# Overview

**P2P Lending** is a decentralized marketplace that empowers individuals to lend or borrow without permission or intermediaries. It restores a true free market for capital, where two parties freely agree on loan terms. Unlike traditional DeFi protocols, P2P Lending removes liquidation risks through fixed-term, fully-collateralized loans.

<div align="center"><figure><img src="/files/6TbCASiUtrfjQ6ee4xWe" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

***

### Key Principles

* Fully on-chain, peer-to-peer lending
* No liquidation: funds are safe until maturity
* Borrower-defined terms: LTV, interest, deadlines
* Fixed interest — no accrual over time
* ERC721 loan representation (NFTs)
* Permissionless, trustless, and transparent


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.smardex.io/p2p-lending/p2p-protocol/overview.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.