For Borrowers

This guide walks through borrowing on Amish. You define your terms, get matched with a lender, and receive your loan - all with fixed rates and no surprises.

Before you start

You need:

• A connected wallet with collateral assets

• One-time approval for Amish to access your collateral tokens

Creating intents is gasless - you sign a message off-chain. The protocol executes loan activation on your behalf. You only pay gas for: approving tokens (once per asset), topping up collateral, and repaying your loan.

The borrowing process

1. Create your intent

An intent describes what you want to borrow and your terms:

// API: POST /borrow/intents
{
  // What you offer as collateral (can specify multiple)
  collaterals: [
    {
      chainId: 1,                          // Ethereum mainnet
      contractAddress: "0x...",            // WETH address
      amount: "10000000000000000000"       // 10 ETH in wei
    }
  ],

  // What tokens you accept as principal (can specify multiple)
  acceptedPrincipals: [
    { chainId: 42161, contractAddress: "0x..." },  // USDC on Arbitrum
    { chainId: 8453, contractAddress: "0x..." }    // USDC on Base
  ],

  // Loan terms
  minLoanAmountUsd: "1000",               // Minimum $1,000 loan
  minLtvBps: 7500,                        // Minimum 75% LTV
  maxAprBps: 800,                         // Maximum 8% APR
  loanLifetime: 2592000,                  // 30 days in seconds

  // Where to receive funds
  payoutAddress: "0x...",

  // EIP-712 signature binding you to these terms
  signatureProof: {
    message: "...",
    signature: "0x..."
  }
}

Field	What to specify
collaterals	Which tokens you offer as security, how much, and on which chain
acceptedPrincipals	Which tokens you want to receive and on which chain
minLtvBps	Lowest loan-to-value you accept in basis points (7500 = 75%)
maxAprBps	Highest interest rate you will pay in basis points (800 = 8%)
loanLifetime	Duration in seconds (604800 = 7 days, 2592000 = 30 days)
payoutAddress	Where you want to receive funds

Sign the intent with your wallet. This commits you to these terms but does not move any funds.

2. Wait for a match

The matching engine looks for lenders with compatible terms:

• They accept your collateral type

• They offer your desired principal

• Your LTV and APR ranges overlap

• Loan amounts meet both parties' minimums

When matched, you see the effective terms. The loan uses the lender's maximum LTV (most protective for them) and the lender's minimum APR (best rate for you within their acceptable range).

3. Deposit collateral

After matching, deposit collateral to the CollateralManager contract. For cross-chain loans, a storage proof verifies your deposit on the principal chain.

4. Receive principal

Once collateral is verified and the lender transfers principal, your loan activates. Principal arrives at your payout address.

5. Repay before expiration

Repay principal plus interest before the loan expires. After repayment:

1. Your debt closes

2. You can claim your collateral back

Managing your loan

Monitor your health

Your position health changes as collateral value fluctuates:

Health	Status	Action
Above 150%	Safe	No action needed
110-150%	Warning	Consider adding collateral
Below 110%	Critical	Add collateral immediately or risk liquidation

Add collateral if needed

If health drops, add collateral through the frontend. Top-ups are immediate - no waiting for matches.

Make repayments

• Partial repayment: Reduces debt and improves health

• Full repayment: Closes the loan and lets you claim collateral

Cross-chain borrowing

When collateral and principal are on different chains:

1. Deposit collateral on Chain A

2. Storage proof verifies deposit

3. Lender transfers principal on Chain B

4. You receive principal on Chain B

Settlement takes slightly longer due to finality requirements. Your collateral stays on Chain A throughout.

Understanding your terms

LTV of 75%: For $10,000 collateral, you receive $7,500 principal

APR of 7%: On a 30-day loan, you owe about 0.58% interest ($43.50 on $7,500)

Duration of 30 days: You must repay by expiration - no extensions

Understanding your quote

Your quote includes risk metrics that show the lender's perspective:

P(Loss): The probability that the lender loses money on this loan. Lower is better - it means your loan is safer and more likely to match.

LTV: Your quoted LTV may differ from what you see on other protocols. Amish computes LTV based on current volatility, liquidity depth, and your specific position size rather than using fixed per-asset limits.

APR: Your rate reflects actual risk. More volatile collateral or larger positions may command higher rates. The rate is fixed once matched - no surprises from rate changes during your loan.

Quotes take 8-15 seconds because the system simulates thousands of price scenarios to compute accurate risk. This provides better terms than generic lookup tables.

For more details, see Pricing and Risk.