Public Mint launched its ‘fiat-native’ public blockchain on July 1 followed by two years of development.
The platform comprises a blockchain for the tokenization of fiat currencies held in the accounts of insured and regulated fiat custodians. It essentially comprises of a stablecoin backed by a network of banks.
Public Mint claims to have already partnered with a network of more than 200 banks to hold the funds backing its fiat token network.
Public Mint – The new foundation for the global movement of #money is now commercially available! Thank you @brianbehlendorf @Hyperledger, @nitingaur @IBMBlockchain and @devadutta @VideoCoinHQ for your support and validation. @linuxfoundation @PegaSysEng https://t.co/BmR0CNF1XZ — PauloRodrigues (@PJR360work) July 1, 2020
However, their site does not provide further details on banking partners, although Hyperledger and IBM Digital Asset Labs are named in the announcement as supporters.
Companies that use Public Mint can accept payment via credit card, wire transfer, or ACH payment.
The network only supports U.S dollars at launch, however, the platform plans to soon introduce other fiat currencies.
Public Mint’s blockchain is a modified version of Hyperledger Besu featuring a different consensus mechanism and a fiat-based fees.
Public Mint was co-founded by Halsey Minor, known for co-founding pioneering digital media firm CNET in 1993.
Minor described Public Mint as facilitating fiat-powered decentralized finance-style financial applications:
“The genesis of Public Mint was to allow regulated banks to hold funds which could then be tokenized or ‘minted’, allowing for the creation of applications and business processes around money without actually moving money between banks.”
The platform appears to have already garnered support from major players in the distributed ledger technology (DLT) sector.
Hyperledger’s executive director Brian Behlendorf expresses his excitement “to see Public Mint tackle the challenges of programmable currency and frictionless transfer of funds.”
Public Mint: Global Fiat rails for a blockchain-enabled world Institucional website: https://t.co/pCEEAgav9b Ecosystem website: https://t.co/QXvfrqHNok FAQ: https://t.co/8XnIOffTeh#PublicMint #2020enterpriseblockchain #blockchain #enterpriseblockchain — PauloRodrigues (@PJR360work) June 2, 2020
Nitin Gaur, the director of IBM Digital Asset Labs, stated:
“In close cooperation with Banks and Trust companies and compliant to regional and global regulations, Public Mint is addressing that initial promise so that all enterprises, from traditional well-established companies to new and innovative DeFI startups can pave the way for the rise of digital assets.”
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Unsplash