What is UNUS SED LEO (LEO) cryptocurrency?
In this guide, we will explain the ‘UNUS SED LEO’ Coin. The name is a Latin word that means ‘one, but a lion’.
What is UNUS SED LEO (LEO) Coin?
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) is a utility token created for use across the iFinex ecosystem. The strange name is based on a Latin citation from one of Aesop’s fables.
The utility token allows Bitfinex users to get a discount on trading fees. The percentage in discount over trading fees depends on the amount of LEO that the customer has in their account.
Brief History of Unus Sed Leo
The utility coin was launched in the year 2019. The white paper was released in May 2019 by the Unus Sed Leo Limited, a British Virgin Islands company limited by shares, formed for the purpose of issuing LEO coins. Unus Sed Leo Limited is a subsidiary of iFinex. LEO tokens serve as the ecosystem utility token for their products pioneered by Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency trading platform owned by iFinex company.
The coin was issued through an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) from May 2019 till May 13, 2019. It was reported that Capital Corporation, a payment processor said to be holding funds from other exchanges including QuadrigaCX, (the company that processed the iFinex payments) saw part of its funds held by the government in an alleged illegal transmission between Tether Inc and Bitfinex trading platform.
Bitfinex, the debut exchange where LEO was popularly used, is the subsidiary of iFinex. iFinex warned that it may not be possible to recover the funds lost in its case with the government. To cover the financial shortfall, it decided to launch the LEO token and sell through IEO to raise $1 billion, where each LEO token was pegged to 1 USDT for the 1 billion supply during the fundraise.
After the hack in 2016, Bitfinex reportedly covered the loss from the hack through its sister firm, Tether Inc, where $850 million was reportedly taken from Tether reserve. The New York government said it was an illegal transfer, which must be averted. iFinex resolved to launch UNUS SED LEO (LEO) tokens on Ethereum Blockchain and EOS Blockchain in order to avert the alleged illegal transfer. Whereas tokens are launched on a single blockchain, LEO was introduced on two blockchains where 64% seats on Ethereum and 36% on EOS. In an IEO, iFinex successfully raised $1 billion dollars from investors, which will be compensated back through token burn and buy back at the market rate from 27% of the iFinex net profit every month.
To maintain investors’ confidence, a dedicated dashboard was created to break down in full details the token ‘buyback and burn’ process together with the current circulating supply available in real-time. The first phase of the burn mechanism only included revenue from trading fees. In the coming phase, the revenues from other products of iFinex will be used. The buyback and burn will continue until 100% of the 1 billion LEO tokens get burned. In the future, there will no longer be a LEO token after 100% buyback and burn.
UNUS LED Technology
UNUS LED technology is based on two blockchains, which are Ethereum and EOS Blockchain, at 64% and 36%, respectively.
Features of LEO Token
The main feature of the LEO token is that it will not last forever. The token is based on a buyback and burn mechanism where all initial and maximum supply will be bought back and burned by the iFinex company using some percentage of the company’s net profit. Other features included;
Discount and Marketplace Token:
The utility token majorly serves as a discount token for the Bitfinex trading platform. It is used to offer discounts on fees charged on main accounts and sub-accounts, including deposits and withdrawals. These discounts vary based on an account holder’s user status level, the amount of UNUS SED LEO held in an account over the previous month, and the type of trade done on the Bitfinex platform.
Marketplace Token for all iFinex products:
Aside from being a discount token for the Bitfinex trading platform, it also serves as the marketplace token for all iFinex products. Token holders on the platform can use the utility token to access other numerous products available on the iFinex.
Dual Blockchain:
It exists on double blockchain platforms. These two blockchain platforms include Ethereum and EOS blockchains. This means that you can send the coin as an EOS token or Ethereum token any day. On Ethereum, it’s 64% of the token that exists there, while on EOS, it’s 34% of the token supply that exists on it.
Smart Contract Compatible:
Both blockchains have smart contracts enabled on them. The dual chain feature of the coin with smart contracts enabled on them allows developers to build DApps (Decentralized Applications) and implement the token into DApps for various use cases available on both chains. This feature aids smart contract inter-chain capabilities built by developers and readily available on both chains.
Ecosystem Agnostic:
The token is agnostic. In an AMA with Bitfinex organized by Atomic Wallet, Bitfinex highlights that it will add a protocol onto the token to create distributive data streams and distributed marketplaces. This idea will make the token the backbone of its social platform (Bitfinex Pulse) and market distribution plan. Being the backbone of Bitfinex Pulse, a social platform and news aggregator platform for traders makes it compatible with the social platform.
Advantages of LEO Coins
Let’s look at the possible advantages of this unique token.
The LEO coin serves as the exchange token on Bitfinex:
It supports the reduction of taker and lending fees on the Bitfinex trading platform. LEO holders are also entitled to a 25% crypto withdrawal and deposit fee discounts. In other words, Bitfinex will allow any user on the platform holding more than 50 million LEO to withdraw USD 2 million without incurring additional fees.
Discount on other iFinex Products:
Any other products and services offered by the iFinex company, which is the parent company, will get a discounted price for any user holding LEO tokens per details.
Fast Transactions:
The EOS Blockchain offers a faster transaction of crypto-assets built on it compared to Ethereum. The transaction on EOS is nearly instant. While Ethereum is also fast, EOS is faster.
Available on Double Blockchains:
The availability of the tokens on two blockchains makes it possible for investors to enjoy the benefits attached to both chains when sending or receiving the Tokens. It also attracts investors from both communities into the LEO community.
Security of Assets:
There is security of funds guaranteed by a buyback from the issuing company. More so, the tokens are deployed in highly secured and scalable blockchains making the funds transfer swift, secure, and safe to use. There is also funds security guaranteed by the exchange security model because token holders will mostly have to store these tokens on the exchange to benefit in discounts attached to holding the asset.
Disadvantages of LEO Coins
For every unique product, there is always a shortfall. Below is a list of possible disadvantages of LEO tokens.
Inaccuracy:
There is a risk of inaccuracy in the data updated on the dashboard. This possible error in auditing might lead to trust issues in the business model or token economics associated with the token. This possible issue might affect token holders and investors who are waiting for a buyback of their LEO coin holdings.
Reduced Benefits:
Since the token is solely designed to raise funds and cover losses incurred during the hack with the support of investors who will benefit from discount in fees and buybacks, any possible withdrawal of these benefits without meeting investors’ satisfaction might lead to distrust in LEO token economics. Investors will tend to withdraw from holding these tokens for discounts in using products and other services offered by the company.
Zero Choice for Investors:
The token will never be a better option for investors looking to invest in the LEO coin for the long-term. This is because the token will someday cease to exist, and it may or not have a significant price increase to help the issuing company in buying it back.
Price Manipulation:
There is a risk of manipulation in the price of the token, though the company is buying at the market price. This is because the issuing company is continuously buying back these tokens to take them out of circulation, which will tend to maintain a stable price close to the IEO price to protect investors too. The issuing company here has a big control over this token and the pricing. Since it’s buying the token back, there may or not be a possible significant increase or decrease in price to enable a buyback at a rate very much close to the price at fundraising (IEO).
Key Perspectives and Takeaways
Bitfinex enabled trading with the LEO on May 20, 2018, after concluding the IEO on May 13, 2019. The tokens were tradable against BTC, USD, USDT, EOS, and ETH.
Again, under the LEO token economics, the iFinex company will repurchase and burn the outstanding LEO tokens using the funds recovered from the Crypto Capital in alleged illegal funds transmission between Tether Inc and Bitfinex amounting to $850 million. The repurchase, according to the team, will be done in multiple transactions solely under the discretion of the company.
Meanwhile, the same approach will be applied to the funds recovered from the 2016 hack, which is the reason behind the UNUS SED LEO token launch. The amount planned for use should be equal to 80% of the redeemed funds from the hack. There is reportedly a planned 18-month period for redemption.
There is this unique feature of future extinction attached to the token economics which will create trust and present a good public image of the company towards investors and the Bitfinex trading community.
Spark Airdrop: Spark Token is the native token of the Flare Network. This token will be airdropped to all XRP holders. This means that it has the same supply as XRP and will be available for claiming from Ripple token holders. Ripple token holders can claim their own portion of the XRP airdrop if they were holding on supporting exchanges or their own secured XRP wallet provided by Atomic Wallet during the snapshot.
What does it mean? It means that once you are holding XRP you can claim it if you were holding on exchanges that supported the airdrop snapshot before the snapshot date. Others who have theirs sitting on custodial and non-custodial wallets can still claim theirs without having to deposit on any of the supporting exchanges.
Official Website:
For the ultimate source of information visit leo.bitfinex.com
Twitter Handle:
Follow @bitfinex on twitter to keep up with the latest update.
Reddit Community
Visit reddit.com/r/Bitfinex
How to store and manage Unus Sed Leo Coin:
You can manage and store LEO coins on numerous platforms that support the blockchain protocols on which it is issued. Atomic Wallet is the best platform amongst other platforms where you can store and manage your Leo tokens. Atomic Wallet is a highly secured multi-chain wallet that can be used to manage and store LEO coins across the two chains, Ethereum and EOS Blockchain. Atomic Wallet is the best multi-cryptocurrency wallet for storing multiple cryptocurrencies on different blockchains. It is a non-custodial wallet that gives you full access and control over your funds and does not store user details on its server.
Conclusion: Unus Sed Leo Coin is proof that users and crypto platform operators or owners can work closely to secure the platform financially. While users benefit and use the platform, the platform operators can also work with its users to secure the platform during issues of financial crisis like the one we saw with the Bitfinex hack.
