Minterest Labs Investor Spotlight Series – KR1 plc
Investors are a critical part of the Minterest journey; the process we went through to select them was intensive. They were chosen because of their track record, long-term view and value add. Each week we will be featuring a new investor to give you insights into why these investors are so valuable for the Minterest protocol.
This week, we are focusing on KR1.
KR1 plc is an investor in blockchain networks with a unique and compelling business model. The firm is listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange in London, allowing anyone to buy shares and gain exposure to early stage crypto startups through the expertise of KR1’s founding team. This democratisation of access and subsequent returns, aligns with the values of the crypto ecosystem, while offering the transparency and reporting structures of traditional listed businesses.
The company earns passive revenue through staking activities in “Proof-of-Stake” networks, providing it with the dry powder needed to take and hold long positions in disruptive digital assets. A $1 million investment in Polkadot’s earliest funding round represents KR1’s clearest example of this strategy, as well as its biggest investment. It also developed the company’s portfolio and expertise in the space, ultimately leading to an investment in Minterest.
George McDonaugh, Co-founder of KR1, said,
“Minterest is one of the first DeFi protocols that delivers on the technology’s promise of truly decentralised returns to its participants. The mechanism of returning liquidation rewards to all token holders dramatically improves on models set up to enrich a select group of founders and early supporters. This makes Minterest a perfect fit for our long term crypto investment thesis.“
“When Kyn first talked us through the model, we saw the potential for a flywheel effect that will reward late joiners as well as early supporters. This makes Minterest a protocol that can deliver on the long-term potential of DeFi, not just the hype of the first generation ventures. The fundamentals of the business model combined with the expertise of the team make this a project that we are excited to take part in.”
Kyn Chaturvedi, Chief Operating Officer of Minterest, said,
“Working with George and the team at KR1 gives us access to deep institutional knowledge in the blockchain space, and is an endorsement we greatly appreciate. The KR1 financial structure is an innovation in itself, and one that we feel supports the Minterest ethos of making rewards and instruments available to all participants.”
“This calibre of insight in the early stages will help to grow the flywheel and attract partisipants at the crucial early stages of the venture. We will look to leverage all of KR1’s deep strategic and technical understanding as we build this transformative lending protocol.”
So welcome to Minterest, in your best interest
About Minterest
Minterest is a unique borrowing/lending protocol built by industry leaders to service billions in Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi lending projects, with the specific aim of putting user benefits at its core. It has been engineered to ensure that users have access to a fair and inclusive decentralised DeFi platform.
The Minterest protocol has the world’s first buyback mechanism, which automatically captures and passes on rewards to platform users via its unique on-chain liquidation process. This means that users participate in rewards generated by the protocol, in addition to earning industry leading borrowing/lending rates. This results in potentially the highest long-term yields in DeFi.
18, November 2021
