Decentralized finance (DeFi) giant Spark has decided to pause its plans for a mobile app for the time being.
“We had an internal discussion and we’re going to put it on pause for now just because we view our edge as largely in the DeFi-native crypto space,” Sam MacPherson, CEO of Phoenix Labs, told RialCenter in an interview during Devconnect Buenos Aires. “We are not builders of consumer apps, and this space is very competitive.”
Phoenix Labs is the company behind the development of the Spark protocol, which has amassed over $9 billion in total value locked.
“If and when we do go in, we need to be certain we have some sort of edge there. I think there’s a tendency for projects to get distracted doing too many things at once,” MacPherson said. “So we’re going to just double down on what we do best, which is liquid infrastructure within DeFi.”
The protocol will focus on “liquidity infrastructure and deals like our recent $1 billion investment with our own balance sheet into PYUSD with PayPal,” concentrating on institutional use cases rather than creating more retail-friendly solutions. He pointed to a $1 billion investment intended to scale up PYUSD’s liquidity.
When asked whether the mobile app had been canceled or just delayed, MacPherson said it’s “paused for now. Things can change, but it’s about the market; you’ve got to see opportunities, and it’s just not there right now for us.”
MacPherson’s remarks come shortly after another DeFi giant, Aave, announced the launch of a retail yield app. “It’s an exciting development, but as I said, it’s a competitive environment. I wish them the best of luck,” MacPherson said in response to the launch.
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