The Aurora (AUR) project is building a decentralized crypto bank and financial platform. Launched in 2018 by Aurora Labs, the project has close ties with the IDEX decentralized exchange. IDEX founders Alex and Phil Wearn envisioned Aurora as being a suite of apps and protocols built on top of the decentralized exchange, with the intention of the platform becoming a one-stop shop for distributed banking and financial services. 

Three tokens feature on the Aurora platform: AOA, IDXM and a stablecoin called the Boreal. Much of the services provided by IDEX are fueled by these tokens.

Like all decentralized exchanges, IDEX provides non-custodial options for users’ funds. The AURA token comes into play as an exchange token, a marked trend of 2019. The token acts as an incentive to create a fully decentralized financial network, with AURA token holders who have staked their tokens earning a portion of the fees generated by the IDEX and other Aurora products. 

The Boreal token is a stablecoin that is not backed by fiat currency reserves, as many stablecoins are. Instead, the Boreal stablecoin is “backed by a combination of Ether reserves, demand for loan repayment, and retailer endorsement.” Like other exchange tokens, traders who use the Boreal token on IDEX receive discounts. The IDXM token gives holders free trades on IDEX until 2021.

These tokens are closely tied to the operations of the exchange, and much of the team’s development efforts have been focused on the development of IDEX. However, it is known that there are 3 major updates arriving in 2019 and the early months of 2020. The team is expected to release the production version of the Boreal token in Q3 2019, as well as deploy the chain child feature. Q1 2020 will bring margin trading support.