Bonded Finance: A DeFi Protocol Unlocking the Liquidity of Long-Tail Digital Assets

What is Bonded Finance

Friends, imagine you have some very special collectibles in your hands—they might be quite valuable, but not everyone recognizes them, so it’s hard to use them as collateral for a bank loan or to find someone willing to trade. In the blockchain world, many digital assets other than Bitcoin and Ethereum (we call these “altcoins”) face this exact problem—they may have great potential, but lack market liquidity, meaning they’re not easily traded or used as collateral.

Bonded Finance (abbreviated as BOND) is a blockchain project designed to solve this problem. It’s like a financial platform specifically built for these “special collectibles.” Its core goal is to “unlock” these idle, valuable but illiquid digital assets, allowing them to participate in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Simply put, Bonded Finance is a lending platform based on smart contracts. Smart Contract can be understood as a self-executing “digital agreement” written on the blockchain; once conditions are met, it runs automatically without third-party intervention. On this platform, you can use those altcoins that are usually hard to trade as collateral to borrow more mainstream digital currencies (such as stablecoins), or lend your digital assets to others to earn returns.

Its target users are those who hold various digital assets, especially “non-mainstream” altcoins. Through Bonded Finance, these assets are no longer “dead money”—they can be put to use and generate more value.

Project Vision and Value Proposition

Bonded Finance’s vision is to promote the development of Open Finance by providing innovative financial tools that offer sustainable yield opportunities for digital assets. They believe that among various altcoins, there is about $50 billion in “dormant” value that has not been fully utilized. Bonded Finance hopes to aggregate these scattered, underutilized digital assets through its algorithmic model, reduce risk, and unlock their potential value.

The project’s name “Bonded” is also interesting—it comes from the physics concept where atoms become stable by forming “bonds” through sharing or transferring electrons. Bonded Finance hopes to use this “bonding” approach to integrate originally unstable, illiquid assets into a more stable and productive ecosystem.

Unlike other DeFi projects on the market, many traditional DeFi platforms only support a few mainstream cryptocurrencies as collateral. Bonded Finance’s uniqueness lies in its commitment to providing lending services for a wider range of digital assets, and it uses a sophisticated risk assessment engine to handle these more volatile, less liquid assets, creating a more inclusive lending environment.

Technical Features

The core technology of Bonded Finance is its lending pools based on Smart Contracts. You can think of these lending pools as “digital vaults” automatically managed by computer programs, which match lending needs and manage collateral automatically.

The platform uses an Algorithmic Model to assess the volatility and liquidity of various altcoins, and sets appropriate collateral ratios and interest rates accordingly. It’s like a very smart “risk calculator” that automatically adjusts lending conditions based on asset characteristics to reduce risk. The entire platform is designed to be highly automated, minimizing manual intervention and improving financial operation efficiency.

As a DeFi protocol running on the Ethereum blockchain, Bonded Finance’s token BOND is an ERC-20 Token. ERC-20 is a technical standard for issuing fungible tokens on Ethereum, meaning the BOND token is compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem. Therefore, it also relies on Ethereum’s own consensus mechanism to ensure transaction security and network stability.

Tokenomics

The platform token for Bonded Finance is BOND. It is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain.

Token Basic Information

• Token Symbol: BOND
• Issuing Chain: Ethereum (ERC-20)
• Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 BOND (1 billion)
• Initial Circulating Supply: 325,000,000 BOND after public sale
• Current Circulating Supply: About 384 million BOND (note: this number is dynamic, refer to real-time data for specifics)

Token Utility

The BOND token plays multiple key roles in the Bonded Finance ecosystem:

• Governance: BOND holders can participate in important protocol decisions, such as which assets to support, adjusting protocol parameters, and future development direction. It’s like having voting rights in a company, jointly deciding the project’s path.
• Staking Rewards: Holders can earn rewards by staking BOND tokens, which helps maintain network security and stability. Staking can be understood as locking your tokens in the network to support its operation and earn rewards in return.
• Yield Opportunities: Holders have the chance to earn income through network fees, liquidation events, and loan payments.
• Incentive Mechanism: BOND tokens are also used to incentivize network activity and help ensure collateral security.
• Lower Borrowing Costs: Within the lending framework, BOND tokens can help reduce interest costs for borrowers.

Token Allocation and Vesting Information (Historical Data)

According to historical data, the initial allocation of BOND tokens was as follows:

• Private Sale I: 20%
• Liquidity Mining/Staking Rewards: 20%
• Treasury: 20%
• Public Sale: 13%
• Advisors: 10%
• Team: 10%
• Seed Round: 5%
• Private Sale II: 2%

The vesting plan at the time was: Seed Round and Private Sale I had 50% locked for 30 days, while Private Sale II and Public Sale had no lock-up.

Team, Governance, and Funding

Team

The Bonded Finance team is composed of professionals with extensive experience in finance and blockchain. Core members include:

• Paul Mak (CEO): 17 years of investment and management experience in Southeast Asia/Pacific markets.
• Lorena Valencia: An executive providing professional insights and operational efficiency for crypto companies.
• Peter Aiken: A senior partner with over 20 years of investment industry experience, dedicated to bridging traditional finance and cryptocurrency.

The team combines traditional financial expertise with innovative blockchain thinking, aiming to build algorithmic intelligent tools and decentralized financial products.

Governance Mechanism

Bonded Finance adopts a decentralized governance model. This means BOND token holders have a say in the protocol’s evolution and development. They can vote on key decisions, such as adjusting protocol parameters, deciding which new digital assets to support, and planning the project’s future direction. This model is designed to ensure the platform’s development aligns with the community’s vision and needs.

Funding

Bonded Finance raised funds through seed, private, and public rounds. The specific funding scale and treasury details require deeper financial reports, but its token allocation includes a 20% treasury share to support ongoing project development.

Roadmap

Bonded Finance has gone through several important milestones and changes during its development:

Historical Key Events

• November 15-22, 2020: Public sale conducted.
• November 25, 2020: Token Generation Event (TGE) completed.
• December 8, 2020: BOND token listed on BitMax.io (now AscendEX) exchange.
• By end of January 2021: Planned launch of first product, Ionic Lending.
• End of Q1 2021: Planned launch of Bonded Index, Credit Line Index, and synthetic bETH.
• 2021: Launched Bonded Accelerated Crypto Loan (ACL) product, aimed at allowing small-cap altcoin holders to earn interest and returns.
• Important Update: Bonded Finance has been renamed to Fringe Finance. This is a very significant change, meaning future development and roadmap will proceed under the name Fringe Finance.

Future Plans

Given Bonded Finance has been renamed to Fringe Finance, its future key plans and milestones will be published and executed by the Fringe Finance team. Therefore, to understand the latest progress and direction, please follow Fringe Finance’s official channels.

Common Risk Reminders

Investing in any blockchain project comes with risks, and Bonded Finance is no exception. Before participating, be sure to understand the following common risk categories:

Technical and Security Risks

• Smart Contract Risk: Although smart contracts are designed for automation, they are not flawless. Bugs or errors in the code may lead to loss of funds.
• Platform Automation Risk: While high automation increases efficiency, it also means that if the system fails, manual intervention may be difficult to execute quickly.

Economic Risks

• Market Volatility Risk: The crypto market is known for its extreme volatility. Altcoin prices used as collateral may drop sharply, leading to liquidation or a decrease in collateral value.
• Liquidity Risk: Although Bonded Finance aims to solve altcoin liquidity issues, if overall market liquidity dries up or a specific altcoin’s trading volume is very low, it may still affect asset realization.
• Liquidation Risk: Lending platforms usually set a Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio. If collateral value drops and LTV exceeds the threshold, collateral may be forcibly liquidated to repay the loan.
• BOND Token Price Volatility Risk: The price of BOND itself is affected by market supply and demand, project progress, overall crypto market sentiment, and other factors, and may decline.

Compliance and Operational Risks

• Regulatory Risk: Global regulation of cryptocurrencies and DeFi is still evolving, and future policy changes may impact project operations.
• Project Renaming and Uncertainty in Development Direction: The project has been renamed to Fringe Finance, meaning its future direction, team composition, and product strategy may change. Ongoing attention to the new brand’s developments is needed.

Please remember, the above information does not constitute any investment advice. Before making any investment decisions, be sure to do your own research (DYOR) and consult a professional financial advisor.

Verification Checklist

To learn more about Bonded Finance (now Fringe Finance), you can refer to the following information:

• Whitepaper/Litepaper: https://bonded.finance/litepaper-Bonded-sep-29.pdf (Note: this is a document from the Bonded Finance era; you may need to look for the latest Fringe Finance documents)
• Official Website: The original Bonded Finance website https://bonded.finance appears to be inactive and may even be for sale. Be sure to look for the Fringe Finance official website for the latest information.
• Block Explorer Contract Address: The Ethereum contract address for the BOND token is
  0x5dc04db1e8e2927703d260f59d020d2b784db1e8
  (please verify the activity and transaction status of this address on Etherscan or other block explorers).
• GitHub Activity: The project’s GitHub repository is https://github.com/Bondedfinance (check code update frequency, community contributions, etc., to assess development activity).
• Social Media: Follow Fringe Finance’s official social media (such as Twitter, Medium, etc.) for the latest announcements and community updates.

Project Summary

Bonded Finance, as a decentralized finance (DeFi) project, had a very clear and innovative initial vision: it aimed to solve the liquidity shortage of a large number of altcoins, allowing these “idle” digital assets to play a role in the DeFi ecosystem and generate returns through lending and other means. It provides users with a platform to use diversified digital assets as collateral for lending, powered by smart contract-driven lending pools and algorithmic risk assessment models.

The BOND token is the core of its ecosystem, not only granting holders the right to participate in protocol governance, but also offering staking and yield opportunities. The team is composed of experienced professionals in finance and blockchain, aiming to combine the rigor of traditional finance with the innovation of blockchain.

However, it’s worth noting that the Bonded Finance project has been renamed to Fringe Finance. This rebranding means the project may have adjustments in strategy, products, or branding. For anyone interested in the project, it is strongly recommended to focus research on the latest information from Fringe Finance, including its current whitepaper, roadmap, team updates, and community activities. The cryptocurrency market is full of opportunities but also high risks—be sure to conduct thorough due diligence.

For more details, please conduct your own research; this article does not constitute any investment advice.