We are simplifying access to fair, open and inclusive financial system. Using digital assets means we can offer returns that traditional financial institutions are unable to compete with. They are operating on ancient infrastructure that simply doesn’t work in the modern world.

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Fintech companies are built on a broken financial system, while DeFi is just beginning

Financial institutions are operating on infrastructure dating back to 1970 ill-suited to the modern world. In order to survive they need to profit at the expense of their customers. They weren’t built to benefit and serve the customer, and they’re so big and cumbersome that any real change takes years.

Moreover, bank misconduct and executive bonus-driven operating models have irreparably eroded trust in financial institutions. Along with this, record low interest rates and rampant inflation are highlighting how the existing financial system is rotten at its core.

The inevitable result of a dysfunctional system is that everyday people (along with financial institutions) are searching for alternatives where they can store and grow their hard earned money.

It’s about time for a shake-up and we are here to change the game.

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Making DeFi safe and accessible for the next billion users

We believe decentralised finance (DeFi) is the best alternative to a broken financial system. However, the technical knowledge required to safely interact and access the benefits DeFi has to offer is a massive barrier to adoption.

In order to introduce DeFi to the next billion people, it’s crucial that tiiik is built from the outset with safety, compliance and scalability in mind. To make new technologies accessible to everyday people we must focus on removing all of the complexity associated with the process.

As a user you don’t need to understand how to keep your cryptographic keys secure or what stablecoins are (unless you want to!). The on/off ramping of fiat simply becomes a backend job. Also importantly, the process of vetting the most appropriate yield generating DeFi protocol is done on your behalf.

The reason why we are progressively removing complexity from the process is because in the long run, we believe interacting with DeFi is going to be comparable to making an internet search. A user doesn’t need to understand the underlying tech, such as the HTTPS protocol, to be able to derive value from it.

By lowering the barrier to entry, we are going to be the gateway to a better financial system that will truly help everyday people better manage their finances and reach financial well being.

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Overview

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Q1 2022: Making fiat on/off ramp to stablecoins seamless and inexpensive

Problem: Onboarding funds into DeFi is expensive, with an average cost of around 3% per transaction. The value erosion is significant for the everyday person starting to dip their feet into DeFi.

Solution: We are building a gateway for both users and developers to access DeFi in a quicker and more cost efficient way. You’ll be able to ramp fiat currency into stablecoins at a fraction of the price without compromising on security or user experience.

Deliverable: The first iteration will allow us to onramp AUD into stablecoins at a low cost compared to alternatives in market. This will be achieved by building bespoke on/off ramp rails with our liquidity provider partners. As we scale up we will look into further cost optimisations.

Next iteration: We will quickly start looking at adding more fiat currencies to truly unlock the power of stablecoins. Ideally, you’ll be able to generate yield on any currency no matter the denomination. We are looking at both off-chain and on-chain options to remove FX risks by opening forward swap contracts to lock in FX rate at the time of conversion.

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Q2 2022: Turning fiat currencies into a yield bearing asset

Problem: Money isn’t working anymore the way it used to, with near 0% interest rates and inflation rising across the globe. We want to empower everyday people, businesses and institutions to access better returns than the traditional financial system can offer.

Solution: Build functionality enabling users to grow dollars on dollars by depositing stablecoins into DeFi protocols offering returns better than what’s available from traditional financial institutions.

Deliverable: After building the rails necessary to go from fiat into stablecoins in a fully compliant and regulated way, we need to be able to deposit the stablecoins into a handful of highly vetted and battle tested DeFi protocols. We are starting with Anchor, but as we scale, to avoid over-concentration in a single protocol and chain, we will need to be able to mitigate risk by going cross chain and building our own protocol.

Next iteration: We are considering packaging our yield service in an SDK allowing any developer to integrate with it. We'll take care of compliance, custody, yield generation and settlement so that developers and users of their product can access DeFi in less time and at a much better rate.

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Q3 2022: Fiat to DeFi in a simple and seamless mobile user experience

Problem: DeFi is complex, with lots of protocols available to interact with for yield generation. A lot of new concepts are necessary to grasp for everyday people such as managing a wallet and private keys. On top of this, there is a lack of truly consumer centric DeFi mobile products.

Solution: A one stop digital wallet to save and earn with one simple balance. Go from fiat to DeFi with no complexity in one click, make a deposit and start earning all from a simple and intuitive mobile app your grandma could use. Full flexibility to deposit and withdraw at any time while earning returns on your balance.

Deliverable: A mobile app allowing users to transfer directly from their bank account into interest generating DeFi protocols, in a fully regulated and compliant way. User funds are held in our digital vault secured with Fireblocks (an ISO and SOC2 certified digital asset custodian).

Next iteration: Ability to spend from that one balance, plus unleashing some of the most innovative solutions powered by web3.

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Q4 2022: Allowing people to spend their stablecoins just like fiat, anywhere and anytime

Problem: Stablecoins are taking the world by storm and becoming a predominant form of money in the digital asset sphere, however these digital dollars have limited utility in the real world.

Solution: We want to provide the ability to spend from your balance while accruing interest. In order to do so we will work with card issuers to issue prepaid cards. When a user processes a transaction the card issuer pings tiiik for authorisation to check if the user has enough balance in their account. If they do, then we send confirmation to the issuer to process the transaction. The transaction is funded by a float we are providing our issuer that we replenish at the end of each day.

Deliverable: The ability to spend stablecoins everywhere like cash. Transactions are funded with a fiat float that we are providing our card issuer with, and that we replenish at the end of the day by selling the equivalent amount of stablecoin.

Next iteration: In the future, we will be exploring avenues to directly settle in stablecoins without having to convert to fiat first.