DeFi Pioneer Compound Partners With Coinbase Wallet, Zerion for V2 Launch

For its Version 2 launch, crypto interest app Compound has partnerships with Coinbase Wallet, Zerion and a bridge to fellow DeFi leader Uniswap.

AccessTimeIconMay 23, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 9:14 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

HODLers looking for returns on their crypto now have more flexibility in the Compound app.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) pioneer's latest version launched Thursday with a number of new features, including tokenization of user deposits.

"Version 2 allows the protocol to support every traded ethereum asset, as well as enable developers to more easily build applications on top of the protocol," Compound founder Robert Leshner told CoinDesk.

Compound is a lending platform that gets its principal from people who want to earn money from their crypto holdings without selling. Rates are set algorithmically by supply and demand on the protocol. For borrowers, it's a fast way to borrow crypto (typically for trading) at clear, publicly stated prices. This is especially useful, for example, for shorts.

In Version 1, users could deposit any of five tokens – ETH, BAT, DAI, REP and ZRX. With this new version, USDC will be immediately available and a total of 50 tokens will be available for depositing and lending by year's end.

Institutional-friendly

Tokenizing deposits should make it more attractive for potential institutional depositors.

Leshner explained that Version 2 will create a token for each deposit someone makes. So depositing BAT will yield cBAT. Anyone who returned cBAT to Compound will get back their original BAT plus whatever interest those deposits had earned.

Additionally, Compound has managed to engineer the smart contract in such a way that all cBAT are fungible.

These tokens are tradeable, though Leshner does not expect many users to take advantage of that functionality early on. More likely, the chief use case will be cold storage.

"Institutions aren't using web apps with MetaMask," Leshner said, referring to the popular ethereum browser extension. Instead, Leshner says institutional dev teams can build ways to put their Compound tokens into cold storage, giving them much higher security.

Developer-ready

Compound wants to be wired into other apps.

Previewed on Medium in April, the vision for Compound has always been interoperability with third-party applications. This functionality has been enhanced with the new version, and it already has several partners who have built the new version into their applications.

  • Coinbase Wallet will let users see their balance on Compound in the app.
  • Zerion will make it easy to deposit and track interest gains.
  • Opyn will connect Compound to Uniswap for easy margin trading.

As CoinDesk previously reported, even Compound's first version worked with Staked, a staking-as-a-service provider.

With an initial backing of $8.2 million, Compound has notable investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

Over $100 million moved through Version 1, Leshner told CoinDesk. He said that even he was surprised by the amount it was used.

Said Leshner of Version 2:

"This is the 'real' product."

Compound founder Robert Leshner image via Vimeo

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.