TL;DR
- Onchain Milestone: Pencil Finance completed a $1M fully onchain student loan cycle, delivering capital directly to borrowers with transparent repayment tracking.
- Student Impact: The protocol helped finance more than 6,600 students across Southeast Asia, with 50% female borrowers and 93% from lower-income households, supported largely through ErudiFi.
- Future Path: Leaders said the cycle proves that onchain capital can close education financing gaps, while Pencil Finance highlighted that the public repayment record strengthens the foundation for future bundles.
Student loan protocol Pencil Finance has completed a $1M fully onchain lending cycle, marking a milestone for education financing across Southeast Asia. The initiative deployed capital to thousands of students who have long been underserved by traditional lenders, with every repayment recorded transparently on blockchain. The company said the cycle demonstrates how onchain capital can reach borrowers directly while giving funders full visibility into performance.
. @pencilfinance_, the student loan real-world-asset (RWA) protocol on @educhain_xyz that we are co-incubating with @HackQuest_, today announced that it has completed the first-ever fully on-chain lending cycle for student loan financing. The protocol deployed loans in the… pic.twitter.com/M5YKkNDf8G
— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) September 3, 2026
A Fully Onchain Cycle Reaching Thousands of Students
According to Pencil Finance, the bundle was funded in July 2025 by Animoca Brands, Open Campus, and NewCampus, structured across senior and junior tranches with fixed and variable returns. The protocol deployed $1M in loans that were repaid to funders with yield, completing what it calls the first-ever fully onchain student loan cycle.
The largest share of capital flowed through education financing provider ErudiFi, which issued loans and tuition support to university students in markets such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Over the past year, Pencil Finance contributed to financing more than 6,600 students across 118 schools, including an estimated 1,050 who received direct funding. Half of borrowers were female, 93% came from lower-income households, and more than half accessed formal credit for the first time.
An independent impact study found that 9 in 10 borrowers reported improved quality of life, over 90% said the loan strengthened their ability to pursue education, and 97% said they lacked a good alternative. Pencil Finance said these findings highlight the gap in affordable education financing that onchain capital can help close.
Building a Transparent Track Record for Future Bundles
The protocol emphasized that putting the lending cycle onchain allowed every repayment to be auditable in real time. Leaders from Animoca Brands and Open Campus said the model shows how blockchain can remove intermediaries and deliver inclusive financing at scale. Pencil Finance added that the successful repayment of the first bundle creates a public track record that can make future bundles easier to fund.
The company noted that tokenized RWAs are gaining traction globally, with onchain collateral and lending models expanding across sectors. For Pencil Finance, the completed cycle signals a working alternative for transparent, blockchain-powered education financing.
