DeFi lending protocol Seamless has launched an altcoin lending market on Base, a Layer 2 developed by crypto exchange Coinbase.
The first two tokens to enter the altcoin lending platform are DEGEN, from Degen Chain and rewarded to effective Farcaster users, and SEAM, the native token of the Seamless Protocol and the first Coinbase-based token, according to a release shared with The Block.
The Seamless protocol is a decentralized financial platform built on Base, and it is also a fork of the decentralized liquidity protocol Aave v3. The new altcoin lending platform creates a supply market for DEGEN and SEAM and lets their holders earn platform rewards.
“A huge accelerator of Base’s recent growth has been the rise of altcoin and meme communities,” Seamless Protocol core contributors told The Block. “These projects and community members are looking for more token utilities, and by offering altcoin lending on Seamless, the idea is that these holders can continue to hold over time while borrowing other DeFi assets like stablecoins or ETH .”
“Unused capital locked up in the form of tokens can be considered capital inefficient if no utility or application is available, but by providing lending options this unused capital can be put to work. Through thorough risk analysis with partners, Seamless is excited to be the first protocol to offer this service on Base,” the contributors added.
Coinbase listed Seamless Protocol’s native token SEAM in December 2023. The token traded at $7.01 at 3:43 PM ET on April 18 and was up 1.34% over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
DEGEN was valued at $0.33 with a market cap of $465.6 million as of 12:46 PM ET on April 19, CoinMarketCap also shows. DEGEN is an ERC-20 token originating from the Layer 3 network Epee chainwhich rewards users with DEGEN for posting high-quality content on Farcaster, a web3 social media platform.
