TL;DR
- Partnership scope: Clearpool teams with Cicada to structure, underwrite, and administer risk-managed PayFi Credit Pools that channel DeFi liquidity to short-term working capital for fintech operators while maintaining on-chain transparency and professional oversight.
- Risk credentials: Cicada brings an institutional track record with $850M underwritten and a 1.2% default rate, offering third-party underwriting, pool management, and risk structuring designed to calibrate limits, covenants, monitoring, and disclosures for PayFi borrowers and lenders.
- Access and products: Clearpool plans PayFi Credit Pools for qualified lenders and cpUSD for retail, aiming for daily liquidity, clear waterfalls, and composable access to real-world yield as wallets and analytics integrations make these flows a standard allocation.
Clearpool has partnered with Cicada to bring institutional rigor to PayFi, a fast-growing corner of crypto that finances payments where stablecoin settlement is instant but underlying fiat lags. The collaboration will create risk-managed Credit Pools, with Cicada structuring and underwriting deals and acting as the administrative agent on select facilities.
Clearpool frames the move as a bridge between DeFi liquidity and real-world working capital for fintech operators, backed by transparent on-chain controls and professional oversight.
🤝 Clearpool has partnered with Cicada to institutionalize PayFi lending with risk-managed Credit Pools
Cicada is an on-chain credit risk management company founded by a seasoned team of former buy- and sell-side credit professionals. Cicada’s co-founders have deep crypto… pic.twitter.com/JY79tNCVqE
— Clearpool (@ClearpoolFin) August 11, 2025
What the partnership delivers
Cicada, a credit risk manager on the blockchain created by experienced professionals from both buy side and sell side, will offer third-party underwriting, pool management, and risk structuring as a service. The firm brings a track record of more than $850M in loans underwritten in the prior cycle with a reported 1.2% default rate, positioning it to calibrate limits, covenants, and monitoring for PayFi borrowers.
Clearpool contributes its decentralized capital markets rails, compliance-aware access controls, and a pipeline of borrowers focused on short-duration receivables and settlement gaps.
How PayFi credit pools work
Clearpool intends to introduce PayFi Credit Pools that direct liquidity from eligible lenders into short-term working capital lines, which are denominated in stablecoins. These facilities target operators who must pre-fund payouts or float receivables while fiat clears, using on-chain settlement data to inform risk and cadence. The design aims for daily liquidity, clear waterfalls, and visibility into utilization, giving lenders a way to capture real-world yield without direct operational exposure.
New products and access
To broaden participation, Clearpool will introduce cpUSD, a permissionless yield-bearing asset designed to pass through returns from PayFi activity to retail within defined parameters. The company says professionally managed pools and standardized disclosures can help align incentives between borrowers and lenders, while preserving the composability that DeFi users expect. Over time, integrations with wallets and analytics could make PayFi yield a familiar allocation alongside stablecoin savings.
Why it matters
For DeFi, risk-managed PayFi converts stablecoin flows into credit markets that institutions can evaluate using metrics. For fintechs, it offers liquidity that matches settlement reality, lowering costs versus legacy working capital.
