Compared with banks, which undergo common government examinations and regulatory supervision, online lending is comparatively unregulated. It's also tiny compared with the amount of subprime mortgages, which exceeded $1 trillion by 2007. Plausible losses now appear orders of magnitude smaller. The crucial subject is whether or not lenders can predict repayment habits accurately enough to avoid widespread defaults, quick loans which would inflict giant losses on present investors and deter future investors. What hangs within the steadiness is the monetary system's future.