Algomint opens BTC and ETH floodgates to Algorand, the blockchain best poised for mass adoption
In November 2021, Algomint launched its MainNet on Algorand, enabling interoperability with a gateway bridge between the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks and Algorand. Algorand is an open source blockchain equipped to serve a wide array of global use cases given its superior performance, scalability, security, stability, and functionality, and has proven its robustness as the platform of choice for a wave of adoption that spans from DeFi innovation to gaming to national initiatives in El Salvador, Bermuda, Colombia, Italy and more.
The launch of Algomint marks yet another milestone towards the inevitable cryptocurrency mainstream adoption, as it removes the speed and cost hurdles for BTC and ETH in everyday use by implementing their synthetic versions on Algorand, while the users retain and enjoy the store-of-value properties of the original assets.
It opens the floodgates as these assets could now unlock their value potential by reducing transaction costs to almost negligible, partaking in a flourishing DeFi ecosystem, and finding powerful use cases. Algorand brings together traditional and decentralised finance, facilitating the unprecedented tide of asset value transfer, under the backdrop of historical hyperinflation caused by unsolvable financial challenges of our time.
Background
Decentralized finance (DeFi) has experienced enormous growth in the past two years with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) being the most widely used cryptocurrencies. However, as on-chain activities ramped up, scalability issues and design restrictions severely limited the value potential. Currently only 1.7% of Bitcoin is leveraged for DeFi activities (https://defipulse.com/btc).
These challenges have triggered the renaissance of next-generation Layer 1 blockchains with enhanced technology and better performance. Among the contenders, Algorand has stood out for its superior capability of solving the famous blockchain trilemma — achieving security, scalability, and decentralisation all at the same time — making it the ideal choice for crypto mass adoption via connecting the cryptoverse with the general public and the financial institutions behind them.
Historically, the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks and Algorand are siloed ecosystems with hardly any synergy. This is about to change thanks to Algomint stepping into this role as the preeminent Algorand-based bridge, bringing the world’s most popular assets to the next-generation platform and unlocking their full potential for DeFi activities.
The platform works by locking BTC or ETH as collateral and minting synthetic assets 1:1 on Algorand called goBTC and goETH. The original BTC or ETH is stored in secure vaults of the leading custodian company Copper. The newly minted Algorand Standard Asset (ASA) is then tethered to the value of the original assets. This allows users to trade on the Algorand platform and enjoy all its inherent benefits, while also being able to withdraw their assets by burning them at any time.
The Algorand DeFi Advantage
Algomint intends to play a central role in the growth of the Algorand DeFi ecosystem. The most prevalent benefits of using Algorand for DeFi include its rapid, low cost transactions, high level of security, and environmentally-conscious properties.
High transaction volumes are well-suited for Algorand, which finalizes transactions in just 4 seconds with the plan of upgrading to 46,000 transactions per second. In comparison, other popular blockchains can take as long as ten minutes to an hour. Algorand charges nearly-negligible transaction fees at only 0.001 ALGO per transaction, or less than $0.002 USD at the time of writing, a significant improvement compared to network fees elsewhere, which may run into the hundreds of dollars for simple transactions. Furthermore, the pure-proof-of-stake (PPOS) consensus model also makes Algorand incredibly secure and in turn it means limitless value can be held and transacted on-chain.
Algorand is also known for its environmental-friendliness, with minimal computational power required to run the network, and its small carbon footprint is fully offset through Nettle. In addition, Algomint also neutralizes the carbon footprint of every Bitcoin before it comes onto Algorand through the bridge.
It is therefore not surprising to see the Algorand DeFi ecosystem rapidly growing with a suite of quality projects set to go live in the coming months, following the launch of Yieldly, Tinyman, and Algomint this year. They span across diverse domains, including cryptocurrency exchanges like EXA Finance, PACT, Meld Exchange; lending protocols like xBacked, Folks Finance, Algofi; infrastructure providers like Payscript, Meld Gold, Reach, Optio, Anthill; asset management protocol like Prismatic and Pairs Finance, and many others that are at various stages in the planing.
Algomint is forming strategic partnerships with these outstanding DeFi primitives. Through channeling the liquidity flow onto Algorand, Algomint will unlock rich potential in the ecosystem, significantly improve capital efficiency for asset holders, and facilitate growth opportunities of the protocols that will eventually benefit the entire Algorand community.
The Algomint story
Algomint was founded by blockchain venture capitalists Michael Cotton and AJ Milne of Meld Ventures in early 2021 to increase accessibility to the Algorand blockchain. The goMINT token foundation completed a successful seed round in June, raising $USD 1.5 mil. Through this raise, strategic partnerships were established with leading blockchain investment firms, including Borderless Capital, Valhalla Capital, GSR, LD Capital, Cluster, NGC Ventures, Ellipti, Kosmos, YBB Foundation, Bitfwd Capital, and 8186.
Since then, Algomint has assembled a team of best-in-class developers, economists, and business developers to bring the project’s vision to life, and has diligently executed on the vision to deliver its promises.
Following the launch of their testnet in September for feedback from the Algorand community to help improve the product, Algomint was awarded the Bridge SupaGrant by the Algorand Foundation, marking yet another milestone towards a success that is very much based on the collaborative vision across the Algorand ecosystem.
The Algomint MainNet officially launched on November 22nd with users being able to mint goBTC for the first time. This will be then followed by the launch of goETH in the week of the 29th November to celebrate DeCipher, an Algorand summit in Miami where major breakthroughs and future developments will be announced.
Concurrently, Algomint is working with the Algorand Foundation and DeFi partners on incentive programs to reward early adopters, and news will soon be announced to the community via its social channels including Medium, Twitter, and Telegram.
What’s next?
While the MainNet launch is a significant step forward for Algomint, it merely marks the beginning of the platform’s exciting future. The developer team is currently working on integrating ERC20 tokens including AAVE, CURVE, ILV, high yield assets like HNT, and planning to build gold and USD stable coin baskets for easy swapping and arbitrage. The near-term mission is to create cryptocurrency assets that are secure, trusted, efficient, and widely distributed.
In parallel, the team is focusing on the upcoming governance token launch, goMINT, that will eventually allow the community to shape the future direction of the platform. The launch is planned for Q1 2022 on an Algorand native launchpad, and will soon be listed on centralized and decentralized exchanges after the initial price discovery.
As the team pushes towards product v2, they will enable on-chain custody with fully-audited smart contracts, to make Algomint a piece of truly decentralized permissionless infrastructure for Algorand. Leveraging the liquidity and traffic, Algomint will also aggregate other DeFi protocols on its interface, and develop exciting new functionalities like arbitrage yield staking and exchange routing etc.
The vision is to expand the definition of a bridging gateway, and to nourish a prosperous Algorand DeFi ecosystem, which will further supercharge the crypto and broader macro economy to unprecedented levels.
As can be easily seen, the opening of the floodgates is only the beginning, with a long exciting journey ahead towards crypto mass adoption. Whilst there is no need to be naive about the magnitude of the challenge, Algomint is heading in the right direction with a solid Algorand ecosystem to drive towards this vision together.
About Algomint
Algomint empowers the next generation of DeFi by bridging popular assets like BTC and ETH to Algorand, a FutureFi blockchain protocol with robust technology and pure proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to deliver high speed and low cost transactions. Algomint is built by Meld Ventures founders, Michael Cotton and AJ Milne, who aspire to create a decentralised future of financial inclusion and freedom.
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