Digital assets: Defi platform rolls out new customisable interest rate structures

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Struct Finance has announced the mainnet launch of its Interest Rate Vaults and tranching mechanism.

The newly introduced Interest Rate Vaults allow investors to split and repackage the risk of yield-bearing DeFi assets into different tranches that align with their risk profiles.

This is achieved through “tranching” with each interest rate product representing a single vault split into two portions, or tranches, with different return configurations including a fixed-return tranche - designed for conservative investors seeking consistent returns- and a variable-return tranche – for investors with a higher risk appetite.

Traditional financial products aren’t permissionless to use or create [...] in fact, they are largely inaccessible to most people - Miguel Depaz, Struct Finance

The yield from the underlying asset flows into the fixed tranche first, ensuring predictable returns. The remaining product is then allocated to the variable tranche, which benefits from enhanced exposure to the underlying yield-bearing asset. The variable tranche may accrue more, less, or no yield than the fixed tranche. This tranching mechanism allows conservative investors to obtain fixed yield protection while catering to risk-on investors searching for higher products.

Struct Finance co-founder Miguel Depaz (pictured) said the platform’s mission is to make structured financial products ‘accessible and easy to understand for everyone’.

‘Traditional financial products aren’t permissionless to use or create [...] in fact, they are largely inaccessible to most people. We are making these structured financial products accessible and easy to understand for everyone,’ he said.

In addition to the Interest Rate Vaults, Struct Finance is introducing the Struct Factory to enable investors to create structured financial products on-chain according to their needs.

‘With the introduction of the Struct Factory and permissionless tranching of liquidity pools, fixed-rate returns may become more commonplace, taming the wild and volatile returns of the Web3 space,’ said Depaz.

iShares files for spot Bitcoin ETF

Asset manager giant BlackRock's iShares, headed by Salim Ramji (right), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the iShares Bitcoin Trust, a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded- fund (ETF).

The fund's assets 'consist primarily of Bitcoin held by a custodian on behalf of the trust,' stated the filing on 15 June. That custodian will by crypto exchange Coinbase. 

'The shares are intended to constitute a simple means of making an investment similar to an investment in bitcoin rather than by acquiring, holding and trading bitcoin directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset exchange,' the filing said.

The US regulator has been in contention with crypto providers about the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs. It's currently in a legal battle with Grayscale over whether the firm's Grayscale Bitcoin Trust can be converted into an ETF, which expects to see a decision later this year.

Aevo reveals open Mainnet, ETH, BTC futures and perps

The derivatives exchange, which is backed by Singapore's Ribbon Finance, has launched Aevo Open Mainnet for general public, that allows users to access Aevo Exchange without an Aevo pass.

'Since releasing the gated Mainnet approximately two months ago we saw over US$70m in trading volume and a high of US$5m in daily open interest. We limited access to Aevo during the gated period while rigorously testing the platform in prod (eg. liquidations and bugs),' the exchange wrote on 14 June.

In the meantime, the bourse launched both ETH options and perpetuals as well as Aevo OTC, which allows users to trade altcoin options on-chain, in size, with institutional grade liquidity providers. Bitoin (BTC) options and perpetuals also went live, available for trading from daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly expires.

Metalpha’s Next Generation Fund I secures US$5m from crypto firm

The fund, which provides 'a regulated and compliant channel' to invest in Grayscale Investments LLC's products through structured derivatives, has received a US$5m anchor investment from a global leading crypto company, stated Metalpha Technology Holding on 24 May without disclosing the investors' identity.

In partnership with NextGen Digital Venture, the fund aims to raise US$100m in capital from global investors. The latest funding 'comes at a time of high growth for Metalpha’s licensed fund products, serving broad market demand among institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals for exposure to crypto', according to the Hong Kong-based wealth manager led by CEO Limin Liu (above right)

StakeStone introduces its first LSDb token

The staking protocol said on 6 June that it has introduced a 'novel paradigm' by minting its liquidity staking derivatives basket (LSDb) token backed by Ethereum (ETH) staking yield, STONE.

STONE integrates mainstream staking pools, re-staking, and LSD’s blue-chip DeFi strategy yield, allowing for the potential of competitive returns. It also demonstrates adaptability to various applications with a stable casting mechanism and a non-rebase token structure, and ensures a fully decentralized ecosystem.

'For stakers, StakeStone is designed to help users maximize the efficiency of ETH balances in the most effective manner,' stated the company.

Theia invests US$250k to Houdini Swap

Theia Blockchain, an institutional asset manager that invests in Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) DeFi infrastructure assets through structured products and long-term buy and hold strategies, has completed a US$250,000 financing to the compliant privacy tool and infrastructure provider.

Houdini Swap has generated over US$50m in swap volume since inception and US$21m in the past two months. With the recent release of their API, Houdini Swap is transitioning to become an infrastructure layer, offering privacy as a service to protocols, DEXs, wallets, projects, and other web3 commerce, according to the firm.

'The team plans to use proceeds for product development, new hires for tech and marketing, and to support the Poof token buyback program,' stated Houdini Swap.