What is Velo Protocol (VELO)? Digital Payment and Credit Solution for the Web3 World

In the context of Web3 transforming to connect with the real financial world, some projects are leading the way in building bridges between blockchain and everyday financial applications. Among these, Velo Protocol (VELO) stands out as a highly applicable digital payment and credit ecosystem, strongly focused on the Asian market and developing countries. What makes the project special? Let's explore with Allinstation through the article below!

What is Velo Protocol (VELO)?

Velo Protocol is a decentralized financial (DeFi) platform combining fintech, allowing trusted partners to issue and use collateralized digital credits, thereby building a cross-border payment network.

The project aims to integrate the traditional financial world and DeFi, enabling end-users to make transfers, payments, and access credit seamlessly, transparently, and at low cost, especially in Southeast Asian markets.

How does Velo Protocol work?

The core of the VELO system consists of three layers:

• Digital Credit Issuance (DCI): allows partners to issue "digital credits" (such as vUSD, vPHP, vTHB...), backed by VELO tokens and other collateral assets.
• Digital Reserve System (DRS): manages collateral assets to ensure the convertibility of credit tokens, ensuring safety and liquidity.
• Federated Credit Exchange Network (FCEN): a network for transactions and money transfers between partners, applications, and end-users through Web3 interfaces or traditional applications like mobile apps.

Velo's primary network uses the Stellar Network (for high speed, low fees) and is further expanded by Evrynet/Nova Chain to support EVM and complex smart contracts.

Features and Products in the Velo Protocol Ecosystem

Velo Protocol develops a multi-layered Web3+ ecosystem including strategic products and infrastructure, aimed at supporting cross-chain payments, transactions, and integration quickly, efficiently, and accessibly. Below are the 5 core products:

QUANTUM – High-Speed Remittance Network

• Quantum is a lightning-speed remittance network, serving as the backbone of VELO's cross-border payment system.
• This is where trusted partners can quickly issue, send, and receive digital credits at low cost and high performance.
• Quantum helps connect traditional financial systems and Web3, opening up broader financial access for users in developing markets.

UNIVERSE – Multi-Chain Super DEX

• Universe is a DEX (decentralized exchange) with order-matching capabilities like a CEX (centralized exchange), enabling cross-chain digital asset trading, including stablecoins and crypto.
• Universe not only supports swapping but also integrates an orderbook system to optimize liquidation and large trading volume.
• A special feature is its ability to connect individual users and businesses, creating a direct bridge in commercial transactions or money transfers.

NOVA CHAIN – Versatile, Low-Cost Blockchain

• Nova Chain is VELO's own blockchain, compatible with EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) and designed to deploy smart contracts at low cost.
• Nova is an ideal space for DeFi applications, digital asset management, staking, lending, or integrating financial services on Web3.
• Nova Chain helps expand programming capabilities for the entire VELO ecosystem while easily integrating with other chains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Stellar...

ORBIT – Highly Utility Mobile App

• Orbit App is a crypto app integrating digital wallet, QR code payment, sending/receiving digital assets, and account management, all on a single platform.
• Orbit is designed for mainstream users, with a user-friendly interface similar to Web2 digital wallets.
• Orbit has been practically deployed in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines with millions of users and tens of thousands of merchant payment support.

WARP – Cross-Chain Bridge

• Warp is a bridge infrastructure supporting cross-chain connections between different blockchain networks like Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Stellar, and Evrynet.
• Warp allows smooth asset movement between ecosystems while ensuring security, speed, and optimal user experience.
• Additionally, VELO integrates technologies: Smart Routing from Centroid Finance to optimize transaction order routing for price and liquidation. AML Compliance with Uppsala ensures transactions comply with laws, suitable for traditional financial environments.

Project Highlights

• TRUSTLESS: Velo builds a decentralized financial infrastructure without trust, using smart contracts to support crypto payments. Users no longer depend entirely on traditional financial intermediaries like banks or brokers, but can use an automatic peer-to-peer network, making financial transactions faster, cheaper, and more accessible.
• FORMLESS: In Velo's Web3+ ecosystem, value is not limited by traditional frameworks. Any asset can be fragmented and traded at its actual value – from cash, gold, stocks to tokens. Users can invest, trade, or use just a small portion of an asset without full ownership, creating optimal conditions for flexible investments.
• LIMITLESS: Velo envisions a world where currency and innovation have no boundaries. With the Web3+ infrastructure provided by VELO, users can easily transfer money anytime, anywhere, for any purpose, seamlessly integrated into traditional financial networks in a regulator-friendly framework.
• BORDERLESS: Velo aims to break geographical and financial boundaries through its product toolkit supporting transfers, receipts, investments, borrowing, and lending assets globally. Anyone can access the VELO financial ecosystem, including those previously unbanked.

Token and Tokenomics Overview

Basic Information

• Token Name: Velo Protocol
• Ticker: VELO
• Blockchain: Stellar (primary), BNB Chain, Ethereum
• Total Supply: 23,999,859,136 VELO
• Circulating Supply: 7,390,475,595 VELO
• Contract:

Stellar: GDM4RQUQQUVSKQA7S6EM7XBZP3FCGH4Q7CL6TABQ7B2BEJ5ERARM2M5M

BNB Chain: 0xf486ad071f3bEE968384D2E39e2D8aF0fCf6fd46

Token Allocation

Token use cases

• Asset pledged to issue digital credit
• Used in the ecosystem to pay transaction fees, bridge, swap...
• Rewards for network participants and partners

Development Team, Investors, and Partners

Development Team

Velo Protocol is a project developed under the sponsorship of Lightnet Group, a fintech company based in Singapore with the ambition of building a cross-border payment system using blockchain technology.

Mike Kennedy – CEO of Lightnet

• Before leading Lightnet, he was a co-founder of Interstellar – a platform developed based on Stellar and closely connected with Stellar Development Foundation (SDF).

Travis Callahan – Chief Product Officer (CPO)

• Responsible for designing product architectures such as Quantum, Orbit, Universe, and promoting Web3+ application in the VELO ecosystem.

VELO's engineering team includes experts from fields such as fintech, blockchain security, Web3 infrastructure, who have worked at major companies in Asia and Silicon Valley.

Investors

Velo Protocol has received strong support from many large investment funds in Asia. One of the key strategic investors is Lightnet Group, an organization backed by CP Group – Thailand's largest conglomerate.

Additionally, UOB Venture Management (from UOB Singapore) also participated in the strategic investment round on 18/09/2024. Moreover, DWF Labs, a famous fund in the Web3 ecosystem, invested 10 million USD in VELO through an undisclosed round on 10/11/2023.

Besides investment funds, VELO also conducted an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) on the KuCoin Spotlight platform in September 2020. In this IEO, VELO raised 2 million USD at a public price of $0.05/token.

Partners

Velo has built a wide ecosystem of partners to expand applications and connect with the real financial world:

Conclusion

Velo Protocol (VELO) is not just a DeFi project but a true digital financial payment ecosystem, connecting Web3 and traditional financial systems. With a strategy focused on the Asian market, where many users lack financial services access and an effective hybrid financial model, VELO has the potential to become one of the leading blockchain payment platforms in the region.

Note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.