Compound is a decentralized, blockchain-based protocol that facilitates the borrowing and lending of crypto. Compound launched its native utility cTokens (COMP) on June 16, 2020. 

COMP holders govern the protocol. Developers, using the Ethereum blockchain, created the cToken as a governance token, such that holders have power to shape the protocol's future.

Anyone who owns the coin gets voting rights proportional to their holdings. In the case of COMP holders, they are given voting rights to determine the underlying products and functionality of the Compound protocol. 

The protocol basically functions as a decentralized ledger for lending and borrowing cryptos. Anyone holding a supported crypto can deposit it into a Compound smart contract, put into a liquidity pool where it generates interest. The Compound protocol currently (as of mid-January 2021) has $5 billion worth of assets earning interest across nine markets.

Any market participant who lends or borrows on the network is allocated a predetermined number of COMP, or cTokens, per day, converting into voting power.

Compound recently announced the creation of the Compound Chain, a distributed ledger capable of transferring value and liquidity between peer ledgers. Set to debut later in 2021, Compound Chain is expected to encourage the inflow of new assets into the Compound network by allowing users to borrow and lend cross-chain assets across different blockchains.

What is the price of COMP? 

Trading at about $212 as of mid-January 2021, COMP has gained more than 200% in value since it debuted in mid-June 2020 at about $60 per token. That early part of COMP's existence could be described as meteoric, with the price reaching an all-time high of $372 within only a few days after its initial offering.

COMP's daily volume is roughly $300 million and it trades on most global exchanges.

Circulating supply of tokens: 4.4 million