Xend Finance was founded in 2019 by Aronu Ugochukwu and Abafor Chima. The Nigerian startup took part in both the Binance Incubation and Google Launchpad Africa Accelerator programs. The efforts were fruitful, and the company has secured some $2,200,000 from various investors, including Binance and Google, and alongside firms like Hashkey, NGC Ventures, and TechFusion Africa. TechFusion Africa, a software service provider, also made the Xend services available to its 5000 credit union members.
A credit union is a member-owned financial cooperative, providing services to members similar to retail banks services.
Xend finance describes itself as a cross-chain DeFi Platform for Credit Unions and Cooperatives. The project ultimately aims to fight the devaluation of native currencies as can be seen in many developing countries worldwide. The devaluation (inflation) is very high in some African countries. This was also the reason for Ugochukwu to start Xend Finance, helping people preserve value. The Nigerian Naira currency faces an inflation rate of 17%.
To prevent (future) users of the Xend platform from losing more value over a night's sleep, Xend has created the solution in their smart contracts.
The platform lets users put in cryptocurrency or fiat money which will then be converted into crypto stable coins. The smart contracts will then stake the assets in: Compound, Aave, Fulcrum, dYdX, Venus, ForTube, DeFi Dollar, and Yearn Finance De-Fi protocols. This secures the best yield over your savings. With promised yields up to 15%, Xend surely beats any bank’s interest rates.
So instead of losing value, the Xend smart contracts will increase the value of staked assets. A big win for those fighting inflation of their currency.
Users can also utilize the possibility to take out a loan. These loans can be set up with flexible repayment terms.
The straight-up user interface (UI) for both the web UI and mobile app makes staking very easy even for non-experienced users.
For the African Website, users are encouraged to make use of the Xend Mobile App, which opens a variety of features. The app supports features such as sending and receiving money via the telephone or just for paying a bill. Sending money to a telephone number is possible even if the other party does not use Xend. African Xend users also have access to an on-ramp into crypto or fiat money.
Xend also features another app on their website for the African market, an app called Geena. It is a marketplace enabling anyone to become a merchant with a broad reach. The app also lets you monitor business activities, keep track of sales, available products, and more. Together with the Xend app, users can really improve their financial situation.
For the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) website, there are three main ways to stake your assets;
save up your money and be able to withdraw whenever you want. Users can choose from a fixed or variable interest rate. Currently, only $BUSD can be used for this form of saving. The current yield is 15% for fixed interest.
Esusu describes traditional forms of cooperation in African societies. This involves groups of individuals who contribute to informal savings and credit associations for their mutual benefit.
Funds are locked until the last contender has been paid his/her ROI. ROI can be withdrawn immediately though.
A user can create a savings plan and set parameters such as dividend cycles, number of users, and amount of funds. Other users can then join this "union." This is also a widespread way of saving in Africa, but, Xend is on the blockchain, and people can participate worldwide. This system utilized on the blockchain makes this kind of union more efficient.
For Essusu and Cooperative savings, a small fee is applicable for early withdrawal. These fees are on top of the usual fees to be paid for contract interactions (network fees).
By launching on the BSC the Xend Finance project is the first African-based project to have launched on the BSC. According to Binance's own CZ (Changpeng Zhao), "Africa is one of the most important continents, representing the future and emergence of DeFi and blockchain capabilities.”
The $XEND token is the project's utility and governance token. The token is used to pay incentives to stakers and governance voting over protocol parameters.
There is a maximum supply of 200,000,000 $XEND tokens. The token exists on two chains (Ethereum and BSC), on the BSC there are 587,355 tokens in circulation.
Token sales were conducted in March 2021 on the Balancer and UniSwap platforms. Initial token price was set at $0.30 and the token is trading at $1.24 at the moment of writing. The token can be traded on various AMM's including PancakeSwap and UniSwap, and some Centralized exchanges like Gateio and Hoo.
For the future of the project we can refer to the project's roadmap in which it states that there will be an integration with Matic Networks (planned Q2 2021). Fiat on/off ramps in Europe and America is planned for Q3 as well as support for more crypto assets in the protocol.
The governance functions will also be enabled in the third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, the protocol continues to strive for more Centralized Exchange listings and partnerships with new credit unions throughout the year.
The Xend contracts have completed full Certik audits and CertiK offers Decentralized insurance. This is significant as the team aims for safe environment contracts are constantly monitored to find any un-cached "loopholes" or bugs in the contracts.
Xend Finance aims to help a lot of people to not only escape the devaluation of their native currencies but also provide banking services. This will enable many people in the world to perform transactions they normally could not. It also allows people to enter the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency, especially De-Fi.
The backing by Binance, Google, and the audits performed by Certik give a sense of safety to the protocol. This comes alongside the easy-to-use interfaces, understandable instructions, and documentation that helps out even the most inexperienced users.
With the launch of the BSC, users can enjoy low-cost and fast transactions. This should open the doors of Xend to more users as the BSC is readily available worldwide. Be your own bank, utilize the power of the BSC, and Xend for more stability and extra income.
Interested in more information? Check out Xend's website and social media:
The People’s Republic Bank of China (PBoC), the regulatory body that governs the financial sector in China, recently released a statement reiterating its stance on the 2017 regulation. This regulation prevents financial institutions from providing banking and settlement services for crypto-related transactions. The purpose identified by the central bank is the risk of virtual currencies disrupting normal economic and financial order, illegal cross-border transfer of assets, money laundering and other illegal and criminal activities.
The central bank now requires banks and payment institutions to implement a few regulatory requirements earnestly as part of their customer identification obligations to mitigate financial risks associated with virtual currencies. Upon identification, such categories of customers must not be allowed to open accounts or to participate in activities that involve virtual currencies through the mainstream financial institutions.
The present concern is a real one although the regulation has been around since 2017. The increased effort and scrutiny by the authorities in identifying crypto related transactions is telling of the Chinese government’s firm stand against such activities. The comprehensiveness of its monitoring mechanism to identify and track such activities is crippling the domestic crypto market.
Despite shutting down its domestic crypto exchanges and making crypto ownership increasingly difficult, China allows crypto ownership. Citing the volatility of virtual currencies and price manipulation, the Chinese government has been consistently adopting a hostile relationship with crypto assets. Despite such harsh treatment towards crypto assets, the regulation and policy surrounding blockchain related development has been a totally different treatment.
The Chinese government has been making its own roadmap for adoption of blockchain technology. Recognising the need to be competitive, the two main areas that have been identified for blockchain adoption are economy and finance. This has been revealed through a document officially released by its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
This preferential treatment seems to lead to one conclusion: the ease of transfer of value that virtual currencies can facilitate is destabilizing to the Chinese financial system. Therefore from the list of concerns outlined by the central bank the targeted approach seems to have its focus on cross border transfer of assets. Physical assets or fiat currencies are easily regulated by the existing framework of governance. Even if it slips regulatory safeguards, it is traceable, hence the granting of autonomy to crypto assets owners can be quite concerning.
China, just like other sovereign nations, is starting to see the benefits of digital currencies. However, these digital currencies must be controlled by the sovereign state’s governing body. In most cases, it is the central bank. The recent clampdown and tightening of the regulatory noose is a knee jerk reaction from the state’s own initiative in launching its digital yuan.
In a recent development, the state owned bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has allowed for conversion between the digital currency and the physical currency. Real world trials are ongoing as China is preparing to launch a nationwide adoption of the digital currency. Crypto assets that can play the role of a digital currency are seen as a threat that will invariably dilute the use of the digital yuan. In order to be coherent and consistent in its regulatory enforcement, the ban and enforcement that is currently taking place cannot be seen to discriminate against the type of crypto asset.
The crypto market continues to wean itself from relying on China, resources and focus are slowly shifting to more pro crypto nations. Since the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, initiatives are now focussed on renewable geothermal energy for Bitcoin Mining.The current devaluation of crypto assets is painful but there is a silver lining in the clouds.
The Southeast Asia (SEA) event concluded on May 30, 2021, followed by the Binance announcement of the top 5 winners in various categories on June the 5th. The event was made possible through BSC network sponsoring Dorahacks, a global Hackathon organizer.
The event raised $27,394 in funding, which was distributed to the top 5 participating projects. The event comprised 31 teams from Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, all of whom submitted their project application for the Hackathon program.
Following the official end on May 30, a 5-day grace period for the anti-Sybil attack detection and vote analysis commenced. Finally, the team posted the final matching pool distribution result on June 5. The top 5 projects include XCarnival, Bami Defi, Spherium Finance, Project ARK, and Sota Platform. The following reviews of the winning projects of the Hackathon were obtained from the BSC recap blog.
Project ARK is the world’s first carbon-neutral NFT marketplace for rare digital collectibles. They directly fund animal and environmental conservation efforts worldwide. The projects mission is to connect passionate artists with purpose-driven buyers to support international NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and organizations related to the environment.
The protocol signed a partnership with the WWF. Its first-issued NFTs will directly fund community-driven conservations creating collective rewards systems that turn communities into conservationists. In addition, the protocol has signed over 150+ artists from around the world, including Emmy award filmmakers, famous recording artists, and even the IP owner of Pokemon. To learn more about Project ARK, visit Hackerlink.
The India-based protocol is a mobile-first cross-chain wallet that optimizes the returns on crypto-assets while minimizing the risks involved within the transactions. The team plans to bring DeFi to the masses by making it a more user-friendly and all-in-one concept.
Its dApp is currently compatible with BSC and Ethereum networks. They plan to move to Polygon Layer 2 to optimize speed, scalability and reduce transaction costs for users. The protocol is not bounded by one chain, and provision for listing projects to achieve cross chain is made possible by the integration of bridges which can help move tokens from one chain to another. To learn more about Spherium Finance, check Hackerlink.
Bami is a Vietnamese DeFi project seeking to leverage the financial viability of DeFi. It’s an economic city in which the currency will be BAMI (Bami native token). In Bami city, the citizens (users) use BAMI for trades, exchanges, investments, including Bami Dashboard, Bami Exchange, Bami Lend, Bami Portfolio, Bami Pay, NFT.
Bami sees DeFi as a service and have implemented a multichain financial application that aims to bring permissionless money solutions to the mass, built to integrate interchain solutions in savings, payment, trading, money market, etc. The team has expressed in the Hackathon its intention to focus on the Vietnamese market in the early phase but has plans to move to the international market. The protocol will be open-sourced, and its governance will be by the community. To learn more about Bami DeFi, kindly check out its Hackerlink.
Sota Platform is a Vietnamese-owned project that concentrates solely on the creation, sales, and distribution of NFTs. The platform will be on multichain with a start being on BSC and a gradual move to HECO chain and other chains in the future.
The team joins four others to become part of the SEA hackathon program 2021. To learn more about Sota Platform, check out its Hackerlink.
XCarnival took the first position in the Hackathon event. Experts involved in establishing the new Generation Synthetic Assets Aggregator for everyone in the DeFi and blockchain space are from Australia, the United States, and China. The CEO is a serial entrepreneur, an expert in DeFi, and a well-respected influencer in the blockchain space.
The protocol aims to bring down entry barriers for users by providing new products that are easy to use and maximizing the platform’s liquidity.
XCarnival presented four products in the Hackathon, including;
To learn more about XCarnival, visits the weblink.
Other participating teams in the Hackathon events include; Wooracle, Uptick, Deri Protocol, Hashtagger, Evolution Land, TrustFi network, etc. Visit the BSC recap page to learn more details about each team.
The BSC team extended their thanks to partners of the event, including Bifrost, DeBank, dForce, ETCLabs, Loopring, OKExChain, AngelONE, Solana, Konomi, Collinstar, Coinbene, YBB, SevenX for sponsoring and supporting this event.
It also extends its gratitude towards Blockchain&Dapps, Ethereum Singapore, Blockchain @NTU, Polkadot Singapore, Taiwan Blockchain Academia, NUS Fintech Society, Paulus from Clovers Ventures, NGC, Signum Capital, LongHash Ventures, Pendle, CMS, and IOSG for their help and participation.
DoraHacks Global Hackathon series is going on to host the US Crypto Summer Hackathon (online) via Hackerlink. It's the hope of the community that the sequence of events can help more open source developers to enrich their ideas and projects and build valuable blockchain products that will benefit more users.
Xend Finance aims to help a lot of people not only escape the devaluation of their native currencies but also provide banking services. This will enable many people in the world to perform transactions they normally could not.
Xend Finance was founded in 2019 by Aronu Ugochukwu and Abafor Chima. The Nigerian startup took part in both the Binance Incubation and Google Launchpad Africa Accelerator programs. The efforts were fruitful, and the company has secured some $2,200,000 from various investors, including Binance and Google, and alongside firms like Hashkey, NGC Ventures, and TechFusion Africa. TechFusion Africa, a software service provider, also made the Xend services available to its 5000 credit union members.
A credit union is a member-owned financial cooperative, providing services to members similar to retail banks services.
Xend finance describes itself as a cross-chain DeFi Platform for Credit Unions and Cooperatives. The project ultimately aims to fight the devaluation of native currencies as can be seen in many developing countries worldwide. The devaluation (inflation) is very high in some African countries. This was also the reason for Ugochukwu to start Xend Finance, helping people preserve value. The Nigerian Naira currency faces an inflation rate of 17%.
To prevent (future) users of the Xend platform from losing more value over a night's sleep, Xend has created the solution in their smart contracts.
The platform lets users put in cryptocurrency or fiat money which will then be converted into crypto stable coins. The smart contracts will then stake the assets in: Compound, Aave, Fulcrum, dYdX, Venus, ForTube, DeFi Dollar, and Yearn Finance De-Fi protocols. This secures the best yield over your savings. With promised yields up to 15%, Xend surely beats any bank’s interest rates.
So instead of losing value, the Xend smart contracts will increase the value of staked assets. A big win for those fighting inflation of their currency.
Users can also utilize the possibility to take out a loan. These loans can be set up with flexible repayment terms.
The straight-up user interface (UI) for both the web UI and mobile app makes staking very easy even for non-experienced users.
For the African Website, users are encouraged to make use of the Xend Mobile App, which opens a variety of features. The app supports features such as sending and receiving money via the telephone or just for paying a bill. Sending money to a telephone number is possible even if the other party does not use Xend. African Xend users also have access to an on-ramp into crypto or fiat money.
Xend also features another app on their website for the African market, an app called Geena. It is a marketplace enabling anyone to become a merchant with a broad reach. The app also lets you monitor business activities, keep track of sales, available products, and more. Together with the Xend app, users can really improve their financial situation.
For the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) website, there are three main ways to stake your assets;
save up your money and be able to withdraw whenever you want. Users can choose from a fixed or variable interest rate. Currently, only $BUSD can be used for this form of saving. The current yield is 15% for fixed interest.
Esusu describes traditional forms of cooperation in African societies. This involves groups of individuals who contribute to informal savings and credit associations for their mutual benefit.
Funds are locked until the last contender has been paid his/her ROI. ROI can be withdrawn immediately though.
A user can create a savings plan and set parameters such as dividend cycles, number of users, and amount of funds. Other users can then join this "union." This is also a widespread way of saving in Africa, but, Xend is on the blockchain, and people can participate worldwide. This system utilized on the blockchain makes this kind of union more efficient.
For Essusu and Cooperative savings, a small fee is applicable for early withdrawal. These fees are on top of the usual fees to be paid for contract interactions (network fees).
By launching on the BSC the Xend Finance project is the first African-based project to have launched on the BSC. According to Binance's own CZ (Changpeng Zhao), "Africa is one of the most important continents, representing the future and emergence of DeFi and blockchain capabilities.”
The $XEND token is the project's utility and governance token. The token is used to pay incentives to stakers and governance voting over protocol parameters.
There is a maximum supply of 200,000,000 $XEND tokens. The token exists on two chains (Ethereum and BSC), on the BSC there are 587,355 tokens in circulation.
Token sales were conducted in March 2021 on the Balancer and UniSwap platforms. Initial token price was set at $0.30 and the token is trading at $1.24 at the moment of writing. The token can be traded on various AMM's including PancakeSwap and UniSwap, and some Centralized exchanges like Gateio and Hoo.
For the future of the project we can refer to the project's roadmap in which it states that there will be an integration with Matic Networks (planned Q2 2021). Fiat on/off ramps in Europe and America is planned for Q3 as well as support for more crypto assets in the protocol.
The governance functions will also be enabled in the third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, the protocol continues to strive for more Centralized Exchange listings and partnerships with new credit unions throughout the year.
The Xend contracts have completed full Certik audits and CertiK offers Decentralized insurance. This is significant as the team aims for safe environment contracts are constantly monitored to find any un-cached "loopholes" or bugs in the contracts.
Xend Finance aims to help a lot of people to not only escape the devaluation of their native currencies but also provide banking services. This will enable many people in the world to perform transactions they normally could not. It also allows people to enter the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency, especially De-Fi.
The backing by Binance, Google, and the audits performed by Certik give a sense of safety to the protocol. This comes alongside the easy-to-use interfaces, understandable instructions, and documentation that helps out even the most inexperienced users.
With the launch of the BSC, users can enjoy low-cost and fast transactions. This should open the doors of Xend to more users as the BSC is readily available worldwide. Be your own bank, utilize the power of the BSC, and Xend for more stability and extra income.
Interested in more information? Check out Xend's website and social media:
