The non-custodial fixed income agreement Term Structure has officially launched on the Ethereum mainnet. This launch pioneered the introduction of the first institutional-level, market-driven fixed income agreement, which aims to revolutionize the way liquidity is provided in decentralized finance (DeFi) and provide a new bridge between borrowers and lenders. Users can use their LSTs and LRTs as collateral to borrow tokens at a fixed rate and term, and earn points and staking rewards through auction mechanisms in the primary market. At the same time, the secondary market supports the trading of these fixed income tokens through real-time order books to enhance liquidity.
Co-founder Jerry Li said that from the perspective of traditional finance (TradFi), the lack of fixed-income products in the market is the main factor hindering the explosive growth of DeFi. The Term Structure protocol fills this gap by providing fixed-rate and fixed-term products, enhancing risk management and introducing a range of trading strategies that were previously unavailable in the DeFi ecosystem. These strategies are critical for both institutional and individual investment planning.
With the launch of the mainnet, Term Structure aims to establish a new global liquidity management standard, enabling users to access funds at a fixed cost. This is essential for using leverage to earn higher floating APY or seize opportunities for token price appreciation. "Our mainnet is designed to serve institutional clients, traders, and retail investors, and is an important milestone in the development of DeFi. It allows users to leverage their digital assets at a fixed rate and term," said Jerry Li.
Users can earn additional points and staking rewards by recycling their LRTs and LSTs on Term Structure
Term Structure is unique in its unified fixed-income market, which integrates primary and secondary markets, unlike other protocols that separate them or use AMMs to handle different tokens. To get started, users can use their LSTs and LRTs as collateral to borrow tokens at a fixed rate and term, set their preferred interest rate in the primary market and choose an expiration date. When the order is matched, the borrower receives the borrowed tokens and must repay the debt before the expiration date to recover their collateral. At the same time, the lender receives fixed-income tokens that are redeemable for principal plus interest at maturity. The secondary market supports the buying and selling of these fixed-income tokens through a real-time order book. In addition, the protocol utilizes a customized ZK Rollup technology zkTrue-up, which eliminates gas fees for placing and canceling orders, ensures fast final confirmation, and maintains data availability. It also includes safety features such as forced withdrawals and evacuation modes to protect user assets in emergencies.
zkTrue-up allows users to withdraw funds at any time, eliminates gas fees for placing and canceling orders, and enables fast transaction confirmations
Prior to the mainnet launch, Term Structure raised $4.55 million in initial funding from industry-leading investors in a series of seed rounds, including Cumberland DRW, Decima Fund, HashKey Capital, Longling Capital, and MZ Web3 Fund. To further improve the security and reliability of the protocol, the protocol's smart contracts and ZK circuits have been audited in detail by two leading blockchain security companies, ABDK and HashCloak. In addition, the protocol has also completed the trusted setup ceremony of zkTrue-up in collaboration with ABDK, HashCloak, and Web3 software development company Bware Labs. This ensures the security of zkTrue-up, preventing anyone from controlling it and eliminating the possibility of Rug Pull by discarding "toxic waste" (i.e., data that could deceive the system into accepting false proofs).
The protocol has shown significant market traction on the testnet, witnessing over 8,000 wallets and over 2 million transactions. “Our recent testnet trading competition saw enthusiastic participation, with 560 wallets actively participating and executing over 314,000 transactions, demonstrating the robustness of our platform and its ability to prepare for wider adoption,” Li added .
With the mainnet now live, Term Structure plans to launch a series of innovative features to further enhance the platform's capabilities. These features include trading APIs, Layer 2 swaps, transfers to Aave, and debt write-offs. The protocol will also support more yield tokens as collateral, implement RWA token collateral financing, and develop DeFi forwards and term futures. Please follow the protocol's social media for the latest updates and information.
