History of Agora
Agora was established as a blockchain-based financial infrastructure platform aimed at revolutionizing how assets are managed, exchanged, and collateralized across decentralized and traditional financial systems. Since its inception, Agora has positioned itself as a leader in stablecoin innovation, digital asset management, and multi-chain financial solutions.
Founders
- Nick van Eck - CEO and Founder
- Previously spent over 4 years at General Catalyst Partners, investing in Enterprise Software and Blockchain/Crypto companies from Seed to Growth stages, including checks exceeding $100 million.
- Worked at JMI Equity prior to General Catalyst, contributing to the largest software take-private deal in history (Ultimate Software, $11B EV).
- Drake Evans - CTO and Founder
- Former lead developer at Frax Finance, which launched the second-largest decentralized stablecoin by AUM.
- At Frax, he led the development of smart contract platforms such as Fraxlend, Fraxswap, and frxEther, achieving a combined TVL of $1B+.
- Previously worked at ADP, where he led the performance and scaling team at Lifion by ADP, gaining expertise in operating at scale in highly regulated environments.
- Joe McGrady - COO and Founder
- Brings two decades of experience in operations, finance, and risk management.
- Former global head of operations at Galaxy Digital, where he was instrumental in launching and scaling various business lines, including trading, lending, and asset management.
- Played a pivotal role in Galaxy’s early partnership with Fireblocks and its subsequent investment in the company.
- Previously held key roles at Ospraie Management and its spin-out, ParkRiver, overseeing investor relations and operational diligence.
Key Milestones
Q3 2024: Launch of Agora and AUSD
- Agora launches its fully collateralized, credibly neutral, open partnership stablecoin, AUSD, which rapidly gains traction in the market.
- Within months, AUSD became a top 5 fiat-backed stablecoin by daily volume, with over 10,000 active users and $60M+ in outstanding assets.
- AUSD's assets are secured in a bankruptcy-remote reserve trust managed by VanEck, audited by PwC, backed by cash, U.S. Treasuries, and overnight repo agreements, with custodial services provided by State Street Bank.
October 2024: Expansion Across Networks
- Institutional Custody Support: AUSD is supported by Anchorage Digital, Bitgo, and Cobo, offering top-tier custody solutions for institutional-grade security.
- $100M+ Weekly Volume: AUSD achieves over $100M in weekly volume on Avalanche during the AVAX Summit.
- Gauntlet Vault Launch: The Gauntlet AUSD Core Vault goes live on Morpho Labs, enabling users to earn substantial returns through advanced risk protocols.
- Multichain Expansion with Wormhole: Integration with Wormhole enables AUSD to operate seamlessly across Ethereum, Avalanche, and Sui, reducing liquidity fragmentation and transaction costs.
- API3 Price Feeds Integration: API3 integration expands AUSD’s use cases, enhancing its role in the DeFi ecosystem.
November 2024: Partnerships and Growth
- AggLayer Integration: AUSD becomes the native stablecoin for AggLayer, a cross-chain settlement network co-developed by Polygon Labs. This eliminates token bridges and streamlines liquidity.
- Expansion to Mantle: AUSD joins the Mantle ecosystem, representing its first deployment on an ETH Layer 2 network, emphasizing secure and scalable DeFi solutions.
- Injective Adoption: AUSD is introduced as the first native stablecoin in the Injective ecosystem, bridging DeFi and TradFi liquidity.
- Asian Institutional Custody via Rakkar Digital: AUSD becomes accessible across Ethereum, Avalanche, and Mantle with Rakkar’s institutional-grade custody solutions.
What is the project goal of Agora?
Agora provides an instant, low cost gateway to the global economy for those who need it most, bringing the US dollar to individuals and businesses across the world via Agora's AUSD stablecoin.
AUSD was created to bridge the gap between TradFi and DeFi, offering financial tools with the security and transparency required by institutions and retail users alike. The platform was built on the foundation of its institutional grade, open partnership stablecoin, $AUSD, designed to combine the stability of fiat currencies with the scalability and programmability of blockchain technology.
Agora's mission is to provide a secure, transparent, and compliant infrastructure for digital assets, enabling seamless interoperability across multiple blockchain ecosystems while maintaining the trust of institutional-grade investors.
What are the different projects under the Agora ecosystem?
Agora partners with leading DAPPS across ETH, AVAX, SUI and Mantle to bring AUSD’s use case to the wider community such as:
ETH: Curve, Balancer, Morpho
AVAX: Trader Joe, Benqi
SUI: Cetus, Suilend, Navi
Mantle: Merchant Moe, Lendle
What is $AUSD? What are its use cases?
AUSD being a fiat backed USD stablecoin can enable users to participate in trading, lending and payments across Cefi and Defi. AUSD is the most cost-efficient stablecoin to transact with due to its gas-optimized smart contract, making it ideal for traders and payments.
What sets Agora apart from other Web3 projects?
Agora distinguishes itself from other stablecoins through its commitment to institutional-grade safety and security, global partnerships, exceptional service, and cost efficiency.
First, AUSD is designed with institutional-grade infrastructure, offering full transparency and rigorous risk assessments to ensure unmatched safety and trust for users. This makes AUSD a preferred choice for institutions, retail and DeFi platforms seeking a reliable and secure stablecoin.
Second, Agora is focused on building deep global partnerships to streamline cross-border payments. By collaborating with custodians, payment providers, and financial institutions worldwide, Agora positions AUSD as a cornerstone for seamless international transactions. Furthermore, its commitment to being the highest-service fiat coin partner ensures that enterprises, institutions, and DeFi platforms receive tailored support, robust integrations, and superior reliability.
Finally, Agora prioritizes reducing the cost of moving money, leveraging blockchain technology and multichain scalability to make cross-border transfers faster, cheaper, and more efficient. These combined factors make Agora a standout choice for stablecoin users looking for safety, service excellence, and cost-effectiveness.
What can we expect from Agora in 2024 and beyond?
Agora’s expansion in 2024 and beyond focuses on solidifying AUSD’s position as the leading stablecoin for institutions and DeFi.
In CeFi, key priorities include deepening institutional adoption by partnering with additional custodians, engaging top trading firms to establish AUSD as the preferred collateral and focusing on AUSD listings on centralized exchanges to enable CeFi-DeFi synergy.
In DeFi, Agora aims to expand liquidity, launch new innovative products, and strengthen AUSD’s role across trading, lending and yield farming protocols. Agora is also focused on multichain expansion through partnerships with AggLayer & Wormhole, reducing liquidity fragmentation and enhancing cross-chain interoperability. Agora will also focus on fostering innovation through developer grants, SDK tools, and global hackathons.
Transparency and security remain paramount, with plans to implement real-time proof of reserves and maintain top safety standards through ongoing risk assessments.
With ambitious targets such as achieving $25B+ weekly volumes, integrating with 10+ new blockchains, and positioning AUSD among the top 3 stablecoins by TVL, Agora is set to lead the next wave of innovation in decentralized and institutional finance.
