Nolus is a DeFi(Decentralized Finance) protocol that is defining a money market between lenders looking to earn yield from stablecoin deposits and borrowers looking to amplify their holding with more assets than their current equity but at a lower risk and retained ownership. To achieve this functionality, the firm leverages a semi-permissioned PoS(Proof of Stake) blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK(Software Development Kit) and WASM smart contract engine that executes in an isolated environment (SandBox) model that is focused on interoperability, security and performance. With interoperability at the core of Nolus, the protocol utilizes IBC and interchain accounts to enable users tap into a diverse set of liquidity hubs without creating fragmentation across chains.
In a recent seed funding round, Nolus has secured $2.5 million at a $20 million seed market valuation. The funding round was backed by several investment firms including DoraHacks, Everstake, Cogitent Ventures, Token Metrics Ventures and Autonomy Capital among other venture capitals. The proceeds of this funding round will be utilized to tackle the insufficiencies in DeFi money markets and allow Nolus to fully complete the technological backbone and further expand the platform within and without the Cosmos ecosystem. To solidify the firm’s cross-chain presence, Nolus has tasked its advisory board members Shane Malidor, Zaki Manian and Strangelove with the responsibility of ensuring the realization of this objective.
The Nolus protocol allows users to access up to 150% in financing based on their initial investment through its Nolus DeFi Lease product. The financing comes at a lowered margin call risk and access to the underlying leveraged assets. This utility allows Nolus’ users to own up to more than 3 times in assets than their equity.
The firm promises its users the ability to defy the odds through the utilization of its infrastructure. Additionally, the firm notes that borrowing and lending isn’t what it should be and that is why the sector needs a shake up. The firm further notes that the DeFi sector suffers from steep over-collateralization and therefore, making lending options unfavorable. According to the firm’s online platform, the rapid rise of locked-up collateral is holding back the market’s potential because it ties up otherwise useful capital that could be utilized to better manage risk.
Nolus aims to prove that users of this products can leverage to speculate with more equity without the need for over-collateralized loans. This is however, not the case as most exchanges with futures contracts to not allow ownership of the asset by users but rather, impose high interest rates that can go as high as 40% per annum on the users. Nolus further argues that in either case, users looking to maximize their gains through over-collateralized loans and futures contracts, run a high risk liquidation exposure that could ultimately lead to total loss of their equity.
To onboard more users into its platform, Nolus has a native token, $NLS, that allows active stakeholders to receive rewards for participating in the networks underlying consensus and help govern the future development of the protocol. The protocol also brings better rates for supplying funds while at the same time, granting stakeholders reduced interest rates to leverage their assets through DeFi leases.
