> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.trilobyte.finance/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.trilobyte.finance/overview/what-is-trilobyte.md).

# What is Trilobyte?

Trilobyte is a **decentralised lending protocol** built on Stellar's Soroban smart contract platform. It connects businesses that need working capital with investors who want transparent, yield-bearing exposure to real-world cash flows.

## The Problem

Small and medium-sized businesses often struggle to access affordable credit. Traditional lending is slow, opaque, and gatekept by institutions with misaligned incentives. Businesses with strong incoming cash flows — invoices, receivables, contracts — may still be denied credit because they lack conventional collateral or credit history.

## The Trilobyte Solution

Trilobyte creates a transparent marketplace where:

* **Businesses** can borrow against their future cash flows without the friction of traditional finance
* **Investors** can earn yield by funding these loans in one of two risk tranches, with full on-chain visibility into repayments and losses
* **Pool Managers** act as professional underwriters who evaluate businesses, structure loan terms, and put their own capital at first risk

Every loan is represented by a **Vault** — a dedicated smart contract that manages the entire lending lifecycle: fundraising, disbursement, repayment tracking, yield distribution, and settlement.

## Senior and junior, in one vault

Rather than every investor sharing risk pro rata, each vault splits its funding into two tranches (see [Tranches and the Waterfall](/overview/tranches-and-the-waterfall.md)):

* **Junior** — first-loss capital, anchored by the pool manager's own collateral. Earns the highest yield.
* **Senior** — paid first out of every repayment and protected by the junior cushion beneath it. Earns a lower, steadier yield.

This is the same structure used in traditional structured credit (and in DeFi lenders like Goldfinch and Maple): the party closest to the borrower puts capital at risk first, so external capital can participate at a lower risk profile.

## Why Stellar?

Trilobyte is built on [Soroban](https://soroban.stellar.org/), Stellar's smart contract platform, for several reasons:

* **Low transaction costs** — Stellar's fee model makes micro-payments and frequent repayments practical
* **Fast finality** — Transactions settle in seconds, not minutes
* **SEP-41 token standard** — Native fungible token support for debt tokens
* **Growing DeFi ecosystem** — Soroban provides a modern Rust-based smart contract environment with a growing developer community
* **Global reach** — Stellar is designed for cross-border payments and financial inclusion

## Built With

* [**Soroban SDK v26.1.0**](https://soroban.stellar.org/) — Smart contract framework
* [**OpenZeppelin Stellar Contracts v0.7.2**](https://docs.openzeppelin.com/stellar-contracts) — Battle-tested security modules (Access Control, Pausable, Upgradeable, FungibleToken, Timelock Controller)
* **Rust** — Systems-level safety and performance
* **TypeScript** — Deployment scripts and client SDK

*As of September 2026.*