What is Amp?

Amp (AMP) is a modern digital collateral token exclusive to the Flexa network that offers instant, verifiable assurances for any value transfer. AMP, created as an ERC-20 token by New York City-based financial technology company Flexa, can be staked as collateral; users are incentivised to do so through additional AMP rewards. AMP users can quickly and irreversibly secure transactions for various asset-related use cases.

A brief history of Amp

Amp debuted in September 2020 on the Ethereum mainnet as a result of a close collaboration between crypto fintech firm Flexa and blockchain solutions builder ConsenSys. It was created as a new staking platform for the crypto token AMP, which was designed to support the collateralisation of any type of value transfer.

Flexa, the creator and main user of the Amp network, was co-founded by Tyler Spalding, the company’s current CEO, alongside Trevor Filter, Zachary Kilgore, and Daniel McCabe. It is a payment network that offers a slate of payment integration services and plug-ins supporting crypto-asset acceptance on existing point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software. One such product is SPEDN, a digital wallet allowing merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments. About 41,000 retail locations in the US and Canada, including Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble stores, accept Flexa payments.

Before the creation of AMP, the Flexa network was initially using Flexacoin (FXC) as its collateral token. Flexa sold 14.1 billion FXC in a 2018 private offering before minting the token on the blockchain. Since then, Flexa has contributed two years of research and development to the token architecture and design of the Amp platform, eventually developing and releasing the first Amp collateral manager contract as open source. With that, AMP was created as a new collateral token to enhance the completed Flexa network; it was minted by exclusively burning FXC at a perpetual fixed rate of 1:1.

The total amount of funds raised for AMP was US$20 million, including $6 million from a private sale of AMP tokens to Robot Ventures II and other investors in November 2020. Pantera Capital, Nima Capital, Access Ventures, and 1kx are other notable investors in Amp.

How Amp works

The Flexa network enables crypto-collateralised payments at physical merchants. It enables the usage of supported cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many more to pay for services, while the vendor receives payment in fiat currency. The team worked to make its foundation more adaptable and future-proof. With this in mind, AMP aims to take a long-term perspective on the crypto market.

Flexa employs its AMP token to collateralise crypto payments, verifying on the individual digital asset networks and settling the payment in fiat with the recipient. This addresses several issues that have plagued the crypto ecosystem, such as slow network confirmation times, price volatility, and widespread adoption.

AMP is an ERC-20-compliant, fixed-supply, immutable (no administrative capabilities) token. It aims to be a low-volatility collateral asset with a compound value exclusively backed by a utility. AMP supports a broad range of collateralisation use cases and introduces the idea of predetermined partition strategies, which can enable specific features, such as collateral models that allow users to stake tokens without leaving their original address.

AMP provides a straightforward yet versatile interface for guaranteeing the funds needed for activities on the network. Through a system of collateral partitions and managers, which take care of any account, application, or transaction by carrying balances directly verifiable on the Ethereum blockchain, these AMP smart contracts can lock, release, and redirect collateral in the partitions to support value transfer activities.

What is Amp used for?

AMP is a digital collateral token that promotes quick and efficient value transfer, particularly in value security and irreversibility cases. As collateral, AMP covers the value of each transfer while it is pending confirmation — a process that might take seconds, hours, or days. When the Amp network reaches a consensus for a specific transfer, AMP tokens used as collateral are typically released, making them available to collateralise another transfer. If an agreement on the transfer cannot be reached, the AMP collateral can be liquidated to pay damages.

AMP enables rapid, verifiable guarantees for any ongoing or prospective value transfer, allowing activities that rely on the transfer to happen without interruption. By using AMP as collateral, individuals and corporations benefit from the security and efficiency of transparently attestable collateral on an immutable ledger.

When AMP users stake their tokens to a given wallet app, they receive as a reward a portion of the processing fees earned by the Flexa network for all transactions processed through that wallet. The typical way of earning passive income on this staking process is through the official Flexa Capacity decentralised app (dapp), but there are other projects, wallets, and decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms that also support the usage of AMP.