We are delighted to announce that Finoa will begin offering institutional custody and staking support for BLD, Agoric’s native staking token. As part of the integration, the Decentralized Cooperation Foundation, an independent non-profit foundation accelerating the Agoric network, will be the first to use Finoa’s custody solution. 

Agoric is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that functions as a smart contract platform, enabling developers to deploy decentralized applications. Built over four years, it was created with the motive of engaging more web2 developers in the web3 space. To increase usability, the platform uses JavaScript as its smart contract language, making the experience familiar to millions of professional JS developers. It offers a library of reusable DeFi components, coded by experienced community members, that can be used to build decentralized applications.  

“We’ve long been intrigued by Agoric and the team’s deep expertise and experience in building innovative solutions for financial applications. The aspiration to make DeFi more accessible is admirable, and that makes us excited to support Agoric’s crypto economy and platform, to help attract the next wave of builders and value creation for the wider ecosystem,” said Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Finoa.

Following the integration, investors interested in BLD tokens can make use of Finoa’s secure crypto platform to engage in the network and manage their investments to the highest security standards. Our institutional-grade staking service ensures that investors with assets on the Finoa platform can stake their BLD tokens with a regulated validator, earning rewards while supporting the network.

At the time of the announcement, Dean Tribble, CEO at Agoric, remarked that 

"The Finoa institutional solution is well aligned with the global BLD community. Token holders will have a selection of custodians and Finoa is a top provider that we are pleased to work with."

What’s next for Agoric? 

On July 1, 2022, the first 15M BLD tokens were unlocked, making them freely transferable on the Agoric network. This is an essential step in the Agoric roadmap as it marks the active participation of the tokens in the broader crypto ecosystem. 

Recently, Agoric announced the first five DApps building towards a launch on mainnet. Projects included a liquid staking application, an NFT rental marketplace, an interchain dashboard, and a web3 no-code agreements platform. 

Before the end of this year, Inter Protocol will deploy IST on Agoric. IST is a fully collateralized, crypto-backed, and decentralized stable token for the Cosmos ecosystem, which will also serve as the native fee token on Agoric.  

In its mission of making the web3 space more accessible, Agoric also plans to launch both permissioned and permissionless smart contracts by the end of 2023.

BLD, the Agoric staking token, supports economic activities throughout the ecosystem. It facilitates network security and participation in the governance process. The integration of BLD into our platform is yet another proof of Finoa’s continuous commitment to supporting emerging Proof-of-stake protocols and extending access to the DeFi ecosystem. 

About Agoric

Founded by Mark S. Miller, Dean Tribble, Bill Tulloh, and Brian Warner in 2018, Agoric is a layer-1 Proof-of-Stake chain designed to empower developers in the DeFi frontier. Overcoming the web3 limitations of requiring protocol-specific languages, Agoric supports JavaScript-based smart contracts and offers a growing library of components that uniformly supports diverse types of digital assets. Agoric boasts a secure, user-friendly platform and is backed by crypto natives such as Outlier Ventures, Polychain Capital, and the Interchain Foundation.

About Finoa 

Finoa is a Germany-based crypto asset platform designed to meet the needs of institutional investors. Whether they already own crypto or are new to the crypto space, the firm supports the investors by safeguarding their holdings and fulfilling regulatory requirements. The easy-to-use interface and premium support enable users to thrive in the crypto ecosystem. Founded by Henrik Gebbing and Christopher May in 2018, Finoa works with high-profile customers around the world, including renowned venture capital firms, large corporations, and financial institutions.