Introducing Charged Particles
By: Ben Lakoff
Tags: Nft, Announcements, Cryptocurrency, Defi

Although this is an “Introducing Charged Particles” piece, we’ve actually been quietly working behind the scenes on this for nearly a year now.

Charged Particles was started in January 2020 as a protocol fusing Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

With the Charged Particles Protocol, you’re able to turn a standard NFT into a yield-generating investment.

The interest generated represents the “charge” and provides a unique token mechanic creating endless opportunities for creativity.

How it works

The Charged Particles Protocol allows users to easily mint/create NFTs, or “Particles.”

Users are then able to “Energize” these particles, by depositing a primary asset (e.g. DAI, USDT, USDC) into their Particles.

That primary asset (e.g. DAI, USDT, USDC) is then converted to the corresponding yield-bearing asset (e.g. aDAI, aUSDT, aUSDC) automatically upon deposit.

The principal of the deposit can optionally be “locked” into the Particle, whereas the interest-portion can always be withdrawn, or “discharged”. If the principal is “locked”, then the particle would have to be destroyed (token burned) to release the principal assets.

The amount of interest earned by an NFT “particle” represents the amount of “Charge” that the particle has amassed. You have created a “Charged Particle.”

These “Charged Particles” are standard, non-custodial NFTs, held in your wallet — yours to trade, transfer, sell, etc. just like any other NFT — but with intrinsic (growing) value over time.

Charged Particle Value

= Intrinsic Value (underlying asset, DAI)

+ Speculative Value (non-fungible rarity)

+ Accrued Interest value (accrued in aDAI)

This creates a new and independent asset class of “charged” NFTs including tradable markets and establishment as a cornerstone piece of the “DeFi lego block economy”

Use Cases

DeFi’s interest-generating qualities combined with provably scarce digital goods like NFTs… Why might you want to add a “Charge” to an NFT?

Intrinsic Value

‌You now can add an intrinsic value to a NFT.

That digital collectible or digital art is suddenly transformed from a (purely) speculative investment into a yield-generating asset — with a scarce NFT attached!

Now, with a base intrinsic value, these Charged Particles can be more-easily used as collateral for NFT-Backed Loans, for example.

Besides adding value to a previously (lack of) intrinsic value item, there are a number of reasons why this might be interesting.

‌Programmable Interest / Charge

The real potential is in the accrued interest — the “charge.”

Charged Particles are non-custodial NFTs that can be “discharged” at any time by the owner, collecting the interest from the token.

They can also be burned (melted — if configured as such by the creator) to reclaim the underlying DAI + interest in full, destroying the token. Charged Particles, therefore, always have an underlying value in DAI.

‌Based on the amount of “charge” a token has, Smart Contracts and/or Dapps can decide how to handle the token — custom mechanics can be designed around the level of “Charge” a token has.

For example, this charge can be discharged to a different address — the NFT creator, a friend, a charity — your choice!

‌With Charged Particles, even a portion of that 8% / year could be paid back to the creator of this rare baseball card — giving the creator a constant stream of (interest) income for the NFT Artist (creator) long after they’ve created this NFT Artwork. Royalties paid to the creator in perpetuity until the NFT is destroyed and the value discharged.

‌The possibilities are endless here.

In gaming, imagine an NFT that represents a Sword — the power of that sword could be dependent on the amount of “Charge” the token has. Or perhaps certain items can only be used once they reach a certain level of charge. You could battle other players battling over the “charge” of a particle — the winner earns the interest from their competitor’s particles.

‌There are 2.7 billion gamers out there, Charged Particles has the potential to eliminate the whole “Pay to Win” mechanic of game items.

In many games, “Legendary” items are super powerful AND expensive, giving those who pay the most the best odds of winning. Charged Particles changes this mechanic, so that even a “Common” item can eventually build-up enough power (via its charge) to compete with Legendary items. This can help tilt the odds in favor of those who have held their items longest. Early adopters can earn more power than a late adopter with deep pockets.

We’re very excited for the possibilities.

Current Status

The Product

Charged Particles in a protocol layer solution allowing users to energize ANY NFT with many different types of interest-bearing assets (e.g. aDAI, cDAI, yDAI, mUSD, etc.).

Our web application allows users to Mint / Create a “Particle” (NFT) and then deposit the asset of their choice (energize) into this Particle and create their own “Charged Particles.”

In our v1 web application, we’re only supporting NFTs that are created using the Charged Particle Minting Station (“Particles”). We’re doing this to ensure safety for users on the platform. Users can mint their own NFTs or choose to purchase & energize other Particles created by Charged Particles Users.

Additionally, initially particles will be swapped into aTokens as the primary interest-bearing asset on the Charged Particle Protocol.

Interested in contributing and adding support / research for more NFTs and / or tokens? Let us know in Discord!

Funding

Currently we are not accepting outside capital for Charged Particles. We have not released any Governance Token.

Our team has had offers to raise significant seed capital, but has committed to a full “fair launch” and is only contributing internally the bare minimum amount needed to properly bootstrap and allow the team to focus full time.

Find out More

We are moving at a rapid pace, so we encourage everyone to join our Discord for the latest updates or follow us on Twitter.