2020 has been a landmark year for CrescoFin, in which many ambitious goals have been achieved, from the successful testing of their innovative on-chain deposit product, to becoming the first regulated company to list an equity token on a decentralized exchange. Derek Mayne, co-founder of CrescoFin commented:
“In line with the world events of 2020, this has been a very interesting and incredible year for CrescoFin. We have achieved so much, thanks to the efforts of our talented and diverse team. We grew from the central idea that Rob and I developed, to now being a fully regulated company, with a team of 24, serving global clients. We are looking forward to 2021 as we continue to grow and expand.”
2020 Highlights
The CrescoFin Founders successfully test their on-chain deposit product with Telefonica
Throughout the period October 2019 to May 2020, Rob and Derek made numerous tests of their on-chain deposit product, to be totally sure of their offering to clients. The first company they tested their on-chain matched funding process with was Telefonica, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. As with any CrescoFin deposits, Rob and Derek made an agreement with Telefonica suppliers to buy their invoices at a discount and then they received the face value of the invoice amount at a later date. Unlike a traditional arrangement of this kind, CrescoFin made the agreements into a smart-contracts and the data was kept securely on-chain. As such, they were able to offer Telefonica suppliers a very competitive purchase price for their invoices versus traditional financial institutions, because of the transparency and security on-chain data provides. Additionally, Rob and Derek had the peace of mind that if there was a default, they had insured the transactions.
CrescoFin receives Swiss regulatory approval
With the test phase successfully completed, CrescoFin, which incorporated in Switzerland, where regulations for digital assets are developed, clear and supportive, received the necessary regulatory approval in Geneva from ARIF (Association Romande des Intermediares Financieres) the self-regulated local body approved at the federal level by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
CrescoFin agrees an umbrella insurance programme with Lloyd’s of London
By May 2020, Derek and Rob had proven that they had successfully pioneered a uniquely reliable matched funding model to achieve the high interest rates offered to its depositors, made possible by the security and transparency of on-chain data. Such is the security that blockchain provides, that despite being a concept at the cutting edge of finance, CrescoFin successfully acquired insurance for their product from one of the oldest and most traditional brokers: Lloyd’s of London. As a result, a default in the portfolio is now a low probability event. Specifically, a default would be the joint probability of the invoice not being paid and the insurance policy becoming invalidated.
CrescoFin creates a product for the institutional market
With a tried and tested on-chain matched funding model, insurance underwritten and Swiss regulated, CrescoFin created a certificate of deposit for institutional investors. This is a Swiss regulated financial instrument, denominated in CHF, USD or EUR carrying the ISINs CH0558513468, CH0558513484 and CH0558513476 respectively.
The listing process of the CrescoFin wrapped equity token ($wCRES) on decentralised exchanges begins
CrescoFin decided to make the bold move to crowdsource their funding via cryptocurrency investors, seeing that this community had great enthusiasm for a project pioneering the use of blockchain technology in a deposit product. Therefore, CrescoFin decided to list on decentralised exchanges and did so in three stages.
The listing process began on 30th November on the DODO exchange, making CrescoFin the first regulated company to list a token on a decentralised exchange. DODO was chosen because it made
the fairest possible offering to shareholders. This is because DODO has a PMM (Proactive Market Maker), a mechanism which works to create a gentler price curve than the AMM (Automated Market Maker) on Uniswap. After two days of trading the wCRES token on DODO, the price had stabilised just above $3 from a launch of $1, successfully distributing tokens evenly to the early believers in the project.
Listing on Balancer
CrescoFin decided to add a listing on Balancer on 2nd December, firstly because this exchange represents a completely different investor base from DODO and also because it has several characteristics and mechanisms which were well suited to CrescoFin’s launch and community. Its Liquidity Bootstrap Pool (LBP) which allows you to weight the tokens over time and create a downward pressure on the price curve, essentially acting like a reverse auction, meant the tokens were distributed more widely and evenly than they would have been via Uniswap. Secondly, Balancer’s smart pool functions are adapted to capital-raising, given that they are for a fixed period, at the end of which the pool is closed and the remaining tokens are removed along with some capital. Once the Balancer listing ended on 9th December, approximately 630,000 tokens with a weighted average price of about $3 had been distributed. The equivalent distribution on Uniswap would have resulted in a token price of $40.
Uniswap listing and token price at year end
Having listed on DODO and Balancer, the shareholder base CrescoFin had built became united behind the idea that it was time to list on Uniswap, which we did on 16th December. The listings on DODO and Balancer had avoided the steep price curve Uniswap often creates and therefore gave us more strength and stability in our shareholder base. A finite total of 12,000,000 tokens have been minted and by 31st December, the price of WCRES closed the year at $4.15, giving the company a fully diluted valuation of circa $50,000,000 at year end.
Special services for our community of investors
We are pleased to announce that in December 2020, CrescoFin was accepted into the Visa Principal Program and in 2021, we will be developing our collaboration with Visa to present a special product offering for our community of token holders.
In 2021, we are looking forward to continued innovation and success for CrescoFin.
Replacing banking with code
Introducing CrescoFin
Annoyed with low bank interest rates, our founders first created CrescoFin for their own use: to make their money work harder for them.
Now, after months of incessant testing, it’s time to share it with the world.
In a nutshell
- We offer a fully insured, high interest bank account alternative, for everyone
- In fiat and stablecoins¹. BTC to come.
- Designed to bring new users into crypto, from all over the world
- Regulated in Switzerland
- Balancer and DODO Exchange offering soon, at an initial investor price
Our thesis is that for crypto to replace core banking you need to neutralize banks’ psychological advantage: insurance.²
We believe that decentralization + blockchain + insurance = mass adoption of a better banking model.
Our solution is simple:
- We cut out the bank by matching liquidity with productive uses in the real economy.
- We fully insure these productive uses (liquidity finance tied to major corporations)³ through the Lloyd’s insurance market in London.
The end result is an insured non-custodial bank account alternative on chain that pays an attractive rate of interest.⁴ Available globally.
From individuals in emerging markets to sophisticated institutions, we offer the same compelling deal to everyone: safety and yield. It is the first real DeFi alternative to a bank account.
We are all about mass adoption. While fiercely libertarian, we decided to seek regulation in Switzerland to reach the greatest possible user base, including institutions. Our total addressable market, for bank deposits, is enormous: $60.5 trillion.⁵
The current situation isn’t perfect. More is centralized than we want (e.g. depositor acceptance, insurance processes). Our end goal is for everything to be on-chain. We would like to replace ourselves with smart contracts, but accept that this needs to be done in stages. It is better to have a roadmap to pure DeFi than to wait for perfection.
Here is what we have in the works:
- Deposit possibilities in stablecoins (DAI, EURS, XCHF) via smart contract on Ethereum
- Interconnection to liquidity providers
- Insurance pay-out mechanism via smart contract
Be part of the change:
Passionate about creating a better banking model, for a better world, we have decided to offer equity tokens to fellow believers via Balancer and DODO Exchange. Summary details are set out below.
- ERC20 token, no KYC, freely exchangeable⁶
- Equity in the company (1 token = 1 share)
- Offered at a price as if purchasers were initial investors⁷
- Listing to be announced soon
About CrescoFin
Founded in 2019, CrescoFin SA is a Financial Services company offering insured Certificates of Deposit to institutional and private clients, by harnessing the security and transparency of blockchain technology in trade finance transactions. Deposits are held in several denominations including US Dollars, Swiss Francs, and Euros, as well as digital currency. The company is incorporated and regulated in Switzerland and its digital equity tokens (wCRES) are listed on the Uniswap and DODO exchanges.
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Bloomberg: CREFIN |USD ISIN CH0558513484 | CHF ISIN CH0558513468 | EURO ISIN CH0558513476
Advisors
- Stani Kulechov, Founder of Aave
- Diane Dai, Co-Founder of the DODO Exchange
- Damian Horner, Co-Founder, Real Vision
- The Crypto Dog, Investor
- Ryan Sean Adams, Co-Founder at Bankless
- David Hoffman, Co-Founder at Bankless
- David Gokhshtein, Founder of Gokhshtein Media
In the Media:
Real Vision
The Defiant
Bankless
