
I don’t know how familiar you are with the lord of the rings and the hobbit trilogies but that topic above will either ring a bell with great nostalgic excitement or just make you wonder. No worries though, whether you understand that topic reference or not, I will do a little recap of where it came from (i.e., Smaug from the hobbit trilogy) and eventually explain what the hell a reference from a fantasy series is doing in an article about decentralized finance.
Basically, the hobbit story goes like this;
In a fantasy world (middle earth) populated by races of elves, dwarves, men and hobbits, the dwarves who live inside the mountains mine deep down into the earth for precious stones and accumulate a humongous amount of gold in one particular mountain kingdom known as Erebor. Erebor is one of the mountain kingdoms of the Dwarves, carved in the bowels of an isolated mountainous outcrop called the lonely mountain. With what is basically, a mountain of gold and other precious stones, the Dwarves of Erebor become a very rich and powerful kingdom attracting the envy of many enemies. Chief among these many enemies, is an enormous, fire breathing, talking dragon called Smaug who covets the riches of Erebor for himself alone.
Now, you may be wondering, what does a dragon want with treasure? right? To purchase a suit and briefcase? Lol….
Well, Smaug is unlike any dragon you have seen anywhere else. It’s not just an over grown fire breathing reptile from your regular prehistoric stories, it’s an ancient, exceedingly smart deity who loves to adorn itself in a sea of gold to symbolize it’s glorious awesomeness. Talk about a titan diva.
So Smaug falls upon Erebor in a great unexpected attack and smashes his way through the solid gates of the mountain fast like its every other Tuesday. Then smokes the dwarves out of their hovels with blazing fire and billowing smoke. Overwhelmed, the dwarves abandon their great treasure and guide their people to safer lands and Smaug snuggles into the great mound of gold to take a long victorious sleep. A very long sleep indeed because dragons practically hibernate like bears. And they are a great number of times most immense.
But the dwarves never forget. With a memory as long as their lifespan stretching many hundred years, the time eventually comes when a young Ereborean dwarf prince named Thorin assembles a company of dwarves on a mission to reclaim the mountain fast and treasure from the reptilian bandit - Smaug. The company journeys under clouds, over hills and under trees, alongside a hobbit smuggler named Bilbo Baggins to battle the dragon for their wealth.
To summarize, after a great battle of wits and brawn, the company is able to get Smaug out of the mountain to the great annoyance of the mighty dragon who decides to reclaim its immense wounded pride by burning down all surrounding settlements around the mountain. In a fit of rage, a murderous Smaug takes flight from the gates of Erebor and darts for the nearby human settlement of Lake town. Lake town goes crazy as people scamper for safety.
As the colossal serpent hurtles down to bathe the helpless town in a torrent of sulphuric flames, he thunders his murderous intent;
I am fire! I am…… death!!
Hell hath no furry like an insecure deity scorned.
Now, back to the world of finance. A simple visit to the about page of Gluwa shows the following brief and concise explanation of the technology;
Today’s financial system is broken. We’re building a new, reliable, and open alternative using blockchain technology. In collaboration with our global network of RWA partners, we’re connecting people around the world to valued currency, credit, and global investment opportunities, paving the way for an new financial system that puts people at it’s center.
Well of course the correlation between treasure and finance is rather obvious but we need to dive deeper into this epic reclamation mission that Gluwa has set out to accomplish just like the above tale of Smaug and the company of Dwarves.
The traditional financial system around the globe has a fundamental flaw in that it is centrally operated and hence, is entirely vulnerable to the tyranny of the people and laws governing it. This means that the financial system which is ideally supposed to serve everyone (in a country at least) equally but is not really fair per say as it is subject to the exclusive control of the finance professionals in the banks, politicians who make the rules, and any other privileged persons around this small circle of authorities.
Why is this a problem you may ask? Aren’t they the people who are qualified to understand and manage this complicated financial system? Isn’t it a even wise thing to have these select professionals onboard so everyone else can rest easy about the damn financial system?
right? right??
wrong!
For you to understand why this monopoly of sort is not so great you may want to go through my previous article which highlights how their absolute authority caused the 2008 financial crises, ultimately resulting in the birth of the bitcoin network. To summarize, due to such inevitable scary factors like human favoritism and selfish interest, bankers overlent money to people in financial higher classes resulting in a great cash shortage that took down the entire US economy with resulting effects on the global economy. Are you not concerned now? Cos sweat is trickling down my back as I think about this.
My entire life savings is in the bank and I guess yours is too. Hence, from this actual, real life event that totally happened in the “capital of the free world”, the bank could wake up one day and tell me that I cannot access my money for a certain long time because they did some mismanagement. And I’m from the third world so imagine my endless fear. Us in Nigeria already got taste of such financial fix in the 2023/2024 currency crises. I think you’re beginning to understand.
Simply put, the centralized financial system is flawed resulting in problems like financial tyranny and favoritism. In the hobbit terms, the treasures of Erebor represent the global financial market. Smaug is the traditional finance system which has hijacked the treasures for itself with centralized tyranny. And Gluwa represents the company of dwarves out to recapture such great treasure from immense central authority and make funding publicly available on a global scale, so everyone can benefit.
Hence, while centralized finance threatens tyranny and favoritism in Smaug - like fashion of fire and death, Gluwa responds with words full of hope for all mankind. Say;
I am Gluwa! I am….. Funding!!
Gluwa is a decentralized financial platform, connecting global capital to emerging market investment opportunities through blockchain technology, and empowering users with the choice and information they need to prosper. The company is committed to building products that empower people regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic status, or gender by providing tools and resources to access open and transparent financial systems. These values are promoted through technological innovation and by advancing strategic and business initiatives that support underserved communities.
Gluwa has a global team distributed across the US, Canada, South Korea, and several other countries. This team of experts has years of experience working in several industries including Blockchain Technology, Cryptocurrency Trading, Financial Services, Computer Science, High Traffic Systems, Clinical Psychology, Aerospace and more. Led by the visionary [Tae oh](https:// who has been working with blockchain technology since 2012, Gluwa is committed to building products that empower people regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic status, or gender by providing tools and resources to access open and transparent financial systems. They embrace these values through technological innovation and by advancing strategic and business initiatives that support underserved communities.). It is a great team worth its salt and deserving of anyone’s trust.
Gluwa works together with other great products from the team like Spacecoin and Creditcoin.
Gluwa works with global partners to help deliver a vision for a borderless and inclusive global financial system. This team of partners includes Real World Asset (RWA) partners like Aella, Goodloans, Untapped, Credrails, Rubyx etc., who provide the financial facilities to loan to people; blockchain groups like Tron, Polygon, Aurora, Flow, Wyre etc., who provide the blockchain functionalities and last but not the least government agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria who give real world legitimacy to the project.
After years of relentless effort, Gluwa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to officially onboard as a Partner Agent and help drive the increased adoption of Nigeria’s CBDC, also known as eNaira. The partnership’s core objective is to harness the power of blockchain technology to enhance financial inclusion, improve eNaira functionality, and foster financial innovation.
Additionally, the partnership between Gluwa and the CBN will focus on:
Unlike many web 3 projects (real or scam) which rise and fall with each passing day, Gluwa has established an enviable track record which indicates that the company is here to stay. Established in 2014, Gluwa has come thus far over 10 years now, accomplishing the following milestones;
2014:
Incorporated
2016:
Launched a stablecoin product
2017:
Began Creditcoin
Records stablecoin loan history
Builds credit for uncollateralized DeFi loans
2019:
Launched the Creditcoin mainnet
2020:
Acquired 1M borrowers
Launched the Gluwa Wallet
Non-custodial Wallet
Non-custodial Exchange (DEX)
2021:
Released Creditcoin Whitepaper 2.0
Launched Gluwa Invest
Fixed-Term Investment Product (15% APR)
Reached 2M transactions on Luniverse Sidechain
Won Inclusive Fintech 50 award
2022:
Creditcoin 2.0 Mainnet
Lottery (4% APR)
Credal 1.0 (Creditcoin API)
Community Rewards NFT Program
2023:
Launched Creditcoin 2.0+ testnet and mainnet
Launched Creditcoin Penguin Colony PFP NFTs
2024:
Gluwa Nigeria Limited becomes official Partner Agent with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to drive eNaira adoption
Launch Creditcoin 3.0 EVM-compatible blockchain
A key component of this web 3 technology is the blockchain which is basically a decentralized storage, allowing public recording of transactions for reliable record keeping. This decentralized ledger technology was key in Satoshi Nakamoto’s goal to replace the centralized servers of physical banking institutions with something more public and accountable.
The ethos of blockchain technology is synonymous with Gluwa’s mission to drive financial inclusivity across the globe through the following key areas;
Imagine if Mark Zuckerberg was born into a low income family in a third world country. Imagine if he went to a public African university instead of Harvard. Imagine if his parents were poor farmers in a third world village and not well paid medical personnel’s in the US. A lot would likely have been different in his life. He probably would have still developed an interest in tech and possibly could’ve still struggled immensely in the third world economy to build a sophisticated platform like “The Facebook”.
But you know what his great obstacle would’ve been?
Funding!
You heard me right. Unlike his American parents with a lot of connection to people with lots of money ready to invest till the company became profitable. He would’ve most likely been frustrated and abandoned the project to go look for job or maybe he would’ve had to sell the software for a ridiculously low amount of money. This is what lots of aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging markets go through on a daily. Great business ideas die on a daily basis due to lack of funding.
This is where Gluwa steps in, so these neglected entrepreneurs can easily and happily be funded.
A great future is possible in emerging markets with Gluwa!
What do they say? Talent is global but opportunity is not right? Funding too. But have no fear, enter Gluwa with care!