At the end of March 2024, asset tokenization platform Midas successfully completed a seed round of financing of US$8.75 million with the participation of well-known institutions including Coinbase Venture and GSR. This achievement marks the further consolidation of Midas' position in the public eye, while strengthening its mission to connect traditional finance with decentralized finance.
After more than two years of intensive research and development, Midas is excited to launch its flagship product mTBILL. This ERC-20 based token provides a new way for stablecoin investors to earn returns on the blockchain by tracking short-term U.S. Treasury bonds in the BlackRock Treasury Fund, cleverly combining the characteristics of traditional finance and decentralized finance.
In the global financial system, stablecoins are not only a stable anchor in the fluctuations of the cryptocurrency market, but also the key to efficient cross-border transactions. Faced with the endless intermediaries and cumbersome processing times in the traditional financial system, stablecoins have become an effective alternative for global transfers with their fast and cost-effective advantages.
However, as interest rates rise, the supply of stablecoins has also fluctuated dramatically in recent years. This phenomenon highlights the urgent need for a DeFi solution that can provide competitive returns. mTBILL was born to address this challenge, not only distributing returns on the chain, but also allowing users to freely participate in the DeFi ecosystem.
Midas is at the forefront of innovation with mTBILL, a rapidly evolving financial sector. By introducing mTBILL, Midas is not only taking a share of the market, but actively redefining it. The launch of this token is a major step forward, combining the stability of traditional financial instruments with the efficiency and ease of use of DeFi, providing a sustainable, fair and fully compliant way for investors to fully tap into the potential returns of U.S. Treasuries while enjoying the best of both worlds, ensuring that the future of financial empowerment benefits everyone.
Midas is an asset tokenization platform that introduces institutional-level assets to the blockchain through tokenization, gradually carving out its own space in the blockchain field. This innovative approach has great significance in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi).
The core product provided by Midas is mTBILL, an ERC-20 token that embodies the versatility of integrating traditional financial instruments with blockchain technology. As Midas' first asset tokenization product, mTBILL has quickly gained attention in the market, with an annualized rate of return of 5.23% and a total locked value (TVL) of $3.03 million.
mTBILL is directly linked to the iShares $Treasury Bond 0-1 yr UCITS ETF (IB 01.L), an ETF with an asset management scale of $14.6 billion, an average daily trading volume of $25.18 million, an annualized yield of 5.26%, and an S&P rating of AA. Each mTBILL token corresponds to each share of IB 01.L at a 1:1 ratio.
As the underlying treasury bonds under IB 01.L mature, assets will be reinvested, thereby increasing the net asset value (NAV) of the fund. Therefore, as the overall fund NAV accumulates, the value of each corresponding mTBILL token will also grow accordingly. Therefore, redemptions of mTBILL products will be calculated based on the current NAV.
Like other real-world asset (RWA) projects, the purchase and redemption of mTBILL products requires KYC and AML audits. Individuals and institutions in the United States cannot participate, but there are no such restrictions in other countries. The initial purchase threshold was 12,000 USDC. Although the threshold is not low, it does not specify which types of investors can purchase, as long as the funds meet the requirements. It is worth noting that the project party did not clearly state the threshold requirements for asset redemption, but only mentioned the purchase threshold. If some mTBILL shares are purchased in the secondary market, whether they can be redeemed immediately needs further confirmation. Although the project party stated that it is an immediate response, the purchase and redemption process still takes some time.
In addition, Midas' main focus in the RWA field is DeFi that does not require tokens. After purchasing mTBILL, buyers can participate in related DeFi projects on the chain, mainly lending, without the need for the other party to have KYC qualifications. Trading in the market, but if assets are to be redeemed, the redeemer must meet KYC and other related audits. Midas's approach is to audit the in and out of mTBILL and not restrict behavior in the process.
In terms of fees, Midas does not charge an issuance fee at the beginning of the project, but only charges an ETF management fee of 0.07%. It is not clear whether there will be subsequent fees.
In general, among most RWA projects led by institutions and high-net-worth investors, the Midas protocol highlights the characteristics of RWA products in on-chain DeFi use, integrating RWA products into the existing DeFi ecosystem to provide additional product benefits and utilization. Although no evidence of support for related lending protocols has been seen at this stage, Midas is still in its early stages. With the support of institutions such as Coinbase and GSR, the use cases of DeFi may continue to expand. Interested investors should also pay attention to the risk points mentioned above-the product-related instructions are not yet complete.
Midas' flagship product mTBILL is a permissionless ERC-20 token that tracks short-term U.S. Treasury bonds 1:1 through the ultra-liquid BlackRock Treasury Bond (iShares $ Treasury Bond 0-1yr UCITS ETF). This design not only allows mTBILL to be freely traded on DeFi platforms, but also ensures its close integration with traditional financial products, providing a bridge that enables crypto asset investors to directly access traditional financial markets.
Holders of mTBILL can earn income from the interest generated by U.S. Treasuries while enjoying a complete suite of DeFi platforms, services, and strategies brought by permissionless ERC-20 tokens. The composability of DeFi enables different decentralized applications (dApps) to interact seamlessly and efficiently, allowing users to leverage mTBILL to develop unique investment strategies specific to their needs on numerous DeFi platforms.
Midas' assets maintain the open transparency provided by the blockchain's immutable ledger. Each mTBILL token represents a share of BlackRock Treasury Bond and is fully redeemable for the net asset value (NAV) of the amount it represents, ensuring investment security and transparency.
Through the Midas platform, investors can not only participate in traditional financial markets, but also participate at a lower cost and with fewer intermediaries, which is not available in traditional financial products. In addition, Midas's smart contracts are audited by leading security companies, further enhancing the trust and security of the platform.
As the DeFi ecosystem continues to mature and develop, Midas and its product mTBILL are expected to play an increasingly important role in the global financial market. It not only provides a gateway for traditional investors to enter the crypto market, but also a bridge for crypto investors to enter the traditional financial market. With the participation of more institutions and high-net-worth investors, Midas is expected to continue to expand its product line and market influence, and promote the entire financial ecosystem to a more open and interconnected direction.
In short, the launch of Midas and mTBILL is an important milestone in the integration of crypto finance and traditional finance, providing new investment channels and value-added methods for investors around the world. With the further development and improvement of the platform, it is expected to bring more innovations and opportunities to the financial market.
Real World Assets (RWA) refer to assets that exist in the physical world, which can be utilized in the cryptocurrency field through tokenization technology. The development of blockchain technology has provided new opportunities for the value transfer of these assets, making them easy to trade and convert liquidity. The introduction of RWA not only provides a new foundation for decentralized finance (DeFi), but also greatly promotes the growth of this field.
RWA covers a variety of areas, including but not limited to:
1. Real estate: Tokens associated with land, residential or commercial properties are generally considered security tokens because their value is related to the underlying assets. These tokens can be used to generate regular cash flow or passive income, for example, by lending or mortgaging property-based NFTs to others to obtain rental or royalty income.
2. Artworks: Tokens related to collections may be considered utility tokens because they are primarily associated with goods or services. Platforms such as Masterworks.io actively tokenize expensive works by artists such as Banksy and Warhol, providing individual investors with the flexibility to diversify their investments.
3. Commodities: Tangible and physical products including gold, oil, agricultural products, etc. This category also includes central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) backed by central bank reserves, as well as many other RWA-related directions.
The tokenization and application of RWA is supported by multiple platforms, including:
Silver Partnership: A partnership project that secures real estate that can be used to mine DAI tokens.
Goldfinch: Allows businesses to access DeFi opportunities such as crypto lending without the need for crypto collateral, through a unique verification method by a series of auditors.
Centrifuge: A leading player in the RWA token market, Centrifuge enables investors to invest in assets such as invoices, home mortgages and even houses through cryptocurrency.
Maple: A lending protocol focused on unsecured transactions involving institutional borrowers, pool representatives, and lenders.
Ondo Finance: Bringing institutional-grade real-world financial products into the DeFi ecosystem, tokenizing assets and allowing trading after completing AML and KYC processes.
RWA brings liquidity and global accessibility to the tokenization of traditional assets such as real estate, bonds, and artworks, which not only improves the market efficiency of these assets, but also brings new growth opportunities to DeFi. With the advancement of technology and the improvement of the regulatory framework, RWA is expected to continue to expand its market share in the next few years and become a hot topic among investors and market participants.
Therefore, RWA is an important narrative to watch, both from an investor perspective and from the perspective of the overall health and maturity of the market. It bridges the gap between traditional finance and the crypto world, providing a more robust investment environment by ensuring compliance and transparency, which may attract more players in the traditional financial field to enter the crypto market.
As RWAs further develop, they not only bring innovation to the existing financial system, but also provide individuals and businesses with new ways to raise capital, thereby reducing the cost of capital and improving the efficiency of capital. For example, through RWA tokenization, small businesses and self-employed individuals are able to directly provide shares of their assets to global investors, which is often difficult to achieve in traditional finance.
In addition, as blockchain technology continues to mature, the application of RWA is also expanding, and its scope has expanded from real estate and artworks to more physical assets, such as agricultural products, energy and various forms of commodities, and even possible central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the future. This diversification not only increases the depth of the market, but also brings a wider range of participants and more complex financial instruments to the DeFi ecosystem.
As an innovative asset tokenization platform, Midas Protocol has successfully brought traditional financial assets such as U.S. Treasuries into the field of decentralized finance (DeFi) through its mTBILL product, demonstrating the great potential of seamless integration between crypto technology and traditional finance. Midas not only provides a bridge that enables traditional assets to circulate and trade freely on the blockchain, but also enhances investors' trust and participation in the DeFi field through its regulatory-compliant strategies and transparent operations. In addition, as an innovative product, mTBILL provides DeFi investors with an attractive investment channel through its stable returns and high liquidity characteristics, which not only ensures the security of funds, but also ensures the efficient use of funds.
At the same time, the introduction of real-world assets (RWA) has built a bridge between DeFi and traditional financial markets, promoting the integration and innovation of the two fields. The tokenization of RWA not only allows physical assets such as real estate, artworks, and various commodities to enter the crypto market, but also greatly improves the liquidity and global accessibility of these assets, bringing new growth opportunities and wider market participation to the DeFi ecosystem. The development and improvement of RWA heralds the maturity and expansion of the crypto market, providing more interaction opportunities and cooperation platforms for holders of traditional financial assets and cryptocurrency investors.
The combination of Midas and RWA marks an important development direction, which not only has a profound impact on the cryptocurrency market, but also opens up a new path for the future development of the global financial market. Through these innovations, Midas has not only achieved major breakthroughs in technology, but also provided substantial value to investors and market participants in actual operations, demonstrating the great potential of blockchain technology to achieve widespread application and promotion in the global financial field. This successful case of cross-border integration provides reference and inspiration for the innovation and implementation of other financial technologies, and is expected to lead to more technological progress and market changes.