Inflation is set to become one of the biggest financial issues around the world. It is devastating for people of the countries struck by inflation, it is a very difficult problem to solve, and worst of all, people that end up suffering the most from it are not the ones at fault, nor can they do anything to prevent it or solve it once it arrives.
It is entirely in the hands of the banks and the governments, whose decision-making is typically what causes inflation in the first place. One major fear around the world right now is that the consequences of COVID-19 will be more severe than just affecting people's health. We have already witnessed COVID-19 crashing the global financial market in March 2020, when it first started going worldwide.Â
Businesses shut down, many people started losing their jobs, and in response — the governments started printing more money in order to send relief packages to their citizens. Printing money this way threatens to seriously destabilize even some of the strongest currencies, such as the US dollar and this is why several projects have emerged trying to solve the problem of inflation, before it blows out of proportion and destroys countless peoples' lives. One such project is TheStandard.io, which just launched a new retail solution dedicated to this exact purpose.
What is TheStandard.io and What Does it Offer?
TheStandard.io, also called the standard Protocol, is a DeFi infrastructure project. Its goal is to allow users to take out asset-backed loans and to do this, users can use physical and digital assets alike.
With inflation, the value of traditional currencies starts to drop, meaning that any savings that people have, will eventually be devalued. So, to prevent this, people tend to turn to hard assets that have a value of their own, such as gold. Â
TheStandard.io is changing things in a way that makes inflation actually beneficial for the users. Basically, it lets people use their digital (bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies) and physical assets as collateral for the loans. But, as inflation progresses, the price of the loan drops, making it cheaper to pay back.
Another way that the project can help is that it issues liquidity to asset holders without selling the assets. Essentially, it will create an alternative to retail banking.
How Does it Work?
The way the project works is that it allows users to lock up their digital and physical assets into a smart contract. This then functions as collateral, allowing users to take out loans. It is all very quick, simple, and it doesn't require any additional steps or expenses, such as hiring intermediaries or relying on third parties.
TheStandard.io aims to bridge traditional physical investments and digital assets. Furthermore, it will also allow users to create their own fiat-pegged stable currencies which these physical and digital assets will back.Â
Lastly, the project also has its native cryptocurrency, the Standard Token, whose holders will have the ability to participate in governance, receive rewards for activity, enjoy fee discounts, and access liquidated assets at prices lower than the spot price.