DeFi banking protocol MELD recently made headlines for attracting more than $1 billion worth of staked Cardano (ADA) to its protocol through a novel funding mechanism called an initial stake pool offering, or ISPO, marking an important innovation in how early adopters support blockchain startups. Cointelegraph had the opportunity to connect with MELD CEO Ken Olling to discuss the significance of the ISPO as well as Cardano’s role in facilitating widescale participation in the stake pools.
ISPO: An overview
The ISPO is a novel way for investors and other early adopters to support a project by delegating cryptocurrency to public stake pools in exchange for the project’s tokens. MELD is currently the only known project to employ an ISPO even though the concept had been previously proposed elsewhere.