Latest news with #MarcBoiron
Crypto Insight
3 days ago
- Business
- Crypto Insight
Polygon-backed, high-yield blockchain launches for institutional adoption
The Katana Foundation, a nonprofit focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) development, is launching its private mainnet, aiming to unlock greater crypto asset productivity via deeper liquidity and higher yields for users. The Katana Foundation launched a DeFi-optimized, private blockchain, Katana, on May 28, incubated by GSR Markets and Polygon Labs, with the public mainnet launch set for June. The new blockchain will enable users to earn higher yields and explore DeFi in a 'unique, optimized yield environment' that unlocks latent value through an ecosystem that makes every digital asset 'work harder,' according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph. 'DeFi users deserve ecosystems that prioritize sustainable liquidity and consistent 'real' yields,' wrote Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs and core contributor at Katana, adding: 'Katana's user-centric model turns inefficiencies into advantages, establishing a truly positive-sum environment for builders and participants alike.' Katana aims to solve the crypto industry's liquidity fragmentation issue, which can cause significant price slippage, as one of the main barriers limiting institutional DeFi participation To reduce the value slippage in DeFi, Katana's blockchain concentrates the liquidity from numerous protocols and collects yields on all potential sources to create an ecosystem with deeper liquidity and more predictable lending and borrowing rates. Institutional participation in DeFi is set to triple over the next two years to 75% from 24% of 350 surveyed institutional investors, according to management consulting firm EY-Parthenon. To tackle the growing institutional liquidity needs, Katana's liquidity pool is composed of multiple protocols, including lending protocol Morpho, decentralized exchange (DEX) Sushi and perpetual DEX Vertex, enabling users to trade 'blue-chip assets' without needing crosschain transfers. Katana has also incorporated Conduit's sequences and Chainlink's decentralized oracle network. Katana to compound DeFi yield from 'Ethereum-based opportunities' Katana aims to boost sustainable yield by building a cohesive DeFi ecosystem. For instance, VaultBridge deploys bridged assets into overcollateralized, curated lending strategies on Ethereum via Mopho to earn yield, which is routed back and compounded on Katana. The protocol will reinvest network fees and a portion of application revenue back into its ecosystem. 'This reduces reliance on short-term incentives, generates consistent yield, and as it grows, acts as an increasingly stable backstop during periods of volatility and liquidity shocks,' Polygon Labs' Boiron told Cointelegraph, adding: 'Yield is distributed pro-rata to each chain using VaultBridge protocol based on their share of total deposits into VaultBridge.' 'So if Katana supplies 20% of the total vault deposits, it receives 20% of the yield back,' he added. Katana will subsequently allocate its share of yield to users through boosted DeFi incentives across 'core apps' such as Sushi, Morpho or Vertex. The yield is generated from 'Ethereum-based opportunities and then enhanced through Katana's core applications,' said Boiron. Polygon Labs' CEO previously criticized DeFi protocols for fueling a cycle of 'mercenary capital' by offering sky-high annual percentage yields (APYs) through token emissions. Beyond infrastructure-related limitations, regulatory uncertainty remains another significant barrier to institutional DeFi adoption. Regulatory concerns were the main barrier to entry, flagged by 57% of institutional investors as the main reason for not planning to participate in DeFi activities. Source:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Katana Foundation launches a private DeFi blockchain
The Katana Foundation has introduced a new private blockchain that enhances the decentralized finance (DeFi) user experience by providing greater liquidity and higher user yields. The Katana mainnet, the private version, is now live, with a public launch expected in June. Katana, under the support of Polygon Labs and GSR Markets, combines several decentralized finance solutions to guide users in earning more with their digital assets and mitigating one of the most substantial challenges in capital markets: fragmented liquidity. This is important because fragmented liquidity often leaves users vulnerable to price slippage, which can impact overall returns, particularly for institutional users. By bringing together liquidity from multiple DeFi protocols, such as lending protocol Morpho, decentralized exchange Sushi, or perpetual DEX Vertex, Katana will provide users with access to trade blue-chip assets with greater liquidity and efficiency. Katana is leveraging Chainlink oracles and Conduit's sequencing tools for accurate asset price maintenance. Katana has a tool known as VaultBridge, which converts the user's assets into Ethereum lending positions to generate interest that is transferred back and compounded on Katana's platform. Another aspect of Katana's model is using a portion of network fees and some app revenues, rather than short-term rewards, to help reinforce the ecosystem. These elements work to build a sustainable and reliable investment strategy that protects users in down markets. "Katana turns inefficiencies into advantages," Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, stated. He is confident that Katana now provides both developers and users in the DeFi world with a more consistent and productive ecosystem. Katana Foundation launches a private DeFi blockchain first appeared on TheStreet on May 28, 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon Labs and market maker GSR launch DeFi-focused blockchain
Polygon Labs became a darling of the 2021 and 2022 crypto boom when it partnered with corporate stalwarts like Starbucks and Meta on various blockchain projects. But, as those brand-name companies quietly dropped their experiments amid the ensuing 'Crypto Winter,' Polygon Labs searched for other ways to popularize its network. On Wednesday, the company, along with the crypto market making firm GSR, announced the launch of the newest blockchain it's helped incubate: Katana. Instead of catering towards corporate clients, Katana is aimed at 'degens'—crypto slang for traders with a high appetite for risk who often use DeFi, or decentralized finance, platforms. Those platforms offer decentralized versions of traditional banking services like lending and borrowing. Rather than borrowing money from JPMorgan Chase, for example, DeFi users borrow from a decentralized pool of funds fronted by other crypto traders. Katana is the latest sign from Polygon Labs, founded in 2017 and one of the marquee companies of the last crypto cycle, that the firm is more explicitly focusing on crypto traders rather than brand names. Polygon's tie-ups with Meta, which focused on NFTs, and Starbucks, which built out a blockchain-based loyalty program, attracted widespread acclaim from the crypto industry in 2022. But, in 2023 and 2024, the two Fortune 500 companies abandoned their experiments with the blockchain company, respectively. Since then, Polygon Labs has built out its DeFi team, and Marc Boiron, the CEO of the company, has even branded himself 'the degen CEO' on X. 'The key is: What are people actually doing on chain, rather than what looks good because it's a big name?' Boiron told Fortune. And what users are doing 'on chain,' or on blockchains, are trading, lending, and borrowing. To that end, Katana has brought on Morpho, a decentralized borrowing and lending protocol; Sushi, which lets users swap and buy cryptocurrencies; and Vertex, an application for trading crypto futures, or bets on the upcoming prices of cryptocurrencies. Boiron said that Katana's biggest differentiator is how it prioritizes its core DeFi applications over competitors. On other blockchains, user funds may be split, for example, across several competing lending and borrowing applications. When funds are divided, users face markets where prices rise or fall abruptly in a matter of seconds. Katana, a layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum, aims to combat this through incentivizing only a handful of DeFi applications in its ecosystem. To do this, the blockchain will distribute fees generated from users on the protocol back to the users of its preferred DeFi applications—among other incentives. The blockchain is currently open to select users and will go public in late June. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon, GSR Release Katana Network Tackle DeFi Fragmentation
Katana, a new decentralized finance (DeFi)-focused blockchain incubated by industry heavyweights Polygon and GSR, shared on Wednesday that its private mainnet has gone live. The new layer-2 blockchain will unify 'all liquidity in a set of protocols and collect yield from all potential sources," the team shared in a press release sent to CoinDesk. Katana's goal is "to power a self-sustaining DeFi engine for long-term growth,' it said. Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs, told CoinDesk that Katana emerged to address DeFi fragmentation, where digital assets are distributed across various apps and ecosystems, making certain types of investing cumbersome. Katana was built using AggLayer — Polygon's platform for building interoperable blockchains. 'One of the things that we want is a super deep liquidity hub on the AggLayer, so that every chain can tap into that,' Boiron said. 'When you look across everything in crypto, what you realize is that there's actually no chain that's built very well for actually having deep liquidity.' Katana aims to improve blockchain liquidity — including lending, trading, and yield bearing strategies — by integrating with popular apps like Sushi, a major decentralized exchange, and Morpho, a popular decentralized lending ecosystem. Polygon Labs, the team behind the layer-2 network, helped design the chain, while GSR, the crypto market-maker, advised on the user experience and is lending liquidity to help get the platform off the ground. 'We are providing the on-chain liquidity — or 'grease' — to make sure that people can actually use the chain on day one,' said Jakob Palmstierna, President at GSR. Currently, Katana is open to a limited group of users. It includes a pre-deposit phase that allows users to park their ETH, USDC, USDT, and WBTC for a chance to win KAT tokens, the network's new governance and utility token. Though activity is limited at this private stage, early deposits are being incentivized through a lootbox-style reward system. Katana's public mainnet is expected to arrive at the end of in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon Labs' Marc Boiron on Unifying Blockchains
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, speaks with a practiced clarity that reflects his background as a lawyer. Over the course of our conversation, he outlines Polygon's strategy to position itself as the connective tissue in an increasingly crowded blockchain ecosystem. As competition intensifies and market conditions fluctuate, Polygon is betting on a new product called AggLayer to unify the fragmented world of blockchain – a vision that's ambitious, though not without its challenges. Boiron's path to blockchain leadership followed an unconventional route through legal corridors. A former law firm partner, he served as Chief Legal Officer at dYdX before joining Polygon Labs in a similar capacity, eventually ascending to CEO. He talked about blockchain infrastructure, as the industry confronts questions of interoperability, scalability, and practical utility. Boiron is a speaker at this year's Consensus festival in Toronto May 14-16. CoinDesk: Your background is primarily in law rather than technology. Tell me about it? Boiron: I'm the CEO at Polygon Labs. I've been the CEO for about two years now. Before that, I was the Chief Legal Officer at Polygon Labs for about a year. I joined Polygon after having been the Chief Legal Officer at dYdX for a while. I was frankly just really excited about joining a team that was looking to scale Web3 in the way that Polygon is. Before being on the Polygon legal team, I was a partner at various big law firms in the U.S., advising on crypto since 2017. CoinDesk: Polygon describes itself as building an 'Internet of Value.' That's a compelling phrase, but what does it actually mean in concrete terms? Boiron: From Polygon's perspective, we're trying to build a trustless internet that makes it easily accessible to anyone to do whatever they want whenever they want with their assets. The way that shows up is through a product that we are developing called the AggLayer. The AggLayer is intended to be a form of settlement for every chain across crypto in general. The Internet of Value contrasts with today's internet, which is primarily the Internet of Information. Web3's fundamental innovation is bringing actual value on-chain. The challenge we face is how to scale this capability across the entire digital ecosystem Right now the answer is many different blockchains that exist. But if you actually want to have something that feels like the internet of information becoming the internet of value, you need something that brings together all of those chains so that you can get a massive amount of transactions happening across all of these chains, but in a seamless way that feels just like the current internet. So the Internet of Value really gets brought to life through AggLayer. CoinDesk: Interoperability has been promised by many projects over the years. What technical approach is Polygon taking with AggLayer that you believe will succeed where others have struggled? Boiron: AggLayer is a product designed to unite all of Web3 on a single settlement layer. Currently, what's missing in the ecosystem is a secure way to move between different chains. The only effective solution for secure and rapid cross-chain movement is to use a settlement layer like AggLayer. In practice, this means the ability to finalize transactions between two different chains in less than two seconds. Our model differs from other cross-chain infrastructure in how it handles asset transfers. We monitor all assets moving in and out of chains. When someone initiates an asset transfer out of a chain, we use pessimistic proof to verify and confirm the assets' existence on that chain before allowing the transfer. Currently, this system works exclusively with Polygon CDK chains. However, we're launching an update soon that will allow any EVM chain to connect to AggLayer. This expansion brings us closer to our vision of unifying all of Web3 through AggLayer. CoinDesk: Real-World Assets on blockchain have been discussed for years with limited practical implementation. What's your perspective on RWAs, and how do they fit into Polygon's overall approach to the market? Boiron: One of Polygon's core strengths has always been our relationships with financial institutions, which is crucial for both real-world assets (RWA) and payments. When it comes to payments, Polygon POS hosts nearly 50 stablecoins. Every major fintech player that operates on other chains is also on Polygon, though many Polygon-based companies operate exclusively on our platform. For instance, Lemon Cash in Argentina operates exclusively on our platform. Other major payment companies like Stripe process most of their volume through Polygon POS, while companies like Grab in Singapore use Polygon POS alongside other chains. We've established 18 tokenized funds on Polygon POS, and our strategy focuses on making these assets truly functional. Currently, most tokenized assets across chains remain dormant after creation, offering little advantage over their traditional counterparts. Our focus is integrating these assets into DeFi, starting with enabling them as collateral in lending pools for borrowing purposes. CoinDesk: How is Polygon responding to recent market volatility and regulatory developments? Boiron: From our perspective, we just keep building regardless of what the environment is. We know what it is that we want to build, and we just keep building away at it. The market reactions obviously impact adoption. Ultimately, the economy ends up impacting the adoption for everything in the world, and it's no different for crypto. The only thing that we can do is keep building away, and as the market turns, being very well-positioned with great products that users want to use. CoinDesk: Several new blockchains have launched with claims of superior performance metrics. How does Polygon position its original POS chain in this increasingly competitive landscape? Boiron: I think Polygon POS is already very well-positioned for that. There's a reason why we see payments being adopted on POS — it is because it is actually already fast and low-cost. The thing with everything that we build, including Polygon POS, is that we're continuing to adapt it. One of the things that's exciting is that we get to see innovations across the space. People get to see how Polygon POS is innovated and adopt some of those things. We get to look at what others are doing and adopt some of their ideas as well as continuing to research and bring in new ideas ourselves. So I think what you'll end up seeing on POS is a chain that's just as fast or faster than all of the new chains that we're talking about here. The nice thing is that comes along with years of very good security and still maintaining the low costs that currently exist on-chain.
