As Summer Winds Down, Square, Bitcoin, Yirendai Big Winners of the Year So Far

Yirendai, an online lender in China listed on the NYSE, is up 92% this year, according to the deBanked Tracker. China is reported to be the largest marketplace lending market in the world. Yirendai went public in December 2015 at the peak of the online lending bubble and the stock price has tripled since then.

Square, a payment processor and tech-based small business lender is up 90% year-to-date. The company lent $317 million in Q2, or about 30% less than what OnDeck lent over the same time period. Unlike OnDeck whose stock is down 76% from the IPO price, Square is up 186% since inception. While Square is lending less, the company has virtually no borrower acquisition costs and is a payments company first.

While the value of a Bitcoin fluctuates all the time, it was up 78% for the year as of Wednesday afternoon. One Bitcoin was equal to $4,554.07. Yesterday, Bitcoin reached a record high of $4,703 after North Korea fired rockets over Japan. While the increase in value can be partially attributed to speculators, there is a growing chorus of Bitcoin owners who are using it as a hedge against governmental currency manipulation or collapse.