Public Mint released its public blockchain platform yesterday. The platform uses a blockchain of fiat currencies for tokenization.
Public Mint not only uses a stablecoin backed by a series of banks, but the company has made arrangements with over 200 banks to store the funds. While Public Mint has yet to publicly name its banking partners, both IBM Digital Asset Labs and Hyperledger are among the company’s prominent technology partners.
The blockchain used by Public Mint is based on Hyperledger’s Besu, but it has been modified to operate with an alternative consensus mechanism and fees based in fiat. Companies that use Public Mint have the ability to accept payment via credit card, wire transfer, or ACH payment. U.S. dollars are supported at launch with other fiat currencies expect to debut soon.
Public Mint co-founder Halsey Minor is best known for co-founding CNET in 1993. Regarding his latest venture he said, “The genesis of Public Mint was to allow regulated banks to hold funds which could then be tokenized or ‘minted’, allowing for the creation of applications and business processes around money without actually moving money between banks.”
Prior to launch, Public Mint earned support from distributed ledger technology (DLT) companies, including Hyperledger, whose executive director Brian Behlendorf proclaimed, “At Hyperledger, we are excited to see Public Mint tackle the challenges of programmable currency and frictionless transfer of funds.”
“In close cooperation with Banks and Trust companies and compliant to regional and global regulations, Public Mint is addressing that initial promise so that all enterprises, from traditional well-established companies to new and innovative DeFI startups can pave the way for the rise of digital assets,” said IBM Digital Asset Labs Director Nitin Gaur.
More information about Public Mint and its launch partners can be found at publicmint.com.