Coinbase Cloud Provides Secure Infrastructure for Current to Build Hybrid Financial Applications on the Polkadot Ecosystem

On October 21, 2021, leading blockchain infrastructure platform‐as‐a‐service company Bison Trails announced that it was working with U.S. fintech company Current, whose aim is to serve Americans working to create a better future for themselves. To this end Current is building a suite of hybrid financial applications designed to provide more value to its three-million-plus members.

Bison Trails has recently been fully integrated into Coinbase Cloud, which now provides Current with secure, reliable infrastructure and network expertise. This allows Current to be an early, active participant in Polkadot — as well as Polkadot parachain networks Karura and Acala. 

On Polkadot, Coinbase Cloud powers an active validator for Curret with secure, dependendable validator node infrastructure and participation expertise. The validator’s reliability is paramount because Polkadot, a nominated proof of stake network, has strict uptime requirements for active validators, which are critical to securing the network and keeping the ecosystem operational.

Coinbase Cloud also provides Current with reliable collator node infrastructure for its recently launched cluster on Karura — the Acala team’s Kusama‐based DeFi hub — as it moves funds on to the parachain. It will also provide the infrastructure for the launch on Acala, a parachain that serves as Polkadot’s DeFi and liquidity hub. 

These integrations are made possible because of Current’s proprietary banking technology, which was built to be compatible with both traditional and decentralized back ends.

Through active participation on Polkadot and its partnership with Acala, Current will build products that blend the high-yield potential of decentralized finance with traditional financial applications in the Polkadot ecosystem. These will be accessible to Current’s members through a seamless, unified experience directly in the app, and support Current’s mission to enable more Americans to improve their financial lives.

"The launch of our cluster on Karura is the first step in the evolution of what we’ve been building over the past six years at Current," says Trevor Marshall, Current’s Chief Technology Officer. 

"The secure, reliable infrastructure and network expertise Coinbase Cloud provides has been invaluable to making it possible for Current to be an early, active participant in Polkadot, Karura and Acala, and build hybrid financial products that have the potential to improve the financial outcomes of even more people,"says Marshall.

Joe Lallouz, CEO of Coinbase Cloud, says: "We are excited to work with Current, a company that is truly committed to innovation and breaking down barriers to entry for financial services through blockchain technology. By bridging traditional banking with decentralized applications and services, Current is making important progress on the path to revolutionizing modern finance."

Bette Chen, Co‐Founder of Acala, says: "The launch of collator nodes on Karura is yet another step in the right direction with two fantastic partners in Coinbase Cloud and Current, as Acala continues growing our ecosystem of DeFi applications and driving yield for fintech companies.

“These two organizations share our vision of a hybrid finance (HyFi) future, and we are excited to continue building products and networks that improve financial outcomes for the Current, Acala, and Karura communities."

About Current

Current is a leading U.S. financial technology company serving the needs of Americans who are working to create a better future for themselves. Its mission is to enable members to change their lives by creating better financial outcomes. 

Leveraging the best technology, it delivers inspirational and motivational products as we all move forward in a world of increasing digitization and complexity. To learn more, visit http://www.current.com or download the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Current is backed by investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Avenir, Sapphire Ventures, Foundation Capital, Wellington Management, QED Investors and EXPA.

About Acala

Acala is the decentralized finance network and liquidity hub of Polkadot. It’s a layer-1 smart contract platform that’s scalable, Ethereum-compatible, and optimized for DeFi with built-in liquidity and ready-made financial applications. 

With its trustless exchange, decentralized stablecoin (aUSD), Liquid Staking derivative, and EVM+, Acala lets developers access the best of Ethereum and the full power of Substrate.

Acala was founded in Oct 2019 and has received five Web3 Foundation grants. It has backing from Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, Polychain Capital, TQ Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and other top firms. The company also has a distributed team in New Zealand, China, Europe, South America, and the United States.