Blits: DeFi Super App and Cross-chain Loans
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What is Blits?
Blits is a DEFI “Super App” with native support for cross-chain non-custodial loans with the objective of creating interoperability and liquidity from legacy blockchains to newer ones like Harmony’s. Blits aims to be the bridge between Centralized Finance (CEFI) and Decentralized Finance (DEFI). We believe the true potential of decentralized finance applications will be unlocked when the unbanked populations of the world have the right incentives and knowledge to access the benefits that blockchain and decentralized systems have to offer.
Right now, the ecosystem is very technical, and it does not scale well due to Ethereum’s costly fees and slow transactions, so it is really not suitable for non-technical or unbanked populations to use in everyday life, and it’s precisely these markets who could benefit the most. Furthermore, liquidity and assets are concentrated on Ethereum’s blockchain so we are in a “chicken or the egg causality dilemma” where we cannot build DEFI protocols on other blockchains because there are not underlying assets or liquidity, and, in the other hand, there’s no assets because there aren’t many use cases or protocols on other blockchains.
To reduce the entry barriers to blockchain and decentralized finance, we believe it is important to make DEFI for humans and create liquidity and interoperability between legacy blockchains and more scalable ones, like Harmony. This way, we can create a seamless integration between CEFI and DEFI where we can take the benefits from the two worlds and mitigate the weaknesses both have.
Tell us about the Blits team
We are a diverse team with a common vision: to create a freer, fairer, and more prosperous society through technology. We are based in Mexico City, so we have first hand understanding of the necessities and problems the unbanked population of Latin America faces, and we also understand the roadblocks blockchain and decentralized finance face which stop them from being adopted by the majority of the population, and specially the one who would benefit the most from it, the unbanked.
For this reason, we have been working, since last year, on launching the first Mexican peso stablecoin to create a direct fiat on-ramp gateway that allows unbanked users to have direct access to a full set of financial services through DEFI. During the development of the project, we realized we needed to integrate the stablecoin and DEFI protocols in a way that is intuitive and familiar to users to reduce the technical knowledge requirements to the minimum. We also noticed we needed to explore a way of reducing transaction fees and confirmation times to really make the product usable in everyday life. It was then when we decided to develop a DEFI Super App and explore more scalable blockchains.
We have been building this project for almost a year with a team of six creative minds with a huge desire to give our best in everything we do and to create a positive impact in the world. We have a solid team who is composed of blockchain and mobile app developers, designers, government relations professionals and fintech specialists. Our core members working on the Harmony Grant are our cofounder Kenia Chavez, chemist with many more than 10 years of experience working on regulatory compliance at pharmaceuticals, and technology startups. Jose Espinosa, marketer, full-stack developer, and entrepreneur. Roberto Cervantes blockchain and mobile app developer, and Abraham Rios, communications director specialized on international relations, economics, and politics.
Tell us about the cross chain atomic loans you are building
Cross-chain non-custodial collateralized loans allow users to lend and borrow tokens and stablecoins across different blockchains without needing to trust a central intermediary. For example, users can use ONE tokens on Harmony’s blockchain as collateral and borrow stablecoins on Ethereum’s blockchain without needing to trust the other party or conduct the transaction through a centralized escrow.
This system leverages Hash Time Locked Contracts (HTLC) to perform the lending mechanism, similarly to how Atomic Swaps work, ensuring that the funds cannot be stolen or confiscated by any involved or external party. All private keys are handled by client-side applications like the Metamask and Harmony One Wallet browser extensions, so the users never give up custody of their private keys.
Centralized lending solutions involve a potential risk to the users because they rely on the good behavior of a central actor that can be hacked or has incentives to seize or steal the funds. On the other hand, existing DEFI lending protocols only allow users to borrow and lend assets on a single blockchain, thus being constrained to potentially high transaction fees and slow confirmation times, which disincentives micro transactions and scalability.
Our goal is to create liquidity and interoperability between Ethereum and Harmony’s blockchain, so assets can be bridged across blockchains to create liquidity and take advantage of the lower confirmation times, lower fees and scalability that Harmony has to offer to the DEFI ecosystem.
There are many Layer 1 projects out there. Why decide to partner with Harmony?
Harmony is a project built to “scale trust and create a radically fair economy”, so we believe it is aligned with our objective of scaling blockchain and bridging the traditional and decentralized economies together. Furthermore, we believe the scalability solution that the core protocol provides through sharding has the opportunity to unlock the true potential, not only of decentralized finance, but decentralized economy, and to create new paradigms of organization and collaboration. In short, we want to help build a decentralized financial infrastructure that uses blockchains at scale to provide easy and direct access that combines CEFI and DEFI and opens the door to the world of DEECO?
What utility do stablecoins provide and how will they be used and evolve over time?
Stablecoins (fiat currency backed or decentralized price-pegged tokens) provide individuals and organizations with a robust and decentralized method of exchanging value with a familiar accounting unit that is exposed to less volatility. This way it’s possible to create direct and seamless interoperability between the CEFI and DEFI that will allow us to lower the entry barriers to the population of the world that do not have access to financial services and cannot participate directly in the global economy. Furthermore, stablecoins have native access to blockchains and DEFI protocols that will allow users to find new paths of opportunities through decentralized services, and connectivity with the globalized economy.
Stablecoins are an essential part of the decentralized economy’s infrastructure and a requirement for other types of protocols and systems to emerge. As we move to a digital era, and automatization permeates in every aspect of our lives, we believe the need for programmable money will only tend to increase. Thus, stablecoins will play an important role in all human economic interactions.
If you weren’t in blockchain what would you be doing instead?
Each member of the team has a great passion and commitment for what we do; and developing a project like Blits gives us motivation and energy to continue innovating in all the challenges that arise. We firmly believe that at some point in our life’s we would have been immersed in projects that involve finance and technology, because those are the industries we are passionate about. In some way or another, we would be working towards our vision to create a freer, fairer, and more prosperous society through technology.
Where can others find more information about Blits?
Our team is eager to interact with the entire community and get user feedback, so you can contact us:
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