Tascha Punyaneramitdee, the Core Contributor and Founder of liquidity hook money market INIT Capital, recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Cryptonews Podcast’s Matt Zahab.

She talked about liquidity hooks and their benefits for users and businesses alike, and what protocols must do to ensure they have a long-standing product.

The founder also discussed the pros and cons of popular point farming and shared her thoughts on DePIN and Bitcoin L2s.

Building a Liquidity Hook Money Market

Discussing INIT, Punyaneramitdee said to think of the liquidity hook as a plug-in for liquidity.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) today is fragmented. There are many types of dapps and many use cases.

Therefore, DeFi needs unification, she said. INIT provides this: it’s a platform that enables all DeFi protocols to hook onto its liquidity.

The technology itself is modular and composable, so it enables all kinds of protocols to easily hook and use the liquidity for whatever purposes.

It is beneficial to both the end users and businesses / operators of DeFi protocols.

“So it has the angle of B2C and B2B in a sense because the tech infrastructure is actually very composable,” the founder said.

1/ How does the 'Flash Borrow' feature on INIT enable the Looping Hook to provide leveraged rewards in 1 step?

Find out🧵 pic.twitter.com/p0OHYcSdP4

— INIT Capital (@InitCapital_) May 2, 2024

The all-in-one platform allows users to “do one click” into different strategies, be it lending, simple borrowing, or different hooks.

Speaking of hooks, Punyaneramitdee said that these are automated strategies that enable users to earn more on a particular angle.

All hooks are built in a collaboration: other DeFi protocols hook onto the INIT liquidity, she said.

Ensuring Long-Lasting DeFi

It’s a lot more challenging now to create a useful and long-lasting DeFi product than it was four years ago, for example, Punyaneramitdee told Matt.

A few years ago, farming was the main thing users wanted.

However, users’ wants and needs shift over time. Now, they require multiple use cases at once, including point farming, staking, and restaking.

And here comes the challenge for any DeFi product: fulfill demand but stay true to the core product.

Whatever is built needs to serve the demand, but as the demand changes, the product needs to evolve with it.

DeFi protocol builders need to ensure that their product mechanics are moving fast and capturing these novel points, whether it’s through listing, new integration, or enabling more composability so they can work more with other protocols.

INIT x @LightCycle_City

LightCycle City will be giving away 50 OG NFT WLs to the INIT community through the quest below.

LightCycle City is a project aiming to become the first hyper-realistic digital fashion metaverse, on @0xMantle soon.

👉Participate here:… https://t.co/HFwJQwVZa2 pic.twitter.com/QEbYG2E0r5

— INIT Capital (@InitCapital_) April 30, 2024

At the same time, while being versatile, they must stay true to the core product and its primary function. “This is what you do, and you’re not like building like 10 different apps,” Punyaneramitdee said.

Lastly, while doing all of the above, the project must ensure protocol safety, she added.

Point Farming: Clear Relationships and Lower Barriers

Point farming is a phenomenon that really popped off in the second half of last year. It comprises completing tasks or performing specific actions on a blockchain or a Web3 protocol to gain rewards (points).

Punyaneramitdee remarked that, like with anything else, there are pros and cons to it.

It serves the purpose of distributing opportunities to people, she said, growing protocols and communities that contribute to them.

Furthermore, it helps lower the entry barrier and establishes a clear relationship between protocol and end users.

Currently, plenty of “interesting things” are being built and new tokens launched, so it’s still “a good mechanic to make sure all the parties win.”

“But in the end, there has to be the end,” Punyaneramitdee said.

It will also be interesting to see where this liquidity ends up, she added.

Points farming has been attractive for retail users for the last several months – however, with the recent depeg/repeg/airdrop dramas, IS IT time to reflect on how sustainable the point system farming will be for Defi protocols?

Time for SOME real, sustainable yield generated…

— Crypto Meina (@CryptoMeina) May 1, 2024

DePIN and Bitcoin L2s are Still in the Early Stages

Punyaneramitdee also commented on several prominent and current trends.

One is certainly the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), for which she said: “I think it’s very early, and maybe it’s just my opinion, but I think it’s more of a phase as opposed to a sustainable sector.”

It remains to be seen, but it could be “a new meta” that people are exploring, similar to what metaverse was two years ago.

This is beneficial though, as these phases help the industry innovate.

Similarly, the Bitcoin Layer 2 (L2) ecosystem is still in a “very early” phase.

It still needs at least another “cycle of hard, dedicated building” by a committed group of engineers, Punyaneramitdee stated.

More than 3 billion Sats have been distributed on INIT.

On INIT, $USDe deposit gets 20x Sats from @ethena_labs.

The Sats campaign is still ongoing. Are you INIT? pic.twitter.com/7pwn7VpaHM

— INIT Capital (@InitCapital_) May 1, 2024

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There is more!

In this interview, Punyaneramitdee also discussed:

• crypto scene in Thailand;
• studying economics at UC Berkley, working in traditional finance and product management, and getting into blockchain;
• working for Chinese multinational technology conglomerate Tencent and founding the DeFi project Stella, followed by INIT;
• the meaning of the name ‘INIT’:
• choosing protocols to work with:
• better management of liquidity: the industry must create new liquidity streams to better manage the needs of growing protocols;
• innovating DeFi’s architecture;
• the hottest trend in crypto: point farming;
• 2024 trends: RWA, Bitcoin L2s, DePIN, memes, and more.

You can watch the full episode here.

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About Tascha Punyaneramitdee

Tascha Punyaneramitdee serves as the Core Contributor and Founder of INIT Capital, a liquidity hook money market designed to enhance liquidity layers.

Her prior role in leading Stella, a protocol offering multi-chain leveraged strategies, highlights her significant contributions and expertise in the sector.