Resolv Labs, the agency behind the $450 million decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Resolv, has closed a $10 million seed spherical to broaden its crypto-native yield platform and USR stablecoin, the crew instructed CoinDesk in an unique interview.
The funding spherical was led by Cyber.Fund and Maven11, with extra backing from Coinbase Ventures, Susquehanna’s subsidiary SCB Restricted, Arrington Capital, Gumi Cryptos, NoLimit Holdings, Robotic Ventures, Animoca Ventures and others.
Stablecoins, a $230 billion and quickly increasing class of cryptocurrencies with pegged costs to an exterior asset, are capturing consideration nicely past their conventional use in funds and buying and selling. A rising cadre of crypto protocols provide yield-bearing stablecoins or “artificial {dollars},” wrapping numerous funding methods right into a digital token with a steady value and passing on a part of the earnings to holders.
“I view stablecoins as the proper rails for yield distribution,” Ivan Kozlov, founder and CEO of Resolv, stated in an interview with CoinDesk. “This may occasionally really develop into bigger than transaction stablecoins like [Tether’s] USDT sooner or later.”
Essentially the most notable instance of the development is Ethena’s $5 billion USDe token, which primarily pursues a delta-neutral place by holding cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH and SOL and concurrently shorting equal dimension of perpetual futures, scooping up yield from funding charges.
Resolv additionally pursues the same technique: its USR token, anchored to $1, is a delta-neutral stablecoin designed to ship steady yields from crypto markets, whereas shielding holders from sharp value swings.
The protocol achieves this by splitting danger between two layers, impressed by Kozlov’s background in structured merchandise in conventional finance. USR stablecoin holders sit within the much less dangerous senior tranche incomes steady however decrease yields, with risk-tolerant traders within the protocol’s insurance coverage layer represented by the RLP token with floating value. This mannequin, borrowed from structured finance, goals to make crypto yields extra predictable with out sacrificing decentralization, Kozlov defined.
Following its launch in September 2024, the protocol shortly ballooned to over $600 million in belongings pushed by engaging yields in the course of the crypto rally after Donald Trump’s election victory, DefiLlama knowledge reveals. Nonetheless, as markets turned bearish and yields compressed, Resolv’s complete worth locked (TVL) additionally slid round $450 million this month.
With the brand new capital elevate, Resolv plans to broaden its yield sources to incorporate bitcoin (BTC)-based methods and deepening its integrations with institutional digital asset managers, Kozlov stated. The protocol additionally goals to broaden to new blockchains, widening its attain past early crypto adopters.