Blockchain platform Algorand has created a $300 million fund in the form of ALGO tokens to encourage the growth of the DeFi ecosystem on Algorand platform. This marks a growing trend in the DeFi sector as other platforms seek to compete with Ethereum blockchain, on which most DeFi projects have been based. The fund from Algorand will fuel the growth of decentralized exchanges, synthetic asset applications, NFT platforms, money markets, and options markets running on blockchain networks. Meanwhile, other companies are tapping into the short- and long-term potential of DeFi with various initiatives. Some of these companies include WonderFi Technologies Inc. (NEO:WNDR) (OTC:WONDF), DMG Blockchain (TSX-V:DMGI) (OTCQB:DMGGF), Square Inc. (NYSE:SQ), Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT), and DeFi Technologies Inc. (NEO:DEFI) (OTC:DEFTF).
Kevin O’Leary backed WonderFi Technologies Inc. (NEO:WNDR) (OTC:WONDF) has received approval from its board of directors to acquire an additional CAD 6.8 million in crypto and DeFi assets. The acquisition will support WonderFi’s mission to provide better access to DeFi simply and securely.
These assets will be added to the company’s digital asset treasury, which the company intends to generate yield on through staking and other DeFi mechanisms.
One of these mechanisms is the use of stable coins USDC and DAI for treasury management, for which WonderFi’s board has given its approval. The use of stable coins for treasury management is a growing trend for institutions, which are investing in digital assets to help companies tap into DeFi and DeFi opportunities.
WonderFi intends to use stable coins in its corporate treasury to optimize its balance sheet through yield generation while maintaining price stability with the US dollar. Left in a traditional savings account, WonderFi’s cash would generate an average of 0.25%.
The company’s mission of bringing DeFi to the masses was also advanced on August 31, when the company announced it had begun trading on the NEO exchange under the ticker “WNDR”. The launch on the exchange gives WonderFi further access to institutional capital to fund growth. Investors will now be looking to learn more about future developments for the company as progress accelerates.
WonderFi investor and inspiration for the company’s name, Kevin O’Leary “Mr Wonderful”, commented, “Today’s launch marks the culmination of hard work, smart ideas, and a great team. WonderFi is focused on being the number one company in the DeFi space and this is a major milestone for them.”
For more information about WonderFi Technologies Inc. (NEO:WNDR) (OTC:WONDF), click here.
These Companies are Tapping into the Future of Finance with DeFi
DeFi Technologies Inc. (NEO:DEF) (OTC:DEFTF) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Valour Inc. has seen an increase of more than 1400% in its AUM since the beginning of the year. The company’s assets under management have surpassed US$208 million. The company’s AUM increased by nearly US$70 million in less than a month and doubled in two months. Valour’s AUM is also expected to grow over the coming months as the company anticipates German listings in September and an aggressive global marketing plan underway. Valour Inc. has also hired Frances Edwards as the COO as the company prepares to expand through the European market.
DMG Blockchain (TSXV:DMGI) (OTCQB:DMGGF) becomes the first Canadian bitcoin mining company to join MaraPool, a mining pool designed by Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA). MaraPool is a bitcoin mining pool designed to reduce the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment through carbon-neutral mining. The mining pool is fully audited by third-party firms in the US to provide members with industry-leading transparency, an intuitive reporting system, and access to services from NYDIG. DMG will begin pointing its hash rate towards the MaraPool beginning September 13, 2021.
Payment company Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has plans to launch a decentralized finance platform using bitcoin. According to a tweet by Square’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, the company is focusing on developing an open developer project that will make it easier to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services. Dorsey recently discussed Square’s direction in developing the decentralized exchange platform for bitcoin, TBD, noting that the company is seeking to build a platform that will be distributed around the world.
Financial services provider Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) is contributing to the recently launched Pyth Network. Pyth Network is a Solana-based decentralized data oracle that seeks to connect market data from contributing trading platforms and exchanges to any smart contracts in the Solana blockchain. The network plans to integrate the Wormhole interoperability protocol to support other blockchains including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Terra.
DeFi innovations continue to be introduced into the market, expanding this sector and promising even greater growth potential. As this happens, companies like WonderFi Technologies Inc. stand to benefit from the widespread adoption of decentralized finance.
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