35405
investors
Debitum is a Latvian platform, running since September 2018, where you buy notes backed by loans made by a small number of lending companies. You do not lend to businesses directly. Debitum's own companies issue you a note and pass the money to a lending company, which uses it for its own loans or assets. So your real risk is the lending company. By far the largest is the Latvian Forest Development Fund, which buys forest land. Investors had put in €231.85 million in total and 35,405 people had registered as of 24 October 2026.
You choose notes yourself or use automatic investing, from €10 per note, in euros. Each note pays a fixed interest rate set by the issuer. If a loan behind a note is about 90 days late, the lending company promises to buy it back with interest. That promise comes from the lending company, not from Debitum.
Debitum's statistics page showed an average investor return of 14.83% a year on 24 October 2026, calculated over investors' actual cash flows. It does not say whether fees, taxes or cash waiting in accounts are counted. The platform has published other figures too: an 11.50% lifetime average on 18 August 2026 and 12.66% earlier, so three different average-return figures are in circulation. Independent tracking of investor portfolios points to about 15% a year (August 2026).
Debitum advertises a 0% default rate over five years. The figure has no definition and no base. It means no lending company has yet failed to honour its buyback, not that borrowers always pay: when loans go bad, the lending company replaces them. The platform shows 0.00% late for every lending company. Its own footnote says 0.87% of all money invested is in restructured loans to Ukrainian borrowers, about €2 million, with no recovery value given. Independent tracking points to about 2.5% of the money outstanding not performing (August 2026), and about 10.5% of the book needed a buyback in 2024. No realised loss or recovery figure is published.
Mainly the buyback promise of the lending companies, and those companies are weak. About two thirds of the €74 million outstanding (about €50 million, October 2026, calculated from the platform's own figures) is with the Latvian Forest Development Fund and its second fund. Its 2025 accounts show €35.5 million of debts against €3.0 million of its own capital. The notes are backed by the lender's assets, but its prospectus says the security does not include a mortgage over the forest land. Loans from other lenders carry pledges or personal guarantees that vary loan by loan. A documented investigation published in March 2026, based on Latvian company filings, land records and prospectuses, found that 7 of the 9 lending companies are related to Debitum's owners or to one family network. The second-largest lender, Sandbox Funding (about 11% of the book), is owned by Debitum's main shareholders. If the main lender fails, its buyback fails with it.
SIA DN Operator, Riga, holds an investment brokerage licence from Latvia's central bank (Latvijas Banka), number 06.06.08.728/537, issued on 21 September 2021 and widened on 4 December 2024. Client money and notes must be kept apart from the firm's own assets. A Latvian investor compensation scheme covers 90% of a loss, up to €20,000, but only if Debitum itself fails to return your assets. It pays nothing if a lending company stops paying.
Debitum does not charge investors to invest, deposit or withdraw; it is paid by the lending companies. Tax is withheld at source: 20% for Latvian residents, 5% for residents of other EU and EEA countries, and none for Lithuanian residents and companies.
You get your money back when each note is repaid. There is no market to sell notes to other investors and no early exit.
Return: Very High. Investors earned 14.83% a year on average (October 2026). Risk: Very High (higher means more risk). The lending companies are weak and the business is not transparent: most lenders are related to the owners, about two thirds of the money is with one lender, and the 0% default figure depends on buybacks. Risk-return: Low. The high return does not make up for depending on one thinly capitalised lender with no mortgage behind it.
License / Regulation: SIA DN Operator (Latvia) holds an investment brokerage firm licence from Latvijas Banka (Bank of Latvia), No. 06.06.08.728/537 of 21 September 2021, scope widened on 4 December 2024. The Latvian investor compensation scheme covers 90% of a loss up to €20,000 only if the firm itself fails to return client assets; it does not cover a lending company that stops paying.
Yes. SIA DN Operator holds an investment brokerage licence from Latvia's central bank, number 06.06.08.728/537 of 21 September 2021. The licence covers how Debitum handles your money and notes; it does not make the lending companies any stronger.
DN Operator must keep client money and notes apart from its own assets, but it does not name the bank that holds the cash. Once invested, your money is lent on to the lending company behind each note.
€10 per note.
The platform reported a 14.83% average annual return on 24 October 2026 and advertises 0% defaults. That 0% means the lending companies have bought back every bad loan so far. 0.87% of money invested sits in restructured Ukrainian loans, and independent tracking points to about 2.5% of the outstanding money not performing (August 2026). No realised loss figure is published.
Mainly the lending companies' promise to buy back loans about 90 days late. About two thirds of the money is with the Latvian Forest Development Fund, which had €3.0 million of its own capital against €35.5 million of debts in 2025. The notes are backed by its assets, but the security does not include a mortgage over the forest land.
No. There is no market to sell notes and no early exit; you are repaid when each note ends.
No fees to invest, deposit or withdraw; Debitum is paid by the lending companies. Tax is withheld at source: 20% for Latvian residents, 5% for other EU and EEA residents.
If Debitum itself fails to return your assets, a Latvian scheme covers 90% of the loss up to €20,000. If a lending company fails, nothing covers you: its buyback fails too, and you depend on whatever the pledged assets bring in.
A small group, not an open marketplace. The Latvian Forest Development Fund holds about two thirds of the outstanding money, and Sandbox Funding, owned by Debitum's main shareholders, about 11%. A documented investigation in March 2026 found that 7 of the 9 lending companies are related to Debitum's owners or to one family network.
