. The peg is maintained through reserves held by the issuer.

Smart Contract

A smart contract is a self-executing program deployed on a blockchain. Its terms are encoded in the contract code and cannot be altered after deployment by any party — including the platform operator or the borrower. On 8lends, each loan runs through a smart contract that automatically calculates interest, processes repayments, and distributes funds to investors. Withdrawal is permissionless: no platform approval is required.

SRO (Self-Regulatory Organization)

An SRO is a body authorized by FINMA to supervise financial intermediaries in Switzerland. Membership in an SRO is mandatory for companies operating as financial intermediaries under Swiss AML law. Maclear AG is a member of PolyReg SRO.

Sumsub 

Sumsub is the identity verification provider Maclear uses to conduct KYC checks on all investors. It operates in over 220 countries, supports more than 14,000 document types, and is used by thousands of fintech companies and financial institutions worldwide. Sumsub processes identity documents and selfies in real time and returns a verification result automatically. It is compliant with KYC, AML, and GDPR requirements. Maclear investors complete their verification through Sumsub during the onboarding process.

Verified IBAN

A verified IBAN is a bank account registered under the same name as your Maclear investor account, from which at least one successful deposit has been made. Once a deposit is received and the account name is confirmed, the IBAN is automatically added to your withdrawal options. IBANs cannot be added to Maclear manually — verification happens exclusively through an incoming transfer.

Vesting

Vesting is a time-based schedule for releasing tokens or other assets. Instead of receiving the full amount immediately, the recipient receives it in portions over a defined period. On 8lends, 8LNDS tokens earned through Proof of Loan vest over 10 months: 2.5% is unlocked immediately after pool close, with a further 2.5% unlocked each week for 39 weeks. The schedule is enforced by smart contract and cannot be accelerated.

VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider)

A Virtual Asset Service Provider is a legal entity that provides services involving virtual assets — such as exchange, transfer, or custody of crypto — and is required to register with or obtain authorisation from a financial regulator. Alpha Systems LLC, the operator of 8lends, is registered as a VASP under the Virtual Asset Business Act, 2022, supervised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

8LNDS Token

8LNDS is the utility token used within the Maclear and 8lends bonus ecosystem. Investor bonuses — including referral rewards, loyalty bonuses, and investment rewards — are issued in 8LNDS tokens and held in a custodial wallet within the platform. Tokens are gradually released (vested) and can be converted to USDC for withdrawal.

Regulatory disclosure: Maclear AG, registered in Switzerland, member of PolyReg SRO, a self-regulatory organization supervised by FINMA.