In a new video, Folks Finance CEO Benedetto Biondi explained how becoming a member of the Chainlink Build program and adopting Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has accelerated the Folks protocol’s cross-chain expansion.
Chainlink Build fosters promising early-stage startups and established projects in Chainlink’s ecosystem. Participants receive enhanced access to Chainlink infrastructure, new product releases, and technical support, in exchange for paying fees that incentivize Chainlink service providers, boost the network’s cryptoeconomic security, and advance the entire web3 industry.
Folks Finance is a community-driven, permissionless DeFi platform with more than $164 million in total value locked. Last year, Folks integrated Chainlink Price Feeds and CCIP to unlock cross-chain lending while maintaining the protocol’s integrity.
“We had been building Folks firstly non-EVM and we had a problem when needing to expand,” Biondi said. “If you fork your product, you are going to have a hard time rebuilding the good quality of the first product.”
As DeFi evolved toward a multi-chain ecosystem, Folks sought an interoperability solution.
“For us, CCIP was a way to interoperate our cross-chain lending in between multiple networks and allow the efficiency that brings – in the sense that we can collateralize on a chain, borrow on another, and concentrate assets into one single pool,” Biondi explained.
The result is a more efficient user experience with less fragmented liquidity.
“You don’t need to worry about which chain you are transacting on. You don’t need to worry about paying gas fees on another chain and you are not wrapping and bridging anymore.”
CCIP is the industry standard for cross-chain digital asset and data transfer. Leveraging Chainlink’s time-tested oracle infrastructure, which has enabled over $26 trillion in transaction value, CCIP achieves the highest level of cross-chain security backed by a separate Risk Management Network that independently monitors for suspicious activity.
“I believe that Folks Finance lending on top of CCIP is one of the most advanced protocols building on this tech,” Biondi said.
He described a mutually beneficial relationship with Chainlink. As a member of Build, Folks provides product feedback while receiving full-spectrum support from technology to business development.
“It has been an amazing journey,” he said. “They’ve been extremely helpful. They care about us and we care about Chainlink.”
Watch the full video.