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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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Celebrating Black Inventors for Black History Month

While Black history should always be recognized and shared every day, for Black History Month, we’d like to give thanks and highlight the many generations of African American inventors and their groundbreaking discoveries that changed the world. Thanks to their contributions, which paved the way for scientific discovery and tech innovations, we saw our daily lives improve throughout the years with everyday inventions.

Get inspired by checking out these Black inventors that helped shape our lives. We’ve been posting about these innovators on the Indiegogo Instagram all month long, and you can click through to see the original social media post for each one.

Born in 1867 as Sarah Breedlove, Madam C.J. Walker was America’s FIRST female self-made millionaire. In 1905, she invented Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, which grew into a line of hair products and introduced a new system of hair care for African-American hair. She wasn’t just a pioneer in the cosmetics industry, she was also a successful entrepreneur. 

By 1913, Walker’s business was earning $3,000 a month (over $50,000 in today’s dollars). A lifelong philanthropist, she also focused her efforts in employing Black women in her community, giving them the opportunity to be financially independent. You can learn more about Madam C.J. Walker by watching Self Made, a Netflix series based on her life.

In 1973, she became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear physics at MIT. She is also the second Black woman in the U.S. to earn a doctorate in physics. Her illustrious career as a theoretical physicist includes leadership positions in STEM across many industries — from academia to public service and government to research.

Most notably, her groundbreaking experiments led to the invention of caller ID, call waiting, touch-tone telephone, portable fax, the fiber-optic cable, solar cells, and many other innovations in telecommunications that we use today. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Dr. Jackson the National Medal of Science, the highest honor in the country for her contributions to STEM and the world.

In 1922, after witnessing a carriage accident at an intersection in the city of Cleveland where he lived, he came up with a new and improved traffic signal. He invented a traffic signal with a warning light that will alert drivers in needing to stop. This T-shaped design was patented and became the precursor of what we now know as our modern three-way traffic light system. So the next time you’re driving and arrive at a stoplight, think of Garrett Morgan!

He also went on to patent more inventions, including a hair straightening product, a sewing machine, and a respiratory breathing device or safety hood which would later become the prototype for gas masks in WWI, protecting soldiers from toxic gas. In fact, Morgan himself would personally demo his invention to fire departments, even leading a rescue mission that saved many lives during the 1916 Lake Erie tunnel explosion.

Dubbed the “Father of Modern Gaming, ” Lawson led the development of the Fairchild Channel F console in the 1970s, which was the first programmable ROM cartridge–based video game console and the first console to use a microprocessor.

But Lawson didn’t stop there. In 1980, he founded Videosoft, a video game development company that made software for the Atari 2600. Atari adopted his cartridge approach and became the top video game console on the market, NBD. He was also one of the only Black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists that included Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson received numerous awards and honors for his contributions as a video game industry pioneer.

Celebrate Black inventors every day

As we look back at these legacies, it’s up to all of us to do the work and share these stories and contributions with more people. 

Here at Indiegogo, we’re all about giving a platform for new ideas (especially in STEM) to take shape, grow, and thrive with the contributions of crowdfunding backers like you that help bring these innovations to reality. And if you’re an inventor or creator, we look forward to supporting your ideas this year!

Want to explore more Black creators? Show your love and support for Black entrepreneurs and creators in our crowdfunding community.

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Asian Banks Collaborate on Cross-Border CBDC Project

Global regulators continue to work on strategies in a bid to regulate their prospective crypto markets. One topic that continues to pop up even in regions that are averse to cryptos is CBDCs. In Asia, some major banks are planning to join hands to launch a pilot on the blockchain.

Apex Banks Look To Control Crypto Rise

Financial regulators from four Asian economies have announced that they intend to create cross-border central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the coming years.

The project rightly named the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency (m-CBDC) is an ongoing partnership between four major Asian countries. The project aims to resolve challenges like the traditional cross-border payments system’s inefficiencies, high transaction cost, and complex regulatory guidelines. The body of regulators hopes to attract more apex banks to join in the study of blockchain technology.

The m-CBDC sees the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, and the Digital Currency Initiative of the People’s Republic of China collaborate to develop a prototype leveraging blockchain technology.

The m-CBDC project builds upon the Inthanon-LionRock project set up in 2019 to facilitate cross-border payments. The new efforts will see the Asian nations further explore the potential of DLT by developing a proof-of-concept (PoC) prototype. The bridge project will also look to investigate “business use cases in a cross-border context using both domestic and foreign currencies.”

Pilot Tests Are Underway On CBDC

As Bitcoin prices rose up to $50K, global capital markets are seeing an outflow of funds into the crypto markets. Financial regulators are left in dire straits as digital assets continue to court attention and generate juicy returns for investors despite their associated risks.

In response, many countries have been on the march to create a digital version of their fiat currencies. Pilot programs launched in China and some parts of Europe have seen significant progress in this field. Although CBDCs do not address the inflationary question, world governments see it as a way to put a cap on cryptocurrencies’ rise.

While several developed countries are making progress, the world’s largest economy, the United States of America, has continued to drag its feet on the CBDC question. Although regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SECC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have been doing their bit marshaling the crypto space, no official announcement has been made concerning a CBDC program.

Asian Banks Collaborate on Cross-Border CBDC Project

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Decentraland celebrates 1 year anniversary with virtual party

User-owned virtual world Decentraland is celebrating its one-year anniversary true to form with a virtual party open to all. 

“Relive the past 12 months of events, competitions, exhibitions, gatherings and more with messages from the community and the results of the #DCLFilmClub promo video contest screened for all,” read the party’s announcement blog post.

Attendees will receive a Proof Of Attendance Protocol NFT, and will get the first look at The White Rabbit, an in-game club. Community members are also pitching in on the effort, with one land rental service offering legendary item giveaway to celebrate.

DJ and crypto aficionado RAC posted on Twitter that he’d be performing a “live” DJ set:

While the project has been open to investors and early supporters since 2019, the virtual world welcomed the wider world in February of last year. The project found immediate success, quickly selling $1 million in virtual land. Since then, the world has become home to numerous NFT art galleries, casinos, and other attractions. 

More recently, new features such as a virtual casino, layer-2 scaling via Polygon (nee Matic), and voice chat sent native tokens LAND and MANA soaring in early 2021.

The platform also frequently makes headlines for the high-priced sums its virtual plots of lands can fetch on the open market. Digital land is a particularly hot commodity for NFT investors, and LAND is no exception, often making the news for six-figure sales.

It’s been a similarly strong year for the wider Metaverse. Multiple digital worlds have made strides in functionality, playerbases, and interoperability — enough so that Fortnite game studio founder Tim Sweeney has said the tech is “going places.”

Players who are interested in the festivities can hop in now and follow a trail of confetti to the party, where RAC currently has the stage.

Decentraland celebrates 1 year anniversary with virtual party

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Silicon Valley Is Losing Dominance

For the past few decades, Silicon Valley has dominated the world of venture capital. According to Pitchbook, Silicon Valley accounted for a whopping 26% of all VC dealmaking in 2014. Even more impressive, more than 39% of all dollars invested into VC-backed startups happened in the Silicon Valley area.

However, Silicon Valley’s dominance has been declining for a while. According to Pitchbook data, via CNBC, Silicon Valley’s share of venture capital has been declining since 2014.

But since the pandemic began last year, that trend has accelerated dramatically. Pitchbook now predicts that Silicon Valley’s share of VC deals will soon drop below 20% for the first time in history. 

Prominent venture capitalist Jason Lemkin recently summed the situation up in a tweet.

Jason Lemkin Tweet

Lemkin knows what he’s talking about. He’s deeply entrenched in California’s tech scene as one of the world’s top Software-as-a-Service investors.

The Tech Diaspora

The world of tech investing is changing. Soon, Silicon Valley will no longer be such a dominant force in the world of startup investing. Back in August of last year, I wrote a piece titled “Tech Companies Flee California (Finally).” Here’s a relevant excerpt.

For California and the SFBA, this trend should be quite disturbing in the short-term. But for the rest of us, things are looking up. Companies are spreading out across the country, and the benefits — especially to business-friendly states like Texas — will be significant. 

Ultimately, this will be good for California too. They’ll be forced to make the state more attractive to businesses. Maybe even lower taxes and slim down their bloated budgets (California is looking at a $54 billion budget deficit this year). 

I believe the groups that will benefit most of all are entrepreneurs and startup investors. As big technology companies spread out across the U.S., more innovative startups will also sprout up all over the country. Wealth, skills and experience will become more evenly distributed.

Venture capitalists will be forced to invest much more outside the SFBA. Angel investor communities will sprout up everywhere in response. And equity crowdfunding will play an increasingly important role in funding early-stage companies. 

This is going to be an incredibly powerful trend. The primary effect will be a more even distribution of wealth across the country (and the world).

And the timing couldn’t be better for startup investors. On March 15th, new regulations will go into effect that increase the limit on most equity crowdfunding deals from $1.07 million to $5 million. This will attract far more mature and established startups, which anyone will be able to invest in.

My advice: start saving up cash if you have the means. There will be some truly impressive opportunities for retail startup investors in the very near future. Keep a close eye on startup funding portals, because I suspect some of these new $5M deals will sell out very quickly. Equity crowdfunding is on the verge of a revolutionary change. 

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