Read the full case study here.
The cryptocurrency market will reach nearly five billion USD by 2030, according to recent market research. With impressive returns and projected growth, it’s no wonder people want to get involved in decentralized finance (DeFi).
But for those who don’t already understand crypto assets, there are significant barriers to entry. What’s a wallet? Do I need one, and how do I get one? What are keys? How do I protect them? What platform do I use?
And there’s also the problem of risk. Crypto users have grown comfortable taking chances in the space. But the average person is used to more trust, assurances, and transparency when it comes to their money.
Public Mint, a Fintech firm with offices in the US, UK and Europe, decided to create a graduated introduction into blockchain-based investing. To do so, Public Mint began with what users already know: traditional banking and fiat currencies like the US dollar.
Public Mint wanted a platform with a one-to-one equivalency between US dollars and a synthetic version of the dollar on their blockchain. This means every synthetic “on-chain” dollar maps to a corresponding US dollar held at one of Public Mint’s regulated custodian partners.
Users would not move dollars from one account to another, the same way traditional banks do. Rather, the physical dollars stay in a custodian bank. Users transfer ownership of these physical dollars using an instant-settlement, low-cost blockchain.
To develop its system, Public Mint experimented with the blockchain technologies available in 2018. Eventually, it decided on an Ethereum-based technology stack called Pantheon developed by the Pegasys team at ConsenSys. For Public Mint, tapping into the large community of Ethereum developers was an important part of the decision.
About a year afterward, Pantheon became Hyperledger Besu, an open source project under the umbrella of the Hyperledger Foundation, which pleased Public Mint as that brought them closer to the Hyperledger and corporate communities.
Public Mint’s network launched in July 2020 with its web wallet payment system. To date, more than 3,800 wallet addresses have been created since Public Mint’s launch. It has more than USD$2.9 million in on-chain value, and the platform has validated more than 28,000 transactions.
Building on the initial wallet capabilities, Public Mint now also has introduced the EARN Program. EARN is for users who want to take the next step into DeFi investing but don’t want to manage multiple wallets or private keys.
Hyperledger worked with Public Mint on a case study that details the launch of this network and the pathway it creates for bringing DeFi to a broader audience. It covers the core architecture of the Public Mint system, its blockchain-based banking and DeFi business models and the roadmap for future applications.
Read the full case study here.
