Aurigami
4 known investors
Aurigami is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol where users deposit crypto assets such as USDC, USDT, ETH, WNEAR, WBTC, and STNEAR to earn yield and access liquidity. It operates in the DeFi space with a focus on lending markets and asset supply.
Also known as Aurigami (PLY) Β· Aurigami Finance
Investors Β· 4
Also in the syndicate Β· 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Aurigami is a decentralised, non-custodial liquidity protocol operating on Aurora, an EVM implementation built on top of the NEAR Protocol. Users deposit supported digital assets β the website lists USDC, USDT, ETH, WNEAR, WBTC and STNEAR β to earn passive interest, and may use those deposits as collateral to borrow other assets on an over-collateralised basis. Deposited funds are held in smart contracts and depositors receive tokenised yield-bearing "auTokens", which are tradable and transferable and are used for on-demand withdrawal from the pools.
The protocol's native governance token is PLY, launched in May 2022. Aurigami also developed the concept of "Locked Liquid Tokens" (LLT), described as a DeFi-native mechanism for vested tokens that allows a project to attract liquidity without generating immediate selling pressure; PULP is the LLT counterpart of PLY and functions as a claim on future PLY, with combinations of PLY and PULP used in the protocol's liquidity mining programme. Press coverage also noted an emphasis on gamification relative to comparable lending protocols.
Security and risk disclosures include smart contract audits by Watchpug, a real-time risk management dashboard produced with RiskDAO (which the site cites as designating Aurigami a lending protocol with $0 bad debt), and a bug bounty of up to $500,000 hosted on Immunefi. The documentation notes that residual smart contract and liquidation risks remain and that the protocol is public and open sourced.
Founding story
The sources do not describe the founding circumstances. Lucas Huang and EY Tan are identified as co-founders; Aurigami's investor lineup was announced in February 2022 and the protocol launched in 2022.
Business model
Aurigami operates a pooled, over-collateralised money market: depositors supply liquidity and earn interest determined by borrowing demand, while borrowers pay interest on assets drawn against their collateral. Token-based incentives (PLY and the locked-liquidity token PULP) are used through a liquidity mining programme to attract deposits. The sources do not state the protocol's fee or revenue split.
The sources describe interest paid by borrowers accruing to depositors and note tokenomics and liquidity mining programmes, but do not state how the protocol or team captures revenue.
Traction
Total value locked exceeded $20 million as of late July 2022. The team numbered 10 people at that time, with plans to hire, mainly developers. Combined private and public token raises totalled $12 million. The Medium publication reported about 3.5K followers and the author account about 2.2K followers.
Latest developments
The most recent publicly dated activity in the sources is February 2023: the launch of NearX, framed around liquid staking derivatives lending, borrowing and folding ahead of Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, and a platform revamp announced on 14 February 2023 in which Aurigami restated its goal of becoming the leading liquidity aggregator on Aurora. The website continues to advertise PLY LP staking rewards.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
In July 2022 The Block, citing DeFi Llama, described Aurigami as the second-largest lending protocol on Aurora by TVL behind Bastion, with TVL of over $20 million versus Bastion's $130 million; an August 2022 press release described it as having the third-largest TVL on Aurora. The company has stated an ambition to be the primary money market and leading liquidity aggregator on Aurora.
Press coverage highlights two points of differentiation from comparable lending protocols: a heavy emphasis on gamification, and the "Locked Liquid Tokens" mechanism (PULP for PLY) intended to let projects attract liquidity from vested tokens without immediate selling pressure. The protocol also markets continuous audits, a RiskDAO-backed risk dashboard and a $0 bad debt record.
Technology
Smart-contract based lending pools deployed on Aurora, an EVM environment on NEAR. Depositors are issued tokenised yield-bearing auTokens redeemable on demand and transferable. Additional components include the Locked Liquid Token design (PULP as a future claim on PLY), a real-time risk management dashboard, and published contract addresses and parameters in the protocol documentation.
Go-to-market
Distribution is direct through the protocol's web application, supported by community channels (Discord, Telegram, Twitter, Medium), a referral campaign launched in May 2022, gamified campaigns such as the Aurigami Game, and liquidity mining incentives. A public token distribution was conducted via an initial exchange offering on KuCoin, Bybit and Impossible Finance, and the project positions itself as an ecosystem partner within Aurora and NEAR, including support for NEAR's USN stablecoin.
Retail DeFi users on the Aurora and NEAR ecosystems seeking passive yield on deposited crypto assets, and borrowers seeking liquidity or leverage against collateral; yield farmers participating in PLY/PULP liquidity mining are also addressed.
Geography
The August 2022 press release announcing the raise carried a Dubai, United Arab Emirates dateline. The protocol itself is deployed on the Aurora network and serves users globally without stated geographic restriction.
History
Aurigami announced its investor lineup in February 2022, having closed a round co-led by Dragonfly Capital and Polychain Capital, and stated the team was preparing to ship mainnet. The PLY token launched on 5 May 2022, followed by a liquidity mining tutorial and a referral programme later that month. In July 2022 the project disclosed to The Block that it had raised $12 million across a private token sale that closed in February and an IEO that closed in May; a press release datelined Dubai, United Arab Emirates repeated the announcement on 2 August 2022. Subsequent milestones included the Aurigami Game opening ceremony (August 2022), a RiskDAO risk management dashboard (September 2022), quarterly reviews, the NearX launch (February 2023) and a platform revamp (February 2023).
Risks & controversies
The protocol's own documentation states no protocol is entirely risk free and identifies smart contract and liquidation risks. The Block reported in July 2022 that PLY traded around $0.001, down roughly 95% from an all-time high near $0.02, citing CoinGecko. Investors in the private round included Alameda Research and Jump Crypto. Public communications in the sources appear to stop in February 2023.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 8
launches, deals, and filingsAurigami announced a redesigned platform, stating its aim of becoming the leading liquidity aggregator on Aurora.
Launch of NearX, positioned around liquid staking derivatives lending, borrowing and folding.
Aurigami published a risk management dashboard following an engagement with RiskDAO to analyse the protocol's risk parameters.
Aurigami sold 5% of total PLY supply for $2.5 million in a three-venue initial exchange offering on KuCoin, Bybit and Impossible Finance; the IEO closed in May 2022 and brought total funds raised to $12 million.
$2.5M source β
Aurigami published its investor lineup, disclosing a closed investment round co-led by Dragonfly Capital and Polychain Capital with participation from Mechanism Capital, Amber Group, Jump Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Lemniscap, QCP Capital, DeFi Capital, Folius Ventures, D1 Ventures and Genblock Capital, plus angels including Alex Shevchenko (Aurora), Julian Koh (Ribbon), Bobby Ong and TM Lee (CoinGecko), Matthew Tan (Etherscan), Alex Svanevik (Nansen) and Santiago R. Santos. Later reporting stated the private token sale totalled $9.5 million and closed in February.
$9.5M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Aurigamiaurigami.finance Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Aurigami do?
- Aurigami is a decentralised, non-custodial lending and borrowing money market built on the Aurora network.
- Who are Aurigami's investors?
- Aurigami's investors include Coinbase Ventures.