Announcement

Launch of Secured Finance Protocol

A Groundbreaking Cryptocurrency-Denominated Fixed Income Market

Masa | Secured Finance
Published in
4 min readDec 14, 2023

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Secured Finance Protocol Launch on Ethereum Mainnet

Launch Date and Details:

  • December 15, 2023, at UTC 0:00: Secured Finance Protocol launches on the Ethereum Mainnet.
  • Initial Phase: Global Itayose period starts, facilitating open order book-making for all denominated currencies (BTC, ETH, USDC, FIL) in the zero-coupon bond market.
  • December 29, 2023, at UTC 0:00: Smart contract executes the Itayose, officially starting the bond market.

Key Features of Secured Finance

  1. Innovative Order Book System: Unlike traditional lending models, it achieves transparent and fair price formation based on market demand and supply.
  2. Overcoming Technical Challenges: Solves the constraints of Ethereum’s gas costs and processing capabilities using lazy evaluation technology.
  3. Improving Market Transparency and Efficiency: Enhanced market transparency and efficiency through efficient on-chain order book management.
  4. Maintaining Liquidity: Maintains secondary market liquidity through incentives and simplification of transactions via clearing counterparties.
  5. Building a New Financial Market: Applies traditional financial market clearing mechanisms to blockchain, offering new forms of transactions in the cryptocurrency market.

Market Impact and Benefits:

  1. Future Interest Rate Prediction with Yield Curve: The yield curve shows interest rate movements over various periods, making it easier for investors to predict future market trends and make more informed investment decisions.
  2. Opportunities Offered by the Fixed Income Market: The fixed income market allows investors to access new financial products, enabling them to adopt diverse investment strategies and diversify risks.
  3. Impact on the Derivatives Market: The yield curve is crucial in pricing derivative products, enabling more complex financial product transactions and increasing market depth.
  4. Improved Risk Management: The order book system and yield curve allow investors to accurately assess market risks and develop appropriate risk management strategies.
A Special Brand Video Presented by Protocol Labs and GSR

Why Secured Finance Stands Out:

  1. Innovative Solution to Ethereum’s Gas Cost Problem: Operating a full on-chain order book on Ethereum is typically hindered by high gas costs. Secured Finance has innovatively addressed this through technologies like lazy evaluation, enabling cost-effective and efficient order book operations.
  2. Enhancing Liquidity in the Secondary Market: The fixed interest rate market often struggles with liquidity. Secured Finance has overcome this by integrating an order book system with a clearing house, creating a unique market structure that ensures ample liquidity.
  3. Adapting to the Peer-to-Peer OTC Derivatives Market: The $630 trillion OTC derivatives market demands versatility and sophistication. Secured Finance meets these challenges with its adaptable and flexible system, catering to the market’s diverse needs.
  4. Distinct Approach to Fixed Interest Rates: Unlike other projects focused on variable interest rates, Secured Finance fills a crucial gap by offering fixed interest rates. This approach sets it apart from pool-based systems like Aave and Compound, introducing a novel option to the market.
  5. Expertise and Forward-Thinking: The success of Secured Finance also stems from its team, which combines expertise in computer science and traditional finance. This unique blend has enabled the bridging of traditional financial markets with the cryptocurrency sector, opening up new opportunities.

These strengths position Secured Finance as an innovator and leader, overcoming challenges that have hindered other crypto projects and tapping into new market segments.

On-Chain vs. Off-Chain Interest Rate Determination:

  1. On-Chain Transparency and Reliability: Secured Finance’s on-chain order book system offers unmatched transparency and reliability. Every transaction is publicly verifiable, ensuring a fair and trustworthy interest rate determination process.
  2. Limitations of Off-Chain Systems: Off-chain matching can introduce risks of manipulation and opacity, as demonstrated in incidents like the LIBOR scandal. Such systems are often reliant on central intermediaries, which contradicts the trustless ethos of blockchain technology.
  3. Influence on the Derivatives Market: The credibility and clarity of interest rate determination are vital for their role as benchmarks in the derivatives market. Secured Finance’s on-chain methodology provides a dependable standard, fostering a healthier market ecosystem.
  4. Philosophical Alignment with Blockchain Ideals: At its core, blockchain technology champions a move away from centralization to a decentralized, transparent system. Secured Finance embodies this philosophy, setting new standards of fairness and transparency in financial transactions.

While off-chain systems maintain a role in the derivatives market, their reliability and transparency may not match the standards set by fully on-chain systems. Therefore, the integrity and fairness offered by on-chain platforms like Secured Finance are essential for the progressive development of the interest rate market.

Conclusion

As we embark on this exciting journey with the Secured Finance Protocol, our commitment extends beyond just technological advancements. We’re dedicated to fostering a community where information is not just available but also approachable and understandable. Our efforts will be ongoing to ensure that our platform remains at the forefront of innovation, always keeping our users informed and engaged.

We invite our community to join us in this revolutionary endeavor. Your support and feedback are invaluable as we continue to shape the future of finance. Together, we are not just participants but pioneers in a new era of financial technology.

Stay connected with us for the latest updates and insights. Your trust and involvement are the cornerstones of our progress and success in Secured Finance.

Step-by-Step User Guide

This guide offers a concise walkthrough of the platform, covering key aspects from preparing test tokens and managing collateral to executing transactions. It also delves into advanced trading strategies that are unique to Secured Finance.

  1. Preparing Test Tokens for Practice
  2. Collateral Management
  3. Borrowing with Simple UI
  4. Lending with Simple UI
  5. Trading at Pre-Open Order Book (Itayose)
  6. Placing Limit Orders
  7. Add/Reduce or Unwind Position
  8. User Guide on Emergency Global Settlement

Bond Trading Strategies

  1. Mastering Cross Currency Carry Trade on Secured Finance
  2. Mastering Yield Tenor Spread with Leverage
  3. Mastering Carry Roll-Down with Leverage

Reference

Secured Finance Official Links
Website | Twitter | GitHub | Galxe | Link3 | Guild

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Masa | Secured Finance
Secured Finance

Secured Finance Founder | Fixed Income DeFi | Former Head of Derivatives Structuring | Computer Scientist | Task Force Member for Cabinet Secretariat Japan