Meet the MARKET Protocol Team: Collins Brown
Describe MARKET Protocol in two sentences.
MARKET Protocol is the set of rules, the protocol, that allows traders to transfer risk from one party to another in a trustless fashion, meaning one does not have to worry about counterparty risk.
How was the idea for MARKET Protocol born?
The founders have been trading derivatives for many years and started following cryptocurrencies several years ago. We saw an opportunity to bring a protocol to the blockchain that allows traders to gain exposure to traditional, off chain assets using ERC2O tokens as collateral. The use cases continued to expand as we thought of more and more ways this protocol would be useful. For example, traders can create interesting derivatives to gain price exposure to something like the moving average of Bitcoin or USD derivative to hedge exposure to the base token effectively creating a stable coin.
How did you become interested in blockchain?
A friend and colleague used to stop by our trading desk to talk about Bitcoin all the time. This was in the early days. It was fascinating from a price and trading perspective, but I did not understand the underpinnings. His predictions were so fantastical, and in hindsight accurate, I only partially paid attention. What a regret! Eventually, I learned about the technology underpinning the transactions and immediately saw the far-reaching benefits.
Do you think decentralization is important and why?
Absolutely! I started my career in 2005 and lived through the financial crisis. I saw large financial institutions which have been around for a very long time be unable to meet their obligations. It was a very scary time for everyone. The idea of being able to enter into a transaction and have your collateral locked in an immutable smart contract alleviates the need to trust an institution after giving them your money. You see exactly what the contract is going to do before you enter the deal.
What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem?
Our founding team has been together for almost a decade. Seth and I started our careers together on the same day, at the same firm, in 2005. Professionally we’ve grown up together. We’ve assembled a great group of very smart, hard-working individuals to help us make this vision a reality.
We are the group to bring derivatives to the blockchain because we have years of experience trading them. We have worked with exchanges on new products offerings and market making. We have experience in the world of trading and have been involved with blockchain for years.
What does MARKET Protocol look like in 2 years?
In an ideal world, I hope to see people using the protocol to trade crypto assets more efficiently, easily and securely. People will be hedging their tokens while still consuming the utility they provide. A network will be hosting orders for people to trade against. The community will be shaping the future of project development. It’s very exciting to dream about the way a community can improve something you had a hand in creating.
MARKET Protocol is powering safe, solvent & trustless trading of any asset. To learn more, visit www.marketprotocol.io, read our whitepaper, and join the ongoing discussion on Telegram.
