Decentralized finance (DeFi) giant Spark has shelved its plans to launch a mobile app, for now.
“We had an internal discussion and we’re going to put it on hold for now just because we feel our advantage is largely in the native DeFi crypto space,” Sam MacPherson, CEO of Phoenix Labs, told CoinDesk in an interview during Devconnect Buenos Aires. “We are not creators of consumer applications and this space is very competitive.”
Phoenix Labs is the company behind the development of the Spark protocol, which to date has accumulated more than $9 billion in total value locked, according to data from DeFiLlama.
“If we go in, we need to be sure we have some kind of advantage there. I think there’s a tendency in projects to get distracted by doing too many things at once,” MacPherson said. “So we’re going to double down on what we do best, which is liquid infrastructure within DeFi.”
Instead, the protocol will focus on what MacPherson called “liquidity infrastructure and deals like our recent $1 billion investment with our own balance sheet in PYUSD with PayPal,” pointing to a focus on institutional use cases rather than creating more retail-friendly solutions. He was referring to a billion-dollar investment aimed at increasing the liquidity of the PYUSD.
When asked if the mobile app had been canceled or simply delayed, MacPherson said, “It’s on pause for now. Things can change, but it’s about the market; you have to see opportunities, and they’re just not there right now for us.”
MacPherson’s words come shortly after another DeFi giant, Aave, announced the launch of a retail performance app. “It’s an exciting development, but like I said, it’s a competitive environment. I wish them the best of luck,” MacPherson said when asked about the launch.
