Equilibrium, a cross-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) money market based on the Polkadot blockchain has raised $5.5 million via an unconventional token swap fundraising method.
In a press release shared with CryptoGlobe, Equilibrium revealed the decentralized interoperable DeFi money market raise over $5 million in a round that saw a number of venture capital funds that invest in the Polkadot ecosystem participate. These included BKOEX Capital, PNYX Ventures.
The fundraising was conducted via an unconventional token swap. More often than not token swaps are related to the migration of a cryptocurrency from one blockchain to another. An example would be the tokens sold in the EOS ICO from the Ethereum blockchain to the EOS network.
Equilibrium’s token swap consisted of users exchanging established Native Utility Tokens (NUT) from Equilibrium’s EOS-based product for EQ utility tokens on Equilibrium’s new Polkadot-based platform. In the press release, the firm touted it “knows its strong user participation is more valuable than some token sale.”
The EQ token itself was described as a “cross-chain compatible token used as a platform currency and voting mechanism in Equilibrium’s decentralized governance.” The token can be used to pay for product fees, as collateral for a loan, to bail out liquidity to secure loans, and pay transaction fees on the Equilibrium Substrate.
Ji Jingyan, the founder and CEO of the BKEX exchange, expressed intention to list the EQ token. Jingyan was quoted as saying:
Who else offers non-custodial pooled lending across blockchains and will connect major assets and protocols to empower global digital asset trading? Equilibrium is filling a missing link with its services.
Equilibrium is looking to make Ethereum and other blockchains fully compatible with each other using decentralized finance use cases. It reportedly combines cross-chain pooled lending for major cryptoassets and synthetic assets, as well as cross-chain trading.
Featured image via Pixabay.
