Saffron Weekly (04/01/23)
What’s new in the week of 04/01/23–04/07/23.
Welcome back! We’ve spent the last few months focusing on finishing up our audits and final preparations for our newest product offering — our Fixed Income Vaults. I’m pleased to announce that we’ll be beginning the Fixed Income Vaults rollout the week of April 12th. As with most of our new products, we will first be launching capped vaults for our users to participate in to get familiar with how they operate, and we at Saffron couldn’t be more excited to finally get this out of the oven to share. You can get a sneak peek on the details of what Fixed Income Vaults are by visiting the link above, or by viewing some of the supplemental and explainer articles we’ll be launching concerning our product that week.
On a personal note, I’m excited to get our Fixed Income Vaults released to show our readers what we’ve been building and to have this new DeFi instrument etch Saffron into the annals of DeFi history.
DC Blockchain Summit 2023
As an industry member of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Saffron attended the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington DC last month and had an opportunity to meet with House Representatives and Senators to advocate for digital assets and decentralized finance. Now that COVID restrictions had been lifted in our nation’s capitol, we were able to better connect with our nation’s leaders on a level that we were restricted from last year due to meeting restrictions. We seized this opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals who are driving innovation in this emerging tech sector. Being able to speak directly with leaders in this field was nothing short of inspiring and it gave us a renewed sense of excitement for the future of blockchain technology — politicians are starting to get it.
One of the main themes of the summit was the importance of the United States being able to drive innovation in blockchain technology. The blockchain industry has the potential to be a significant driver of economic growth in the US, but it is crucial that we have the right regulations and policies in place to ensure its success. It was encouraging to see so many policymakers in attendance, demonstrating that they recognize the importance of this new sector and are actively working to ensure its success.
All those in attendance, whether they were from the CFTC, IRS, FinCEN, DOJ, or any of the other policymaker and federal organizations present, all seemed to recognize the importance of regulatory clarity. The US is operating in uncertain waters (putting it mildly) when it comes to how it will treat this emergent sector and as a consequence innovators are starting to leave our country to more welcoming pastures. It is my greatest worry that if we had this kind of regulatory approach back in the 1990’s, the biggest technological companies of the 21st century would not be US-based — Americans would all be using Yandex or WeChat today and our country would be poorer for it.
Regulation is one of the most important areas of concern in the blockchain industry. There is a need for clear and consistent regulations that will protect consumers while also allowing innovation to thrive — and it is likely that achieving that delicate balance is the reason why it has been taking so long. However, it was encouraging to see discussions taking place between policymakers and industry leaders, as both groups work together to develop policies that will support our industry.
Adoption is another important issue that was discussed at the summit. While blockchain technology has been gaining popularity in recent years, it is still not widely adopted by businesses and individuals. The Chamber had several short videos to share with how cryptocurrency and digital assets can positively impact and help the everyday working American. There were beautiful stories told of how crypto and DeFi can help immigrants with remittance to their families back home, help gig workers without “steady” income secure loans, and so much more. I believe with such an uphill battle that is unfortunately becoming more partisan — with Republicans being more excited about digital assets than Democrats — these are the kind of everyday stories on how cryptocurrency and digital assets help Americans that policymakers on either side of the aisle need to see.
Overall, the DC Blockchain Summit was an incredible opportunity to learn, connect, and contribute to the growth and success of blockchain technology in the United States. I think it’s sometimes easy to buy into the “doomer” mentality that you see online when it comes to perceiving how the US government views crypto, but being in our nation’s capitol last week and speaking to government officials myself paints a refreshing picture. I believe there are more people on our side that recognize the importance of our industry than not, and that number is steadily growing with each passing day.
But make no mistake; we are in a pivotal time in our industry and we cannot afford to be passive. I would encourage each and every one of you to write to your local representatives and tell your story. Take some time this weekend to write to them about why digital assets are important to you, how it can help people from all economic backgrounds, and how it’s crucial that we keep technological innovation here in the US. I’d like to extend a thank you to organizations like the Chamber that continue to do phenomenal work in advocating for our industry during such a crucial time.
Make sure to check back next week for the rollout of Saffron Fixed Income Vaults. Have a great weekend, and it’s good to be back!
Community resources
Web3 app: https://saffron.finance
Governance: https://gov.saffron.finance
Telegram: https://t.me/saffronfinance
Discord: https://discord.gg/pDXpXKY
Twitter: https://twitter.com/saffronfinance_
Github: https://github.com/saffron-finance/saffron
