Compound is an autonomous interest rate protocol built for developers to unlock a universe of open financial applications. Originally developed and launched by Compound Labs, Inc. in 2018, it is a cornerstone of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, primarily on the Ethereum blockchain. The protocol allows users to supply crypto assets to a liquidity pool to earn interest and to borrow other crypto assets against their supplied collateral. Interest rates are determined algorithmically based on the supply and demand of each asset. The protocol is now governed by COMP token holders through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).