An experienced team of cryptographers and blockchain industry luminaries has currently unveiled Minterest, a value-capturing lending and borrowing protocol designed to make DeFi fairer for users. The reveal of the new protocol follows a recent private fundraising round that saw the team behind the project raise $6.5 million USD from top-tier investors, including KR1, DFG, CMS, DigiStrats, FOMOcraft, Bitscale Capital, PNYX Ventures, CMT Digital, and Faculty Capital.
The Korea IT Times interviewed Minterest CEO and founder Josh Rogers about the key components of this architecture and what to focus on next step.
What is Minterest? What does Minterest aim to do?
Minterest is a value-capturing lending and borrowing protocol specifically designed to make the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry fairer for users. Currently, there is nearly 225 billion USD locked in DeFi protocols. While this figure seems high, it counts for just under 10% of the world’s crypto assets.
Most incumbent DeFi lending and borrowing protocols have three shortcomings; they don’t capture or pass on the value the protocol generates, they often lack cross-chain capabilities and offer overly complex user experiences. Minterest aims to change that, and in doing so, it will facilitate and promote the widespread adoption of DeFi.
The Minterest protocol has a unique buy-back mechanism through which it passes on 100% of revenue generated to its community of active participants. A key component of this architecture is its unique liquidation mechanism which is entirely managed by the protocol rather than being delegated to external parties.
Minterest recently raised $6.5 million USD. Tell me more about this development.
In September 2021, the protocol achieved a $6.5 million USD funding raise from top-tier investors following a private funding round. Minterest’s investors include KR1, Digital Finance Group (DFG), CMS, DigiStrats, Ellipti, Bitscale Capital, PNYX Ventures, CMT Digital, and Faculty Capital. These investors are leaders in the blockchain and digital asset industry and we are really excited to work closely with them in the coming months to make our vision of a fairer financial ecosystem a reality.
Tell me a bit about your own background and the Minterest team.
I have over 25 years of experience as a founder or a founding member of start-up teams. Some of the ventures I was involved with include, COMindico, the world’s first point-to-point IP telco (US$300M raise), Oriel Communications, the world’s first micro-billing content engine used for the world’s first monetization of Big Brother 2 content, Mitchell Morgan, an advisory and fintech conglomerate encompassing a digital agency for online digital platforms, Freelancer, the world’s largest freelancing marketplace, and HeyYou, Australia’s largest hospitality app.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible Minterest team. It’s made up of seasoned professionals with 50+ years of experience, and proven track records in leading blockchain and digital platforms, including Cardano, Prysm Group, and Chainlink. Our team also has members who bring deep levels of academic and technical expertise to the table, complemented by our world-class advisors, who have contributed to the development of numerous sectors from the ground up.
I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far and I’m very excited for all that’s to come. As a next step, we will focus on growing the Minterest community and providing private access to the protocol to early participants and supporters.
