blockworks.co
British fintech and banking firm Revolut is partnering with Elrond to bring the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, EGLD, onto its platform.
Elrond’s EGLD will be available to over 20 million Revolut users in over 30 countries, an opportunity that Elrond CEO Beniamin Mincu dubbed “tremendous.”
The move marks a bet on the underlying technology of the blockchain, considering its token plummeted some 90% from its all-time high in Nov. 2021. Its total value locked (TVL) has been decimated in that time as well and now sits at $157 million, according to DefiLlama.
“It’s a huge step forward in making EGLD available to a large audience of people,” Mincu told Blockworks. “The listing is one thing, but there are other things such as staking and some other features as well.”
Elrond launched its mainnet in July 2020, using its own unique Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm called Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS) to support its blockchain.
“We believe the Elrond network enables us to scale dynamically with the demand of the network
in a way that no other network can do at this point,” Mincu said.
The network’s decentralized exchange and digital wallet Maiar was taken offline in June 2022 after “suspicious activity.” This incident caused the wallet’s token MEX to drop in value by over 90%.
EGLD suffered as well, slipping to as low as $38 shortly after the incident. Its price remains down from its all-time high in Nov. 23 2021 high of around $540, trading hands at roughly $56.20 at the time of writing.
Although there have yet to be any significant ecosystem updates on the network, Mincu said there will be a lot to look forward to in the coming months. Most specifically, in November — when the first Elrond conference will be held in Paris.
“We’ve been working on several things, and with this conference, people will get the sense of where this entire space is really going towards, and what we’ve been working on in silence for some time now,” Mincu said.
Mincu said that moving forward, he sees Elrond becoming the “next fundamental layer for the metaverse.”
“I believe that the metaverse landscape will be absolutely defining for the next decades,” he said. “But without the blockchain, the metaverse really cannot exist — so this is the direction that we’re pushing very heavily towards.”