DCRM5.0: Unleashing Defi Interoperability and Custodian to Community
By: Fusion Foundation
Tags: Ethereum, Bitcoin, Cryptography, Finance, Blockchain

Realizing the potential of decentralized finance (Defi) is no small task and should not be done in isolation. Every innovator, every enterprise, every consumer — all must contribute and collaborate to ensure that Defi will not simply be a recasting of the status quo in a different technology.

Today, Fusion is making a meaningful contribution to the Defi ecosystem by open-sourcing the full DCRM5.0 code base. The full code base is now available at both the Foundation github, and the Fusion open-source github. Also, check our DCRM page to stay updated.

What’s DCRM?

DCRM is an interoperable solution that is more powerful than atomic swaps, more secure than sharded key storage schemes, and safer than multi-signature schemes. As shared in our Journey of Interoperability, the modular build of DCRM 5.0 can help solve any on-chain or off-chain workflow that needs the security and resilience of a distributed key management and signing scheme. Read our github wiki to learn more.

What can you do with DCRM5.0?

To give you a taste of the possibilities of DCRM, we share 5 use cases. We’re excited to see the Fusion Open-source Development Community (FOSC) leading the adoption charge, and building some of these solutions.

1. Cross-Chain and Cross-System — Using a decentralized custodian model that holds and transfer assets on behalf of the user across heterogenous chains, DCRM is the bridge that connects the Islands of Value being built today to form the Internet of Value.

2. Next Generation Custodial Solution — DCRM can be employed as a non-custodial solution for full Defi use cases, or as a secure hot wallet solution for centralized enterprises. These solutions can be further enhanced with other applications of DCRM such as key recovery and compliance checks.

3. Key Recovery System — Ever had nightmares of losing your private key but don’t want a 3rd party to have full control of your key? DCRM is the answer. Users can use 1 shard in conjunction with 1 held by a provider to sign transactions, and keep their 1 extra shard as backup to restore or even create new keys. As shared in our community project update, FOSC team @dcrmwallet has already started development on this front and we are very excited to see the team’s progress.

4. Protection with Multiple Signatures — DCRM gives you the protection of multiple authorization, without the security risk and economic burden of traditional multi-signature solutions. Whether the workflow is on-chain (granting a trader access to trade a firm position) or off-chain (granting access to sensitive tax documents), DCRM handles both.

5. Settlement Network and Dark Pools — Players within an industry can create a private and efficient settlement network, much like a next generation clearing house or dark pool. Each participant plays a role to protect the network against outsiders and against each other from going rogue.

A Milestone, not the Final Destination

With DCRM in the hands of the community, we will receive much feedback that enhances DCRM, and we look forward to implementing these improvements. To accelerate the feedback loop, the Foundation will continuously push updates to Github, in the same way it has done with its wallet and Quantum Swap feature. That’s right builders! Expect developer commits to reach your hands much faster.

In addition, Fusion will continue working with the 4 leading cryptographers to optimize its EcDSA encryption module and review the Foundation’s technical implementation of EdDSA encryption. Of course, Fusion will also integrate DCRM to its own blockchain. The first stop will be linking the Asset Gateway to DCRM. With this setup, we create a decentralized bank where the Asset Gateway is the bank teller that can exchange any asset, and DCRM is the secure vault that protects any asset. Our aspirational goal is to complete a beta integration by the end of the 2019. As we solve practical problems around recovery and robustness, we will move towards integrating with MainNet in 2020.

The Foundation still sees a future where anonymous nodes can participate in the decentralized custodian setup, and continues its work towards that future. What this future introduces — new regulations, new roles, new businesses — the Defi industry is still discovering. Much like how Liechtenstein’s Blockchain Act introduces a government-registered role of Physical Validators to help blockchain adoption, there may be a new set of decentralized, licensed validators that help bring Defi adoption. With the community, we will discover and define these things as we walk down the path of innovation.

Liechtenstein’s Blockchain Act introduces new registered players to help with blockchain adoption with the traditional world. Will this model also help Defi adoption in traditional enterprises? Only by leading the way into the unknown and building, will we help the industry answer this question.

DCRM Alliance

To quicken our journey, Fusion is creating a DCRM Alliance, a community of Defi players and protocols, Fintech companies, enterprises, government and academia that will jointly create a group of DCRM nodes to create a sandbox for both their own innovation, as well as the innovation of the community.



There is no cost to having a seat in the center of decentralized innovation. The Alliance will help resolve many practical dependencies such as: What are the best practices in distributing shards? How should the shards be stored? What are recovery procedures should a node go offline? How can DCRM work with HSMs?

We already have interest from DEX providers, custodians, and academia and look forward to a soft-launch by end of the year, with structure around working groups and councils to follow. Please contact us to learn more.

We want to thank all our community members for your continued support, the FOSC for your energetic and collaborative work, and our partners for using this technology with us. Together, with the innovation of the masses, we will continue moving ever closer towards our destination of decentralized finance.