Algofi, a platform to earn high-interest yields on cryptocurrency, announced today the upcoming launch of its decentralized lending market app on the Algorand blockchain. The protocol is currently live on Algorand’s testnet, with plans to launch on mainnet by Q4 of this year.
Founders John Clarke and Owen Colegrove bring traditional finance backgrounds to Algofi, having worked on Citadel’s fixed income team before leaving to ideate a new decentralized finance solution, which took shape within Y Combinator’s summer 2021 accelerator and launched as Algofi in August 2021.
Upon launch, Algofi will include easy on-ramps for fiat currency into crypto on Algorand, allowing users to begin earning yield on Algofi immediately.
Algorand + Algofi
Algofi selected Algorand as its underlying technology partner due to the ready availability of robust developer tools which enabled the simple creation of smart contracts that power Algofi; the active and engaged community around Algorand; and the technology’s proven success in real-world financial use cases. In order to create a platform that is user-friendly on a mass scale, points of friction like high transaction fees and confusing bridging processes are untenable:
“Building on Algorand enables < $0.01 transactions compared to ~$15 or more on other incumbent networks. High costs and slow transactions make decentralized lending markets inaccessible to the majority of potential users. We’re also excited to be a part of Algorand’s DeFi ecosystem alongside the likes of Yieldly, Tinyman, and Algodex, where we already see a lot of synergies.”
– John Clarke, Algofi Co-Founder