Nick van Eck, son of renowned investment management figure van Eck, has spearheaded the launch of a new stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar, following a successful fundraising round that amassed $12 million in capital.
Teaming up with cryptocurrency experts Drake Evans and Joe McGrady, van Eck initiated Agora in October, as reported by Bloomberg on April 2. The forthcoming digital dollar, dubbed Agora digital dollar with the symbol AUSD, will see Nick van Eck taking the helm as CEO.
AUSD will be backed by a combination of cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and overnight repurchase agreements, with oversight of Agora's reserve fund entrusted to VanEck, a $90 billion asset management firm led by Jan van Eck.
Ensuring transparency and trustworthiness in managing the assets of these digital dollars is paramount, emphasized Kyle DaCruz, Director of Digital Assets at VanEck.
The $12 million seed funding round was led by Dragonfly, a digital asset venture capital firm, with additional contributions from Robot Ventures, Wintermute, Breed, and General Catalyst, where van Eck previously served as a partner.
Agora's parent company is registered in Delaware, with the stablecoin issuing authority situated in the British Virgin Islands, currently catering primarily to markets outside the United States, pending federal legislation for stablecoins within the U.S. Van Eyck foresees nations like Argentina and Southeast Asia reaping significant benefits from the digital dollar concept.
Despite a competitive stablecoin market led by Tether and USDC, with market capitalizations of $104.3 billion and $32.5 billion respectively, van Eyck believes there's still room for newcomers. Agora aims to foster robust partnerships across the cryptocurrency landscape, spanning exchanges, custodians, decentralized applications, and trading entities. Van Eck emphasized that AUSD holders won't experience similar income models as TerraClassicUSD (USTC) holders pre-May 2022 collapse, aiming to drive industry progress through Agora's initiatives.
