From Manual Grind to Passive Gains: How Automated Lending on PINTO changed the Game.
My Role
Lead/Founding Product Designer
We built PINTO to be "money that works for you," but we realized that for a long time, users were working too hard for their money.
In the early days of decentralized credit protocols, lending was a full-contact sport. If you wanted to lend assets and earn yield, you had to be glued to your screen, waiting for the perfect moment to buy debt coupons ("Pods"). We launched the Automated Lending feature (Pod Orders) to solve this. We wanted to turn a complex, active trading experience into a simple, passive income stream that runs while you sleep.
Identifying the System Problem
Lender Pain: Lenders had to treat DeFi like a full-time job. They had to stare at the screen, refreshing the page to catch a good interest rate before someone else did.
Buyer Pain: If you needed to borrow money (sell Pods), you had to list your debt and wait. It wasn't instant. It felt like listing a couch on Craigslist when you needed cash now.
The Core Insight: We realized the "peer-to-peer" model was broken because it required two people to be online at the exact same time.
The Strategic Shift: From Push to Pull
Our research revealed that the existing "peer-to-peer" model was the root cause of the friction. It was a "Push Market," where sellers listed items and hoped a buyer would come along. This model required both parties to be online simultaneously to make a deal happen, which was highly inefficient for a global, 24/7 market.
The Flow: A user defines their terms -> The protocol holds the order -> The system automatically fills it when liquidity matches.
Why It Works: It creates instant liquidity. Borrowers get cash instantly because the lenders' capital is already sitting there waiting.
Two Way Automation
The Impact
Protocol Success: We deepened market liquidity. Over 100,000 contract interactions showed that automation drives volume. The partnership with Hypernative kept it secure.
User Success: "Passive" lenders can finally sleep while earning yield. Borrowers (Farmers) can now "sell into the book" instantly instead of waiting days for a buyer.