Public Mint

We give fiat money superpowers

Public Mint is an open blockchain blended with an API platform that allows fiat money to get all the benefits of a cryptocurrency, minus the volatility and complexity. People and businesses from all over the world are free to build all kinds of fiat-based applications and services on top of Public Mint, fueled by money as we know it - without the limitations of traditional banking rails.

Public Mint (MINT) is a complete synthetic fiat money platform, fully secured, regulated and insured by the FDIC.

Public Mint offers its own blockchain, APIs and web components open and ready for anyone to build fiat-centric applications and accept credit cards, ACH, bank transfers and more. Bank accounts are not needed.

Our upcoming MINT Global Earn program provides direct fiat liquidity for CeFi and DeFi, bringing these opportunities to the world through profitable synthetic fiat currencies.

Public Mint is based on a layered approach that allows fiat currencies to be deployed and transactions to take place on a variety of supported blockchains. The Public Mint protocol, created and maintained by Public Mint, connects all layers and blockchains together to effectively create a bridge to the traditional financial system.

Centralization versus decentralization

We believe that decentralization is a spectrum and that fiat money based solutions will be subject to some form of regulation by central authorities for the foreseeable future. Our goal is to remove this complexity so that your fiat has the same superpowers as cryptocurrencies.

The layers and components in the Public Mint ecosystem can be anywhere on the spectrum of decentralization. These layers work together to strike the right balance between regulation, accountability, and the benefits of a peer-to-peer, borderless open economy.

The Public Mint blockchain bridges two different domains: off-chain and on-chain. Work in each domain has different scope, requirements, and limitations. You can integrate or develop on any of them alone, but the real magic happens when you use Public Mint to communicate between them.

At the network level, Public Mint combines the traditional client-server model with an Ethereum-compatible custom blockchain. Our system connects with custodian partners and KYC providers (thereby enforcing financial regulations), mining or burning tokenized fiat money on the network to match the funds stored in our custodial layer.

This tier consists of custodial partners, licensed financial institutions that hold fiat funds at a 1:1 ratio to the supply circulating on the blockchain. The system is designed in such a way that Public Mint never touches user funds.

Custodians connect to Public Mint via APIs and a private messaging system, which in turn allows clients to initiate fiat deposits and withdrawals to and from their bank accounts without making exchanges.

Public Mint currently uses PrimeTrust as its main custodian partner. However, our system is designed to become a multi-jurisdictional and multi-currency tiered storage tier, open to any regulated partner as long as they comply with Public Mint and agree to regulatory/operational standards.

Our blockchain is a custom implementation of Ethereum based on Hyperledger Besu, an enterprise grade Ethereum client. While both networks remain somewhat compatible, Public Mint is completely independent of Ethereum. In particular, our network uses a different consensus mechanism and relies on fiat money instead of ether to pay for gas costs. For more information, check out the Blockchain section of this documentation.

Public Mint is responsible for the transactional/currency logic, as well as the deployment and maintenance of the original blockchain infrastructure; this includes running all validator nodes on startup. However, please note that opening access to other validators is part of our roadmap to further decentralize the network.

One step up the blockchain abstraction ladder is the Smart Services layer. Smart services are what we call smart contracts (both fully autonomous and controlled by individuals/companies) that add functionality on top of our blockchain.

Public Mint handles state changes in much the same way as the Ethereum virtual machine. This means that smart contracts can be written in any Ethereum-compatible language (such as Solidity). If you know how to code on Ethereum, you can start developing on Public Mint.

In addition to sending/receiving funds, you can create/deploy smart contracts on top of the blockchain, generating revenue from any business model you can think of - just like on the internet.

The Public Mint blockchain is open to everyone. You do not need to ask permission or verify your identity to send/receive funds or develop blockchain services.

However, please note that you cannot deposit or withdraw funds without creating a Public Mint account and going through the KYC process.

The Public Mint Widget allows web apps and apps to receive fiat funds directly.

The Public Mint Widget allows any dApp or web application to directly receive funds from the network. The widget can be configured so that the user can select a destination address or send funds to a specific address - for example, a smart contract address - with the option to specify the address on behalf of which he is depositing.

The widget can be used in two ways:

-Open: Any dApp can embed our widget offering major payment methods such as wire, ACH, and stablecoins. For processes that require KYC, the process is done in the widget.

-Registered Partner: Any dApp or app can register as a partner, allowing you to pre-fill KYC details (if applicable), as well as access riskier payment methods or higher limits.

Embedding a widget is very easy, with different options available depending on the platform your dApp or web app is using.

The widget can be embedded on a page in a traditional web app, or in an embedded iOS/Android Web View. You can control the behavior of the widget and customize the user experience to suit your needs through Javascript configuration options during the initialization phase.

As an integrator, you will not have direct access to the client's personal information. Basic personal information is only disclosed in response to legal requests made by Public Mint (or, in some cases, in support of a security authorization.