Tracey pilot aims to offer micro-loans for SMEs and Micro Enterprises, powered by Binance Smart Chain

Tracey pilot aims to offer micro-loans for SMEs and Micro Enterprises, powered by Binance Smart Chain

2021-03-09

Laura Tuppurainen
Laura Tuppurainen
Head of Marketing at TX

Press release

The aim of the project led by TX – Tomorrow Explored is to improve financial inclusion in emerging markets through the development of the blockchain-enabled traceability and trade data app, Tracey. Collaborators in the project include WWF-Philippines, Union Bank of the Philippines, Easyfi and Streamr.

Globally, 1.7 billion people are without access to institutional finance according to the World Bank. These so-called “unbanked” individuals tend to be concentrated among poorer households, with about a quarter of unbanked adults living in the poorest 20% of households within their economy. 

Tracey helps small scale fishers in emerging markets gain access to finance by sharing verified information on their seafood catch and trade. The trade data is used by lenders to ascertain creditworthiness and offer suitable micro-finance based on the eligibility of the borrower. 

Low-cost and efficient access to capital can be an incentive for fishers to provide traders and processors with accurate data about their fish. Simultaneously, it can help address some of the traceability issues witnessed in the first mile of activity, while also providing improved catch data at landing to help inform fisheries management measures by local authorities.

Now, Tracey project is introducing the integration of Binance Smart Chain. Binance Smart Chain will be used as the blockchain infrastructure for the app and Easyfi decentralised lending protocol. The Tracey app will integrate with both Centralized Finance (UnionBank of the Philippines) and Decentralized Finance (Easyfi) lenders, enabling them to access the trading data captured by users of the app and offer micro-finance. 

Expanding to crypto lending in the Tracey project removes the geographical barriers to scaling the product, which exist with traditional banking institutes. Binance crypto exchange is the largest in the world by trading volume and has a user count of 12 million users globally. Through this collaboration, the Tracey solution will be able to facilitate lending in 180+ countries. 

Binance will participate in several rounds of pilots, the first of which is currently taking place in Mindoro, Philippines for the WWF-led Fisheries Improvement program. Post-pilot, the product has the potential to roll out to other small-scale operators in FIP sites (Fishery Improvement Projects) as well as AIPs (Aquaculture Improvement Projects) around the world, and later, to support other micro-SME markets.

“TX is engineering value from data to deliver solutions that help solve global challenges around poverty by improving the livelihoods and welfare of actors within the micro-SME markets of emerging countries,” explains TX Managing Director Ben Sheppard.

“We are excited by the innovative developments and the potential that this collaboration offers in solving challenges around first mile traceability of seafood. Industry members of the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) recognise the challenge in obtaining first mile data from small scale fishers. We believe that by providing key incentives, the appropriate technology is now making this possible,” says Susan Roxas, Fisheries and Finance Lead of the WWF Coral Triangle Program.

Related posts

We’re working with WWF and UnionBank of the Philippines to improve traceability and sustainable fishing

Through this collaboration, we’re developing a blockchain-enabled application, Tracey, that will incentivise fishers to record their catch data and earning capacity digitally.

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