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Inverse Finance seizes tokens, ships code: Launches stablecoin lending protocol

Shortly after culling its community of inactive members, one of decentralized finance’s (DeFi) strangest experiments is launching a new stablecoin lending product.

On Wednesday Inverse Finance revealed the Anchor Protocol, a money market built around DOLA, a protocol-native synthetic stablecoin. Based on “a modified fork of Compound,” in a blog post Inverse Finance founder Nour Haridy compares Anchor to Synthetix, which issues credit in the form of synthetic assets back by overleveraged collateral, and Compound, which issues credit in the form of crypto asset loans also backed by overleveraged collateral.

Ultimately, Haridy sees these models as providing the same utility.

“Lending and synthetic protocols both offer the same service: credit. Anchor brings the gap between them by combining them into a unified borrowing protocol.”

Anchor aims to accomplish this with a unique architecture that always treats the DOLA token as “$1 collateral that can be used to borrow other assets regardless of DOLA’s market conditions or peg.” Users deposit collateral, mint DOLA, and then can use DOLA to take out loans in other crypto assets or simply earn yield on DOLA. 

“For over-collateralized borrowers and leveraged traders, we offer them a one stop shop where they can share their collaterals across their synthetic and token borrowing positions, allowing higher capital efficiency and higher leverage,” says Haridy.

Haridy envisions Anchor will use DOLA for protocol-to-protocol lending similar to Cream’s Iron Bank, for undercollateralized lending (long a prize in DeFi), and for the protocol to “lend itself” credit to pursue yield farming opportunities.

No dead weight

Perhaps more interesting than Inverse’s development at the protocol layer are the moves they made earlier in the week at the governance layer. 

In what may be a DeFi governance first, On Saturday Feb. 20, Inverse community members put forth two governance proposals to seize INV — Inverse’s currently non-transferrable governance token — from inactive community members. On Thursday Feb. 25, the proposals passed, and not everyone was happy with the result.

Haridy says that the timing was intentional — right as Anchor, a protocol that might generate revenue for the DAO, prepares to launch, the community sheds freeloaders. 

“We needed to weed out our dead weight to reclaim some tokens for re-distribution to new active members soon. We also created an INV grants committee with the power to reward contributors and add new members to the DAO. Additionally, when free riders are removed, active members become more incentivized to contribute because they get a larger piece of the pie.”

While the unprecedented move may seem harsh, it’s also simply applying to governance the kind of aggressive style that put Inverse Finance on the map in the first place. By forcing token holders to participate under the threat of seized tokens, it’s helped with the development of Anchor as well. 

“This is a collaborative effort among many DAO members starting from ideation to development to internal reviews and testing,” says Haridy.

The next step for Inverse will be getting Anchor off the ground, and preparing for a world in which INV becomes tradable. Haridy says there’s a growing consensus in the community for tradability. This would mean that the DAO would give up the power to seize tokens, which could alter Inverse’s community landscape.

Haridy, however, seems unfazed by the looming shifts, already preparing the next innovation.

“This will significantly change the existing incentives and may reduce participation. Fortunately, there’s some work on a new alternative governance model that’s been happening internally to address this problem.”

Inverse Finance seizes tokens, ships code: Launches stablecoin lending protocol

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Philippines based Moneybees, an OTC Cryptocurrency Service, Launches New Outlets to Support Local Bitcoin, Ethereum Transactions

Moneybees, which claims to be the very first over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency service in the Philippines, has announced that it’s launching three new outlets this month.

The outlets are being opened to accommodate the growing demand for OTC transactions among Filipino cryptocurrency traders and investors, according to a release shared with Crowdfund Insider.

The update revealed that the large volume of crypto transactions has come at a time when the Bitcoin (BTC) and larger digital asset market continues to set all-time highs.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $50,000 at the time of writing, after briefly surging as high as $58,000. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and in terms of adoption, is currently trading at just over $1,600 after briefly crossing the $2,000 mark.

The present crypto market bull run has seen hundreds of billions of dollars in capital entering the market within weeks. The BTC market cap had managed to exceed $1 trillion but has now retraced to around $936 billion (at time of writing). Ethereum market cap presently stands at around $186 billion (and had surpassed $200 billion recently).

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno had noted late last year that the institution had recorded 59 billion worth of digital currency transactions during H1 2020 (in the Philippines).

Moneybees is focused on banking the crypto industry by teaming with money changers such as Tivoli Money Exchange, an institutional money changer service that was founded in 1983.

Moneybees is now able to serve more clients who need to purchase and sell cryptocurrencies via  Tivoli’s Trinoma, Glorietta, and Okada branches.

As mentioned in the update:

“This partnership with Tivoli brings a total of 7 outlets for Moneybees where their customers can cash out their trading gains from exchanges that don’t have peso cashouts like Binance, Bittrex, Bitstamp, etc. Users can transact as high as P5,000,000 in one day.”

Paulo Del Puerto, CEO of Moneybees, noted that “the partnership with Tivoli is a great step for us to fulfill our mission of making crypto more accessible in the Philippines by providing a familiar and secure way of buying and selling crypto via OTC.”

Launched in 2017, Moneybees is now an established cryptocurrency over-the-counter service in the Philippines. The company aims to make the exchange between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies a lot more accessible. It offers the technology to local money changer businesses with physical outlets so they are able to carry out digital currency transactions at their shops, without having to deal with the risk of excessive market volatility.

Moneybees reportedly supports nearly all crypto users who are using Binance, Bitmex and other exchange services.

Paulo Del Puerto added:

“With the rising demand for cryptocurrency trading and investment, we aim to facilitate 2 Billion pesos worth of transaction volume in 2021. To serve more customers, we’re also looking at opening more outlets in malls around the Philippines and partner with major market players in the remittance and money exchange industry. We target to open 100 outlets by the end of the year.”

Moneybees is “duly registered” with the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas and with the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as “a Remittance Agent with Virtual Currency Exchange (VCE) service.”

Moneybees confirmed that it only works with government-licensed or approved remittance centers and money changers in order to facilitate financial transactions. The company plans to further expand its services nationwide by working with even more outlets in major cities in the country.

(Note: to view the list of locations of Moneybees outlets, you can check here.)

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Chrome OS Now Second-Most Popular Desktop Operating System

Chrome OS Now Second-Most Popular Desktop Operating SystemChrome OS Now Second-Most Popular Desktop Operating System

For the first time in the annual desktop operating system market share reports, Chrome OS has passed macOS. According to 2020 numbers from market data firm IDC and a report on IDC’s data by publication GeekWire, Microsoft Windows still holds a commanding lead with more than 80 percent market share followed – for the first time – by Chrome OS with 10.8 percent and macOS with 7.5 percent. 

As students in many communities have had to attend class virtually from home and their parents have had to do work remotely, too, PC sales jumped during the year. Chrome OS was a big part of that. The reality is, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about exceptional shipment numbers for the notebook computer industry, with Chromebooks showing the most remarkable growth.

Increase Usage Means Increase Risk

Unfortunately, the door is open for attackers to potentially breach Chromebooks.

Chromebooks aren’t protected by traditional anti-virus solutions, unlike traditional desktops. The methods the “bad guys” use are the exact same methods they use to breach an Android or iOS device.

Meaning – for the school districts providing Chromebooks for remote education – students, teachers and administrators are facing the same privacy and security threats associated with laptops and mobile devices, without the same security measures. 

And while mandated content filtering prevents students from accessing inappropriate websites from their Chromebooks – an outgoing risk –  incoming risks perpetrated by predators or even fellow students are not being addressed.  

These risks and threats include:

  • Bad WiFi: Loss of personal information, including grades and health data.
  • Phishing: Stolen credentials could be used to steal money or even compromise social media accounts.
  • Malicious App: Spyware and other malicious apps could expose data or deliver a device exploit.
  • OS Exploit: Cameras and microphones can be turned on, anytime day or night.
  • Risky App: Private information can be shared without any user knowledge or consent.

zIPS for Chromebooks

zIPS for Chromebooks is the first and only comprehensive, on-device, machine learning-based security solution for Chromebooks. Through the same machine learning-based technology that has been detecting and preventing attacks on millions of iOS and Android endpoints for years, zIPS for Chromebooks: 

  • Identifies and blocks users from accessing phishing sites;
  • Detects malicious Wi-Fi networks and alerts users to disconnect from the network; and
  • Assesses all Android apps for undesired violations of privacy, or unsecure development practice.

zIPS for Chromebook’s on-device design also protects user privacy and provides local, continuous assessments of the endpoint. Additionally, administrators finally have centralized visibility into any attacks. Quick action and events can be correlated and viewed in external SIEM and data collection services.

For more information

To learn more about zIPS for Chromebooks, please contact us. 

Previous Zimperium Mobile Security Blog PostPrevious Zimperium Mobile Security Blog Post Let’s Protect More than 40% of our Endpoints

Chrome OS Now Second-Most Popular Desktop Operating System

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The Handwarming Story of the Bernie Mittens Project

Anyone with an internet connection and a Reddit account will know that the star of this year’s presidential inauguration was not a president. It was a man and his mittens. Yes, Bernie Sanders absolutely shattered the internet on January 20th with his DMV-ready sartorial choices, and he left behind a meme-sized crater and a world clamoring for his one-of-a-kind sweater-turned-mittens.

The original Bernie Mittens were unavailable for most of January and February — the creator was busy shaping the future as a school teacher — so Chad Schumacher, CEO and Founder of Allegory Goods, took it upon himself to fill the void with the Bernie Mittens Project. The best part? He’s donating a huge portion to teachers as a gesture to give back to the creator that started it all.

We caught up with Chad to hear his heartwarming, and handwarming, story. Here’s what we found out.

IGG: What’s the story behind the Bernie Mittens Project?

CHAD SCHUMACHER: I think we can all say that 2020 was a really rough year politically. It really seemed like we couldn’t agree on much of anything. Then we had a moment in the political world where we all could just come together and giggle about some mittens at the inauguration. It was really meaningful to me, really impactful. 

So I wanted to do something about it. I heard that the original maker, Jen Ellis, wasn’t going to make any more mittens because she’s a teacher in Vermont, and she’s too busy teaching to hand stitch thousands of mittens. And we were like, hey, maker community, let’s step up. Let’s do this right. Let’s stand in for Jen and do what we can. 

So we launched the project within a couple of days of the inauguration just with a sketch of what we were planning to do. Then we got to work trying to pull together some prototypes and put the prototypes out. After a few days, we had a crazy whirlwind week. We hit our crowdfunding goal in like six days. We sold about 900 pairs of mittens. And then that weekend, Jen announced her partnership with Vermont Teddy Bear, and we felt like that right thing to do here was to not be competing with the original maker, so we turned our project into a limited edition and capped it at about 1,000 pairs of mittens. It allows us to still do our thing and honor our backers while making sure that by the time Jen gets her project up and running, we can be cheering her on and be her biggest fans as well. There are still a few left for folks who want to jump in, but the project is almost finished!

IGG: What about the mittens themselves? How did you get the design exactly right?

CHAD: The original mittens were made from four different recycled sweaters. So that’s why when everybody says, “Hey, I want a pair of Bernie’s mittens,” even if they can get a pair of Jen’s mittens, those are made from different sweaters for the most part. So you’re not going to get the exact same pattern. And I wanted to be “inauguration Bernie” for Halloween, so I wanted to have some that are exactly spot on. 

We did some research and figured out a way to have custom woven fabrics made with recycled yarn, and that would allow us to still honor the reclaimed sweater concept, but reproduce the exact look of Bernies pair of mittens. In order to do that, we hired some hand knitters and researched all the pictures on the internet to figure out what the patterns were on his mittens. You know, reverse engineer them by looking at all the pictures they could find of Bernie wearing them on the campaign trail. Such a fun and goofy couple days.

We got each of our hand knitters to focus on different parts of the mittens and they sent us the samples, and then we put the prototypes together and passed on what they learned and documented to our partner who makes custom knitted blankets. It’s a New York based company named Binghamton.  

IGG: And you’re donating one-third of the profits to Donors Choose? 

CHAD: The whole thing is a tribute to Jen, the maker in Vermont. So this is a way to honor her. And we’re makers, so we understand what she’s giving up by turning down an inbox of 15,000 orders. She basically walked away from what I want to say is something like half a million bucks because she said in order to do that, it would mean stop teaching her kids. And she loves teaching kids. That’s huge. That’s somebody who knows what’s important to them. 

I think a lot of teachers are that way. They’re not getting rich. In a lot of cases, they’re paying for their school supplies out of their own pocket. And they’re doing a job that’s much harder than better-paying jobs. They’re doing it because they want the next generation to benefit from that work. 

So we want to honor Jen. We’ve all had a few teachers who made a big difference in our lives growing up. It just seemed like the right connection to go ahead and find a way to get back to teachers.

Thanks to the Bernie Mittens Project, you can now get your mitts on these mitts!

IGG: What’s next for you after the Bernie Mittens Project? 

CHAD: After George Floyd’s death, we wanted to do something to mark the importance of the moment. So we came up with the idea of creating a pen that’s made from reclaimed wood we obtained years ago from the steps of the Alabama state capitol building. And as you may know, those steps are where Martin Luther King gave his famous speech where he said, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” So we put an arc-shaped inlay from the wood from the Capitol building in the pen, and we’re calling it the Arc Edition Pen. 

And as part of the project, we partnered with GoodKids MadCity, an organization on the South Side of Chicago that helps youth navigate one of the communities in Chicago most impacted by gun violence. We helped them come up with a fundraising plan, and now we’re going to help them raise money by donating a portion of the Arc Edition sales to them. We’ve also helped them create a Patreon so that they can get ongoing monthly revenue to support them for the long term. Definitely check them out — they’re a great organization. That’s what’s on the horizon for us.

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Want to support the Bernie Mittens Project? Check out their Indiegogo campaign page or learn more on their latest Instagram Live session. And don’t forget to check out Chad’s latest project, the Arc Edition Pen, and the affiliated GoodKids MadCity organization.

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Cross-Border Payments Fintech Tranglo Continues to Expand Operations Globally to Support Local Businesses

Malaysia-based Tranglo, a cross-border payment firm, has established four new payment channels that are connected to financial networks in Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. The payment corridors mark the Fintech firm’s first entry into Sub Saharan Africa and Latin American (LatAm) regions.

Tranglo’s management stated that they plan to do their part in reducing the overall cost of remittance payments in these areas.

World Bank data shows that Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most expensive regions to send money to, averaging around 8.5% per transaction to send $200 during Q3 2020. Meanwhile, it costs around 5.8% of the transaction to send the same amount to Latin American regions.  The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has recommended lowering the cost of transactions to 3% by 2030.

Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda reportedly ranked 1st, 2nd, and 7th respectively in the world’s list of top 10 largest remittance recipients in the region last year, according to World Bank data. Remittance inflows for these countries was valued at $25 billion (or 43% of the total value of such payments in the region).

Tranglo’s network in these areas is supported by major online wallets, instant banking services, and cash pickups as well.

Meanwhile, remittance inflows to Brazil were valued at $3 billion last year. Despite projections of the global decline in remittance payments due to the COVID outbreak, Latin America has been fairly resilient, especially Brazil, which reported no contractions in growth during 2020.

With around three-fourths of remittance payments in Latin America originating from the United States, Tranglo had initially expanded operations to the North American markets via strategic partnerships with established players, which included integrating their international transactions infrastructure with Tranglo’s API.

Tranglo’s Brazil-based network includes direct bank transfers and cash pickups.

Tranglo’s single interface platform is supported by domestic and international partnerships, and it is currently accessible in more than 23 countries.

Jacky Lee, CEO at Tranglo, stated:

“It is just the first of many to come. We are already planning to expand into countries like Mexico and Argentina next, bringing our cross-border payment solutions to even more businesses in the region and beyond. We are also focusing on enhancing e-wallet support to stay ahead in the digital economy, so stay tuned for more exciting development this year.”

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