COTI, an acronym for "Currency Of The Internet," is an enterprise-grade Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem specifically designed to revolutionize digital payments and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.
By leveraging a unique Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) architecture and its proprietary Proof of Trust (PoT) consensus mechanism, COTI aims to provide scalable, fast, and secure transaction capabilities.
Founding and Development
Established in 2017 by Shahaf Bar-Geffen, a Tel Aviv University graduate with a bachelor's degree in biotech and economics, COTI set out to create a decentralized payment system. Initially built on the Ethereum network, the project faced scalability challenges, prompting the development of a proprietary blockchain protocol tailored for enterprise use. This led to the unveiling of the Trustchain protocol in October 2018, followed by the launch of its Testnet in January 2019 and Mainnet in June 2019.
1️⃣ Services Provided by COTI
🔹 COTI Pay – A next-generation payment system supporting crypto, fiat, credit card payments, and merchant-specific tokens, designed for both online and offline transactions.
🔹 Stablecoin Issuance – COTI enables businesses and enterprises to create their own stablecoins, reducing reliance on traditional payment networks. Notably, COTI is the official issuer of Cardano's algorithmic stablecoin, Djed.
🔹 Loyalty Programs & Merchant Solutions – COTI offers businesses the ability to create and manage customized loyalty programs, stablecoins, and payment solutions, enhancing customer engagement.
🔹 Treasury & Staking Mechanism – The COTI Treasury allows users to stake their COTI tokens and earn rewards, supporting the network’s stability and economic growth.
🔹 Cross-Border & Instant Payments – Unlike traditional payment providers, COTI enables instant, low-cost transactions, making it an ideal solution for global payments.
2️⃣ COTI’s Ecosystem
🔹 COTI Pay – The core payment system supporting crypto & fiat transactions.
🔹 COTI Treasury – A staking and rewards system that allows users to lock COTI tokens and earn passive income.
🔹 Djed Stablecoin – A Cardano-backed stablecoin issued and managed by COTI.
🔹 MultiDAG 2.0 – A multi-layer DAG infrastructure allowing businesses to create custom tokens and stablecoins with high efficiency.
🔹 COTI Explorer – A blockchain explorer for monitoring transactions, smart contracts, and ecosystem activity.
🔹 Bridges to Ethereum & Other Networks – Enabling cross-chain compatibility with Ethereum, Cardano, and other major blockchain ecosystems.
3️⃣ Core Technologies Used by COTI
🔹 Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) Architecture – Instead of a traditional blockchain, COTI uses a DAG-based Trustchain, allowing for parallel transaction processing and greater scalability (100,000+ TPS).
🔹 Proof of Trust (PoT) Consensus Mechanism – A hybrid system combining Proof of Work (PoW) elements with Trust Scores to increase efficiency, security, and fairness.
🔹 MultiDAG 2.0 – A customized version of DAG technology allowing different token types to exist within COTI’s ecosystem, similar to Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard but with higher efficiency and lower costs.
🔹 Smart Contracts & Programmable Payments – Unlike traditional DAG networks, COTI integrates smart contracts and programmable financial tools, making it suitable for DeFi applications and enterprise solutions.
🔹Cross-Chain Bridges – COTI is developing interoperability solutions to connect its ecosystem with Ethereum, Cardano, and other major blockchains, ensuring multi-network compatibility.
4. Advantages
✅ High Scalability – COTI’s DAG-based Trustchain protocol allows it to process over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS), far surpassing traditional blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
✅ Low Transaction Fees – The network’s efficient structure minimizes transaction costs, making it an attractive option for merchants and users compared to high-fee blockchains.
✅ Energy Efficiency – COTI’s Proof of Trust (PoT) consensus mechanism is far less energy-intensive than Proof of Work (PoW), making it a greener and more sustainable alternative.
✅ Versatile Use Cases – COTI’s MultiDAG 2.0 supports the creation of custom tokens, enterprise-grade stablecoins, loyalty programs, and DeFi solutions, making it highly adaptable for different business needs.
✅ COTI Pay Ecosystem – A comprehensive payment infrastructure supporting crypto, fiat, credit card processing, and merchant-specific tokens, offering businesses a seamless way to integrate blockchain-based payments.
✅ Strong Partnerships & Enterprise Adoption – COTI is the official issuer of Cardano’s algorithmic stablecoin (Djed), proving its credibility and real-world applicability in enterprise-grade blockchain solutions.
5.Challenges
❌ Market Adoption Challenges – Despite its advanced technology, COTI still needs to achieve widespread adoption among merchants and users to compete with traditional payment systems.
❌ Strong Competition – COTI operates in a highly competitive landscape, facing established players like Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and traditional financial systems that already have strong adoption.
❌ Reliance on Merchant and Institutional Integration – The success of COTI Pay and its ecosystem depends on onboarding businesses and financial institutions, which can be a slow and challenging process.
❌ Regulatory Uncertainty – As a payment-focused blockchain, COTI could face regulatory scrutiny, especially concerning stablecoin issuance (Djed for Cardano) and financial compliance.
❌ Limited Awareness Compared to Competitors – While Ripple and Stellar are widely recognized, COTI still lacks the same level of global recognition, which may slow down adoption.
COTI
6. Conclusion: Is COTI a Strong Digital Payments and DeFi Solution?
COTI stands out as one of the most innovative Layer 1 blockchain ecosystems for digital payments and DeFi, offering high scalability, low transaction costs, and enterprise-grade stablecoin issuance through its DAG-based Trustchain protocol and Proof of Trust (PoT) consensus mechanism.
However, it faces challenges in mainstream adoption, competition from established digital payment systems like Ripple and Stellar, and the need for broader merchant and institutional integration.
👉 If you are looking for a scalable and low-cost blockchain for digital payments, COTI is a strong choice.
👉 For cross-border bank settlements and institutional payments, Ripple (XRP) remains a dominant alternative.
👉 For a focus on financial inclusion and multi-currency transactions, Stellar (XLM) may be a better option.
💡 Key aspects to monitor : Adoption by global merchants, enterprise partnerships, the success of its stablecoin issuance (Djed for Cardano), and further development of the COTI Pay ecosystem.