The partnership unleashes liquidity for $14 billion in staked funds and offers access to both DeFi ecosystem and staking rewards
Singapore, October 30, 2020 — Zcoin (XZC), which will rebrand to Firo (FIRO) on November 30, a privacy-first digital currency that enables untraceable transactions, announced today it is the first token to utilize StakeHound’s liquidity bridge, which enables participation in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem while still earning rewards from staking. Currently more than $14 billion USD is locked in staking platforms such as NEM, Tezos, or Zcoin, and $11 billion USD is in DeFi. They are no longer mutually exclusive but can co-exist.
Roughly 50% of the approximately 11 million Zcoins in circulation is now staked or locked. This means these coins also cannot be traded as this will result in reward loss. Using the StakeHound bridge, which has already onboarded $850,00 USD worth of Zcoins, Zcoin holders can now turn these stakedXZC into liquid assets with daily updates on rewards earned. They no longer have to choose between staking or DeFi, which provides the potential for higher annual return than the average 8-9% yield from staking.
“Now Zcoin holders can participate in the DeFi ecosystem while not forgoing their Znode rewards,” said Reuben Yap, Project Steward of Zcoin. “The ability for stakedXZC to be used in decentralized loans and DEXes greatly improve both liquidity and utility of the coin.”
Znodes are essential to Zcoin’s infrastructure and provide security to the Zcoin network, but they also require that at least 1000 XZC are locked and illiquid. This minimum requirement also prevented smaller holders from earning yields on their XZC. The StakeHound partnership will allow Zcoin holders to trade fractional portions of Znodes, while still earning their share of Znode rewards and any returns from being part of the DeFi ecosystem.
“Our partnership with Zcoin is the first of more to come that will unlock billions of dollars of value in staked coins,” said Albert Castellana, CEO of StakeHound. “We’ve also partnered with Copper.co, an institutional grade custodian, to make onboarding as simple and safe as possible, so that stakedXZC holders can start reaping the rewards.”
StakeHound will exchange Zcoin for tokenized versions called “stakedXZC.” They are ERC-20 tokens that are fully liquid. StakeHound is the first platform that tokenizes staked positions, so that they can be instantly used in the DeFi applications, while still earning staking rewards.
In addition to getting access to DeFi and ethereum’s existing infrastructure, the Zcoin<>StakeHound bridge offers these benefits:
- No need to maintain nodes themselves
- No minimum amounts
- No lockups
Starting 30th of October users will be able to not only buy stakedXZC on the StakeHound Platform for the original Zcoin, but also simply purchase them directly in DEXes like Uniswap. This way users will be immediately able to start providing liquidity for the new stakedXZC and earning additional yield.
Just like staking programs, DeFi usage is growing and recently exploded in popularity as users are searching for the best opportunities to maximize their yield. Applications such as Aave, Compound, or Cream provide users with liquidity to assets that could not be easily borrowed against. This presents a difficult choice for the participants of these markets, as they have to choose whether to participate in one or the other, but never in both.
About Zcoin
Zcoin is a privacy-first digital currency that enables untraceable transactions and true financial freedom from the prying eyes of large corporations, financial institutions, and oppressive governments. Zcoin advocates privacy as a fundamental human right, and enables users to regain control of their money. As a leading technology innovator, Zcoin designed a simple burn and spend model that strengthens privacy, while making it more broadly accessible.
About StakeHound
StakeHound issues tokens that lets users access DeFi while earning staking rewards. StakeHound creates a one-on-one representation of original PoS tokens so that cryptocurrency users can have the best of both worlds: liquidity and yield.
