Monolith - The World’s First DeFi Wallet and Visa Card Running on Ethereum
Hey DEFI TIMES community!
Today we have a special kind of article for you guys. We recently published a token analysis about TKN (Monolith token), which received a ton of positive feedback.
After that, we reached out to the Monolith team and asked them to answer the questions you had after reading our newsletter!
The following is a Q&A: your questions, answered by the Monolith team.
Have fun!
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Monolith is a non-custodial wallet paired with a Visa debit card which puts DeFi at your fingertips. Built on the Ethereum network, Monolith gives its users a decentralised banking experience through an easy-to-use app (available on both iOS and Play Stores) and Visa card.
Monolith seeks to solve a number of key issues found affecting today’s traditional financial institutions, and it’s regarded as a pioneer in the blockchain space. With Monolith, users are offered a complete financial alternative to store, spend, and earn interest on their Ethereum-based holdings, all without the need to interact with any third party intermediary.
Why does the world need Monolith?
The problems that can come from centralised financial systems have become increasingly apparent in recent years. From the 2008 financial crisis that led to governments bailing out financial institutions, to the limits on bank withdrawals imposed on Greece, to the recent hyperinflation case in Venezuela, it’s become obvious that these issues are more than just ‘byproducts’ of the system they stem from. For many people, the current system does not keep pace with the financial needs of today’s world.
As a result of this, technology spawned the first iteration of what an alternative system might look like: Bitcoin. Though its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, succeeded in setting the path forward, it soon became clear that Bitcoin was not necessarily the correct vehicle to act as a currency. Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin has seen rapid price increases and its value has remained extremely volatile. It also lacks a simple user interface, effectively excluding the significant numbers required to achieve mass adoption.
As decentralised technology grew, solutions began to take root. One such solution is Monolith, which aims to provide an offering that’s both simple and practical for the end-user. A new customer simply has to download the app to begin their transcendence in the decentralised universe.
What security guarantees does Monolith offer?
Security is at the heart of what we do, and as it’s such a complex concept, it’s crucial to understand how Monolith approaches it. We have a number of high-level security measures that help ensure our product is reliable.
Who can view the Smart Contracts?
It’s worth noting right off the bat that all Monolith smart contracts are public and available to view via Github. But the question is why is it important to have the code open sourced? At a base level, being open source allows anyone to verify that nothing is compromised on-chain with Monolith. But it also matches the spirit of the Ethereum community as a whole, allowing collaboration to try to improve the project.
Do you have a Bounty program?
Monolith goes further in its auditing process by offering a bug bounty program. By incentivising how we test the robustness and security of our platform with an added step involving the community, we ensure that no stone is left unturned in creating the most secure product possible.
Is the code audited?
In addition to our open-source nature and bug bounty program, our code is triple-audited by some of the best companies in the space to ensure the highest level of security across the whole protocol. One of them is ‘Trail of Bits’, a team whose work has also included auditing the Ethereum blockchain itself. Beyond auditing for us, we also use many of the same tools they offer. We take a proactive approach to security, and any audit confirms our confidence in the code.
How do you protect your users?
What about security on the individual user level? Indeed, we account for this too. Daily spend limits were introduced to limit any unauthorised usage. We now provide a whitelist of trusted addresses to give a safe space to drain funds into as an immediate countermeasure. Recently we’ve also attracted increasing numbers of users, utilising another level to our security — that of biometric authentication.
How do you ensure that users don’t lose their funds?
Bridging security between the platform and the user is at the core of what we offer. This is made clearest during the onboarding journey when users are prompted to save their private key, a 12-word seed phrase used to unlock the app’s Ethereum address. The private key gives users access to their funds and losing it could mean losing everything in the wallet. Though the process of writing down the key seems relatively straightforward, the process of generating it can be quite complicated. Without a complex understanding of cryptography and the software it interacts with, key generation can be daunting for less advanced users. Monolith minimises the surface to attack and increases the certainty that the only person accessing the digital assets is you — via your phone.
Can I use Monolith with other blockchain services?
Monolith focuses on running an interoperable system, meaning that through the support of WalletConnect’s upcoming technology, it can operate with every DeFi app.
Does it take long to get started with Monolith?
10 minutes. That’s how long it takes to register, and you will unlock the Monolith wallet, which you can use instantly. The completion of the process of having a card in your hand can take 5-15 working days.
Do I need to buy crypto elsewhere and send it to my wallet?
Monolith is a complete DeFi application. Users can send crypto to their wallet address, and they can also buy crypto funds in the app as soon as they’re onboarded. At the moment, users buy DAI — a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar — as the base currency. This can be spent or swapped using our in-app DEX. One of the coolest features is the ability to swap into and spend aDAI, a form of currency that allows users to earn interest simply by holding it in their wallets.
What is TKN?
TKN is Monolith’s native token, generated from fees burned from topping up our Visa card. Owning TKN gives users a share in the future success of Monolith. The total supply of TKN is 39.4 million, and moreover topping up with TKN is the best way to convert to FIAT currency with zero fees. To read more about our token and its model, we’d recommend checking this blog post.
What’s next for Monolith?
The Monolith team is currently working on a number of very cool features. Everything from incentivisation to earning interest is on the roadmap, so it's always worth keeping an eye on the project (and updating the app often!) Additionally, our developers are always taking community feedback into account and working to realise a decentralised 2FA for private key recovery.
Ready to give it a try? Read more here, or you can directly download the app here.
All information presented above is meant for informational purposes only and should not be treated as financial, legal, or tax advice. This article's content solely reflects the opinion of the writer, who is not a financial advisor.
Do your own research before you purchase cryptocurrencies. Any cryptocurrency can go down in value. Holding cryptocurrencies is risky.
"TKN is Monolith’s native token, generated from fees burned from topping up our Visa card. " - this is not accurate