By Devin Black, Product Marketing @ Centrifuge

Originally published on Medium on May 22, 2023.

Today, we’re excited to launch the new Centrifuge App: a completely redesigned and unified platform for investing in real-world assets (RWAs) onchain.

Our designers and engineers have overhauled the Centrifuge experience, using learnings from Tinlake — our previous app that has facilitated $387M in assets financed all time — to create the new standard for seamless and intuitive investing onchain.

Let’s dive into what’s new with the Centrifuge app — and how it lays the foundation for what to expect in the future!

Designed for Adoption

We all know that a challenge for mass crypto adoption is user experience. In order to reach billions of users and trillions of asset value onchain, we need to abstract away from the technical and focus on the impactful. After all: how many times do you ask yourself how the internet works while you’re searching the web?

An app that is safe, reliable, and user-friendly is critical for creating an open and decentralized financial system available to everyone. That’s exactly why we’ve rebuilt the Centrifuge user experience, merging the sophistication and security of TradFi with the efficiency, scale, and innovation of DeFi.

KYC in seconds. Invest in minutes

Interacting with the world of traditional finance requires KYC (“Know Your Customer”). It’s necessary for issuer compliance. Additionally, it is a vital step to enable investor protection in the event of a default.

As the bridge between TradFi and DeFi, we’re focused on building the necessary structure in a way that doesn’t detract from the investor experience.

We’ve rebuilt this process from the ground up so that it all takes place within the Centrifuge app. Users won’t need to create an account or go to a separate website to finish onboarding. The process takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Our goal is to make it so fast and seamless, you won’t even know you’re doing it.

Similarly, we have also completely automated KYB (“Know Your Business”) as part of this same flow, enabling institutional investors to take part in Centrifuge pools as easily as individuals can.

Prepared for a Multi-Chain Future

The Centrifuge app has been built with multi-chain support in mind. We’re building towards a world where people can invest in real-world assets on Centrifuge from any chain.

Multi-chain connect

New connect wallet functionality allows users to pick which chain they want to interact with Centrifuge from, starting with Ethereum and Centrifuge Chain.

Connecting via an Ethereum wallet — MetaMask, Wallet Connect, or Coinbase Wallet — lets users invest in existing Ethereum-based pools.

Connecting with a Substrate wallet like Talisman or SubWallet lets users invest in new pools on Centrifuge Chain (coming soon!).

Integrations with other chains

Last summer, Centrifuge embarked on the development of multi-chain support. Since then, our engineers have been perfecting functionality that will empower investors to interact with Centrifuge and invest in RWA pools from any supported chain.

With the Centrifuge App, the foundation has been laid for Centrifuge’s multi-chain future. Keep an eye out for further updates in this department!

A Farewell to Tinlake

We first introduced Tinlake nearly 4 years ago — a time when “RWA” was not as widespread as today! Through those years, we’ve accomplished much, including minting the first real-world assets for MakerDAO, launching the RWA Market with Aave, and bringing the first credit fund operation onchain with BlockTower. As of today, Centrifuge touts the highest TVL of any RWA platform.

With the advent of the Centrifuge App, we are sunsetting Tinlake and consolidating all Centrifuge services under one umbrella. Rest assured: Tinlake pools are here to stay! They remain live within the Centrifuge app.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I’m a verified user on Tinlake, do I need to onboard again for the new app?

If you’ve onboarded with Tinlake in the past and signed a subscription agreement for a pool, you’ll be automatically migrated to the new app. If you onboarded on Tinlake but didn’t sign a subscription agreement, you’ll need to start the new onboarding process!

Are there CFG rewards in the new app?

Investments in pools will continue to earn CFG rewards. Within the new app, CFG reward claiming is still a few weeks away. For now, users can still claim them with the legacy Tinlake app.

What’s going to happen to Tinlake?

All current Tinlake pools are live and interactable (on Ethereum) in the new app! Tinlake will remain live at https://legacy.tinlake.centrifuge.io/ with limited support.

Keep in touch!

With the app launched, we’re excited to continue building support for liquidity from any (EVM) chain. Keep an eye on our Twitter and on our forum, where we’ll be sharing the open-source progress of our developers in the months to come.

Explore the Centrifuge App