On January 24, 2025, Tyler Spalding, founder of the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Anvil, unveiled a groundbreaking Ethereum-based smart contract system aimed at revolutionizing payments and credit. Anvil allows individuals and companies to create letters of credit (LOCs) by locking up ether or USDC, effectively transforming traditional banking processes.
Spalding emphasized the potential of Anvil to provide sustainable liquidity and trusted money for the global economic system. The protocol operates without transaction fees and is open-source, distributing 60% of governance tokens to partners and users for operational voting.
Three partners, including Amdax and Empowermint, are set to build services using Anvil, which was developed over two years without outside investment. The system has been audited for safety, aiming to disintermediate banks in credit issuance and payments.
“It’s a real-world use case. That’s the only thing that matters to me,” Spalding stated, highlighting the protocol's ambition to address the inefficiencies of traditional payment methods.