In Q2 2021, PolkaInsure’s mainnet will be launched and the PIS token will migrate from Ethereum to the Polkadot ecosystem.
By now, nearly everyone has heard of decentralized finance. The growth of this exciting blockchain sector has gone parabolic since mid-2020, when the total value locked in DeFi products rose from under $1 billion to over $27 billion, today — and for good reason.
The blockchain and cryptocurrency industry is finally realizing some of the promises made in the Initial Coin Offering boom of 2017 and 2018 — namely, providing decentralized access to the financial system to anyone and everyone, without the need for traditional finance and middlemen taking their cut. By decentralizing finance, users are able to take advantage of higher yields on their savings accounts, take out fully collateralized loans, receive instant payouts, and realize many other benefits.
That said, DeFi has not been without its flaws. In the race to be the best DeFi platform, many projects pushed through faulty smart contracts that resulted in massive losses from hackers and back-door exploits. Without proper code audits, various projects have already mishandled large amounts of user funds.
Enter DeFi Insurance
Ethereum, as the leading DeFi blockchain, already has decentralized insurers in the form of Cover Protocol and NSure Network. However, Ethereum’s scaling issues and high fees have pushed many users to Polkadot — where PolkaInsure is poised to be the leading insurer.
What Is PolkaInsure?
PolkaInsure is a decentralized peer-to-peer insurance marketplace specifically for users in Polkadot’s DeFi ecosystem. It allows anyone to either request insurance or provide coverage, thanks to its decentralized nature and governance.
Users do not have to go through lengthy Know-Your-Customer procedures to participate in the insurance marketplace, and payouts are instantly handled by smart contracts. Said smart contracts also ensure that insurance contracts are fully collateralized.
Though shoddy smart contracts are somewhat prevalent in the DeFi space, PolkaInsure has been audited by Arcadia Group, and external auditing firm — ensuring that the code is free from critical bugs, backdoors, or security flaws. The results from Arcadia Group are available on the firm’s website.
As implied by the name, PolkaInsure will fully migrate to a Polkadot parachain when development has completed. As of now, PolkaInsure’s token, PIS, is issued on Ethereum — due to the high level of demand for the governance token.
Tokenomics behind the PIS Governance Token
The PIS token is the governance token of PolkaInsure, in the same way UNI is the governance token of Uniswap, YFI is the governance token of Yearn, AAVE is the governance token of Aave, and so on.
The supply of PIS is capped at 100,000 tokens and distributed as such:
- 30% is distributed to the token’s public sale.
- 30% is distributed to add liquidity on Uniswap.
- 20% is distributed for shield mining.
- 5% is distributed to founders and the project’s team.
- 10% is distributed via private sales.
- 5% is distributed for marketing purposes.
PIS tokens will sell for $1.40 per token in the private sale and $1.80 per token in the public sale. Tokens sold in the private sale will be locked for a period of four weeks.
Earn Rewards through Deflationary Farming and Shield Mining
PolkaInsure’s deflationary PIS farming is already available on Uniswap and involves the farming of the governance tokens without new tokens being minted. This is done by staking PIS Uniswap liquidity pool tokens into the PolkaInsure farming protocol, where a fixed supply (30% of the total supply) is distributed. These tokenomics are in place in an effort to drive the price of the token higher as time progresses.
This model also allows users to earn rewards in two ways:
- Users may temporarily share transaction-fee rewards from users who trade PIS on Uniswap until PolkaInsure launches its mainnet, at which point Deflationary Farming will migrate to Polkadot.
- After the migration, users will also be able to earn rewards via Shield Mining.
PolkaInsure’s products are already launched on the Moonbeam testnet, the Polkadot Network’s smart contract parachain — illustrating that the initial steps for Shield Mining on Polkadot have already been taken.
PolkaInsure has also partnered with Value Liquidity (VALUE), a popular DeFi platform for staking and farming. Two launch pools will be available — PIS-ETH and PIS-USDT — on Value’s Farms-as-a-Service (FaaS) platform. The partnership sees the products being tested on Moonbeam.
PolkaInsure’s Plans for 2021
The PolkaInsure team has a full schedule lined up for 2021 after a strong finish to 2020.
In Q3 of last year, the PolkaInsure team conducted extensive research on DeFi insurance protocols and the Polkadot ecosystem before forming its team. Afterward, in Q4, the tokenomics were established and development began on PolkaInsure’s smart contract.
Now, in Q1 2021, PolkaInsure contracts are continually being developed and readied for deployment. This is also when the token sale will be completed and deflationary farming will be launched. More DeFi projects will be onboarded onto PolkaInsure as efforts to secure partnerships, market aggressively and establish brand authority are underway.
In Q2 2021, PolkaInsure’s mainnet will be launched and the PIS token will migrate from Ethereum to the Polkadot ecosystem — which will allow for the launch of shield mining. As more projects are onboarded onto PolkaInsure, more DeFi projects in the Polkadot ecosystem will be protected.
Why PolkaInsure?
DeFi’s upwards trajectory is clear, but scaling issues are hamstringing Ethereum. Because Polkadot is proving to be a prime competitor, opportunities on the competing blockchain may provide more upside than from those on Ethereum. Because decentralized finance is inherently risky, the importance of DeFi insurers on Polkadot will not be overlooked — making PolkaInsure an exciting project in a strong position for future growth in the sector.
Having obtained a diploma in Intercultural Communication, Julia continued her studies taking a Master’s degree in Economics and Management. Becoming captured by innovative technologies, Julia turned passionate about exploring emerging techs believing in their ability to transform all spheres of our life.
