Since the publication of the Bitcoin White Paper in 2008, blockchain has promised to create a new global payments network that will challenge incumbents from banks to governments. That dream often collides with government regulations that still dictate how money can move around the world, whether in cryptocurrencies or not.
Predicate, a startup founded by two blockchain Celo alumni, wants to help crypto companies navigate these regulations. The company offers a service that allows crypto apps to seamlessly implement logic that decides whether a particular transaction can be approved, but that decision is based on the complex infrastructure that underpins products from Netflix to Venmo. .
With $7 million in backing from top venture capital firms including Tribe and 1kx, Predicate announced its product this week and plans to operate under the decentralized philosophy of blockchain.
“How do you bridge blockchain technology to other parts of the economy?” Predicate co-founder Nikhil Raghuveera said in an interview. luck. “We believe there is an opportunity to say we can actually simplify that.”
Transaction prerequisites
If you try to send someone $50,000 via Venmo, your request probably won’t go through. However, the $10 charge is fine. The same goes for launching Netflix in a country where Netflix doesn’t operate. In both situations, the background app has completed what are called prerequisites that determine whether to perform the action.
Of course, blockchain operates under a different schema than a centralized corporation, where a single entity (and people) sits at the center of activity. In blockchain apps like lending and borrowing protocols and prediction markets, actions are managed by code rather than humans. Nevertheless, writing the code that serves as the foundation can be burdensome and costly. “They’re all probably going to have different types of pre-trade rules and requirements,” La Lagviera said. “We provide the mechanisms and infrastructure to do that seamlessly.”
Mr. Laguviera has a background in the policy field, including serving as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, and Predicate also has Michael Mosier, former acting director of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, as an advisor. One of the most vexing issues with blockchain is maintaining its decentralized ideals in light of the realities of anti-money laundering laws, and the Treasury Department has reiterated the importance of this many times.
Raghuveera and his co-founder, former JPMorgan software engineer Jesse Sawa, say Predicate’s value-add is a plug-and-play platform for blockchain apps that can implement transaction prerequisites, such as maintaining and building blacklists of addresses. I mentioned that I would be creating a play solution. It continues to give policy control to the governing body, whether it is an individual, a company, or a decentralized autonomous organization.
Predicate will be available on Ethereum or EVM compatible chains, with plans to expand to other blockchains as well. We are also working with restaking network EigenLayer, which recently launched its tokens in early October, to develop a community of operators who will adopt Predicate’s technology using a proof-of-stake system.
Raghuveera said Predicate’s own plans to launch the token are limited, given how the token will be constructed and the need for an incentive mechanism to approve and reject transactions subject to preconditions set by Predicate users. Although he declined to do so, it is likely on the roadmap.
For now, Predicate plans to charge transaction fees and offer better service integration to new customers who sign up, although Raghuvera declined to reveal the name of its first customers.
The company currently has six employees and plans to use the funding to expand to 10.
