The blog post is written by someone who has never heard of a Lombard loans.

TL;DR: No surprise to anybody .... loans involve two parties, and shockingly (/s) its up to the bank what they take as collateral !

Lombard loans have been a thing ever since banks have existed and – ironically in the case of this blog post – the term originates from the Lombards who conquered the northern region of Italy now known as Lombardy.

In the case of this blog its cheese. But it is incredibly common - for example - for the loan collateral to be an investment portfolio.

As long as there is an accepted way to value it, correctly manage it and it has a good chance of holding or increasing its value, banks can consider it as collateral. Doesn't mean they will (that is a decision for the risk committee), but they can.