DeFi banking protocol MELD recently made headlines for attracting more than $1 billion worth of staked Cardano (ADA) to its protocol through a novel funding mechanism called an initial stake pool offering, or ISPO, marking an important innovation in how early adopters support blockchain startups. Cointelegraph had the opportunity to connect with MELD CEO Ken Olling to discuss the significance of the ISPO as well as Cardano’s role in facilitating widescale participation in the stake pools.
ISPO: An overview
The ISPO is a novel way for investors and other early adopters to support a project by delegating cryptocurrency to public stake pools in exchange for the project’s tokens. MELD is currently the only known project to employ an ISPO even though the concept had been previously proposed elsewhere.
The MELD ISPO, which was initiated on July 1, allowed Cardano holders to stake their ADA for any duration and quantity in exchange for MELD tokens. The first stake pool was filled within 24 hours after roughly $100 million worth of ADA was contributed. Within five days, four stake pools equivalent to nearly $200 million were filled.
MELD stopped accepting new delegations on Oct. 27. By that time, nearly 620 million ADA had been staked for a cumulative value of over $1 billion. All said, the ISPO had over 40,000 participants. MELD also raked in $10 million in revenue.
The ISPO was a significant departure from previous crypto funding initiatives, most notably the initial coin offering (ICO) and security token offering (STO), and was a nod to Cardano’s growing ecosystem. It also highlighted pent-up demand in the market for DeFi projects, which continue to pique investors’ interest.
Why Cardano?
Of all the proof-of-stake (PoS) chains in existence, MELD selected Cardano for its ISPO for its…
