Compound Finance is a decentralized lending platform that uses an autonomous interest rate protocol that lets users earn interest on or borrow assets against collateral. Asset holders can contribute liquidity to the market, for which they are rewarded. Rates depend on supply and demand, and different assets hold different rates.

The platform was launched in August 2017 by Robert Leshner, who also acts as the company’s CEO. The team currently has 15 members, with Geoffrey Hayes serving as CTO. The team expects that its protocol will increase the possibilities with open financial applications, and to that end has seen investment from some of the biggest names in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Notable investors include a16z, BainCapital Ventures, Coinbase, Paradigm, Polychain Capital and Dragonfly Capital.

It currently works in 9 different markets: Ether (ETH), Basic Attention Token (BAT), DAI, USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), Augur (REP), Wrapped Bitcoin, 0x (ZRX) and SAI. The process by which users can begin earning interest on their assets is straightforward, requiring not more than a few steps to begin supplying liquidity and earning interest.

The project’s mainnet was first launched in September 2018, with version 2 following in May 2019. Compound achieved recognition when it launched the $COMP token in June 2020. The governance community, led by Polychain Capital, approved the use of the token on the mainnet following a testing period, which subsequently led to a large influx of users and investment. 

The introduction of the COMP token has resulted in Compound Finance quickly becoming the largest contributor to the decentralized finance (defi) space, with its total locked valued exceeding $630 million.

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