Key takeaways
- Public Mint is building a USD-native blockchain platform that enables DeFi yields without requiring users to understand cryptocurrency or use wallets like MetaMask.
- The platform allows users to deposit fiat through wire, ACH, and eventually credit cards, then earn yields with a single button click through integrated partners like Celsius and Compound.
- Public Mint addresses regulatory concerns by partnering with banks and trust companies to hold customer funds, providing FDIC insurance and compliance infrastructure similar to traditional financial institutions.
- The platform aims to bridge blockchain innovation with the traditional economy by creating a synthetic dollar version on blockchain that enables instant settlement while maintaining fiat stability.
- Public Mint has over 45,000 users on its waitlist and plans to launch its earn solution within weeks, targeting mainstream users outside the cryptocurrency-savvy demographic.
Money that moves like email
Ashton Addison: What is Public Mint building in the DeFi space?▶ 00:22
Paulo Rodrigues: We're creating a new global money system. You can send an email instantly anywhere in the world, but moving your money isn't the same. We want people to own their money and move it at the speed of an email, while also getting some of the advantages the banking industry offers, like FDIC insurance on the funds held underneath. That's a big building block for supporting the innovation happening in DeFi.
Ashton: How do you make DeFi as easy as sending an email?▶ 01:32
Paulo: When I go to a bank, I never ask the clerk what kind of database they use. The normal user doesn't care about the technology. There's a huge amount of innovation in blockchain, but a lot of friction in getting to it. People hear about interesting DeFi yields, then hit a learning curve that's hard to overcome: what is MetaMask, what is an exchange, what are gas fees, and the fear around regulation. That's why a lot of people stay outside the crypto bubble. We want people to use this innovation in a regulated, safe way, as easily as pushing a button in an iPhone app, not only crypto-savvy users.
The normal user doesn't care about the technology.
The earn app and a USD-native blockchain
Ashton: For a newcomer, how does getting onto the platform and earning work?▶ 03:03
Paulo: It's as simple as downloading an iPhone or Android app and depositing funds into your digital wallet. You can use wire or ACH, and credit cards soon. Once the money is in your wallet, it's one click to push it into an earn solution, which we're launching in a few weeks. We already have over 45,000 users on the waitlist at publicmint.com. Those earnings are currently only available in DeFi to people who know how to handle crypto, Ether and MetaMask. We solve all that under the hood. We're working with partners like Abra and Celsius and integrating with DeFi protocols like Compound, but for the user it's pushing a button.
Ashton: Many beginners think in dollars. Is moving between fiat and crypto a priority?▶ 05:04
Paulo: One of our main goals is to bridge blockchain innovation and the real economy that runs on fiat currencies. Over the last two and a half years we've built a blockchain that is fully USD native, with no crypto involved. You get the stability of dollars and the instant settlement of blockchain. The earn app is the first use case on top of that. Many blockchain companies still struggle to access fiat because it's a regulated environment. Through our open APIs and development portal, any company working on the Ethereum network can port its solutions onto a platform that is already fiat native, and open up to many more users.
Regulation and the bridge to banks
Ashton: Does handling US dollars make regulation harder, or is that all settled?▶ 07:27
Paulo: We have a mix of tech entrepreneurs, people from the legacy world like me, and software engineers with a lot of payments experience. I used to be responsible for a SWIFT service bureau connecting banks to the SWIFT network and to real-time gross settlement systems. Regulation and compliance are at the top of our list. We have our own BSA compliance program and our own BSA compliance officer, and we work with regulated entities that hold the money for us. We're a fintech enabling blockchain technology to make money easier to move, while trust companies and banks hold the funds and are regulated to do so. That's how we can provide FDIC insurance through these partners. And because we create a synthetic version of dollars on the blockchain, money can move instantly.
Ashton: Where do you see DeFi and Public Mint in five years?▶ 09:26
Paulo: Having worked on both sides, I respect the challenge regulators face. It's hard to keep up with all the innovation while still protecting customers. On the other side, there's a huge amount of intellectual power in blockchain that wants to bring more utility to users. We believe Public Mint will be the underlying bridge between these two worlds, letting conservative environments like banks and big corporates finally bring true innovation into their solutions. Big corporates are trying out blockchain, but it's still early days because they're not comfortable working with volatile crypto. Now they can keep working in fiat and tap into the innovation using dollars, not volatile tokens. There are gray areas that even regulators find hard to regulate, but we'll keep pushing to be as compliant and aligned with regulators as possible.
You get the stability of dollars and the instant settlement of blockchain.
Roadmap and community builders
Ashton: What are the next steps as you head toward launch?▶ 11:36
Paulo: The underlying instant settlement platform, blockchain and fiat native, isn't an appealing use case on its own. People don't grasp the advantages. You need concrete use cases, so we're launching the earn app as one of the first low-hanging fruits. We have a clear roadmap of four or five building blocks, and we believe things like loans, debit cards and instant forex need to be available in the wallet. Then there's a long tail of innovation, driven by our community of around 50,000 people on Telegram, who can use our open APIs to build on programmable money. Developers are already deploying on our sandbox, including decentralized exchanges using programmable dollars and an NFT marketplace. Those initiatives are led by the community, not by our team.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Recorded October 2021.
