PL^Gnet's Jerry Yuan Talks About Building An Interoperable Synthetic Asset Network

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

As the DeFi sector of the blockchain industry continues to grow in popularity, new solutions have started to emerge focusing on interoperability, ease of use, and the security of assets. PL^Gnet is a multiplatform network that has tapped into this need by enabling custodians to leverage any asset from any network in its synthetic form.
We sat down with PL^Gnet CEO Jerry Yuan to talk about what the network does and how it powers DeFi.

Why did you create PL^Gnet?
We want to make DeFi easy and safe. There are some real problems with DeFi adoption. Less than 5% of all holders of crypto have ever used DeFi; there is a large audience that doesn’t feel comfortable interacting with DeFi.

The current landscape for users is highly fragmented with many different networks and wallets, each with its own applications. It's hard for everyday people to know which ones to interact with.

Also, it is certain that finance built on transparent decentralized infrastructure will be the future. However, if this is true then it is also true that regulations and compliance will follow. Many DeFi applications have not been planned for this future.

Many traditional finance companies won’t interact with DeFi unless it can be made easier for them to follow the rules. PL^Gnet aims to solve these problems by:
·       Introducing a new solution to enable deeper liquidity pools for assets from different chains.
·       Leveraging existing compliance onboarding processes to create shareable attestations. This enhances compliance in DeFi for developers and traditional finance providers.
·       Reduce complexity for assets to exist in the same smart contract. Any asset can exist in PL^Gnet that exists on the exchange, it is one simple place for all assets to be used in DeFi.
·       Provide a safer environment for new users to access DeFi products such as borrowing and lending platforms and derivatives exchanges, without taking on the risks of self-custody.
·       Enable exchanges, staking providers, and custodians to offer DeFi connectivity and leverage assets “at rest” in a novel way to their many users. This way we can grow the number of DeFi users from less than 5% to 100%.
 
What DeFi business needs does PL^Gnet meet?
PL^Gnet can meet all the business needs of all DeFi projects currently on the market. The only difference is that users use their synthetic assets instead of real assets to participate in DeFi projects.
 
What is a synthetic asset and why does it need to be semi-permissionless?
Synthetic assets are like credit notes issued by your bank, backed by your real assets. They need to be semi-permissionless because you don’t want these digital representations of your real assets to be issued by just about anyone. In the context of PL^Gnet, semi-permissionless means that synthetic assets are connected to verified customers.

Jerry, what is your background and how did you get into synthetic assets?
I studied electrical and electronic engineering as an undergraduate and then got my postgraduate degree in engineering studies. After graduation, I worked in some engineering consulting companies. Later, I had the honor to join Huawei and worked in South Pacific countries like New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. It was also during this period that I met my business partner Aaron McDonald and we decided to do something together to change the world. The concept of decentralization attracted us and we believed blockchain will change the world in a good way.

How big is the market for synthetic assets?
At least as big as the decentralized finance market.
 
How is PL^Gnet different from other synthetic asset products out there?
For the majority of users the actual experience and the prospect of the project is the most important concern. The number of users is a decisive success or failure factor for a project, whether it is a traditional centralized project or a blockchain project. 
For this reason, we have established the PL^Gnet Partner Alliance, which has already been signed by a number of exchanges, wallets, liquidity providers, and others. This means that on day one we will have at least 10 million users who will be able to directly access our asset mapping service. In my opinion, this is our most unique advantage.
 
What blockchain did you build PL^Gnet on and how scalable is it?
PL^Gnet is built on Substrate, which is compatible with the Polkadot network. The community may vote to have PL^Gnet as a parachain but this is not necessary for us to achieve our goals. 
The network can support any asset from day one without being linked to Polkadot. However, if it is ever necessary, we can easily use Polkadot’s scalability features to our advantage and we know it is one of the most promising networks out there on that end. 
 
How can investors leverage synthetic assets through PL^Gnet?
Synthetic assets can be added into PL^Gnet through assets anyone owns in their exchange or custody account. They can use these synthetic assets to stake, provide liquidity, lend, borrow, and swap within the various mature and stable approved DeFi protocols on PL^Gnet.

What assets can people trade through the PL^Gnet DEX?
Any assets in their synthetic forms can be traded through PL^Gnet DEX.
 
How does PL^Gnet operate across multiple chains?
PL^Gnet has a fast-growing alliance of financial service providers like centralized exchanges, custody providers, staking providers, and wallets who are legally able to take deposits and hold balances in thousands of different assets for their customers. Then, through one simple permissions-based interface they provide to their clients, any asset they choose will be able to be synthesized onto PL^Gnet for DeFi opportunities. It also keeps the original deposit within a secure system.

Jerry and the PL^Gnet team have been hard at work since 2017 to bring these solutions to life. You can learn more about the network and its solutions by visiting https://plugdefi.io.

Image Sourced from Monccur PR

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.