Supporting bitcoin (unless you are a bitcoin start-up) seems like a silly thing to do for a company that needs to prioritize due to resource constraints.
2) Sending BTC internationally is simpler than sending fiat
I can't just convert a bitcoin sitting in my wallet to something I can give to someone else to exchange for cash without a whole pile of guarantees.
The only people I can trade bitcoin with for cash is other bitcoin users, which - as I noted above - are few and far between.
Yes, sending BTC internationally is simpler, but that does not mean the recipient can do the same things with them as they can do with fiat, and as such it just shifts the problem to the recipient. When you send cash (using for instance western union) it is almost instantly available as well, without all the downsides of having to find someone that will trade your bitcoins at something approaching their market value.
IMHO there will be a high overlap between people using a lending startup and Bitcoin users, as both are modern bank alternatives.
In my humble experience exchanging Bitcoins for cash was hard a couple of years ago, but not today. All my geek friends and colleagues use it.
- we did not identify a straightforward way to convert bitcoins to cash in borrower currencies
- it seemed from our informal research that supporting bitcoin has not resulted in many new supporters for most nonprofits that have tried it
- supporting another payment method would add overhead weight to our organization
- so few of our lenders use bitcoin that we estimated the savings in transfer fees wouldn't be worth introducing more complication in our payment options
We're keeping an eye on bitcoin and may begin supporting it if these conditions change.