> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.iris.credit/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Overview
> The origination layer for fixed-rate loans.
A variable-rate loan can double its cost while you hold it. That is fine for a trade you close this week and unworkable for anything you plan around.
DeFi's deepest lending venues are variable by design, so borrowers who need a known cost have had to run a floating loan and hedge it themselves. IRIS removes that second job. You take a fixed-rate loan, and a solver carries the floating position underneath it.
## How it works
You request the loan terms you care about. A solver quotes the fixed terms it is willing to support. The resulting position opens on an underlying lending venue, tracked on its own rather than pooled with other borrowers.
That splits two things which usually come bundled: the borrower's experience of a fixed-rate loan, and the work of running the floating-rate venue position that supports it. You get the first. The solver does the second.
## Who does what
| | IRIS | The lending venue |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Sets your rate | fixed, for the term you chose | |
| Holds the live position | | collateral and debt sit here |
| Decides liquidation rules | | health factor, thresholds, penalties |
| Keeps positions separate | isolated per loan | |
| Charges floating interest | | absorbed by the solver's bond |
The venue underneath is doing the same job it always does. IRIS coordinates the fixed terms on top of it and holds a solver responsible for them.
## What borrowers get
### Terms you set
You choose the collateral, the borrow asset, the amount, the duration, and the highest rate you will accept. A solver prices that request instead of pushing it through a pool curve.
### More than one venue
IRIS runs on top of existing lending venues rather than replacing them. Solvers can use any venue you allow, and can move the loan between them later. See [Supported markets](/home/user-guide/supported-markets).
### Someone else running the floating leg
After settlement you experience the fixed terms you accepted. The solver manages the floating exposure behind them, and can move the position between the venues you allowed.
## What you still manage
IRIS does not remove market risk. Three things stay yours to watch:
* Collateral volatility, and the [venue's liquidation rules](/home/user-guide/liquidations)
* Your [maturity date and grace period](/home/user-guide/maturity-and-overdue)
* The rare case where [solver backing fails](/home/user-guide/solver-backing#if-the-backing-does-fail)
For the borrower journey, continue to [How it works](/home/introduction/how-it-works). For why the rates come in where they do, see [Why IRIS](/home/introduction/thesis).