MELD is an innovative new startup launching today with a mission to equalize the playing field between the financial ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. Created to serve the more than 2 billion members of the world population that are either under-banked or lacking any banking capability whatsoever, MELD provides a range of financial tools and solutions built around leveraging cryptocurrency assets as collateral for fiat or cryptobased loans.
MELD is unique in terms of token launches as it already claims close to 40,000 token holders. MELD was the first company ever to carry out a successful ISPO (Initial Stake Pool Offering), which attracted $1B US worth of crypto (in ADA tokens) in less than 3 months and helped the company raise $10M US for its own funding ($45M total raised to date via an additional private token sale).
Specifically, MELD represents the first decentralized protocol that incorporates fiat loan capabilities into the cryptocurrency ecosystem. MELD enables low-friction transactions between crypto and fiat positions, while maintaining control of a customer’s owned digital assets. The MELD token can be staked on the MELDapp to provide insurance for the MELD protocol. In doing so, MELD stakers will earn an APY through protocol fees and liquidity reward programs (up to 15% currently). The MELD protocol was created to bind the on-chain (crypto) and the off-chain (fiat) worlds together, as well as uniting the many Blockchains and DeFi protocols.
MELD was designed as a world-class DeFi protocol, powered by the Cardano blockchain and smart contracts to ensure complete transparency and fairness for all parties (including both the minting and distribution of tokens). The MELD token is used for governance of the protocol, and users can stake it to earn yield. MELD capitalizes on Cardano’s transaction efficiency compared to older blockchains, which drastically reduces fees by more than 99% compared to ETH-based solutions.
The service is expected to gain strong and early traction in the EU and countries such as El Salvador and Nigeria, where cryptocurrency is either already fiat currency or is in mainstream usage. MELD tokens will be available for purchase from leading crypto exchanges such as Bitrue and FMFW beginning today, the 3rd of February, 2022.
MELD will provide unique and innovative new financial services never before offered by traditional banks, including not only standard cryptocurrency-backed loans but also the company’s unique Genius Loans™. With a Genius Loan, the customer collateralizes their cryptocurrency and takes out a loan with a slightly higher interest rate. The customer is only required to service the interest on the loan, while the yield generated from the crypto collateral pays down the principal.
MELD also offers a Crypto-Backed Credit Line (CBCL), which provides a valuable and flexible tool for managing fiat cash requirements while only being exposed to interest on the amount of fiat used. The CBCL works in conjunction with the MELD debit card where users can spend with their MELD Card both at point-of-sale and online. The CBCL works similar to a fiat loan, where cryptocurrency is collateralized in a smart contract and 50% of the collateral value can be used as a line of credit. Margin calls and liquidation events work the same in the line of credit product as they do in the MELD Loan.
Users interact with the MELDapp via iOS™, Android or in the browser to easily access their digital assets to lend, borrow and manage the services offered by MELD. Security is dramatically enhanced over competitive wallets as customers keep the keys to their assets at all times.
Finally, MELD also enables so-called ‘MELDed assets’, where anyone can bring in tokens from other blockchains such as BTC, ETH and BNB directly into the third-generation Cardano smart contract enabled blockchain. This not only increases crypto liquidity, it also allows people to stay long in their crypto of choice instead of forcing them to use only Cardano’s ADA tokens. MELD also benefits from the superior performance and user transparency of Cardano.
“We are excited to offer billions of people a new way to access powerful financial instruments, products and services – but even better and more innovative thanks to the power of the MELD protocol,” said Ken Olling, CEO of MELD. “Offering a way to stake cryptocurrency as collateral against a fiat loan is powerful for so many reasons – not the least of which is sheltering highly volatile cryptocurrencies from a forced sell during a market bottoming out. We are very excited to provide unique financial products and services to our customers in the months to come as MELD tokens become widely shared across different exchanges.”
