Centrifuge is a decentralized asset financing protocol focused on bridging real-world assets (RWAs) with decentralized finance (DeFi). In essence, it provides infrastructure for tokenizing real-world financial assets (such as invoices, real estate, royalties, etc.) and bringing them on-chain to access liquidity. The platform connects traditional capital markets to blockchain “rails,” allowing companies (asset originators) to tokenize their assets and obtain financing directly from crypto markets.

Project Function

• Real-World Asset Tokenization: Centrifuge enables representation of real-world assets on the blockchain by converting them into non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Each asset (e.g. an invoice, property, or loan) can be tokenized as an NFT, creating an on-chain representation tied to off-chain legal contracts.
• Multi-Tranche Financing Pools: Centrifuge pioneered a two-tier tranching model in its pools – a structure that was a first in DeFi for real-world assets. This multi-tranche structure allows investors to choose a risk/return profile and makes financing more efficient for borrowers (asset originators).
• Composability and Standards: Centrifuge emphasizes compatibility with emerging blockchain standards to ensure its tokenized assets can seamlessly interact with other platforms.

Token Utility 

The CFG token (previously WCFG) is an ERC-20 and central to the platform’s ecosystem and economy. 

• Governance: CFG is primarily a governance token. Holders of CFG can participate in the decentralized governance of the protocol by voting on proposals and decisions that shape the network’s development.
• Ecosystem Incentives: The token is used to reward and incentivize participants in the Centrifuge ecosystem. For example, liquidity providers who invest capital into Centrifuge pools (such as those using Tinlake) may earn CFG rewards on top of their regular yield.

About The Founders

Lucas Vogelsang (Co-Founder & CEO): Lucas is the CEO and a founding engineer of Centrifuge. Prior to starting Centrifuge, he co-founded the e-commerce startup DeinDeal in 2010 and successfully sold it to Ringier, a major media company. He then worked on another startup (KaufDA) and later moved to Silicon Valley to join Taulia – a financial technology company specializing in supply chain finance – as a technical manager before co-founding Centrifuge in October 2017.

Martin Quensel (Co-Founder & COO): Martin serves as Centrifuge’s Chief Operating Officer. He is a seasoned entrepreneur who, before Centrifuge, co-founded Taulia, a company providing early-payment and supply chain financing solutions, which was eventually acquired by SAP.

Maex Ament (Co-Founder): Markus “Maex” Ament is another co-founder of Centrifuge, known for being a serial fintech entrepreneur. Maex was a co-founder of Taulia as well, where he served in executive roles, and he has a track record of building financial technology startups.

Philip Stehlik (Co-Founder and former CTO): Philip is a co-founder of Centrifuge who served as the Chief Technology Officer. Like the others, Philip Stehlik also co-founded multiple tech companies before Centrifuge and worked closely with the team at Taulia. He has an enterprise software development background and has led engineering teams in fintech startups.

Risks of CFG

Like an investment in other crypto CFGs, there are some general risks to investing in CFG. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto CFGs and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital CFGs statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in CFG is subject to the following specific risks:

• CFG operates using smart contracts, which have an association with vulnerabilities and security breaches. Despite undergoing successful audits by well-regarded third-party entities, it is essential to acknowledge the existence of inherent risks. 

We emphasize that this Crypto CFG Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with CFG. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto CFG to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The CFG community and Centrifuge founding team are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of CFG have no recourse to the CFG community, Centrifuge founding team, or Uphold if CFG declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto CFGs, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing CFG on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on CFG and determined that CFG is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of CFG, including ensuring the source code is open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community. 
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of CFG.
• Any marketing materials put forward by the CFG social team including on, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with CFG, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning CFG and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with CFG, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of CFG.