Crypto’s Latest Stablecoin, Called HOPE, Started by Ex-Babel Finance CEO Flex Yang

Flex Yang, the founder and former CEO of Babel Finance, a crypto financial-services firm, has released the HOPE stablecoin and a decentralized-finance (DeFi) network linked to the token, a representative told CoinDesk.

The Hope ecosystem will focus on bridging the gap between centralized-finance, traditional-finance and DeFi applications. DeFi protocols rely on smart contracts instead of middlemen to provide financial services, such as trading, lending, or borrowing, to users.

Yang stepped down from Babel Finance in October 2021 and announced a leadership transition in December 2021 to pursue personal projects in the crypto industry, including Hope.

The initial capital investment in the dollar-pegged HOPE stablecoin will be used to build up bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) reserves, while using those reserves to find a pricing peg. Later, users will be able to buy the HOPE coin to engage with ecosystem's DeFi applications.

HOPE will be supported by prominent investors as well as by investments from Yang. Later, the stablecoin’s governance will be handed over to a decentralized autonomous organization.

The first app on the platform will be HopeSwap, which will serve as an on-ramp to allow users to buy HOPE on the platform. This swap protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain will use an "automated market making," or AMM, system, and help provide liquidity.

Later, HopeConnect will launch and offer derivatives trading apps, while providing the security of self-custody via DeFi smart contracts.

Other upcoming applications will include HopeLend, a non-custodial lending platform with multiple liquidity pools; HopeEcho, which creates synthetic assets that track the prices of real-world assets; and third-party DeFi applications developed on the HOPE ecosystem.