Former Consensys Staffers Raise $3.5M For Asset Backed Stablecoin Marketplace

HaloDAO has completed a seed round led by Parataxis Capital. A total of $3.5M was raised to support HaloDAO’s vision for stablecoins backed by local currencies, starting with the world’s largest growing crypto market, Asia. 

Among the funds who participated in seeding HaloDAO are well known names in crypto including Genesis Block Ventures, QCP, Soteria, Spartan Group, CMS Holdings, NGC, LedgerPrime, Petrolock Capital, and Genblock. 

Noteworthy angel investors include Maker DAO’s Gustave Arentoft, Primitive Crypto’s Dovey Wan, Aave’s Ajit Tripathi, Richard Dai (formerly DRW/Cumberland), and Yield Guild Games.

HaloDAO will be a marketplace that supports stablecoins backed by assets other than USD. This will benefit the overall crypto market by reducing the complexities of synthetics, and it will increase the opportunities for untapped market sectors to more seamlessly transition into using crypto as their currencies become stablecoins.  

Local Stables Would Benefit APAC Region Most

This move towards broadening the range of available stablecoins also shields users from the weakening dollar. For regions where transferring USD-backed stablecoins into local currency incurs high costs already, the dollar’s weakness leads to even greater loss. 

This is particularly relevant to APAC nations where many users face high fees, low liquidity, and capital controls eating into their profits when exchanging USD stablecoins into local currencies. 
Offering localized stablecoins should increase the APAC region’s participation in defi as both institutional and retail investors can realize higher yields. 

Moreover, stablecoins offered in local currencies will be able to move more easily with local market conditions, and localized stablecoins should benefit positively from their position as regulated assets, which has presented another drawback to using synthetics. 

HaloDAO Plans Full Suite Of Financial Services For Growing Asian Market

According to Julian Gropp, an Advisor to HaloDAO and Portfolio Manager at Parataxis Capital, “Asia has one of the most tech-savvy and blockchain-aware populations in the world and will likely reach mass adoption of digital assets before other regions. We believe that HaloDAO is building a scalable platform that will enable end-users in this and other regions to significantly benefit from this nascent technology.” 

HaloDAO will provide users with a one-stop shop for their defi needs. Its platform will facilitate borrowing, lending, swapping, and generating yield. Yield farming will incentivize growing the liquidity of stablecoin assets beyond USD stables, and Asian currencies have presented themselves as the most natural starting point to begin growing liquidity as soon as possible. 

HaloDAO recognizes the potential currently posed by the APAC region, and its mission is line with tapping into this sector for growing defi. In the words of Jun Yong, Chief Protocol Contributor as HaloDAO, "We are on a mission to create an asset agnostic global liquidity network by promoting the utility of domestically-available asset-backed stablecoins. 

“This will expand access to defi products for the benefit of everyday users in the region while ensuring that money flows enter the system via regulated players. This is how we will bring the next $500 billion into the crypto economy.”
 
It’s been reported time and again that the Asian market is shaping up to lead the world in blockchain innovation as well as command the future of fintech. The region is home to financial superpowers like Hong Kong and Singapore as well as a large portion of the $1.7B unbanked people around the world. 

The entrance of stablecoins into this burgeoning market should establish historic growth patterns for defi as the rise of crypto works hand in hand with the upward trends of industrializing economies and their growing financial classes. It will be exciting to see how HaloDAO propels its recent acquisition of $3.5M into a successful future aiding the growth of crypto markets in Asia and the rest of the world.

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