Why short term redemption language on crowdfunded notes rarely behaves like a savings account

A common trap on crowdfunding platforms is a product page describing notes as short term, with an average duration under a year and a redemption request option, which reads to many investors like a savings account with a better rate. In practice, redemption requests go into a queue, and if total requests in a given quarter exceed a cap the fund has set, only a portion gets honored. A request for a full balance can come back in several partial pieces spread over more than a year, sometimes with an early redemption fee attached for any portion still inside a one year holding period, even while the fund continues paying its stated interest rate on the remaining balance the entire time. The net effect is not necessarily a loss of principal, since interest keeps accruing throughout, but a loss of access to capital at precisely the moment it may be needed, which can be more costly than the yield earned if it forces bringing in a partner or otherwise scrambling to cover a shortfall elsewhere. The lesson worth internalizing from a structure like this is to treat any redemption-request product as illiquid rather than short term regardless of what the marketing calls it, and to read the redemption mechanics before the advertised yield.