<h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Intro</span></h2><p>Staking in the world of cryptocurrencies is a fairly popular way to earn passive income and ensure the safety of the network. Crypto investors who do not use their assets can earn interest by providing their assets for a certain period. However, the disadvantage of this method is that for the duration of staking, the funds are locked and cannot be used.</p><p>Liquid staking not only solved this problem but also provided several innovative solutions related to liquidity and security. The opportunities of Decentralized Finance led to the widespread adoption of liquid staking back in 2022, and as of 2023, its popularity is only growing. Today we will talk in more detail about what liquid staking is, how it works, how it differs from traditional staking, and pay attention to its disadvantages and risks.</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">What Is Staking?&nbsp;</span></h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/staking"><strong>Staking </strong></a>is a term used in the world of cryptocurrencies, which can be described as the process of locking crypto in a protocol to receive a reward, as well as secure a network or a smart contract. Thus, if a person has free crypto assets, then staking protocols can be an excellent source of passive income. Staking is a great solution to secure the network with penalties and rewards. If you are interested in staking, then you should know that now there are a huge number of different Web 3 protocols with different parameters, crypto assets, rewards, and staking periods, so investors can choose the right asset for themselves.</p><p>However, despite the benefits of staking, it is also important to note that your funds will be locked in the protocol for a certain period, which means you will not be able to sell or trade your assets. Moreover, many protocols, such as the famous Proof-of-stake, have penalties for withdrawing funds before the end of the staking period. This is where liquid staking protocols come to the rescue, which we will talk about next.</p><p>An analog of staking can also be found in the traditional financial sector. For example, banks lend their clients' money to other clients at interest, and make money from it, which is called fractional-reserve lending. After that, banks pay part of the money earned to the client as a reward, while they take most of the money for themselves. There is a similar system in the crypto world, however, unlike the traditional banking system, crypto transactions are safe and transparent. Moreover, since DeFi protocols do not require third parties, they provide high returns and competitive interest rates.&nbsp;</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">What Is Liquid Staking (LSD)?</span></h2><p>Liquid staking is an improved alternative to traditional staking and can be described as the process of locking funds to receive rewards with access to funds. So, while traditional PoS staking locks your assets, liquid staking keeps your funds in escrow. <i>"Users will deposit their funds in a DeFi application escrow account and receive a tokenized version of their funds."</i> - <a href="https://academy.moralis.io/blog/deep-dive-liquid-staking-and-its-benefits">Academy Moralis</a>. This type of staking continues to gain popularity as participants can stake directly on a Proof-of-stake network while still being able to transfer tokens. Liquid staking has a transferable token LST demonstrating ownership of the tokens and rewards.</p><p>An important role in liquid staking is occupied by providers, whose task is to accept user deposits. They then use these deposits for staking, after which they provide a receipt in the form of a new token. The advantage of this token is that it can not only be traded and used in DeFi protocols but also exchanged for the tokens they staked.</p><p>The emergence of liquid staking crypto is due to the existing problems that arise when staking ETH, namely unavailability and illiquidity. The new concept was aimed at making liquid assets instead of locked assets, which allows the user to withdraw their cryptocurrencies at any time without having to wait for the end of the locked period.</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">How Does Crypto Liquid Staking Work?</span></h2><p>While liquid staking is similar to other staking options, it does have a few differences, such as the methods used for execution. Liquid staking protocols aim to make it easier for staking enthusiasts to earn passive income.</p><p>The protocols give users the ability to stake any amount of an asset with no minimum requirements. Moreover, they give users the ability to withdraw at any time, which is not possible with traditional staking. Liquid staking works like this: users transfer deposits to providers and receive a tokenized version of their assets as a receipt. For example, if you want to deposit, say, 10 ETH to a liquid staking service, you will receive a tokenized asset of 10 stETH. However, why do you need "st" in liquid staking?</p><p>The advantage of liquid staking and asset tokenization is that users can transfer these tokens out of the protocol, as well as store them elsewhere or even spend them. While traditional staking blocks funds and requests a penalty for early withdrawal of staking assets, with liquid staking you have access to various operations with your activations that do not violate the initial deposit. Another unique feature of liquid staking is the ability to earn rewards on both the initial deposit and the tokens received.</p><p>If the user wants to withdraw his initial deposit, he must return the equivalent value of the deposit, after which he will be able to access his funds. It is also important to note that depending on the liquid staking protocol, fees may apply for using the platform.</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Benefits of Liquid Staking</span></h2><p>As you know, staking has taken passive income to the next level, and liquid staking is being considered an even more profitable alternative. In addition to its portability, the liquid staking model boasts other advantages:</p><ul><li><strong>Unlocked liquidity</strong></li></ul><p>As already mentioned, in the case of traditional staking, staked tokens on a network such as Ethereum are blocked and cannot be sold. This is not the best investment decision as the cryptocurrency is volatile and can fluctuate in value, which can also lead to losses. Moreover, users also cannot use them as collateral. With liquid staking, you not only keep access to the funds but also get a tokenized version of them. Thus, liquid staking tokens open new opportunities for investors.</p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>DeFi capabilities</strong></span></li></ul><p>Receipts for staked assets are in the form of tokens, which means you can use them in DeFi spaces. For example, you can use your liquid staking tokens in DeFi protocols, namely prediction markets, credit pools, and so on. Using the tokenized version for a crypto-backed loan can also be a good solution, as investors can deposit the funds received into higher-income accounts, which is a big plus for investors.</p><ul><li><strong>Rewards</strong></li></ul><p>With liquid staking, you get access to more rewards than with traditional staking. Not only will you be rewarded for verifying transactions, but you will also be able to profit from various DeFi protocols.</p><ul><li><strong>Requirements</strong></li></ul><p>As you know, staking has a rather complex infrastructure. For example, to become a single validator on the Ethereum network, a user must hold at least 32 ETH. Liquid staking and its providers, in turn, allow any user to share block rewards.</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Drawbacks and Risks of Liquid Staking</span></h2><p>Of course, liquid staking is not without risks, which you need to be aware of before using this option. The main ones include:</p><ul><li><strong>Volatility</strong></li></ul><p>You must remember that the price of liquid staking tokens is not tied to the underlying asset they are claiming. The risk is that although assets may have the same price most of the time, liquid staking tokens may lose value during a liquidity crunch or during unexpected market events.</p><ul><li><strong>Slashing</strong></li></ul><p>As already mentioned, in liquid staking, providers accept user deposits, which means you give away your assets. It can also be associated with risks if a particular provider is unreliable or is an attacker. Without a doubt, the introduction of a third party is associated with additional risks, including those associated with smart contracts and the legitimacy of the protocol.</p><ul><li><strong>Other points</strong></li></ul><p>Among other things, the user's funds may be at risk if the node operator's private keys are compromised. Also, imperfections in Smart Contracts staking can lead to reduced security and exploits.</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Popular Liquid Staking Protocols</span></h2><p>Before moving on to the most popular liquid staking protocols, it is worth knowing what LSPs and LSTs are. LSP refers to liquid staking protocols, that is, service providers that are used to deposit funds. LST, in turn, is liquid staking tokens. Below we will introduce you to the most famous and reliable liquid staking protocols:</p><p><strong>• </strong><a href="https://lido.fi/"><strong>Lido</strong></a></p><p>Lido is currently considered the best platform for liquid staking, and its total staked tokens as of May 23, 2023, is almost $12.2 billion. This platform was launched in 2020 and allows users to stake their tokens and receive rewards without having to block them. Lido originally provided liquid <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/">Ethereum</a> staking, but has now expanded to offer you a choice of the following supported staking networks - <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/">Ethereum</a>, <a href="https://polygon.technology/">Polygon</a>, <a href="https://solana.com/ru">Solana</a>, <a href="https://polkadot.network/">Polkadot,</a> and <a href="https://kusama.network/">Kusama</a>. <i>"Staking rewards on Lido range from 4.8% to 15.5%. For its liquid staking services, Lido charges a 10% fee."</i> - <a href="https://www.okx.com/learn/what-is-liquid-staking">OKX</a>.</p><p><strong>• </strong><a href="https://rocketpool.net/"><strong>Rocket Pool</strong></a></p><p>Another popular liquid staking protocol on <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/">Ethereum</a> with a total locked value of over $1.4 billion is Rocket Pool. It was launched back in 2020 and allows users to stake <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/">ETH</a> tokens. Even though Rocket Pool only serves Ether, it offers users two use cases. They can "either stake ETH and get a tokenized version of their asset pegged as rETH or directly run a node on the Rocket Pool ecosystem." - <a href="https://www.okx.com/learn/what-is-liquid-staking">OKX</a>. Rewards for them are paid separately - 5.17% and 6.95% + variable RPL reward, respectively.</p><p>Other notable liquid staking protocols that you can use include <a href="https://tempus.finance/">Tempus Finance</a>, <a href="https://www.hubbleprotocol.io/">Hubbled Protocol</a>, and <a href="https://www.metapool.app/">Meta Pool</a>.<br>&nbsp;</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Final Word</span></h2><p>Liquid staking is clearly a more profitable alternative than traditional staking, which not only allows you to access your assets at any time, but also earn additionally on the received tokens using other platforms. However, before using liquid staking, do your own research and understand the risks, as despite the many benefits, it is important to use this strategy wisely.</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Liquid staking is the process of locking funds to receive rewards with access to funds. Let's find out how it works, how it differs from traditional staking, and pay attention to its disadvantages and risks.

What Is Liquid Staking and How Does It Work? I Notum

Venus Protocol is one of the most well-known lending platforms in the Web3 space. Leveraging the BNB chain's strongest traits, being attentive to the market's needs and demands, and building a strong and loyal community, made the project popular among DeFi devotees. In this article, we'll analyze how Venus became such a flourishing platform.

Venus Protocol: Decoded by Notum

<p>Hi everyone!</p><p>This month we had a lot on our plate, so get ready to meet new features that you’ve been waiting for. This all was done to smooth your investment experience and make it easier for you to use your assets smarter.</p><p>So to speak, we’ve:</p><ul><li><p>Separated your investments and assets, to provide a more clear and neat displaying of your funds;</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:3072/1380;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20231116-at-11.51.51.png" width="3072" height="1380"></figure></li><li><p>Updated the ‘<a href="https://app.notum.ai/?mtm_campaign=chcqiorw&amp;mtm_cid=hfkoglob&amp;mtm_source=landing&amp;mtm_medium=button"><strong>Overview</strong></a>’ block, to provide a more comprehensive overview of your investments;</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:3072/1582;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20231116-at-11.52.13.png" width="3072" height="1582"></figure></li><li>Significantly improved the ‘<a href="https://app.notum.ai/?mtm_campaign=chcqiorw&amp;mtm_cid=hfkoglob&amp;mtm_source=landing&amp;mtm_medium=button"><strong>Overview</strong></a>’ page performance.&nbsp;</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Future Updates</span></h3><p>In the upcoming month, we are planning to:</p><ul><li>add <strong>20+ protocols</strong> on the 'Investment' page and <strong>300+ leading investment strategies</strong>.&nbsp;</li><li>improve the view of <strong>the ‘</strong><a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments"><strong>Investments</strong></a><strong>’ page </strong>to level up the overall experience on the page.</li><li>launch our <strong>ROI feature for 10+</strong> protocols that will allow you to see all your investments' essentials.</li></ul><p>Cordially,</p><p>Notum Team</p>

Here we'll tell you about Notum's last updates and improvements.

Product Update | What’s New, Notum?

<p>In the never-sleeping DeFi space, Notum is going with the flow and continually levels up your user experience to help you become a successful investor. Meet new features and protocols we’ve added this time.</p><h2>More Protocols</h2><p>Now Notum supports even more protocols:</p><ul><li><a href="https://traderjoexyz.com/">Trader Joe</a>;</li><li><a href="https://compound.finance/">Compound</a>;</li><li><a href="https://app.frax.finance/staking/overview">Frax Staking</a>;</li><li><a href="https://www.staderlabs.com/">Stader</a> and others.</li></ul><h2>Improved Swap UX</h2><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2446/1186;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20231221-at-22.03.00.png" width="2446" height="1186"></figure><p>We’ve enhanced&nbsp;<strong>Swap</strong> and <strong>Investment</strong> processes to be more user&nbsp;friendly. Instantly choose the assets that you hold in your wallet and&nbsp;exchange or invest them within 1 click.</p><h2>Better Filters</h2><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1936/934;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20231221-at-22.05.53.png" width="1936" height="934"></figure><p>Now it is much easier for you to choose the investments you could be potentially interested in by using filters by chain, asset, and protocol. Although, you can use filters to see only those options you can invest.</p><h2>Smoother Investing Process</h2><p>The overall processing mechanisms were improved, making the investment procedure more sturdy and efficient, with less failure.</p><h2>Web3 Domain Support Available</h2><p>We’ve implemented SpaceID domains. It will help you effortlessly look for any wallet using their personal domains.</p>

What has the team been doing all this time? Let's open that up together!

What’s New, Notum?

<h2>Intro</h2><p><a href="https://benqi.fi/"><strong>Benqi</strong></a> is a suite of decentralized finance protocols consisting of a liquidity market, liquid staking and Ignite, a validator bootstrapping protocol, all built on the high-speed Avalanche network.</p><p>The protocols provide crypto users with lending, borrowing, or earning interest with their crypto assets, staking their AVAX tokens and using them within DeFi applications as well as equipping builders with affordable access to AVAX to bootstrap Avalanche validators.</p><p>In this article, we will find out what Benqi is, how it works, what are the latest updates and partnerships of the project, what are the tokenomics of QI, its native token, and learn more about Benqi’s plans for 2024.</p><h2>Benqi Lending: The Essentials</h2><ul><li>TVL: <strong>$731M</strong> (Rank <strong>#32</strong>)</li><li>TVL Ranking by Lending: <strong>#8</strong></li><li>Blockchain: <strong>Avalanche</strong></li><li>Token: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/benqi/"><strong>QI</strong></a></li><li>Auditors:&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/HalbornSecurity/PublicReports/blob/master/Solidity%20Smart%20Contract%20Audits/Benqi_Smart_Contract_Security_Audit_Halborn_v1_1.pdf"><strong>Halborn</strong></a><strong>,&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/risks#audits"><strong>Audits</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/"><strong>Documentation</strong></a></li></ul><p>BENQI is a hub of decentralized finance protocols running on<a href="https://www.avax.network/">&nbsp;Avalanche</a>. It includes the<a href="https://app.benqi.fi/">&nbsp;BENQI Markets</a>,<a href="https://staking.benqi.fi">&nbsp;BENQI Liquid Staking</a> and<a href="https://ignite.benqi.fi">&nbsp;Ignite</a>.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/1-Y6DBTyEiKXnuXIEpn5WbHW-rZY6k-DJ73Wmrc_hcFQ4LY0q9QOQ4gmEPX22AT_tdNi6h1ukM4GDEX4kJ1OImhejK_PgY89fUuuKMTaacFhW-MwyES8_KePMKpRxEQPJTYX8fyPyYtumEb6n8tWFGuXFWUmu92td6ME5FCmy-va9X6NZGlbMakEVDGiKA" width="602" height="268"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://benqi.fi/">Benqi Website</a></h6><h2>BENQI Markets&nbsp;</h2><p>It empowers users to lend, borrow, and earn interest with their crypto assets instantly. Users provide liquidity to the protocol to gain yield, and borrowers can borrow in an over-collateralized manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>It is non-custodial, and allows DeFi users to:</p><ul><li>Deposit and withdraw liquidity from a shared liquidity market;</li><li>Borrow from a liquidity market using their supplied assets as collateral;</li><li>Get a transparent view of interest rates 24/7 based on the asset's market supply and demand.</li></ul><h2>BENQI Liquid Staking</h2><p>This is an Avalanche liquid staking opportunity to tokenize staked AVAX. Tokenized AVAX gives users the&nbsp;ability to use, swap or collateralize the yield-bearing asset across multiple DeFi applications.&nbsp;</p><p>It is a profitable staking solution that allows Avalanche users to:</p><ul><li>Transfer their locked up AVAX staked in validators in securing the Avalanche network;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>Gain some extra utility on their asset by using it in DeFi market by trading or utilizing it as collateral;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>Stake their AVAX on the Avalanche Contract Chain (C-Chain) without cross-chain transfers or server hosting.</li></ul><p><a href="https://staking.benqi.fi">BENQI Liquid Staking (BLS)&nbsp;</a>runs on Avalanche network and tokenizes staked AVAX allowing users to use it in various dApps: automated market makers (AMMs), lending and borrowing protocols, yield aggregators, etc.&nbsp;</p><p>BLS enables users with a seamless solution to stake AVAX on the&nbsp;Avalanche C-Chain* skipping rather tiring cross-chain transfers to get started. All that a user needs is an EVM-compatible wallet and some AVAX to get started.</p><h2>Why Liquid Staking?</h2><p>Avalanche is a<a href="https://docs.avax.network/learn/platform-overview/staking"> Proof-of-Stake (POS) network</a> that provides an opportunity to earn rewards for users staking the AVAX token on validator nodes to secure the network. This runs on the Avalanche Platform Chain (P-Chain) which locks up the&nbsp;AVAX token for a particular period, so you can’t use your assets in DeFi.&nbsp;</p><p>Liquid Staking makes it possible to use your capital with more efficiency within the Avalanche network. When you tokenize the staked AVAX into&nbsp;sAVAX (BENQI Staked AVAX), you can use those assets in DeFi protocols while earning passive returns for securing the Avalanche network. The&nbsp;sAVAX&nbsp;asset can be used in various strategies to build up your wealth.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/AIlW-rOy_FlKZSGaF8CNWlrgNMjkWnEtnbNSr5ySre7bM2ymlnQcvwNgD1IEFzWWAUupSn0SQYDT4m7D2H_6twKxVaAZKfngzCfM3KmxeqmYLVgne6EKXD389AQFyJkTgs35XAWQoQWY9c7fTVcJ44Lvp9RSumOPjzVN_3fQiUc9i9FS1Mg4O_7-wzYcZg" width="602" height="339"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/benqi-liquid-staking/overview">BENQI Docs</a></h6><h2>Profits of Staking AVAX on BLS</h2><p>There is a suite of benefits when staking AVAX on Benqi:</p><ul><li>No long lock-up periods;</li><li>No fees when depositing and withdrawing from <strong>BLS</strong>;</li><li>Only you control your <strong>sAVAX</strong> asset and accounts;</li><li>Smooth staking <strong>AVAX</strong> process and instant earning without executing cross-chain transfers to the <strong>Avalanche P-Chain*</strong>;</li><li>Get extra utility for your asset to use it in various scenarios in DeFi space.</li></ul><h2>Ignite&nbsp;</h2><p>This protocol bootstraps&nbsp;Avalanche validators and&nbsp;Subnets — designed for everyone, ranging from institutions to individual developers and Web3 natives.</p><p>Ignite provides a much cheaper way for launching Avalanche validators. It removes the economic barriers that might limit developers and builders from launching their innovative platforms in Web3 space.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/rw9cwlUZRMtnYyQzJTg9gU3QmEEK2hzveGjlFynmLTQylee5ijqpM-UP2AiNYWPrV_2QC7Xd-vVayiwrHF9OEHnPmmRGIL7i8TExyzz1U4ovix79JTtbSA405L4RM3vLxLeoe4QHH-M2uqk5jAfxvaUN3co6HVIhgkw8QjTMEdOfPLUG-0w1MpNZleoFgQ" width="602" height="423"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/ignite/introduction">Benqi Docs</a></h6><p>It is permissionless to use and allows builders and users to:</p><ul><li>Launch Avalanche validators with minimal capital required;</li><li>Launch blockchains through Subnets to initiate new ideas in DeFi.</li></ul><p>There are two validation options –&nbsp;<strong>Pay As You Go (PAYG) </strong>and&nbsp;<strong>Stake</strong>.</p><h3>Pay As You Go (PAYG)</h3><ul><li>Minimum stake: <strong>0 AVAX</strong>&nbsp;</li><li>Minimum fee: <strong>4 AVAX/week</strong></li></ul><p>The PAYG is a rental model that drastically cuts off the required capital to launch an Avalanche validator.The whole process could be break into the following steps:</p><ul><li>pay in <strong>USDC, AVAX or QI</strong> (if&nbsp; you pay in QI, there is a 5% discount.);</li><li>input your <strong>NodeID</strong>;</li><li>set your staking duration;</li><li>Ignite provides all the <strong>AVAX</strong> that you need to launch a validator.</li></ul><p>The fee schedule per validator is as follows:</p><figure class="table"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:50%;"><col style="width:50%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td><p style="text-align:center;">Staking Duration (weeks)</p></td><td><p style="text-align:center;">Fee (AVAX)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align:center;">2</p></td><td><p style="text-align:center;">8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align:center;">4</p></td><td><p style="text-align:center;">15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align:center;">8</p></td><td><p style="text-align:center;">28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align:center;">12</p></td><td><p style="text-align:center;">40</p></td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h3>Stake</h3><ul><li>Stake formula: <strong>500 AVAX to 1800 AVAX + 10% borrowed AVAX in QI&nbsp;</strong></li><li>Minimum stake: <strong>500 AVAX + 150 AVAX worth of QI Fee: $0</strong></li></ul><p>The&nbsp;Stake validation demands for a mix of&nbsp;AVAX and&nbsp;QI&nbsp;collateral to start. Pay attention, that you don’t have any fees to use it.</p><p>The minimum amount to start staking is 500 AVAX +&nbsp;150 AVAX&nbsp;worth of QI. You get staking rewards proportionally to your AVAX stake.</p><p>At the end of the staking period, users can claim their&nbsp;AVAX + QI stake and network rewards + delegation fees.&nbsp;</p><p class="note"><span style="font-size:18px;">Check out&nbsp;</span><a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/ignite/introduction"><span style="font-size:18px;">Ignite app</span></a><span style="font-size:18px;"> to deploy your Avalanche validator in a few steps.</span></p><h2>Qi coin: Use Cases &amp; Tokenomics</h2><p>BENQI ecosystem is fueled by the&nbsp;<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/benqi/">Qi Coin</a>, its native cryptocurrency.</p><p>Qi Coin has a crucial role in multiple aspects of the platform:</p><ol><li>Transaction Fees: Qi Coin is used as a payment method for all transactions within the BENQI Ignite ecosystem.&nbsp;</li><li>Staking/Locking Initiatives: Locking Qi Coin on third party protocols allows users to earn rewards passively.&nbsp; It works as a passive income source for holders, and strengthens the network’s flexibility.</li><li>Delegations Governance: Qi Coin holders have decision-making power within the BENQI ecosystem. They can stake QI, called veQi, to vote to receive additional AVAX rewards if they run an Avalanche validator.</li></ol><h2>QI Tokenomics</h2><p>The total&nbsp; QI supply is <strong>7,200,000,000 tokens</strong>. The token distribution model ensures that market participants who actively use the Benqi&nbsp; platform receive <strong>QI tokens</strong>.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/fFbBh20Mge80lISTtrZjUoIMjva3rCvq7YMNwjdpOMDrUiGOOuc9IPJWiiTdBB1NEjc6MAxif5F3-X_o0HIHPN3DX4R_iH2ArPcCXZaVHCmucdKt-JcOk56IaWMCKvqHm7bzmJ8CBXCdJzVDTEYtIllfOTHoNvTrpIAHM8-fgOKaK9IsYU7dl_u4OUpA0g" width="602" height="280"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/benqinomics/benqinomics">Benqi Docs</a></h6><h2>How Benqi Lending Works</h2><p>To start using the protocol, an investor provides their asset that is supported by the protocol. Users earn interest depending on the asset's market borrowing demand.&nbsp;</p><p>Plus, the deposited assets may be used as collateral that allows the user to borrow other assets. Interest earned by depositing assets redeems the accumulated interest rates from borrowing.</p><p>There will be more token pools added as the platform evolves. After the protocol's governance transition into a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), additional pools will be accepted according to community votes and proposals using the QI governance token.</p><p>Issuers will be given tokenized yield-bearing tokens (qiTokens) which will be necessary to withdraw supplied assets from the BENQI Liquidity Market when required.</p><p class="note"><span style="font-size:18px;">qiTokens can be transferred and traded as any other crypto-asset on Avalanche.</span></p><h2>Depositing assets</h2><figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9E8ujkSi6g"><div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i9E8ujkSi6g" style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0; left: 0;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></figure><ol><li>Go to the&nbsp;'<strong>Markets</strong>' tab and click on&nbsp;'<strong>Supply'</strong>;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>Choose the asset type from the variety displayed in the&nbsp;'<strong>Supply'&nbsp;</strong>dashboard;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>Type the necessary amount to deposit and click&nbsp;'<strong>Deposit'</strong>;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>When the transaction is confirmed, the deposit is recorded and it starts earning interest upon the deposited assets;<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>qiTokens </strong>will be deposited into your wallet to reflect the asset you've issued into the protocol.</li></ol><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/benqi-lending?borrowed=true&amp;medianApy=true&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p>Users can deposit any amount of assets, as there are no restrictions on the amount. The first asset deposit requires an approval transaction.</p><h2>Earning</h2><p>Depositors will receive continuous earnings (interest) on their assets that algorithmically adjusts based on market conditions. Each asset has its own market of supply and demand with its corresponding APY (Annual Percentage Yield) which changes over time.</p><p>The qiToken is a representation of the user's asset balance supplied to the BENQI protocol. It is received in the wallet for supplying assets to the protocol and functions to accrue value relative to the original asset through the token's interest rate.</p><p>qiTokens minted will be based on the underlying asset supplied to the protocol (e.g: qiAVAX, qiLINK, qiWBTC, etc). They are convertible into an increasing amount of its original asset, even while the number of qiTokens in the wallet remains the same.</p><h2>Benqi: Risks</h2><h2>Smart Contracts Risks</h2><p>The protocol is engaged with various smart contracts, all of which imposes some risks. This includes known and unknown risks that could result in the failure or vulnerability of the smart contracts ending up with assets being locked or lost forever.</p><h2>Liquidation Risks</h2><p>Assets that are supplied or borrowed on the protocol could fluctuate in value due to the systemic risks of the issuing platforms or market volatility, including the loss of peg of certain pegged assets. This could result in the liquidation or closing of a user's position.</p><h2>Risk Assessment&nbsp;</h2><p>BENQI collaborates with<a href="https://community.chaoslabs.xyz/benqi">&nbsp;<strong>Chaos Labs</strong></a> on the risk assessment and management of assets for the BENQI Liquidity Market (BLM) to boost their users’ capital efficiency in a smart and safe manner. The BENQI Chaos Labs Dashboard shows risk monitoring done on BENQI Liquidity Market.</p><h2>Audits</h2><p>BENQI is continuously going through security audits for the protocol. Unfortunately, security audits can’t remove all possible risks. You can always check up the audits BENQI has currently had by visiting official&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.benqi.fi/resources/risks"><strong>docs</strong></a><strong>.</strong>&nbsp;</p><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Benqi gives users a seamless experience in issuing and borrowing crypto assets having a rather transparent borrowing limit dashboard and&nbsp; a health factor indicator with warning on borrowed positions that are close to liquidation.</p><p>Benqi is definitely one the best money market platforms to gain interest on your crypto assets on the Avalanche network with higher interest rates from ongoing token emissions.</p><p><i>*<strong>Avalanche C-Chain</strong>: The Avalanche Contract Chain is the default blockchain on Avalanche that enables the creation of all Ethereum-compatible smart contracts.&nbsp;</i></p><p><i>*<strong>Avalanche P-Chain</strong>: The Avalanche Platform Chain is the metadata blockchain on Avalanche that coordinates validators, keeping track of active subnets and in charge of creation of new subnets.&nbsp;</i></p><h2><strong>Follow Us on Socials</strong></h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

This time we're looking into another worth-checking DeFi project that runs on Avalanche and leverages this lightning-fast and cost-effective network. 

 Benqi: Decoded by Notum

<h3><span style="font-size:24px;">StakeWise: Quick Note</span></h3><p>StakeWise is a decentralized protocol for staking on the Ethereum 2.0 network, designed to simplify and streamline the process of participating in staking. The protocol offers two key products for different user needs:&nbsp;StakeWise Solo and&nbsp;StakeWise Pool.</p><p>In <strong>Solo mode</strong>, each user can run their own validator, providing full control over their assets. In <strong>Pool mode</strong>, user assets are combined into a common pool, and staking income is distributed in proportion to the contribution of each participant.&nbsp;</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Why Do You Need StakeWise?</span></h3><p>StakeWise addresses a number of key issues that users face when staking on Ethereum 2.0:</p><ul><li><strong>High entry threshold</strong>: To run a validator in Ethereum 2.0, you need to block 32 ETH in the network smart contract. StakeWise Pool allows users to participate in staking with much less initial capital.<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Simplification</strong>: The staking process can be complex and, thus, requires technical skills. StakeWise simplifies this process, making it accessible to a wide range of investors.<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Liquidity of Frozen Assets</strong>: In Ethereum 2.0, staking tokens are typically “frozen” for a certain period. StakeWise offers mechanisms to provide liquidity, such as the osETH token in the StakeWise V3 product.<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Full control for advanced users</strong>:&nbsp;StakeWise Solo provides the ability for seasoned users to run their own validator, providing full control and transparency of the process.</li></ul><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">How LSD Works in StakeWise</span></h3><p>Liquid staking allows users to participate in staking without losing access to their assets. Unlike traditional staking, where tokens are typically “frozen” for a certain period. Liquid staking provides tokens that can be exchanged or used in other DeFi protocols.</p><p>StakeWise implements this concept through the issuance of special tokens such as sETH2 and rETH2, which represent staked ETH and its staking rewards. These tokens provide liquidity and can be used in other DeFi protocols or traded on secondary markets.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Protocol Tokens: Utility and Characteristics</span></h3><ul><li><strong>SWISE:</strong> This is a protocol utility token that is used to govern and vote on proposals to improve the protocol. The token may also provide additional benefits, such as reduced fees or increased staking returns;</li><li><strong>stETH2:</strong> This is a token that represents staked ETH in the protocol. It can be freely traded or used in other DeFi protocols;</li><li><strong>rETH2:</strong> This is a token that represents staking rewards and is automatically redistributed to stETH holders.</li></ul><p>Together these tokens create a unique ecosystem that provides liquidity, convenience, and value to Ethereum 2.0 staking participants through StakeWise.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">StakeWise V3 Unique Features</span></h3><h4 style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Ethereum 2.0: Centralization Issue</span></h4><p>In the current Ethereum 2.0 ecosystem, the majority of staking is concentrated in the hands of a few large staking service providers. This creates centralization risks and vulnerabilities for the entire network. StakeWise V3 solves this problem by providing a decentralized and open protocol that allows any participant to create their own staking vault or choose from many existing ones.</p><h4 style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;">StakeWise V3</span></h4><p>StakeWise V3 is a decentralized staking protocol for Ethereum 2.0 that aims to make the staking process more flexible and accessible. The protocol offers two main staking methods:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>through the purchase of osETH on the open market;</li><li>through deposits in vaults.</li></ul><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/vd8CeGS-u9twqLL7SQJJwD1v2BVsiBJhesBwZOm-aMxyJ36iefUMcpK6_tvbz9dr5FCZOP8i2fbWu_YxlHL3IqrK_M0gk_nd9xuTttGitVDVIU8cEgapSyEISqZlDNg2UYRyVTfLcPZa8AVS-C6659o" width="602" height="456"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://stakewise.medium.com/stakewise-v3-announcement-9e4fe73abdf2"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>StakeWise Medium</i></span></a></p><h4 style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;">osETH: LSD Reimagined</span></h4><p>osETH is a token that represents liquid ETH staked in StakeWise V3 validators. Holding osETH automatically earns ETH rewards as its value increases in proportion to the rewards received by validators. This makes osETH a convenient tool for participating in staking and integrating with the DeFi ecosystem. The process is simple:</p><ul><li>Buy or deposit osETH to your wallet;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>By holding osETH, you will automatically receive ETH rewards;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>You can convert osETH back to ETH at any time, cashing out your initial deposit and earn rewards;<br>&nbsp;</li><li>Over time, the value of osETH increases in proportion to the rewards received by validators.</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/ax9SDFWZVtpDAiqsadt0biDHspHuY9BJDFtIudAjpoqw1wTFWBnouvxh0YvmdNwdRnkL1Oq-pJDSz68o6wwaSc8ldAyiy8LtBw6IAf2LbmgYGu3aFXmGO0thbhUa22-C5GnP6w2xbVW99trJF30STLQ" width="602" height="353"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="What is osETH? A Deep Dive Into the Overcollateralized Staked Ether Token of StakeWise V3: Part 1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>StakeWise Medium</i></span></a></p><p>This mechanism not only makes staking simpler and more convenient but also helps to integrate with the DeFi ecosystem.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Vaults: Decentralization and Flexibility</span></h3><p>StakeWise V3 vaults are staking mini-pools managed by different operators. These vaults allow users to deposit their assets for staking, and operators can run validators on their behalf. This provides an additional level of decentralization, as each participant can choose a vault according to their requirements and risk profile.</p><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/cEQfdyAF3kLLkKr2MT-wfxdGdvJfcgGqnQDkf3k__n9QPfqCQu_T1NagPHQUhoa2S27uILDpDR17OZHeLgSDrOflvfSBcvhwiuEk4l53YjWSbc2zf89FKXSKjhNnw2lBy1gkYWjkGrNPEwuRXTyqse8" width="602" height="207"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://stakewise.medium.com/stakewise-v3-announcement-9e4fe73abdf2"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>StakeWise Medium</i></span></a><br>&nbsp;</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">How to Get osETH</span></h3><ol><li><strong>Buy on the Market:</strong> This method offers entire slashing protection and diversification.<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Mint Through Vaults: </strong>This method allows you to select a specific vault to stake your ETH in, which can result in controlled risk and potentially higher staking returns.</li></ol><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/6NxS0bYewHSzNZZtBvR0MS-J-BK1Pd4Jd9SwfVH2h2raZcl-yyk7sJIwB9vvCcb95RsdZM3Cmv-E7SeeoJ2GmVSl8LbxeE7w5wzWYFuffUDQB1zRfaVcQjuc4UtmMT5_nGRIOtvnfJznzt231pv6haw" width="602" height="528"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://stakewise.medium.com/what-is-oseth-a-deep-dive-into-the-overcollateralized-staked-ether-token-of-stakewise-v3-part-1-37d14e28282a"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>StakeWise Medium</i></span></a></p><p>StakeWise V3 aims to make liquid staking accessible to every Ethereum user, regardless of their staking method. The vault system and the new osETH token together create a powerful and flexible protocol for staking on Ethereum 2.0.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">LSD Market Overview</span></h3><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">Current State</span></h4><p>In the current financial climate, the LSD market is not only holding the attention of investors but is also actively expanding its share of the ETH staking market by up to 40%. This phenomenon is especially noticeable against the backdrop of the decreasing popularity of staking through centralized exchanges (CEXs). This indicates a shift in investor interest towards decentralized financial (DeFi) instruments.</p><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/kw6v6mrRM-k5fLOn_t-G4OntxVurrFFt3HJv8YqXGxf2EdWEkTnlKUKvcECgvljIFA6smr4_U1X0P-UwYfOPuo5QyMDduLcwVBoZbxy3d4XWac-2R7eX50t3lws18UhmnkttESUwceW6ktRNjfy9ea0" width="293" height="103"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/TDgT1NsrANafganvpnI4MUxoAMpV4_FrmjsQpaILhbJvCz7hGcZWn2tDoQdS-7V6B499oBEaR11mwrB3_g8Zi3JmM2lf0NUAoFdcCvn3alLPOVjBr__SuylP1jV1a7RBsdENTp5sm6PNGXE0kiIQ8XE" width="287" height="102"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://dune.com/maverick_cap/lsd-tracking"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Dune</i></span></a></p><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/iQcaH1Nt3V0SdVpnY_dBq5Ywie5vJby5uqlFBbRk_djXvos9_QJHkqEG2xVIJMAm5yxpLUzD-GA4sz20g7cIUmcXUpZlCzE0fkpLUnAaYEkQOh0DqMkqQrigKwjKqhU-sth0ADbM48I23QkX24lfr0Q" width="602" height="299"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://dune.com/cryptokoryo/ethstaking"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Dune</i></span></a></p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">LSD Protocols Analysis</span></h3><p>LSD protocols simplify the process of ETH staking to generate income, bypassing technical and operational requirements. When you stake ETH on such protocols, you receive a liquid staking token (LSD), which represents your staked ETH and the rewards associated with it. These tokens can be exchanged for base ETH when withdrawing. LSD tokens can be used in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications (dApps). As an example, users can provide liquidity on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) or lending protocols.</p><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Mq-wuLoAFOvzaF2_uk2tnQAJRrJtETlKp0em2in43YxIrUh1bQS-vzpuH1dmrRlEYiTX3zm1W9BGc-PX9n9FeeNuBgpB7YAVqDRiJOtBNgBSnOdTXpEb7U-VHLibah_d9aEMZs20GwtOL3wj_AzatkI" width="602" height="339"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: </i></span><a href="https://delphidigital.io/"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Delphi Digital</i></span></a></p><p>At first glance, LSD protocols may seem similar, but they have differences that make them unique.&nbsp;</p><p>Each protocol has its own derivative token that awards or handles rewards in different ways. They also have different commission and fee structures that affect user rewards.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Types of Tokens</span></h3><ol><li><strong>Rebasing Token:</strong> Tokens with a changing total supply. An example is stETH from Lido. Changes in supply are distributed proportionally among token holders;<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Reward-Bearing Token</strong>: Tokens that increase their base value over time. Examples - Coinbase, Rocket Pool, Frax (sfrxETH);<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Base Token + Reward Token:</strong> The StakeWise model, which splits the user's earnings and rewards into two tokens (sETH2 and rETH2);<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Base Token + Reward-Bearing Token</strong>: The Frax model allows users to choose between frxETH and sfrxETH for different aims.</li></ol><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">StakeWise Token Models Pros</span></h3><ol><li>I<strong>mpermanent Loss Mitigation:</strong> StakeWise's two-token model helps reduce the risk of impermanent losses when providing liquidity to decentralized exchanges (DEXs);<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Flexibility in Yield Management:</strong>&nbsp;The division into base and reward tokens allows users to manage their earnings and rewards more flexibly;<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Segmented Liquidity:</strong> While this can lead to potentially higher slippage, it can also be an advantage for certain trading and arbitrage strategies;<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Transparency and Predictability</strong>:&nbsp;Two different tokens make the staking and rewards process more transparent and predictable for the user.</li></ol><p>This model makes StakeWise an interesting choice for those who want to maximize their options and flexibility in the ETH staking ecosystem.</p><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">Fees</span></h4><p>In terms of fees, StakeWise has some of the lowest fees at just 10%. This is a significant benefit compared to Rocket Pool, which charges a 15% fee, and especially compared to Coinbase, which charges a whopping 25%. StakeWise's low fees allow users to keep more of their earnings.</p><p>In terms of fees, StakeWise has one of the lowest fees at just 10%. This is a substantial difference compared to Rocket Pool, which charges a 15% fee, and especially compared to Coinbase, which charges a whopping 25%. StakeWise's low fees allow users to keep more of their earnings.</p><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">Nods</span></h4><p>Rocket Pool offers the most diverse pool of operators with 1,906 individual participants, but requires a minimum of 16 ETH from each operator and an additional 16 ETH from depositors for staking. On the other hand, Lido, with 27 node operators, controls a significant portion of the ETH staked, raising concerns about centralization on the Ethereum network.</p><p>With the launch of StakeWise v3, the platform will allow node operators to join without prior permission. This will not only reduce the risks associated with centralization, but will also make StakeWise an ideal solution for those who value decentralized, secure, and profitable ways to stake ETH.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">StakeWise Tokenomics</span></h3><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">Main Tokens and Their Functions</span></h4><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>sETH2</strong></span></p><ul><li><strong>Protocol Role:</strong>&nbsp;sETH2 is the base token in the StakeWise ecosystem and represents staked ETH on the Ethereum 2.0 network;<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Functionality:</strong>&nbsp;This token can be used to participate in various DeFi protocols as well as provide liquidity in pools;<br>&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Exchange to ETH:</strong>&nbsp;sETH2 can be exchanged back to ETH at a fixed rate.</li></ul><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>rETH2</strong></span></p><ul><li><strong>Role in the protocol:</strong> rETH2 is a token that represents the accumulated rewards from staking ETH through StakeWise.</li><li><strong>Functionality</strong>: This token automatically accumulates staking rewards, making it a convenient tool for long-term investors.</li><li><strong>Exchange for ETH</strong>: Like sETH2, rETH2 can be exchanged for ETH.</li></ul><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>SWISE</strong></span></p><ul><li><strong>Protocol Role</strong>: SWISE is the voting token of the StakeWise protocol;</li><li><strong>Functionality</strong>: Holders of this token can participate in the governance of the protocol, including making decisions about fees, rewards, and other key aspects;</li><li><strong>Liquidity and Exchange</strong>: SWISE can be traded on various decentralized exchanges (Uniswap V3, 1inch Liquidity Protocol).</li></ul><p>The planned version of StakeWise v3 provides for the addition of a new token osETH (Operator Staked ETH). This move aims to further decentralize the management of nodes in the protocol. The introduction of osETH will allow node operators to stake their funds along with users, which will strengthen the trust and security of the entire system, while attracting more users.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Market Metrics</span></h3><ul><li><strong>Market Cap</strong>: $18,318,498</li><li><strong>Trading volume for 24 hours</strong>: $2,220</li><li><strong>Fully diluted capitalization</strong>: $65,207,420</li><li><strong>Total assets involved (TVL)</strong>: $161,779,770</li><li><strong>FDMC/TVL</strong>: 0.4</li></ul><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/h_Zlg6R-iT8_eNRlgmuaB-Cf-hhw9Hq5DVk06Fr6ldHAstA4FV9rA-apJFpY6-nZVmq2ahX2XOCdRcI6821Zl83qCvMBOskX1_DlIh-eqZjHg9spIlxvtLoctyrabK-9h1GhXbmBK94C9y4x4QDYTs0" width="602" height="189"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: DefiLlama</i></span></p><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">Emission</span></h4><ul><li><strong>Circulating Supply:</strong> 280 926 595 tokens</li><li><strong>Total Supply:</strong> 1 000 000 000 tokens</li></ul><p>Market metrics such as market capitalization and TVL support the stability and growth potential of the protocol. Considering the total supply of 1 billion tokens and the current market capitalization, there is significant potential for the token to increase in value with proper management and adaptation.</p><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">SWISE Allocation</span></h4><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Rvjzs5OC94E7ry6Io35WHOuvRMk5zz0HJtLqlrvhwCxVAyiEQydv-WTG3on5IPwm2oMza3Y02NWkjARuLSkGUdzwWlkdroAOkkNCh752AHiEK4DrXFpatY_BPfziK6YlbA_4I91Atdr51VCIOKhplmk" width="602" height="192"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: CryptoRank</i></span></p><h4><span style="font-size:18px;">Vesting Schedule</span></h4><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/s679j3Dqg9nrtOAic9KjRbNfb2ksRUy-cXO5NAyesbpJqPQfCvIA9xlbGgMS9qm1QHSrHlpYwAvbPVhatrfprvFnMmGIGScRCa2RLe6PO_xgMfJoIe8z4ZihEnojXwysfQ3VEJtkHr-kWvAsb_mr4X4" width="602" height="204"></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: </i></span><a href="https://cryptorank.io/"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>CryptoRank</i></span></a></p><p>The allocation and distribution of SWISE tokens show that most of the tokens are allocated to the community and team, which promises stable and long-term development of the project.</p><p>Overall, StakeWise's tokenomics seem well thought out, with a balance between current opportunities and future prospects.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">Final Thoughts</span></h3><p>StakeWise is an innovative ETH staking protocol that stands out for its unique two-token model. Thanks to the following model, users can enjoy the flexibility of managing their income, and it also reduces the risks associated with variable losses when providing liquidity.&nbsp;</p><p>With fees as low as 10%, StakeWise is one of the most cost-effective options for ETH staking. The protocol is already showing impressive market performance, including a steady market capitalization and high TVL. This makes it attractive to investors and indicates strong potential for further growth.&nbsp;</p><p>The upcoming launch of StakeWise V3 is even more thrilling, as it promises further decentralization and accessibility for node operators, which should attract even more users and strengthen StakeWise's position in the highly competitive staking market.</p>

StakeWise is a protocol aiming to streamline ETH staking through its user-friendly platform. Notum is going to deep dive into the protocol by analyzing how it works and what unique features it provides to the users.

StakeWise Protocol: Decoded by Notum

<p><a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/defi">The DeFi</a> is getting easier to understand and interact with but it is still puzzling in some ways. We were predicted by some&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-ceo-cz-de-fi-ce-fi-bull-run">prominent crypto influencers</a> that DeFi is the future and a new source for investors to gain independence and earn higher yields. Currently, there is a gap between an investor and new technologies — it can be bridged by such solutions as account abstraction (<a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/account%20abstraction">AA</a>) and thus, zaps. We’ve asked&nbsp;<a href="https://portals.fi/"><strong>Portals</strong></a>, our Zap provider, to shed some light on how zaps work and why we all need them in our investment endeavors. So,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/cryptonomik"><strong>Suhail Gangji</strong></a>, Co-Founder of Portals, kindly answered our questions to break the Zap concept down.</p><h3><span style="font-size:36px;"><strong>Intro</strong></span></h3><p>Zap technology revolutionizes the way you interact with projects. That’s a method of depositing that bundles&nbsp;multiple transactions into a single one. It was made to vastly save you gas and time. This infrastructure is especially useful when you access a pool, farm, or vault that could have taken about 2 to 6 (and even more) transactions but thanks to Zaps, you have just&nbsp;one smooth process.&nbsp;</p><p>Zap turns your multiple transactions into one that&nbsp;frees you from leaping between website screens or worrying about potential errors and delays. Plus, it simplifies your daily UX and makes your <strong>entry into the DeFi space much easier and streamlined.</strong></p><blockquote><p><br><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: ‘In your experience, what are the common challenges users face when interacting with DeFi protocols, and how does Portals address these challenges to provide a more user-friendly environment?’</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p>A: ‘There is a significant learning curve for those entering the space. Newcomers will have to learn and contend with the concepts of complex transactions, wait times, gas fees, manual rate comparisons, friction in protocol integrations, and so on, all the while missing out on hidden yield opportunities. The solution to all of these issues lies in simplification.&nbsp;</p><p>Portals <strong>simplifies DeFi interactions</strong> for users by bundling multiple complex actions into one-click transactions. We use&nbsp;Account Abstraction (AA) to provide flexible pathways and gasless transactions and aggregate data <strong>for 35,000+ tokens </strong>and <strong>hundreds of protocols across multiple networks </strong>to uncover yield opportunities. Swaps occur in a&nbsp;single user-friendly interface &amp; zaps require only a&nbsp;single&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/asset">asset</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>These steps towards simplification are the future of the industry. After all, the challenges users face in DeFi are, in effect, the challenges DeFi faces with mainstream audiences.’</p><h3><span style="font-size:36px;"><strong>What Exactly Are Zaps?</strong></span></h3><p>DeFiZap is a smart contracts system—Zaps that deploys ETH across various DeFi protocols in one transaction. You can use Zaps to get access to DeFi opportunities such as&nbsp;<strong>Lending,&nbsp;Farming,&nbsp;Liquid Staking, and Liquidity&nbsp;Provision directly from your Ethereum wallet.</strong> You can provide any asset on any blockchain and supply it in one transaction.</p><p>Let’s illustrate that with an example. Let’s say you need to get <a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments/0x8134a2fdc127549480865fb8e5a9e8a8a95a54c5"><strong>VELO/USDC (Optimism)</strong></a> pool LP tokens for USDT ERC-20, so you will need:</p><p>1.&nbsp;<strong>Bridge</strong> USDT from Mainnet to Optimism;</p><p>2.&nbsp;<strong>Swap 50%</strong> USDT for VELO;</p><p>3.&nbsp;<strong>Swap 50%</strong> USDT for USDC;</p><p>4.&nbsp;<strong>Deposit </strong>VELO into LP;</p><p>5.&nbsp;<strong>Deposit</strong> USDC into LP.</p><p>Keep in mind that you <strong>have to&nbsp;pay gas fees and get approval</strong> for each of the above-mentioned steps which is just dreadful, isn’t it?</p><p>Zap makes the same operation but in one one-step manner. <strong>You&nbsp;choose an asset and a pool, confirm the transaction, and receive your LP tokens.</strong></p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: ‘How does Portals view the role of Zaps in simplifying DeFi investments?’</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p>A: ‘Zaps have made accumulating yield more accessible than ever. Complex processes are automated and streamlined. Monitoring and initiating multi-step transactions has been eliminated, <strong>lowering the bar to entry significantly</strong>.&nbsp;</p><p>We see a future where the vast majority of onchain transactions are executed by zaps due to their multi-faceted nature while DeFi becomes increasingly more complex, convoluted, and composed.’</p><h3><span style="font-size:36px;"><strong>How Does DeFi Zaps Technically Work?</strong></span></h3><blockquote><p><br><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: ‘Could you provide insights into how DeFi Zaps facilitate the automatic execution of multi-step transactions? What advantages do they offer in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness?’</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p>A: ‘For users, Portals eliminates navigation through the complexities of DeFi altogether. Zaps automate&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/swap"><strong>swaps</strong></a><strong>, approvals,&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/staking"><strong>staking</strong></a><strong>,&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://notum.ai/glossary/liquidity"><strong>liquidity&nbsp;</strong></a><strong>provision,</strong> and more, removing friction and&nbsp;avoiding gas fees and manual route optimization while saving users time to boot and simplifying DeFi and asset management.&nbsp;</p><p>Effectively, all transactions become <strong>one-click interactions</strong>, regardless of the complexity of the underlying transaction.’</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;"><strong>How Secure Are DeFi Zaps?</strong></span></h3><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: ‘What security measures are implemented by Portals to safeguard transactions and user assets within DeFi Zaps? Could you share securitization details to assure users of the safety of their investments?’</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p>A: ‘Portals is <strong>a non-custodial service</strong> that does not have any TVL or hold user funds, thus removing the risk that funds could be lost in a hack. In addition, all transactions created by Portals is <strong>atomic, meaning that all steps in the bundle (or zap) must be successfully completed. </strong>If one step fails, the entire transaction reverts, and the caller’s funds are simply returned as in any other reverted transaction.&nbsp;</p><p>Furthermore, Portals includes <strong>robust slippage and price impact protection</strong> with every order, ensuring that MEV is minimized.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, Portals also simulates all transactions to verify the outcome of the zap is what the user expects. Portals has also undergone a formal audit by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/krum-krasimirov-pashov/?originalSubdomain=bg">Pashov Krum</a>, one of the leading auditors in the industry.’</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;"><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></span></h3><p>So, let’s sum that up. What happens when you use Zap? DeFi becomes easier, you save on gas and time, by having&nbsp;one single transaction instead of multiple ones.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Notum and Portals’ synergy empowers investors with a <strong>smooth, gasless swap &amp; zap in/out experience</strong>. We can definitely say that it’s a huge step forward toward&nbsp;reducing network complexity, boosting token utility, and making DeFi easier to understand&nbsp;and use in a day-to-day&nbsp;manner.&nbsp;</p><p>Notum immerses you into the DeFi position in one transaction—<strong>1 click and you zapped in or out!</strong></p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;">About Notum</span></h3><p><a href="https://go.notum.ai/zaps"><strong>Notum</strong></a><strong> </strong>is a human-centered decentralized platform designed to <strong>clarify DeFi space</strong> and bring it to&nbsp;a broader audience. By providing&nbsp;risk rating for certain investment positions, enhanced&nbsp;investment&nbsp;monitoring of parameters such as <strong>APY and TVL</strong>, <strong>detailed information about your investment, and&nbsp;1-click investment with any token to&nbsp;50+ protocols</strong>.</p><p>It bridges DeFi protocols and investors, offering an&nbsp;all-in-one tool&nbsp;for <strong>exploring, assessing, and managing investments</strong> in the most beneficial way.</p><h3><span style="font-size:24px;"><strong>Follow Us on Socials</strong></span></h3><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/zaps"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p>

Zap in and zap out in 1-click with Notum and Portals. DeFi investments haven't been quicker and easier before! Read the article to learn how we've made that possible to leverage any investment with one tap.

One-Сlick Investments: How Secure Are DeFi Zaps?

<h2>Intro</h2><p>Trader Joe is an AMM-based DEX that launched on the Avalanche blockchain in 2021. Since launching, the DEX has gone on to facilitate nearly $100B in cumulative trading volume across multiple chains.</p><p>The team developed their own unique CLMM, an NFT marketplace, lending and borrowing markets, and staking with real yield accrued from platform trading fees. At the end of 2022, Trader Joe introduced a novel protocol called Liquidity Book, enabling concentrated liquidity and zero slippage trade executing through use of an innovative discretized architecture.</p><p>To explore Trader Joe and find out more exciting facts and even insights about the project plans, delve into the article.&nbsp;</p><h2>Trader Joe: Essential Metrics</h2><ul><li>Total Value Locked (TVL): $147.44m</li><li>Blockchains: Avalanche, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and BSC</li><li>Native token: Yes, $JOE</li><li>Market Cap: $210.2m</li><li>Average APY: varies from 7.95% to 10.26%&nbsp; (as of December, 13)</li><li>Risk Level: Medium</li><li>Foundation Date: June, 2021</li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/trader-joe?revenue=false&amp;fees=false&amp;tokenVolume=false&amp;treasury=true&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><h2>Trader Joe: Ecosystem</h2><p>As we’ve mentioned above, Trader Joe grew into a full-stack project with many opportunities for DeFi users. It’s an Avalanche-oriented creature with various DeFi products under the hood. Let’s break down the whole platform into some smaller parts to embrace the ‘one-stop decentralized trading.’&nbsp;</p><p>We've also wanted to get more details on a particular issue, so asked <a href="https://twitter.com/blueclarityone"><span style="color:rgb(29,28,29);"><strong>Blue</strong></span></a><span style="color:rgb(29,28,29);"> — TJ's Head of Marketing and Growth. Here's his answer:</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);font-size:18px;"><i><strong>Q: From a wide range of blockchains, how did you decide on Avalanche?</strong></i></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,0%);"><i>A: Two key factors influenced our decision to launch on Avalanche. Firstly, the platform's technological prowess, especially its consensus mechanism, is exceptional. It facilitates fast, scalable, and secure transactions, making it well-suited for large-scale applications and the DeFi sector.&nbsp;</i></span></p><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,0%);"><i>Secondly, the professionalism at Ava Labs and their commitment to building a strong team were major draws. This, coupled with their clear focus on a long-term business strategy and solid growth prospects, reinforced our confidence in Avalanche's future success and aligned perfectly with our strategic objectives.</i></span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2910/964;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20231211-at-18.05.31.png" width="2910" height="964"></figure><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: </i></span><a href="https://traderjoexyz.com/arbitrum"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Trader Joe website</i></span></a><br>&nbsp;</p><h3>Trading</h3><p>You can trade using a wide range of assets across multiple chains. As for a fee model, it’s flexible and depends on a pool.</p><p>You’ll have a Base Fee that Trader Joe charges for a trade, a Max Fee that Trader Joe takes upon the earned fees, and a Protocol Fee for those who staked JOE tokens. Fees start from 0.005% for a stablecoin pair (USDT-USDC) and up to 0.8% for other pools. They may also rise to 2.48% based on the volatility caused by the trade.</p><h3>Lending</h3><p>The BankerJoe provides p2p lending based on the Compound protocol which is one of the most credible money market protocols. Investors lend or borrow against whitelisted assets.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/trader-joe-lend?medianApy=true&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p>It is an easy way to earn additional yield by lending your assets to borrowers without leaving the Trader Joe platform.</p><h3>Liquid Pooling</h3><p>Liquidity pool fees vary due to a definite pool. In general, traders pay a swap fee to liquidity providers while performing a swap. The total swap fee includes two components: a base fee and a variable fee. The fee rate depends on the swap amount in each liquidity bin and is distributed equally to the liquidity providers in the bin. More on fees in official <a href="https://docs.traderjoexyz.com/concepts/fees">docs</a>.</p><ul><li>Liquidity Providers accrue fees from trading activity on the platform. These fees accrued are automatically compounded into a liquidity providers position.</li></ul><h3>Staking</h3><p>The platform supports staking with no lock-up period and a 24/7 harvesting opportunity. As for farming investments, it’s crucial to remember that due to the last $JOE token emission that took place on the 24th of November, farming is not active anymore.</p><p>Although there is some liquidity in the pools, you can reinvest your assets through <a href="https://go.notum.ai/traderjoe_decoded">Notum</a> to continue getting rewards for your investments.</p><h3>NFTs</h3><p><a href="https://joepegs.com/">Joepegs Marketplace</a> is a user-friendly platform with multiple NFT filters and a support website for artists to get real-time information. It is built to operate on Avalanche and BNB blockchains and it is one of the largest NFT markets in the Avalanche ecosystem. It offers minting, purchasing, and trading NFTs.</p><p>LaunchPEG is an NFT launchpad that provides various auction styles and minting options, such as flat mints at a fixed price.</p><h2>What Is Trader Joe’s Liquidity Book?</h2><p><a href="https://docs.traderjoexyz.com/concepts/concentrated-liquidity">Liquidity Book</a> is a Trader Joe’s unique feature that changes how Automated Market Makers (AMMs) can operate. It was created to maximize both traders' and liquidity providers’ experience by introducing unique mechanisms to enhance capital efficiency and profitability. The main features the Book provides are:</p><ol><li><strong>Zero Slippage</strong>: Traders can swap tokens without losing value caused by price changes within specific trading ranges and "bins."</li><li><strong>Concentrated Liquidity</strong>: Liquidity providers can choose specific price ranges to supply liquidity. That makes their capital more efficient.</li><li><strong>Surge Pricing</strong>: Liquidity providers have an opportunity to get additional dynamic fees when the market runs into high volatility.</li><li><strong>High Capital Efficiency</strong>: It supports high trading volumes with relatively low liquidity requirements making it more profitable for liquidity providers.</li><li><strong>Flexible Liquidity</strong>: Liquidity providers can customize how their liquidity is distributed, tailoring it to suit their strategies.</li><li><strong>Special Bin System:</strong> The system uses separate "bins" for trading ranges, rather than continuous price "ticks," setting it apart from AMMs like Uniswap V3.</li><li><strong>Fixed &amp; Variable Pricing</strong>: It has a pricing model that includes both fixed and variable components. That allows them to tailor fees based on current market conditions.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</li></ol><h2>JOE Token | Tokenomics</h2><ul><li>​​Circulating supply: $341,459,396 JOE</li><li>Total supply: $490,000,000 JOE</li><li>All-time high JOE coin price: $5.07 (Nov 21, 2021)</li><li>All-time low JOE coin price: $185.38</li></ul><p>As Trader Joe is a community-driven project, it is governed by JOE governance token and rewards holders by distributing fees gathered from liquidation and swaps back to holders who stake JOE to get sJOE rewards.</p><h3>Token’s Allocation</h3><p>The initial distribution of Trader Joe (JOE) tokens is as follows:</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:512/308;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/unnamed-2.png" width="512" height="308"></figure><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: </i></span><a href="https://support.traderjoexyz.com/en/articles/6793324-joe-token-emissions"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Trader Joe</i></span></a></p><ul><li>50.00% is allocated to Liquidity Providers (LP);</li><li>20.00% is allocated to Treasury;</li><li>20.00% is allocated to Team;</li><li>10.00% is allocated to Future Investors.</li></ul><p>As you can see, the token distribution is balanced and transparent. There are no pre-sales or private sales, which makes the platform genuinely decentralized.</p><h3>Token’s Supply Schedule</h3><p>JOE token was launched on 3 July 2021. The max supply of this token is capped at $490M. The supply of JOE is expected to be released in February 2024. The emission has ended, so there won’t be any newly minted tokens.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1071/662;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/image.png" width="1071" height="662"></figure><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: </i></span><a href="https://support.traderjoexyz.com/en/articles/6793324-joe-token-emissions"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Trader Joe</i></span></a></p><p><strong>V1 AMM</strong>: a part of the platform's revenue, specifically 0.05% of all trades, goes into the sJOE staking pool.</p><p><strong>V2 AMM</strong>: a flexible fee depending on the Liquidity Pool is paid to sJOE staking.</p><p>JOE tokens are emitted according to the distribution portion. Team, Treasury, and Future Investor funds are emitted at schedule as public distribution to LPs.</p><h2>How Risky Is Trader Joe?</h2><p>Trader Joe could be considered a safe protocol due to the following reasons:</p><p>First, it’s a decentralized exchange (DEX): The key thing is that DEXs rely on smart contracts for all management and protocol execution instead of being governed by a single authority. It means that there can’t be any manipulation and censorship. Transactions are secured by cryptography, so hacking is nearly impossible.</p><p>Moreover, according to <a href="https://docs.notum.ai/risk-assessment/risk-assessment-framework">Notum’s RAF</a>, the platform is referred to as medium risk level, based on inspecting four key metrics: protocol audits,&nbsp; protocol exploits, protocol maturity, and protocol TVL.</p><p>Protocol audits: Trader Joe works with several security audit firms that test it to identify any vulnerabilities and prevent potential exploits.</p><ul><li><a href="https://hashex.org/">HashEx</a>: They audited the AMM and yield farming at TraderJoe and found three high-level security issues. TraderJoe solved the issues by deploying the smart contracts on Avalanche C-Chain.</li><li><a href="https://paladinsec.co/">Paladin</a>: The auditing platform identified integrity vulnerabilities in the Trader Joe's system in 2020. Paladin audited several other DeFi projects such as <a href="https://layerzero.network/">LayerZero</a>, <a href="https://spooky.fi/">SpookySwap</a>, etc., and it is trusted and trustworthy in the industry.</li><li>Protocol Maturity: The protocol was launched in 2021. Three-year maturity reduces technical risk as smart contracts are time-tested.</li><li>Protocol Exploits: There haven’t been any recorded protocol hacks since launch.</li><li>Protocol TVL: With TVL <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/trader-joe">about $148m</a>, the protocol is considered trustworthy.</li></ul><h2>How to Earn Yield by Staking sJOE?</h2><p class="note"><span style="font-size:18px;">sJOE is a token that gives a real yield paid in $USDC stablecoins. Its yield comes from the trading fees of the platform.&nbsp;</span></p><p>Every swap on Trader Joe charges a fee that is taken and distributed to Liquidity Providers. This ranges from 0.02% for a stablecoin pair (USDT-USDC) up to 0.8% for some other pools. Depending on the particular case, fees may rise to 2.48% based on the volatility caused by the trade. More information on fees can be found<a href="https://support.traderjoexyz.com/en/articles/6709447-staking-sjoe"> here</a>.</p><h2>sJOE Staking</h2><p>sJOE runs on Avalanche and Arbitrum. These steps apply to both networks. Investors can stake into sJOE and unstake sJOE at any time. They don’t pay any fees to enter or exit sJOE staking strategy.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/trader-joe-dex?staking=true&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>Source: </i></span><a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/trader-joe-dex?staking=true"><span style="font-size:12px;"><i>DefiLlama</i></span></a></p><p class="note"><strong>Rewards are generated every 2-3 days and distributed as soon as gained. Click “Claim Rewards” and confirm to get your rewards.&nbsp;</strong></p><h2>How Much Do Stakers Earn?</h2><ul><li>sJOE stakers gain rewards equally proportional to their share of the sJOE vault.</li><li>Rewards vary and are based on trading fees generated within the platform. The more trading volume is, the more fees are captured.</li></ul><p class="note"><strong>How to Calculate? Here’s the formula: userRewardRate = userJoe / totalJoe * sJoeRewardRate.&nbsp;</strong></p><h2>Insights From Trader Joe Team</h2><p>We’ve asked some more questions about the project plans for the upcoming year to have a better understanding of&nbsp; Trader Joe’s goals and objectives. <a href="https://twitter.com/blueclarityone"><strong>Blue</strong></a> kindly provided us with the answer:</p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);font-size:18px;"><i><strong>Q: What can we expect from the project in 2024?</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,0%);"><i>A: Trader Joe is continuing to research new product developments that aim to enhance or iterate on the current Liquidity Book model with the aim to provide a more efficient and seamless trading and liquidity providing experience.</i></span><br>&nbsp;</p><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Trader Joe might be an option for investors who are seeking to earn yield due to its high total value locked (TVL) and significant volume. The DEX is user-friendly and has a strong community and competitive gas fees on the Avalanche chain.</p><p>JOE tokenomics have also been updated to add more utility to long-term holders. The platform is continually going through various audits which makes it robust.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

We're continuing to explore more DeFi platforms to boost your passive income. Trader Joe's gives another great opportunity for yield generating and opening up even more doors to your crypto wealth.

Trader Joe: Decoded by Notum

<h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>What Is EigenLayer?&nbsp;</strong></span></h2><p><a href="https://www.eigenlayer.xyz/"><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong>EigenLayer</strong></span></a><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong> </strong></span><span style="color:#000000;">is a buzzword. Why has it happened? The key point that stands behind the project’s evolving popularity is that this middleware provides other protocols to leverage Ethereum's highly secure trust network and start their projects with reduced cost. This happens thanks to eliminating the validator set with the reward system part, and by doing this, save startup budget for other initiatives.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">EigenLayer caught the market’s attention with their Series A $50 million raise, led by </span><a href="https://www.blockchaincapital.com/"><span style="color:#000000;">Blockchain Capital</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">. They managed to attract prominent investors such as </span><a href="https://boards.greenhouse.io/polychaincapital"><span style="color:#000000;">Polychain Capital</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">, </span><a href="https://www.electriccapital.com/"><span style="color:#000000;">Electric Capital</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">, </span><a href="https://www.coinbase.com/ventures/"><span style="color:#000000;">Coinbase Ventures</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> and </span><a href="https://www.etherealventures.com/"><span style="color:#000000;">Ethereal Ventures</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:12px;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/AbpqNxQvGkXYwudKJmqExkFgjoSpg5AhsSEfVLpeOMTWqAjs_pG4CRfsHwUpYqDZflTAnM4MJMwFoaiLQvbi9wDH8XWfTVpo1C-InN7wdImwbI_hnQTfZwbHDkDeSDfaJBUfiPk3eJSZfzVp3zWGdAQ" width="602" height="215"></span></p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://cryptorank.io/ico/eigenlayer#funding-rounds"><span style="color:#1155cc;font-size:12px;"><i>Cryptorank</i></span></a></h6><p><span style="color:#000000;">EigenLayer is creating a restaking marketplace where protocols have a chance to buy pooled security from validators and validators can sell pooled security to protocols.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/rHA__j0VX6Tv4KNfANY70HyaN0d2yfaHNWj_3aMYhDe0M2pTZrD1g6VqFrVwMCy_GnQ1AOI3Drac3envDNDQZr5W5zMl9iK67UKbjnsITr_HdizhGXIJzQRYQWYICf0FtmJBZBIBHp890WPp3luGDqo" width="602" height="411"></span></p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:12px;">Source:&nbsp;</span><a href="https://docs.eigenlayer.xyz/overview/readme"><span style="color:#1155cc;font-size:12px;"><i>EigenLayer Docs</i></span></a></h6><p><span style="color:#000000;">By using EigenLayer, investors get more profits from increased capital efficiency, as they have an option to restake their ETH and receive more staking rewards.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Ethereum Restaking Concept</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Let’s dive into restacking to find out what it is about. So, restacking makes it possible for investors to stake the same ETH on both Ethereum and on other protocols at the same time. By doing this, stakes secure all of the networks they’re using simultaneously and leverage existing trust networks.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Although there is a nuance here, when investors restake their ETH, they are exposed to increased slashing risk. But everything is getting even more interesting, as this weakness brings stakers compensation with higher staking rewards for undertaking more risk.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Restaking Process</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">There are various restaking ways that EigenLayer’s offering:</span></p><ol><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Native Restaking</strong>: Investors restake their staked ETH;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>LSD Restaking</strong>: Investors restake assets that are already staked via&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.coingecko.com/learn/what-is-liquid-staking-liquid-staked-derivatives-you-need-to-know"><span style="color:#000000;">liquid staking</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> providers: e.g.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://lido.fi/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Lido</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://rocketpool.net/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Rocket Pool</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">, etc.;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>LSD LP Restaking</strong>: Investors restake the LP token of a pair which includes a liquid staking ETH token;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>ETH LP Restaking</strong>: Investors restake the LP token of a pair which includes ETH.</span></li></ol><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Restaked Points Explained</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Restaked points reflect investor’s contribution to the shared security of the EigenLayer ecosystem. They are also a measure of an investor’s staking participation equal to the time-integrated amount staked.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">In the following formula, i represents the index of a staker, and j represents the token’s index. The staker’s participation measure for a token j is counted by the formula:</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/U3PhZyUV8QzG-xdOo6kTiT2jDa6SzG8y0d8zw9LEhUtTmBvwx01mBV_pY7TIehGD2S4YfH2LTbFJBp7qPt7-p2s-wvQez9bbI5gnUv9hCcDZF9NyGjHcFl-r5RhL42LvnUbJoT8n4TJTWeF5mp0dV6o" width="602" height="108"></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">where Sij (t) shows the amount of token j held by a staker i at time t, measured in nominal units of ETH. For the purposes of the nominal participation initiative, EigenLayer treats all tokens, such as Native Restaked ETH and Liquid Staked ETH (LSTs) in the same way and calculates the total participation initiative in units of ETH ⋅ hours.</span></p><p class="note"><span style="color:#000000;"><i><strong>E.g. a user who stakes 1 stETH for 10 days should get 240 restaking points over this time period (1 ETH).&nbsp;</strong></i></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">To get the total participation initiative for a staker i, EigenLayer sums the initiative for each token that a staker hold:</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><i><strong><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/GJjqkI8xuR3t-omioZSXyS9aP5hgKvxru4u39Qmq5vaxQ8jZJmkKFjDUV-P2XslKWsArvWUuOIXdI5mDqasXpZJJNLO2vtGJCkaB_O4MiqZQwbfpKwGFJAlvhuGAI0smQWyWB2X2yY6Q037InRb3XKo" width="602" height="120"></strong></i></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Finally, the restaked ratio is the ratio of a given staker i's participation initiative to the aggregated participation initiatives of all stakers:</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/O8jxJ9YMuVWEXpWM-IWAOMXjK5h4zSAPiPxcxXoLlnzHR3Gvmw714cpM3CzrkN-nS9kasdJHNfTcHhx3iUdm5YA2Bg_pJekaHWEwoi_FQ3pvrE6OPxut65ZAUN-TGHAOJkJFSAvEBErZkXmTqev0jlI" width="602" height="119"></span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Restaking: Opportunities</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">1.&nbsp;<strong>Economic security</strong>. Creating economic security for a new blockchain or protocol is always a challenge. EigenLayer provides the ability for developers to maintain economic security at a fraction of the cost.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">2.&nbsp;<strong>Flexibility</strong>. Protocols can focus on selecting applications while still being in full control of their work under consensus and slashing* mechanisms.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">3.&nbsp;<strong>Increased capital efficiency</strong>. Restaking allows stakers to receive rewards from validations that support multiple services without raising additional capital, increasing the efficiency of their capital and rewards for validation services.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Problems EigenLayer Solve</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">EigenLayer’s is not only profitable but its innovative architecture handles various problems that the DeFi space is suffering from these days.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>1. Eliminating Bottlenecks to Developers</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">Protocols that are built on top of the Ethereum network are required to have their own validators set, which should be quite large to achieve decentralization. This turns into a bottleneck to developers with two main issues:&nbsp;</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;">investing large sums to reward the validators to secure the network;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">the time taken from developers to manage the validator could be used in a better way. For example, for further protocol development.</span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#000000;">This explains why some protocols have to offer an unrealistically high annual percentage rate (APR) to attract stakers to secure their network. This APR is issued in the form of token emissions, which draws down on the network’s treasury.&nbsp;</span></p><h3><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>2. Lack of Independence</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">That’s not easy for protocols to build on Ethereum, as it has a fundamental set of rules limiting those protocols in innovations they can achieve. This lack of independence has been a key factor which redirects developers to build on other chains such as Cosmos which provides them a higher level of adaptativity and tailoring.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>3. Lack of Trust in Other Protocols</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">A protocol is often dependent on various other protocols for certain functions, with an example being oracles. However, given that these protocols might be built on chains other than Ethereum, it translates to a lower level of security. Hence, this poses a security risk to users because the protocol’s security is only as good as the security of the weakest component, as depicted by the figure below.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Any Other ReStaking Platforms?</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Apart from EigenLayer, there is another opportunity to flow into the restaking narrative — &nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color:#0000ff;">Ether.Fi.</span><span style="color:#000000;"> The platform is launching their own LRT eTH. Investors could stake their ETH on the Ether.fi and it will be automatically restaked within EigenLayer.&nbsp;</span></p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mdc8UfKwIIM?si=sZDe6VQFJDcyDzxd" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

</div><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color:#000000;">The key benefits of&nbsp;</span><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Ether.Fi</strong></span><span style="color:#000000;"> are:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;">stakers control their tokens by themselves, instead of trusting node operators;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">it’s a native restaked ETH so they have no cap on EigenLayer;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">eETH is integrated with leading DeFi protocols like&nbsp;</span><a href="https://balancer.fi/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Balancer</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://curve.fi/#/ethereum/pools/factory-stable-ng-22/deposit"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Curve</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.gravitaprotocol.com/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Gravita</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">, and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mav.xyz/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Maverick</span></a>;</li><li><span style="color:#000000;">eETH is available to mint now.</span></li></ul><p><span style="color:#000000;">The project has raised about $5.3M from such prominent investors as&nbsp;</span><a href="https://chapterone.com/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Chapter One</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://northisland.ventures/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">North Island Ventures</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/36EodveIHwl40O7WN21sgPFOuLOv3NaefQjGtxF0c5NmszaFLgbitguiVC0DI0arRNCgDWgznd3wcJV7tmGPDQZkI9DURkfVqaNDt6-pQXDF6QhF-qCVpt5PUb_Luhw6sdTq_ciDS11mLvEXlI_P4HQ" width="602" height="220"></span></p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:12px;"><i>Source:&nbsp;</i></span><a href="https://cryptorank.io/ico/ether-fi"><span style="color:#1155cc;font-size:12px;"><i>Cryptorank</i></span></a></h6><p><span style="color:#000000;">The significant part of LRT is that it brings something new to DeFi and strengthens ETH staking by providing an opportunity to earn passive income.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">EigenLayer is one of the brightest protocols that have been built recently. Its architecture is flexible enough to benefit several parties, including developers building protocols who now have access to innovation possibilities and investors who can use their assets to earn more rewards.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Besides, the blockchain landscape is becoming significantly robust providing the improved security and innovation that can be brought to the market. This is another opportunity to attract more users to come and take part in the DeFi narrative.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;"><i>*Slashing is a punishment for dishonest work during network validation.</i></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>📖&nbsp;</strong><i><strong>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</strong></i></span></p>

Meet a brand new DeFi narrative — REstaking with EigenLayer. Notum connects you with the best DeFi projects in the market to give you a better picture of what's going on in the DeFi space.

Investment Idea: REstaking With EigenLayer

<h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Intro</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Yield farming, or liquidity mining, is a DeFi investment that allows crypto holders to earn passive income by providing liquidity to decentralized protocols or platforms.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Typically, to maximize their yield, investors usually look to auto-compound their interest. Auto-compounded interest eliminates the high costs and inconvenience going along with manually claiming and reinvesting interest. That was a stellar moment for yield optimizers as they offered ways to earn even more money in a more efficient way.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy leveled yield optimization up. How? It automatically reinvests earnings on compounded interest, and it optimizes yields using a variety of optimization functions for their unique vaults (<strong>mooVaults</strong>).</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Beefy: The Essentials</strong></span></h2><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;">TVL: <strong>$195.5M</strong></span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">TVL Ranking by Yield Aggregator: <strong>#2</strong></span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">Average APY: <strong>40.93%</strong></span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">Blockchains: <strong>Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Fantom, Avalanche, Base, Cronos, Polygon zkEVM, Canto, Metis, Kava, Moonbeam, Moonriver, Fuse, Aurora, Celo, Oasis, Harmony, Gnosis, Heco.</strong></span></li></ul><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Beefy: Vaults</strong></span></h2><h3><span style="color:#434343;"><strong>Beefy’s mooVaults</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy is a multichain yield optimizer deployed on 23 different chains. As a yield optimizer, Beefy offers a wide range of vaults where users can deposit their assets and automatically earn interest from their compounding interest in a process called auto-compounding.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy offers three different vaults:&nbsp;</span></p><ol><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>single-asset vaults;</strong></span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>stablecoin vaults;</strong></span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>liquidity pool (LP) vaults.&nbsp;</strong></span></li></ol><p><span style="color:#000000;">There is no fixed number of vaults as new vaults are regularly added.&nbsp; Vaults pass an internal audit by Beefy's strategists before they are offered on the platform. It’s important to point out that Beefy’s mooVaults have many truly unique token pairs not available elsewhere.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#434343;"><strong>LP Vaults</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">Vaults are investments that have a particular set of strategies for yield farming. They use automation to continually invest and reinvest deposited funds, which help to achieve high levels of compound interest. By using a Beefy vault to compound your gains, you save thousands of transactions with their associated gas costs, and precious personal time. Instead of manually harvesting and selling rewards, buying more tokens, and reinvesting that continuously, a vault does all that automatically at a high frequency.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Vaults are the core of the Beefy ecosystem. In a Beefy vault, you earn more of the asset you stake in it, regardless if this is a liquidity pool (LP) token or a single asset. For example, vaults where one can stake BTC-BNB LP will result in more BTC-BNB LP over time, effectively growing your share in the liquidity pool and thus allowing for more and more fees and rewards over time.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy’s vaults are intuitive. The user can choose to deposit from a large variety of assets and use Beefy’s ZAP feature. Beefy’s ZAP uses 1 Inch or Kyber to sell the deposited token at the best rate, purchases the vault token or tokens, and builds the LP upon deposit. Beefy ZAP gives users the best value upon entry and exit of Beefy’s vaults.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/01sKSc79vYKO1F4j79qKBEmXw8_qsLlu3Ca7GqZNzot_ONorK76LDf_Ks9k3S-_HSMMZcwDwGWc95JwFw-lhMffzk8IeMNJ-ctu4BoJWT5btmcGm4GmwfyOEOCTPt_gb7ux_ETEKfhDuw09e92BYjiI" width="602" height="339"></span></p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;">Source: </span><a href="https://docs.beefy.finance/beefy-products/strategies"><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy's Docs&nbsp;</span></a></h6><h3><span style="color:#434343;"><strong>Single-Asset Lending Vault</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">Users staking in lending vaults will deposit one type of token into the vault. In the backend, the protocol borrows and lends the asset to increase capital and provide the highest possible yield. This strategy allows Beefy to discover the optimal auto-compounding rate.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#434343;"><strong>BIFI Vault</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">BIFI is Beefy’s utility and governance token (explained more under BIFI Token). Staking BIFI entitles the staker to own a share of the earnings Beefy collects on its vaults. Beefy offers a special vault that allows BIFI holders to stake BIFI in a pool that offers an APY on the fee earnings generated from BIFI vaults. In other words, BIFI stakers would earn passive income from the fees Beefy generated from its vaults.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#434343;"><strong>Launchpool</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy Boost promotes promising projects by featuring the projects’ tokens in special vaults that offer high APYs for partner tokens. These vaults allow the project partner to gain exposure through Beefy’s Cowmoonity, and they allow stakers to earn additional yields through promotional coins.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Beefy's Tokens</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">The Beefy token ($BIFI) is an XERC-20 smart contract with two key use cases:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Project Governance&nbsp;</strong>- $BIFI holders can vote in the</span><a href="https://vote.beefy.finance/#/"><span style="color:#000000;">&nbsp;</span><span style="color:#1155cc;">Beefy Snapshot Space</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> on all of our governance matters, at a rate of 1 vote per token (including fractional amounts);&nbsp;</span><br>&nbsp;</li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Stakeholder Incentivization&nbsp;</strong>- $BIFI holders can incentivize the participation by stakeholders in the project and protocol with governance incentives paid through&nbsp;</span><a href="https://docs.beefy.finance/ecosystem/protocol/incentive-programmes"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Beefy’s Incentive Programmes</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">.</span></li></ul><h3><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>$mooBIFI</strong></span></h3><p><a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/staked-bifi"><span style="color:#1155cc;">$mooBIFI</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> is the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://app.beefy.com/vault/bifi-vault"><span style="color:#1155cc;">BIFI Vault</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">’s token. Revenue from all vaults on every chain goes to Ethereum and into the BIFI Vault to reward holders.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Rewards are auto compounded equally based on the quantity of $BIFI tokens a provider issued into the pool. The rewards are automatically swapped into $BIFI and redeposited. It results in a higher APY of incentives.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">The amount of $mooBIFI tokens deposited reflects the investor’s share of the $BIFI in the vault. As an example, 1 $mooBIFI equates to more than 1 $BIFI token.</span></p><h3><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>$rBIFI</strong></span></h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">$rBIFI is the</span><a href="https://app.beefy.com/vault/bifi-pool"><span style="color:#000000;">&nbsp;</span><span style="color:#1155cc;">BIFI Pool</span></a><span style="color:#000000;">’s token. The BIFI Pool gives rewards out to token holders in $ETH tokens. Revenue from all vaults on every chain goes to Ethereum and into the BIFI Pool for rewards distribution.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Rewards spread equally based on the $BIFI tokens amount that were deposited into the pool. Investors manually claim their $ETH rewards. The amount of deposited $rBIFI reflects the amount of deposited $BIFI tokens.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>About BIFI Governance</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">BIFI holders have governance rights and thus, can participate in making such decisions as propose and vote on governance proposals or the creation of new vaults.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">BIFI holders who want to submit a proposal must hold a minimum of 1 $BIFI. Submitting a proposal on the platform only requires that the user write a title, description, and a link to the forum where discussions are held. Most of Beefy’s governance proposals request funds, but many also introduce potential features.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">BIFI is a BEP-20 token native to BSC, but the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://vote.beefy.finance/#/"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>vote.beefy.finance</strong></span></a><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span><span style="color:#000000;">platform serves as a proposal creation and voting platform for decisions across multiple chains.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/ejXxL7wsXP6TBNChxhVd5bhu1X9ReIib3StM76Sr5OC8Y07XrSnrFmwDlIsR9ud7PRlCzGpkuqkxftLFOo5UzxvvsIbCGrWwDHi1NzHcUlJd71cAeNpVpZEw5ntryCLKy32zVwKM2zgv3k5EGDgC5mU" width="602" height="244"></span></p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:#000000;">Source:</span><a href="https://defillama.com/protocols/Yield%20Aggregator"><span style="color:#1155cc;"> DefiLlama</span></a></h6><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy implemented a custom Snapshot to support voting across multiple chains. Although the rights to create and vote on proposals are reserved for BIFI holders, anyone can contribute to the development of Beefy’s multi chain ecosystem by participating in discussions on the protocol’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://discord.com/invite/beefyfinance"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Discord</strong></span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> or&nbsp;</span><a href="https://t.me/beefyfinance"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Telegram</strong></span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> channels.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>BIFI Token Updates</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">As the largest cross-chain bridges —&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/07/06/multichain-bridges-experience-unannounced-outflows-of-over-130m-in-crypto/"><span style="color:#1155cc;">Multichain failed</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> and that, as a matter of logic, meant the BIFI token joined the sinking Titanic, but it also meant a new page for a native token’s story.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1428/796;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20231215-at-11.46.46.png" width="1428" height="796"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://beefy.com/articles/bifi-migration/">Beefy.com</a></h6><p><span style="color:#000000;">BIFI’s migration (or MOOgration) to Ethereum ends up with:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;">accessing to the strongest security available now in Web 3.0;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">moving to a universal governance pool and ensuring a more equitable process for participating in the operations of Beefy’s;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">ensuring that one provider’s failure compromises the BIFI governance token;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">removing any minting or permissions functionality;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">dealing with a contract instance, not the contract’s underlying logic;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">adopting the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-2612"><span style="color:#000000;">EIP-2612</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> permit pattern, which allows for gasless permit approvals. This means that users can approve transactions with the bridge without paying gas.</span></li></ul><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Beefy: Risks</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Although Beefy vaults are audited, this can't promise that a vault is 100% risk free. Among general vault risks are the following:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;">Deposited assets have no risk of decreasing in quantity but they can decrease in their cost.</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">Security issues matter. The Beefy team continually works on quantifying the security risks of smart contracts and interacts only with those that meet a definite set of requirements. It also guarantees excessive testing to ensure the underlying platform does not contain any 'rug-pull' functions. To get more detailed information on this, take a look at Beefy SAFU Practices.</span></li></ul><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Why Invest?</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy “<strong>Vaults</strong>” are one of the easiest ways to maximize your rewards by compounding yield farm rewards into your deposited asset. Only you monitor your crypto investments having an opportunity to withdraw your funds at any moment, enjoying a true decentralization.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Another Beefy's robust side is that it has its native token, $BIFI, which is quite popular among traders. It’s worth mentioning that its price is not as volatile as some other digital assets, although it still experiences significant price changes from time to time.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">To sum it up, as an investor you can:</span></p><p class="idea"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:18px;"><strong>execute</strong> yield farming strategies in a more efficient way.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="idea"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:18px;"><strong>use</strong> any asset as liquidity or for generating a yield;</span></p><p class="idea"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:18px;"><strong>change</strong> one asset as collateral for another;</span></p><p class="idea"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:18px;"><strong>manage</strong> collateral at a safe level to reduce liquidation;</span></p><p class="idea"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:18px;"><strong>reinvest</strong> earned rewards.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></span></h2><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy leveraged the yield optimization concept and expanded it across many chains and DeFi protocols. It provides investors with a simple and easy-to-use user interface and grants an opportunity to maximize yield on multiple crypto assets by auto-compounding their gained rewards into the deposited asset.</span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">Beefy could be a great option for those looking to earn compound interest on their crypto investments. The protocol automatically increases the user rewards from multiple liquidity pools, automated market-makers, and other yield-farming options within the DeFi ecosystem.</span></p><h2><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Follow Beefy on Socials&nbsp;</strong></span></h2><p><a href="https://snapshot.org/#/beefydao.eth/proposal/0x975b10f949c0ea62a53f7a3ab5aa738376422efbd7bb33712daa74b98bd4b727"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Migration Proposal</strong></span></a><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong> |&nbsp;</strong></span><a href="https://docs.beefy.finance/"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Beefy Docs</strong></span></a><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong> |&nbsp;</strong></span><a href="https://discord.gg/yq8wfHd"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Beefy Discord</strong></span></a><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong> |&nbsp;</strong></span><a href="https://twitter.com/beefyfinance"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Beefy Twitter</strong></span></a><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong> |&nbsp;</strong></span><a href="https://t.me/beefyfinance"><span style="color:#0000ff;"><strong>Beefy Telegram</strong></span></a></p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Open up a world of DeFi vaults and higher yield with Beefy and its unique features. Dive into the article and find out new ways to boost your passive income in the multifaceted DeFi market.

Beefy: Decoded by Notum

LayerZero is reshaping the way developers interacted with blockchains allowing them to build flawless omnichain applications, tokens, and experiences. Let's learn a bit more in the article!

LayerZero: Decoded by Notum

<h2 style="text-align:center;">Product Updates</h2><h3><strong>Search Bar Was Improved</strong></h3><p>We want to save you time, so the search bar is really simple to navigate. Now you can just type in the asset name and find relevant DeFi investments within a minute! This helps you to get the necessary information quickly and efficiently.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2898/1608;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240130-at-23.04.23.png" width="2898" height="1608"></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Navigation Is Much Simpler</strong></h3><p>Overall navigation on the platform became way smoother. We’ve changed the layout to prominently feature our DeFi investment offerings. This change is driven by our aim to focus more on these features, making your journey through our platform smoother and more intuitive.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2902/1666;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240130-at-23.14.05.png" width="2902" height="1666"></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>We Support Linea &amp; Gnosis Now</strong></h3><p>Meet<a href="https://linea.build/"> Linea</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gnosis.io/">Gnosis</a> networks on our platform! We’ve added those protocols for you to have a wider choice of DeFi investments and opportunities for you to explore more protocols along with others displayed on the&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments">Notum app</a>. Try new ways and tracks for your investments!</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1410/1188;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240130-at-23.07.19.png" width="1410" height="1188"></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Bug Fixes &amp; Performance Improvements</strong></h3><p>As we are continually evolving, we are also keeping an eye on other improvements and bug fixes to enhance your general engagement with the platform. These small changes might significantly boost your user experience and, actually, make a big difference.&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align:center;">Marketing &amp; Partnerships Updates</h2><h3><strong>BENQI x Notum</strong></h3><p>Collaborated and launched a cross-promo with&nbsp;<a href="https://benqi.fi/">BENQI</a>, a popular liquid staking protocol and lending marketplace on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avax.network/">Avalanche</a>.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/explorebenqiwithnotum.png"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;"><strong>Read the article </strong><a href="https://notum.ai/blog/benqi-decoded-by-notum"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></h6><h3><strong>Index Coop x Notum</strong></h3><p>Formed a partnership and collaborated on an article about how to start understanding DeFi indices with&nbsp;<a href="https://indexcoop.com/">Index Coop</a>, a key DeFi index protocol.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/indexcoopdefiindicesonnotum.png"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;"><strong>Read the article </strong><a href="https://notum.ai/blog/how-to-gain-exposure-to-defi-indices-on-notum"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></h6><h3><strong>Tangem x Notum</strong></h3><p>Established a partnership and engaged in content cross-promotion with&nbsp;<a href="https://tangem.com/en/">Tangem</a>, a hardware Web3 wallet made as a bank card with NFC functionality.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1600/800;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/defi-trends-2024-liquid-restaking-lrt-1.png" width="1600" height="800"></figure><h3><strong>Magic Store Verification</strong></h3><p>Gained a profile verification on&nbsp;<a href="https://magic.store/">Magic Store</a> with a whopping 92% upvotes and 71k votes. <a href="https://magic.store/app/notum"><strong>Here</strong></a><strong> </strong>it is.</p><h3><strong>Amplified TVF on DeBank</strong></h3><p>Surpassed $200M in Total Value of Followers on&nbsp;<a href="https://debank.com/">DeBank</a>, thanks to our dedicated ambassadors. Check <a href="https://debank.com/official/Notum/"><strong>this</strong></a> out.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2908/1660;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240130-at-17.45.12.png" width="2908" height="1660"></figure><h3><strong>Galxe x Notum</strong></h3><p>Secured the&nbsp;<a href="https://space.id/">SPACE ID</a> integration grant and launched a joint&nbsp;<a href="https://galxe.com/">Galxe&nbsp;</a>campaign. <a href="https://galxe.com/notum/campaign/GCeHvtwSNA"><strong>Here</strong></a> we go.</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2936/1666;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240130-at-17.45.46.png" width="2936" height="1666"></figure><p>Stay tuned! We’re currently planning new incentive programs, featuring exciting activities in collaboration with popular protocols.&nbsp;</p>

Hmm, what has the project been up to for all of Jan? Here's the answer!

What’s New, Notum? | Monthly Product Update

<h2>Intro</h2><p>Radiant is a DeFi platform on Arbitrum allowing users to lend and borrow digital assets across multiple blockchains. The platform wants to overtake fragmented DeFi capital as evidenced by the dozens of different money markets, all with their own liquidity.</p><p>The protocol achieves high composability by using LayerZero as a cross-chain infrastructure. Besides, Radiant is up to integrate LayerZero’s omnichain technology in Radiant v3 and v4. This might end in the omnichain lending business going to new levels. Thus, that would be particularly interesting to dive deeper into the project.</p><p>With the launch of v2 they migrated the RDNT token to the&nbsp;<a href="https://jamesbachini.com/layerzero-example/">LayerZero</a> OFT (Omnichain Fungible Token) format, making cross-chain fee sharing more seamless and enabling quicker launches on additional chains.</p><h2>Radiant V1: Distinct Features</h2><ul><li>TVL:<strong> $233.58m</strong></li><li>TVL Ranking by Lending:<strong> #9</strong></li><li>Average APY:<strong>&nbsp; 1.50%</strong></li><li>Blockchains:<strong> Ethereum, Arbitrum &amp; Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain)</strong></li></ul><p>Radiant is a crucial part of the so-called Arbitrum Avant-Garde which refers to the new generation of protocols native to it by sharing some key characteristics such as&nbsp;real yield, sustainable tokenomics, engaged DAO governance, and progressive decentralization.&nbsp;</p><p>These protocols boast low-cost transactions when introducing new services, and their central ideology is sustainability and profitability. This fresh generation has access to a better tech stack and other protocols experience. Let’s take a look at some prominent features Radiant Capital has under its hood.</p><h3>Borrow, Lend &amp; Stake Triad</h3><ul><li>Borrow: Users can borrow from the platform with their own collateral for liquidity without selling their assets and closing their positions, also without being taxed.</li><li>Lend: Users provide liquidity to borrowers on the platform by depositing crypto assets.</li><li>Stake: Users provide liquidity by pairing $RDNT/$WETH on SushiSwap then staking in Pool2 of the platform to earn interest in $RDNT.</li></ul><h3>Locking &amp; Vesting</h3><ul><li>$RDNT Lockers: Users who lock up $RDNT will gain 50% of the platform fee. Besides, when locking $RDNT, users commit to a 90-day lock and cannot unstake until the 90-day lock is complete. This lockout commitment may get additional penalty fees from those who vested $RDNT for less than 90 days.</li><li>$RDNT Vesters: Users receiving $RDNT rewards from DeFi activities within the platform have to participate in vesting 28 days.&nbsp;</li></ul><h3>Cross-Chain Borrowing&nbsp;</h3><p>Apart from well-known lending and borrowing functions, users have an ability to borrow cross-chain, and all this goes along with great user experience.</p><p>Let’s look at an example, Ada keeps her funds on Arbitrum but wants to interact with the project on Avalanche. A usual flaw looks like this: Ada borrows the funds on Arbitrum and then bridge these to Avalanche, which involves numerous permissions and multiple transactions. Radiant’s borrow and bridge batches all these steps into one transaction. Ada could repay her loan on the origin chain.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/wXG1mEHIjpTTa95lNMsPXUVFNBVv28uAwwlnI9ay6sknZfr0l1plIFv0X1mTbLZwEmnzdRMESiepK56mBUoIzDO_5udPUhSknzp4b2m9AE76hZjBO_mslyUwJtHGF8fNKsWH__hEMmwlqYbh" width="602" height="320"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.radiant.capital/radiant/radiantv1">Radiant Capital Docs</a></h6><p>Radiant is live on&nbsp;<a href="https://ethereum.org/en">Ethereum</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://arbitrum.io/">Arbitrum&nbsp;</a>and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bnbchain.org/en/bnb-smart-chain">Binance Smart Chain</a> as origin chains where users can deposit and originate loans. Radiant plans to expand to other EVM chains and integrate more supported asset classes.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NVycMyviY4"><div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-NVycMyviY4" style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0; left: 0;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></figure><p>Being live on Ethereum mainnet makes it possible for radian’t users to skim all advantages that liquidity on Ethereum has while accessing cheaper and faster blockchains, as well. Radiant’s omnichain nature allows it to launch on additional chains within the Layer Zero ecosystem.</p><h2>Radiant &amp; LayerZero</h2><p>Radiant leverages LayerZero’s Stargate to achieve its cross-chain functionality. LayerZero is a communication protocol, and Stargate is the first dApp built on LayerZero. Usually bridges use a lock and mint strategy when assets are locked on the source chain, and a synthetic asset is minted on the destination chain. Using these wrapped assets involve more smart contract risks and an additional swap on the destination chain.</p><p>On the contrary, Stargate provides instant finality, uses a single liquidity pool across various chains for deep liquidity, and swaps in native assets.&nbsp;</p><p>LayerZero is at the heart of omnichain interoperability allowing blockchains to pass messages between each other. It works as an endpoint using a messaging protocol Ultra-Light Node that any blockchain can support, creating a fully connected network of nodes. It acts as a translator between blockchains to speak to each other.</p><p><a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/radiant-capital">RDNT</a>, the native token of Radiant Capital, is an OFT-20- a token standard from LayerZero. The OFT token fuels the multichain functionality and allows for hyper-market efficiency.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/3yRomSZRRv4"><div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3yRomSZRRv4" style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0; left: 0;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></figure><p>To interact with other chains, users burn tokens, receive a receipt, and show this receipt to the destination chain. The total supply of tokens stays constant but the location is totally flexible.&nbsp;</p><p>The OFT token allows money to go wherever in the most cost-efficient ways. Currently, in crypto, there is liquidity scattered around the ecosystem where it does not want to be due to the difficulty of moving it and all the third-party fees associated with its movement. The OFT standard makes it possible to enjoy&nbsp; full location mobility, and markets can retain all this excess value.</p><h2>Radiant V2: Updates &amp; Improvements</h2><p>Radiant v2 is an omnichain lending protocol. It’s an improved version with the migrated to the&nbsp;<a href="https://layerzero.gitbook.io/docs/evm-guides/code-examples/oft-overview">LayerZero OFT</a> (Omnichain Fungible Token) format that makes cross-chain fee sharing more seamless and enables quicker launches on additional chains.</p><p>Radiant’s great ambition is to be the go-to money market and source for cross-chain liquidity across all of DeFi. The protocol aims to generate real yield through organic economic activity and protocol fees.</p><p>The protocol has substantial liquidity on&nbsp;Arbitrum ($117m),&nbsp;BNBchain ($86m) and&nbsp;Ethereum ($32m).</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/radiant-v2?revenue=true&amp;events=false&amp;groupBy=cumulative&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</div><p>The goal is for Radiant v2 to be named the protocol with the lowest price to fee ratio in all of crypto — whilst continuing to offer seamless omnichain lending.</p><p>The recent V2 upgrade made Radiant Capital the lowest price to fee ratio in all of crypto while offering its unique product of omni-chain lending.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Aslz8IjYQ9xMIFoUfShmPBpnUQrxzDoato8BwfgF8l1pCPBtyG7ACsvx1oA9AbnSK29Og4wXlfFqotULHyzvTbAzmQdqMGIMbih-Vv_MV38KqdD21cFxmLYD6rS7OT8GO5q715GSyJISpNOt" width="602" height="283"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@RadiantCapital/defis-most-profitable-protocol-part-two-7ab13b11c2c2">Radiant Capital Medium Post</a></h6><p>Radiant Capital also got the #1 in the category “Fees to Market Cap” project in all of DeFi.</p><p>As for Radiant v2’s priorities, they lay in moving the ERC-20 RDNT token to the LayerZero OFT (Omnichain Fungible Token) format. This move will make cross-chain fee sharing much easier, enabling quicker launches on additional chains, and permitting native ownership of bridging contracts instead of relying on third-party bridges.</p><h3>Exit Penalties in V2</h3><p>If in Radiant v1, users must vest their RDNT emissions for 28 days or incur a 50% reduction in claimable emissions to receive their tokens, v2 version gives users who exit early between 10–75% of all emissions, depending on the remaining vesting time. As for vesting time, it is&nbsp; increased from 28 to 90 days.</p><h3>Expired Locks</h3><p>Expired locks in v1 received the same treatment as locked RDNT.&nbsp; In v2 expired locks will be from the emissions pool. Users could use an “auto-relock” option in the UI, which allows them to get emissions automatically as they normally would.</p><h3>Changes to Protocol Fees</h3><p>In Radiant v1, protocol fees generated from borrowers were emitted equally between RDNT lockers &amp; lenders. Radiant v2 will provide a&nbsp; better utility proposition for liquidity providers. The ratio of protocol fee splits will be improved while reducing the impact of vesting RDNT.</p><p>The split for v2 will look like:</p><ul><li>60% of protocol fees is allocated to dLPs;</li><li>25% is allocated to the lenders’ base fee;</li><li>15% is allocated to DAO controlled Operating Expenses Wallet.</li></ul><p>As for other crucial changes in the project, the Radiant Protocol, contributors made the Radiant website and app much easier to interact with. The team believes it will help to attract new users thanks to a more intuitive design and onboarding process.</p><p>Another important thing to mention is that Radiant will continue to provide users with borrowing and lending cross-chain. Those are the platform's pillars. However, if users want to be eligible for RDNT emissions, they will need to own a minimum 5% threshold in locked Dynamic Liquidity relative to the total value of their deposit.</p><h2>Roadmap &amp; Plans</h2><p>Radiant’s current roadmap details to V4. So, Radiant V3 will fully integrate LayerZero instead of Stargate and will allow users to deposit on one chain and repay on others. Based on its roadmap, Radiant aims to become an omnichain money market.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/JMiWkFU18Y-EhSFWLHfuiET45WYCQQ2VGHmkM7qKUKgU8npX972fmp0UwK8yITUrhlwKCCQ0Jx_o80aM2abczpkuhMX-dyB-OxdextTDElExGQ7smTRhLY4MTz7PMxS_bqoaMMN-cinfJh3e" width="602" height="339"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.radiant.capital/radiant/other-info/radiant-dao-roadmap">Radiant Capital Docs</a></h6><h2>RDNT Token &amp; Tokenomics</h2><ul><li><strong>Market Cap:</strong> $136,485,471</li><li><strong>Circulating Supply:</strong> 426,896,503 RDNT</li><li><strong>Maximum Supply:</strong> 1B RDNT</li><li><strong>Ranking: </strong>#295</li></ul><p><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/ru/currencies/radiant-capital/">RDNT</a>, an&nbsp;<a href="https://layerzero.gitbook.io/docs/evm-guides/code-examples/oft-overview">OFT-20</a>, is Radiant's native utility token.&nbsp;</p><p>LayerZero’s OFT token interoperability solution allows native, cross-chain token transfers. After voting for&nbsp;<a href="https://dao.radiant.capital/#/proposal/0x058ea8db46ec92bfec2a36691aba75f671f04e99c6ffa7141768e3760d8bf584">Governance Proposal RFP-4</a>, RDNT emissions ecosystem participants to provide utility to the platform as dynamic liquidity providers (dLP).</p><p>Only users who locked dLP (liquidity tokens) activate eligibility for RDNT emissions on their deposits or borrows.</p><p>Besides, dLP’s share in the utility of Platform Fees is captured in blue-chip assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and stablecoins from borrowers paying loan interest, flash loans, and liquidation fees.</p><p><a href="https://dao.radiant.capital/#/">Radiant DAO</a> provides its users with decentralized discussions, voting, and governance, which includes influence on the decisions, and the vision of the Radiant ecosystem.&nbsp;</p><p>The RDNT token has a circulating supply of $300M with a total supply of $1B. It has an emission rate of approximately $20M every month following this token release schedule.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/WcrXL1H0z8soN9Wwev7Hc0tAU9ajj1w4rr2bqvLhM_kaI_eTXOFKgDyk_Q_bL75Xc4z-CD8sN6668e3ylrPytXes9Cgb1YtsX_M156yL9VCmlBiQ06gquM96TbPi0WRkmZOCgNNV12OcHOBs" width="602" height="276"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.radiant.capital/radiant/project-info/rdnt-tokenomics">Radiant Capital Docs</a></h6><ul><li>The initial RDNT token launch date: 24 July 2022.</li><li>The maximum supply of RDNT is capped at $1B, with an inflationary type emission rate since genesis.&nbsp;</li><li>The supply of RDNT is expected to be fully vested on 24 Aug 2024.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/XQq6wqtUZx8ZmaLiqDWLcbhQCd2mymwfQU0ey4YtdJNO1TQeq_D2A7BSqDZVQv0B7dy6JHY4ORhfXoBpx7qCeUkyxhIjtI_TghKDiyWfXiJ6-5tTNcYvI7HQiqGV6AloRnEXv63RWsNoZjXQ" width="602" height="312"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/radiant-capital/tokenomics">Coingecko</a></h6><h2>What Is dLP?</h2><p>Dynamic Liquidity Provisioning (DLP) is a one of a kind feature of Radiant. It's implemented to attract long-term liquidity and reward protocol participants. To get dLP users can ZAP ETH or BNB on Radiant or lock RDNT-BNB / RDNT-ETH liquidity dLP on BNB Chain. dLP participants also become a part of the Radiant governance system.</p><h2>How dLP Works?</h2><ul><li>Deposits and Locking of dLP Tokens: to become a Dynamic Liquidity Provider (dLP) users:</li></ul><ol><li>deposit their assets into the protocol;</li><li>lock a certain amount of dLP tokens (RDNT-BNB), which are liquidity tokens obtained from the deposited assets. A user should have a minimum of 5% locked dLP tokens relative to the size of the user's deposit to activate RDNT emissions.</li></ol><ul><li>Activation of RDNT Emissions: when users lock the required amount of dLP tokens, they become exposed to RDNT emissions on their deposits and borrows.&nbsp;</li><li>Locking Period and Rewards: the locking dLP tokens process varies from 1 to 12 months and must be locked again after maturity to continue getting platform fees.&nbsp;</li></ul><p>The dLPs also share in the utility of platform fees captured in blue-chip assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and stablecoins from borrowers paying loan interest, flash loans, and liquidation fees.</p><h2>dLP: Profits</h2><ul><li><strong>Incentivized Participation:</strong>&nbsp;DLP encourages long-term participation in the Radiant Protocol which allows dLP holders to earn rewards just by providing liquidity.</li><li><strong>Attraction of Liquidity:</strong> potentially, RDNT emissions and platform fees may attract more liquidity providers, leading to stronger and stable Radiant Protocol markets.</li><li><strong>Governance Participation:</strong> dLP tokens provide governance voting power, allowing dLPs to contribute to the decision-making and development of the Radiant Protocol ecosystem.</li></ul><h2>Why Use Radiant?</h2><p>In situations when you need a loan, you firstly need to go to a bank or&nbsp;other financial institutions to get it through all red-tape procedures the one may face. Radiant gets rid of the intermediaries from asset trading, futures contracts, and savings accounts.</p><p>As we know, a lending protocol operates on a network with high activity volume and broad adoption among institutions to operate to the fullest.</p><p>Radiant utilizes optimistic rollups implemented by the<a href="https://arbitrum.io/"> Arbitrum network</a> to solve the Ethereum monopoly dilemma with its rather high gas cost. You can enjoy Arbitrum’s compatibility with Ethereum and Ethereum’s security strengthen making it one of the most powerful blockchains.</p><p>According to the latest DeFi narratives, cross-chain borrowing and lending may be a significant industry in the future. Radiant has gained substantial traction on Arbitrum and BNB chain, and obviously, has a great potential to grow and evolve.</p><p>The RDNT token is used by lenders to secure a share of platform fees and emissions. If the team can grow TVL it should increase demand for the RDNT token and bring additional value to the project.</p><p>The project’s governance system is nicely done in terms of protecting the developers who are about to launch the project from scratch with no funding. It is a protocol that will be a part of the omnichain future.</p><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Radiant Capital is definitely a serious player in the lending market, that is continually developing and thinking of new ways of solving the DeFi economy problems.</p><p>The protocol has won <a href="https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/radiant-final-stip-round-1/16929">Arbitrum Grant</a>, that is another approval from Arbitrum, and having launched on Mainnet, to work more on a specific roadmap.</p><p>To sum it up, Radiant v2 is obviously better than Radiant v1 and it is positioning itself to be the go-to money market and source for cross-chain liquidity across all DeFi space.</p><h2><span style="color:rgb(33,34,36);">Follow Us on Socials</span></h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Radiant Capital V1 & V2: Research

<h2>Intro</h2><p>Mint Club enables the creation of customizable tokens or NFTs with bonding curves, allowing any ERC20 token to be chosen as the base asset. This capability extends across a range of EVM-compatible L1 and L2 networks, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Avalanche. This eliminates the need for a manual liquidity pool setup.</p><p>Binance Labs has invested in the team from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/ecosystem/binance-labs-launches-season-3-of-incubation-program-421499824684903042">Incubation Program Season 3</a>, leading to the successful launch of Mint Club V1 in 2021. Mint Club V1 onboarded numerous creators, resulting in the creation of over +4,700 assets.</p><p>Notum makes it possible to track all your bonding curve-backed tokens in one space — in&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/account/0x9EBBbcc00BF3f0765ea7bBC4CFE555dc97F7F2C2">Notum’s Portfolio Manager</a>. It’s a convenient way of having all your investments before your eyes. Without this Notum’s feature, you couldn’t keep track of the tokens, and this is a gap where Notum gets you covered.&nbsp;</p><p>After more than a year of intensive research, multiple prototype iterations, and overcoming protocol design challenges, Mint Club proudly introduces Mint Club V2! Explore further details on the enhancements introduced in V2!</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Q: First, what is a Bonding Curve?</span></h2><p>A Bonding Curve is a mathematical curve that determines the price of a token in a Base Asset at different “Supply” levels. When tokens are bought, they are minted by the contract, and the corresponding Base Asset is added to the pool. Conversely, selling tokens results in their burning, and the seller receives a predetermined amount of the Base Asset. This automated process of the bonding curve eliminates the necessity for token creators to manually set up a liquidity pool, like in Uniswap.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/vnDTsmKUEDwO2xM2XQ8ruMQOJELOIBY3tzDnB-YFXuRwt-wSh27YJT8clJD4x5qFj34ZvOVGUV4a_65IutymQomOONp-jYuUE2DACkPtjZDxKo525tOlAj76WdQxZxM0JGMAPYRAMP8Hdrh3cuupom4" width="558" height="591"><br><strong>Source:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mint.club/create/curve"><strong>https://mint.club/create/curve</strong></a></h6><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Q: Can I also customize the Bonding Curve?</span></h2><p>When creating your bonding curve token or NFT on Mint Club, you'll use the bonding curve wizard, which allows for complete customization based on your needs. You can choose the curve type from options like:</p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>Linear</strong></span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:512/493;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/unnamed-1.png" width="512" height="493"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://mint.club/create/curve">https://mint.club/create/curve</a></h6><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>Exponential</strong></span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:512/308;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/unnamed-2.png" width="512" height="308"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://mint.club/create/curve">https://mint.club/create/curve</a></h6><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>Logarithmic</strong></span></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1600/800;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/unnamed.png" width="1600" height="800"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://mint.club/create/curve">https://mint.club/create/curve</a></h6><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Flat Price</strong></p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:512/483;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/unnamed-3.png" width="512" height="483"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://mint.club/create/curve">https://mint.club/create/curve</a></h6><p>Adjusting the price variation intervals lets you set the number of steps for identical price level ranges throughout your token’s journey. Additionally, you can define token specifications, including the initial minting price, creator's free minting allocation, final minting price, and maximum minting supply</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Q: What are the benefits of using a Bonding Curve?</span></h2><p>Using a Bonding Curve removes the necessity for a manual liquidity pool for tokens. The minting/burning mechanism inherent in the bonding curve contract ensures tokens or NFTs are tradable immediately upon creation. Moreover, you have the ability to tailor your tokenomics by designing the price-supply curve. This facilitates the independent operation of your token/NFT, free from reliance on exchanges, centralized control, or order books.</p><ol><li>Key Benefits as Creator<ol><li>Automatic Liquidity Pool via Bonding Curve (Instantly Tradable)</li><li>Flexibility in Bonding Curve Design and Base Asset Selection on EVM Chains</li><li>Easy Monetization with Creator Royalties<br>&nbsp;</li></ol></li><li>Key Benefits as Holder/Trader<ol><li>Stabilized Liquidity Pool</li><li>Controlled Asset Minting&nbsp;</li><li>Predictable Price Changes with Bonding Curve Model</li></ol></li></ol><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Q: What are the benefits of using the Mint Club platform?</span></h2><p>Mint Club offers two primary benefits:&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>“Comprehensive Flexibility” in designing bonding curves</strong></span></p><ul><li>With Mint Club, create bonding curve tokens or NFTs with total design control, no coding needed. Choose from curve types like linear, exponential, or flat line, and adjust price variation intervals for your token's journey.&nbsp;</li><li>Additionally, set key token specifications like initial minting price, free minting allocation, final minting price, and supply. Launch your asset on various Layer 1 and 2 networks using any ERC20 token as the base asset.</li></ul><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>“Straightforward Monetization” through creator royalties</strong></span></p><ul><li>Creators can choose royalty rates ranging from 0% to 50% for minting or burning your token or NFT. These royalties automatically accumulate in the owner's address, allowing for straightforward monetization of your project by setting the royalty option during your bonding curve asset's creation.</li></ul><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Q: Which chains does Mint Club support?</span></h2><p>Mint Club currently supports EVm-compatible multi-chains such as Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Sepolia (Testnet). Mint Club will support additional chains may be introduced in the future!</p><h2><span style="font-size:24px;">Q: Can I also track my holding assets that were created on Mint Club?</span></h2><p>Yes, you can easily manage the portfolio of your assets created on Mint Club by using Notum. Mint Club V2 has integrated Notum into the "My Portfolio," clearly displaying the assets you hold with specific holding amounts.</p><ol><li>Connect your wallet to Mint Club.</li><li>Click on your wallet address button.</li><li>Select "My Portfolio" under the wallet address.</li><li>You will then be redirected to Notum, where you can check your holding assets.</li></ol><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Jte38b30My2xZ2XfI27HbqlShspANePuXf4J5lLlxYjJyGSl5JKlTB2KQmu853QkHzbIQnTUdXveEUpdj3JHA4vZEguDc4qWFeU_JltbRBVFi0dDVWjnljD9svd8oDoc2yci9pL1o0c-uSnIkL4-zjM" width="624" height="504"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://mint.club/">Mint Club Website</a></h6><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/PXT33yBzjwriCAAbjulqZopW2K9yjSOwTkk-sQqzWCHYUSISbz6Sh4N7LxekS8JlynbqbWGsWV97csGD_UWIST7Fo8dvGCY52U95e6dmT-4XCnuz7a6OBqLOWzFt0ufGum46cSSq3MujbTAZaOId3lU" width="624" height="532"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://app.notum.ai/account/0x9EBBbcc00BF3f0765ea7bBC4CFE555dc97F7F2C2">Notum App</a></h6><h2>To Sum It Up</h2><p>There have been a few cases utilizing the Bonding Curve model in the SocialFi industry, such as Friend.tech and BitClout. However, there is a rare instance of a platform providing the creation of Bonding Curve Tokens or NFTs at the protocol level.</p><p>Mint Club offers support across 7 EVm-compatible Multi-Chains and various Bonding Curve models, enabling easy customization of your token and NFT creation. While these present new challenges for Mint Club, we are excited about introducing more creative assets to our users!</p><p>Mint Club’s collaboration with&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/">Notum App&nbsp;</a>provides users with a better understanding of their investments and detailed data that could be crucial at times. This opportunity makes your overall DeFi experience way friendlier and handy.</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Meet Mint Club — a user-friendly platform for creating bonding curve-backed tokens or NFTs that you can track on Notum's platform. Learn more on the topic right now!

Mint Club: Bonding Curve Asset Portfolio by Notum

<p>Here is another interesting and exciting week full of ups and downs in the DeFi space. Don’t you believe that? Then check out our weekly DeFi digest bringing together all the highlights worth coming across.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><ol><li><a href="https://pacific.manta.network/"><strong>Manta Pacific</strong></a>, having $1.7B, became the third-largest Ethereum Layer 2 network in terms of TVL and surpassed Base protocol. The protocol is up 51% in the past week, moving it the top gainer among the 100 most valuable digital assets.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/crypto-gainers-losers?time=d7&amp;top=100"><strong>CoinGecko claims that</strong></a><strong>.</strong></li><li>Liquid restaking protocols surpass $900M or 45% of EigenLayer’s TVL. The&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/blog/investment-idea-restaking-with-eigenlayer"><strong>loudly buzzing liquid restaking</strong></a> sector continues to grow, with Swell becoming the latest project to launch a token offering yields via EigenLayer.</li><li><span style="color:#404040;">Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade is live on Sepolia testnet, with mainnet scheduled for March. This upgrade will introduce the </span><a href="https://www.eip4844.com/"><span style="color:#404040;"><strong>Proto-Danksharding proposal</strong></span></a><span style="color:#404040;">, allowing L2s to reduce gas costs when posting rollup data on Ethereum.</span></li><li>Not only unicorns and leprechauns live in the DeFi space. Some&nbsp;<a href="https://abracadabra.money/"><strong>Abracadabra Finance</strong>&nbsp;</a>contracts were drained of $6.49 million and led to its Magic Internet Money (<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/magic-internet-money"><strong>$MIM</strong></a>) stablecoin to depeg. <a href="https://peckshield.com/"><strong>PeckShield</strong></a> revealed that the unknown hacker was funded through Tornado Cash.</li><li>dYdX has upgraded to V3, launching interchain accounts and providing liquid staking of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dydx-chain"><strong>$DYDX</strong></a><strong>. </strong>Apart from staking Users securing&nbsp;<a href="https://dydx.exchange/blog/dydx-chain"><strong>dYdX Chain</strong></a><strong>,</strong> users can convert their staked DYDX tokens into liquid assets and trade or use them in DeFi applications.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/CamelotDEX/status/1752327957354270791"><strong>Camelot</strong></a><strong> </strong>will be the infrastructure for Orbit networks. That potentially might lead to new users and more transactions. Thus, end up with increasing trading volumes and APY. Check&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments?protocols=Camelot%20V2"><strong>those strategies</strong>&nbsp;</a>right now on Notum.</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/LayerZero_Labs/status/1751961057151840754"><strong>LayerZero v2 is live</strong></a>! This goes to $ZRO, a&nbsp;<a href="https://layerzero.network/"><strong>LayerZero</strong>&nbsp;</a>native token issuing that will make transactions even cheaper. There will be an airdrop with about $3B of tokens issued. For the best experience of providing liquidity through the&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments?protocols=Camelot%20V2,Stargate"><strong>Stargate bridge</strong></a>, use the Notum app. Read more on how to use bridging in a&nbsp;<a href="https://paragraph.xyz/@coinbase_ventures/state-of-bridging"><strong>cool article</strong></a><strong> </strong>from Coinbase Venture.</li><li>Swell has&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/swellnetworkio/status/1752042478243611134"><strong>announced</strong></a> the launch its new asset LRT— Restaked Swell Ether (rswETH) that gives users an opportunity to earn Pearls,<a href="https://twitter.com/EigenLayer">&nbsp;<strong>@EigenLayer</strong></a> Points, and future restaking rewards. This token empowers users to earn Ethereum staking rewards and native restaking yield from EigenLayer without locking up periods, meaning users can also use their tokens in other DeFi protocols.</li><li>Talking of a hot restaking narrative, EigenLayer delayed its cap raise to&nbsp;5th February. It will introduce new assets: $sfrxETH,&nbsp;$mETH, and&nbsp;$LsETH. Check&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments?assets=SFRXETH&amp;apy=0,2170.69328&amp;tvl=100013,21637856185"><strong>these investment strategies</strong></a> here and learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/blog/frax-finance-reviewed-by-notum"><strong>Frax</strong></a> to make smarter decisions.</li><li><a href="https://synthetix.io/"><strong>Synthetix</strong></a><strong> </strong>will launch Synthetix Perps on Base network soon, making it possible to use $USDC as collateral on top of the currently possible option — $sUSD.</li></ol><p>As you can clearly see, DeFi this week was more about a positive outlook, and it’s full of energy to create and evolve. Let’s see what the future has prepared for the upcoming week. See you in our next digest!</p>

Only the latest news and updates from around the DeFi planet.

Notum’s wDeFi: DeFi Wrapped in a Week

<h2>About Spark</h2><ul><li><strong>TVL: $3, 107B</strong></li><li><strong>Number of pools tracked: 13</strong></li><li><strong>Average APY: 1.45%</strong></li><li><strong>Top 5 competitors: Maker DAO, AAVE V3, Compound V3, Liquidity, Morpho Aave V2</strong></li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/spark?&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe>

</div><p>Spark is on a mission to empower the DAI ecosystem. As part of the MakerDAO community.</p><h3>DeFi Infrastructure</h3><ul><li><strong>SparkLend:</strong> The DAI centric money market protocol. Combining the best liquidity directly from Maker and vertically integrating with the best DeFi protocols;</li><li><strong>sDAI</strong> is a yield bearing stablecoin, representing DAI in the Dai Savings Rate (DSR) module, which distributes revenue from the Maker protocol to DAI holders;</li><li><strong>SparkConduits</strong> allow for direct liquidity from Maker to protocols as part of the overall Maker Allocation System.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/6oJD-yO94T9KjIENcUCYsWBWBO5q6lGpMsNxEPHtYCMbcjQVvyRQZAT2GVlTbzQN9NvsQhK5YJ0juKxj0tfdgNcSEn03VQUZkhLGwnYXcbT7PZS1mOkoU8FifGuvl349cfF96ZEEokeNQ4r5nKjQ8bk" width="602" height="372"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://spark.fi/">Spark website</a></h6><p>SparkDAO is a Maker Allocator subDAO that owns and manages Spark through decentralised governance. Its launch, alongside the other subDAOs, is scheduled for May 2024.</p><h2>SPK token</h2><p>The SPK token is not released yet, please beware of scammers. The SPK token is the governance token for SparkDAO. The SPK token has not been launched, it is scheduled to be released alongside the launch of SparkDAO on May 2024. The subDAO launch will be accompanied by the launch of the token farming program, for more information please the following forum post<a href="https://forum.makerdao.com/t/sparkdao-spk-pre-farming-airdrop-general-subdao-farming-overview/21595"> SparkDAO SPK pre-farming airdrop; general SubDAO farming overview</a>.</p><p>There is an airdrop incentive program currently running for SparkLend users that either deposit ETH and/or borrow DAI, for more information please see the following forum post<a href="https://forum.makerdao.com/t/proposed-spark-pre-farming-airdrop-formula/21786"> Proposed Spark Pre-farming Airdrop Formula</a>.</p><p>Please be aware that details of the airdrop and token farming may change.</p><p>Find the current balances of users eligble for the airdrop through depositing ETH and/or borrowing DAI in the<a href="https://spark.blockanalitica.com/v1/ethereum/airdrop/"> BlockAnalitica's website</a>.</p><h2>SparkLend</h2><p>SparkLend is decentralised non-custodial liquidity protocol where users can participate as suppliers, borrowers or liquidators. Suppliers provide liquidity to a market and can earn interest on the crypto assets provided, while borrowers are able to borrow in an overcollateralized fashion. Borrowers can also engage in one-block borrow transactions (”flash loans”), which do not require overcollateralization.</p><p class="note">Spark allows users to optimise their assets supplied to the SparkLend in terms of yield generation and borrowing power.</p><h2>SparkLend Features</h2><h3>Efficiency Mode (eMode)</h3><p>The High Efficiency Mode or eMode allows borrowers to extract the highest borrowing power out of their collateral when supplied and borrowed assets are correlated in price, particularly when both are derivatives of the same underlying asset (eg. stablecoins pegged to USD).</p><p>This can enabling a wave of new use cases such as High leverage forex trading, Highly efficient yield farming (for example, deposit ETH staking derivatives to borrow ETH), Diversified risk management etc.</p><h3>Isolation Mode</h3><p>New assets can be listed as isolated. Borrowers supplying an isolated asset as collateral cannot supply other assets as collateral (though they can still supply to capture yield). Borrowers using an isolated collateral can only borrow stablecoins that have been permitted by the Maker Governance to be borrowable in isolation mode, up to a specified debt ceiling.</p><h3>Siloed Borrowing</h3><p>Siloed borrowing allows assets with potentially manipulatable oracles to be listed on Spark as single borrow asset i.e. if a user borrows siloed asset, they cannot borrow any other asset. This helps mitigating the risk associated with such assets from impacting the overall solvency of the protocol.&nbsp;</p><h2>Risk Management</h2><p>SparkLend brings a greatly improved set risk parameters and new features to protect the protocol from insolvency.</p><h3>Supply and Borrow Caps</h3><p>The Maker governance can now configure Borrow and Supply Caps.</p><ul><li><strong>Borrow Caps</strong>: allow to modulate how much of each asset can be borrowed, which reduces insolvency risk;</li><li><strong>Supply Caps</strong>: allow to limit how much of a certain asset is supplied to SparkLend. This helps reducing exposure to a certain asset and mitigate attacks like infinite minting or price oracle manipulation.</li></ul><h3>Granular Borrowing Power Control</h3><p>In SparkLend, it will be possible to lower the borrowing power of any asset to as low as 0% without any impact on existing borrowers (it’s still possible to use the old approach - liquidating existing users - if deemed necessary)</p><h2>DSR &amp; sDAI</h2><p>Dai Savings Rate (DSR) is an addition to the Maker Protocol that allows any Dai holder to earn savings in Dai.Dai does not automatically earn savings, rather you must activate the DSR by interacting with the DSR contract<a href="https://etherscan.io/address/0x197e90f9fad81970ba7976f33cbd77088e5d7cf7#code"> pot</a> of the Maker Protocol. This means transferring Dai from your wallet to the Maker Protocol.&nbsp;</p><p>It is important to note that the Dai can always be redeemed immediately (within a block), as there are no liquidity constraints, and can ONLY be retrieved to the depositing account.Therefore it can be beneficial for any custodian of Dai to integrate functionality to activate the DSR on Dai in their custody. Similarly, any decentralized exchange, wallet or dapp in general can enable anyone to earn the DSR by integrating the functionality as well.​</p><h3>What is EDSR?</h3><p>Enhanced Dai Savings Rate (EDSR) is a system to temporarily increase the effective DSR available to users in the early bootstrapping stage when DSR utilization is low. The EDSR is determined based on the DSR and the DSR utilization rate, and decreases over time as the utilization increases, until it eventually disappears when utilization gets high enough. EDSR is a one-time, one-way temporary mechanism, which means that the EDSR can only decrease over time, it cannot increase again even if DSR utilization goes down.</p><p>Other parameters and mechanisms that are dependent on the DSR, such as certain stability fees, are not affected by the EDSR, but only by the underlying DSR. This means it is possible that stability fees can be lower than the EDSR when it is in effect.​</p><p class="note">EDSR Upper Limit = 5%</p><figure class="table"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:25%;"><col style="width:25%;"><col style="width:25%;"><col style="width:25%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td><strong>Tier</strong></td><td><strong>Utilization</strong></td><td><strong>Multiplier</strong></td><td><strong>Effective DSR</strong></td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>0% - 35%</td><td>1.75x</td><td>5.00%</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>35% - 50%</td><td>1.15x</td><td>4.83%</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>&gt;50%</td><td>1x</td><td>4.20%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>​What is sDAI?</h2><p>Savings Dai (sDAI) is an ERC-4626 representation/wrapper of DAI in the Dai Savings Rate (DSR) module. sDAI allows users to deposit DAI to receive the yield generated by the Maker protocol while still being able to transfer, stake, lend and use it in any way you want.</p><p>“Swapping” between DAI and sDAI does not need to be done via a DEX but can be achieved by depositing and withdrawing from the DSR module. You can interact with sDAI through the frontend at<a href="https://app.spark.fi/sdai/">&nbsp;SparkLend</a>.</p><h2>How sDAI Works</h2><p>The DAI stablecoin is minted by MakerDAO using USDC, ETH &amp; other digital assets as collateral. The Dai Savings Rate (DSR) enables any DAI holder to earn savings. To activate the DSR, users must interact with the DSR contract transferring DAI from their wallets to the contract. There is no lock up and DAI can be redeemed immediately.</p><p>The Enhanced Dai Savings Rate (EDSR) is a system designed to temporarily increase the DSR for early adopters during the early bootstrapping stage. EDSR decreases over time as the utilization rate increases.</p><p>Spark Protocol are taking advatage of this product and have created an ERC4626 vault token called sDAI (Savings Dai) which represents a position of DAI in the DSR module.</p><p>By depositing DAI, users can earn yield generated by the Maker protocol and simultaneously retain the ability to transfer, stake, lend, and use sDAI in any way they see fit. Interchanging between DAI and sDAI can be accomplished by depositing and withdrawing from the DSR token contract via the app at&nbsp;<a href="https://app.sparkprotocol.io/sdai/">https://app.sparkprotocol.io/sdai/</a></p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/DE76dmZPZPZHb9DyPXcUV5PFXJcvYdk0j4xsBlaxevx8r8R6BcitQhL7EjRYZawzx-6H7K8zZwx8k_62C2mu8Q_eZgdp5am82v73Z0r3VsKDqFYMkQ7h-sZvadsq-7YrwLzlsq9HjSVwGOXpRLGN2AQ" alt="Spark Protocol sDAI User Interface" width="602" height="379"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.spark.fi/">Spark app</a></h6><h2>Follow Us on Socials</h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

What's Spark's mission and how is it connected to DAI? Notum will tell you everything in detail.

Spark Finance: Decoded by Notum

<h2>Jones DAO: Essentials</h2><ul><li><strong>TVL:&nbsp; $30.48M</strong></li><li><strong>Market Cap: $4.67M</strong></li><li><strong>Average APY: 57.44%</strong></li><li><strong>Chains: Arbitrum, Ethereum</strong></li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/jones-dao?&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</div><p>Jones DAO provides vaults enabling 1-click access to institutional-grade strategies. These strategies open up liquidity and capital efficiency for DeFi through yield-bearing tokens.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/8oUmKCp8bpkk4WEAnA-0qjtyoeUUbNBKAaS1NukWR2KcoH9C3aUR0uhuuLcNuz3dahqjWB69DGq9Tapv2GEGUD-VNpTmq42Poz3Mp0ftV3rUwDL83HhfKyEUK5TdTk0inKFfqbPE_ASRSG9YcuZ9yrs" width="602" height="123"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: DefiLlama</h6><p>Jones DAO addresses their vaults for:</p><ul><li>Users who&nbsp;don't want to be actively involved in their strategies and looking for ways of utilizing the strategies deployed by the vaults.</li><li>Crypto investors who&nbsp;don’t want to lock their tokens, but rather keep their tokens liquid.</li><li>Protocols that aim&nbsp;to earn extra yield on their treasury positions.</li></ul><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: Obviously, the DeFi market is full of interesting and beneficial projects, so how did you choose to stand up in that flourishing diversity?</strong></i></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>A: Our killer features are derived from two things: our big-brain strategy team and our ability to listen closely to our community. Our community, and the greater crypto ecosystem, acts as a sound board when we assess and iterate on new strategies.&nbsp;</p><p>Every strategy starts from a first-principles method where the end goal is creating something that solves a problem or simplifies a complicated process for users.</p><p>Our killer features include&nbsp;composability, ease of access, and thoughtful incentive design.</p><h2>What Are the jGLP &amp; jUSDC Vaults?</h2><p>jGLP and jUSDC vaults deliver transparent and substantial leveraged yield to crypto investors. They work in synergy to maximize the yield generated by GLP for depositors.</p><ul><li>jGLP: Smart Leverage on the underlying GLP rewards rate.</li><li>jUSDC: Transparent USDC yield without the inefficiencies of competing methods.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/RkoMmr5szuUrY-vHLVcf0RJOxay1e8VtZIMFbMF9huuvC4IrsfvWgdbxnIEd7ThVgFEhotXafk97_kJnMm2a5FYHWP3As2foKPIKLxPf0WQUSr7zL8Gn1K2ztqZArVNs2NsyeI_ULsjQBqBLDSXxlyI" width="602" height="227"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Jones DAO</h6><p>Both vaults have optional auto-compounding. Auto-compound feature allows users to mint the jGLP and jUSDC receipt tokens. The&nbsp;jGLP&nbsp;vault gains yield in&nbsp;ETH, while the&nbsp;jUSDC vault gains yield in&nbsp;USDC.e.&nbsp;Jones is upgrading this vault to only be USDC soon.</p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong>Q: Have you shifted permanently from automating options strategies (Dopex) to perpetual DEX trading (GMX)?&nbsp;</strong></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>A: We haven't really taken a solid stance on any specialty for the protocol. For Jones, the way we assess the value of creating something is whether or not the outcome will:</p><p>a.) Solve a user's problem;</p><p>b.) Generate the best yield;</p><p>c.) Bring more users and sticky liquidity to the protocol.</p><p>While we found amazing success with our jGLP &amp; jUSDC strategies, which are based on GMX, we still study options for potential future strategies. Jones also has a keen interest in building strategies around Uni V3 liquidity, vote incentive markets, and risk tranching, only where the outcome provides a best-in-class strategy for users.</p><h2>How Do They Work?</h2><p>The jGLP and jUSDC vaults work hand-in-hand. They work together to accomplish the following:</p><ol><li>Users can deposit GLP or any GLP basket token into the jGLP Vault, and Arbitrum-bridged USDC.e into the jUSDC Vault.<br>&nbsp;</li><li>The jGLP Vault borrows USDC collateral from the jUSDC Vault to mint more GLP, gaining leverage on its GLP position.<br>&nbsp;</li><li>The jGLP Vault delivers multiplied and transparent yield to depositors.<br>&nbsp;</li><li>The jUSDC Vault accrues USDC yield by receiving a portion of the yield from the GLP strategy built on its collateral.</li></ol><figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUIWFf_LJS4"><div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IUIWFf_LJS4" style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0; left: 0;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></figure><p>The jGLP Vault only borrows from the jUSDC vault without interacting with any other leverage sources. jGLP provides exposure similar to the broad crypto market (i.e ETH, BTC, etc.) while earning multiples of the base GLP yield.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:516/197;" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/ggkzw5vwcaa51ga.png" width="516" height="197"></figure><h6 style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/JonesDAO_io"><span style="color:inherit;">@JonesDAO_io</span></a></h6><p>jGLP uses Smart Leverage, developed with extensive backtesting, to automatically rebalance within an algorithmically determined range. jUSDC provides leverage to jGLP enabling a consistent stream of transparent USDC yield for depositors.</p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong>Q: Talking a bit more on vaults, how do you see your target audience? Who are they?</strong></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>A: Our target audience for vaults are degen holders who want to maximize their yield, or users with a less complex understanding of DeFi who don't want to figure out a strategy for themselves.&nbsp;</p><p>Jones is also a great option for protocols who want to build on top of us, or use Jones strategies to optimize their treasury &amp; protocol-owned liquidity. Simplicity &amp; effectiveness are key for Jones success.</p><p class="idea" style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:hsl(240, 75%, 60%);"><strong>&nbsp;jUSDC is a receipt token, meaning its redeemable value changes over time.</strong></span></p><h2>Benefits &amp; Use Cases</h2><h3>Benefits&nbsp;</h3><p>What are the main benefits of investing in these vaults? Here are some of them:</p><ul><li>Increased jGLP yield streams bring investors enhanced yield.</li><li>jUSDC creates an ideal&nbsp;source of USDC yield on top of a battle-tested yield source, GLP.</li><li>The jUSDC’s architecture is superior to competing designs and&nbsp;avoids the ineffectiveness of “delta neutral” stablecoin yield&nbsp;strategies on the DeFi market.</li><li>The synergy of jGLP and jUSDC provides users with optimal approaches to generating yield in both risk-on and risk-off markets.&nbsp;</li><li>Both strategies remain composable;&nbsp;they can be utilized across different DeFi protocols for various outcomes depending on the needs of a holder.</li></ul><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong>Q: Are you currently developing new vaults, or are you focused primarily on Jones Labs development for now?</strong></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>A: We are currently developing a GMX V2 strategy, and options strategy called Metavaults V2 (a revamped version of a currently deprecated vault strategy), plus full-blown automated liquidity strategies based on Uni V3 architecture.</p><p>Jones Labs is a stepping stone for some of those strategies to become fully fleshed out Jones vaults.</p><h3>Use Cases</h3><p>Let’s have a look at where and how to use the vaults:</p><ul><li>jGLP is the new standard for risk-on yield generation; users can maximize their yield while maintaining approximate exposure to the broad crypto market.</li><li>jUSDC offers risk-averse users a superior source of USDC yield in all market conditions.</li><li>jGLP &amp; jUSDC serve as an ideal pair of tokens for productive treasuries of all sizes.</li></ul><p>Find out more about full technical details of&nbsp; jGLP &amp; jUSDC vaults in the&nbsp;<a href="https://docsend.com/view/vssn9iprznrxa35y"><strong>Whitepaper</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong>Q: Are there plans to extend the usage of jAssets among Dapps beyond Camelot LPs?</strong></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>A: Absolutely! While Camelot has been a great partner and a long-time supporter, we do plan to make many more protocol expansions in the coming year. In fact, there are already a few available!</p><p>If you use jUSDC, there is a very robust lending market ecosystem for that token strategy. You can use Dolomite &amp; Savvy to lend &amp; borrow, as well as Rodeo to gain leverage on your jUSDC tokens. Our jAURA strategy also uses a few protocol collaborations. If you hold wjAURA, you can pair it with ETH in an 80-20 Balancer pool and earn rewards from staking your BPT.</p><h2>jAURA Explained</h2><p>jAURA is an auto-compounding strategy on Ethereum Mainnet that helps crypto investors to earn yield on their AURA tokens. Over time, each jAURA token will become backed by more underlying vlAURA.</p><p>jAURA works by using 3 separate protocols:<br><br>&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href="https://aura.finance/">Aura Finance</a>;</li><li><a href="https://balancer.fi/">Balancer</a>;</li><li><a href="https://hiddenhand.finance/">Redacted Cartel’s Hidden Hand</a>.<br>&nbsp;</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/uizsQHBY_vdUQaXwboH9KggiyAh02-bk44P2rhxxkR0L6oDy07Re5kl9OD8nBbV6dQAghREFo7G91g7Zh_WmabRXH9QchViURk3E8KaU2zBxxk3B7mwt1wWPFkiWvUFkFp2fumpr3pZDWaOVFkNYSZQ" width="602" height="217"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Jones DAO</h6><p>These integrations allow users to collect yield automatically, without the hassle of having to sell tokens, lock positions, or vote in bribe rounds themselves.</p><h2>Why jAURA?</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Bltdor4v68vfDGg0-MbzkOyeOpDlxHVXEbVd5GOMF31Vzzw1kLZRyMhYyus2IkPc03faZ5levqpmTroJyhxCZqxitbBNEiO8I1Z-I7WjMTWgwQtlp_X0eF6bqlRKQIUcIh3w6druG-CpZ7MerDV336U" width="602" height="339"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Jones DAO blog</h6><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It was implemented for AURA holders as the easiest, most effective way to grow their AURA balance.</p><h2>Structure of jAURA</h2><p>The jAURA strategy exists in two forms:</p><ol><li>A non-tokenized auto-compounder;</li><li>A tokenized liquid staking derivative (LSD).</li></ol><p>The non-tokenized auto-compounder jAURA accrues higher yield on average because it is not subject to liquidity incentives, but at the cost of no composability.</p><p>The tokenized LSD gives you the receipt token&nbsp;wjAURA when depositing. This vault does auto-compound, but is subject to liquidity incentives which may bring slightly lower yield than the non-tokenized strategy.&nbsp;<br><br>However, wjAURA tokens are fully composable, meaning they can be used outside of the Jones protocol, in other DeFi protocols.</p><h2>Security Issues: How Secure Jones DAO Is?</h2><p>Jones DAO Vault contracts are audited. However, no matter how thoroughly smart contacts are checked and tested, there is always a slight chance for exploits. Remember a must of any investor — Don't invest more than you’re comfortable to lose.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/xqIEsPqAm9G-yptGr_hDaarqzRRSU5wzDWOspnCqeFm2zmFKIJju8pyjprPS8jgeo2oMAyRj5HM0UW6cdafhcSZnAud6LPQGs8A-1VQDcD2PqWr79KgxyWeF5NtVxyVFe_CC948UlWccDjpDb5SAbEA" width="602" height="252"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:<a href="https://sourcehat.com/audits/JonesDAO/"> SourceHat</a></h6><p>&nbsp;</p><ul><li>OpFi Vaults:<a href="https://solidity.finance/audits/JonesDAO/"> audit report</a>;</li><li>Advanced Strategy Vaults:<a href="https://solidity.finance/audits/JonesDAOGLPVaults/"> third audit report (latest)</a>,<a href="https://solidity.finance/audits/JonesDAOVaultsV2/"> second audit report</a>,<a href="https://solidity.finance/audits/JonesDAOVaults/"> first audit report</a>;</li><li>Jones Aura:<a href="https://solidity.finance/audits/JonesAURA/"> audit report</a>.</li></ul><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><strong>Q: What safety issues are you applying to protect vaults from malicious intentions?</strong></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p>A: Jones is very focused on safety. In order to protect the protocol, we do not allow protocol integrations without strict whitelisting. All calls to the Jones contracts must be done through a proxy contract instead of the deployed address to reduce the chance of another protocol's exploit affecting Jones.&nbsp;</p><p>All our deployed strategies go through multiple rounds of audits and are meticulously checked on a regular basis for irregularities or inconsistencies.</p><h2>Follow &amp; Join Jones DAO</h2><p><a href="https://discord.com/invite/jonesdao?ref=jonesdao.ghost.io"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/DAOJonesOptions?ref=jonesdao.ghost.io"><strong>X</strong></a><strong>|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://docs.jonesdao.io/jones-dao/?ref=jonesdao.ghost.io"><strong>Documentation</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;|</strong><a href="https://app.jonesdao.io/vaults"><strong> Vaults</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Jones DAO is a yield, strategy, and liquidity protocol with vaults that enable 1-click access to groundbreaking DeFi strategies with yield-bearing tokens.

Jones DAO: Best Yields & Vault Strategies Revealed by Notum

<h2>Product Side</h2><ol><li><strong>Improved DeFi Pools Pages:</strong> We’ve enhanced the UI/UX of our DeFi pools pages, making it easier to navigate and simplifying the displaying of risk assessment information.<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240301-at-11.30.53.png" width="2820" height="1642"></li><li><a href="https://www.certik.com/"><strong>Certik</strong></a><strong> Integration</strong>: Our risk assessment framework has been fortified through an integration with Certik. This collaboration leverages Certik’s asset risk rating assessment in our overall pool risk calculations, significantly improving the quality of our assessments.<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/image.png" width="858" height="757"></li><li><strong>New Protocols:</strong> We’ve expanded our support to include&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aurael.ru/">Aura</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sommelier.finance/">Sommelier</a>, and other protocols, adding 100+ new strategies to the platform. This expansion allows you to discover more suitable DeFi investment opportunities.<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240301-at-11.29.54.png" width="2810" height="1634"></li></ol><h2>Marketing Side</h2><ol><li><strong>Teamed up with&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mint.club/"><strong>Mint Club</strong></a>: Now you can effortlessly track assets you created on Mint Club via our portfolio tracker. Check out our top-notch article about Mint Club 👉🏼 <a href="https://notum.ai/blog/mint-club-bonding-curve-asset-portfolio-by-notum"><strong>Mint Club: Bonding Curve</strong></a><strong> </strong><a href="https://notum.ai/blog/mint-club-bonding-curve-asset-portfolio-by-notum"><strong>Asset Portfolio by Notum</strong></a><br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/keeptrackofyourtokensonnotum1.png" width="1600" height="800"></li><li><strong>Collaborated with&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://tangem.com/en/"><strong>Tangem Wallet</strong></a>: We delved into Liquid Restaking narrative, discussing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eigenlayer.xyz/">EigenLayer</a> and potential airdrops from LRTfi projects. Read more 👉🏼 &nbsp;<a href="https://tangem.com/en/blog/post/liquid-restaking-lrt/"><strong>here</strong></a>&nbsp;<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/defi-trends-2024-liquid-restaking-lrt-1-1.png" width="1600" height="800"></li><li><strong>Partnered with&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.swellnetwork.io/"><strong>Swell</strong></a>: Together, we explored their Liquid Restaking token—rswETH, highlighting its differences from LST, its use in DeFi, and Swell's future restaking plans. Dive into the article 👉🏼 <a href="https://notum.ai/blog/open-up-liquid-restaking-with-swell-notum"><strong>Open Up REstaking With Swell &amp; Notum</strong></a><br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/liquidrestakingwithswell1.png" width="1600" height="800"></li><li><strong>Integrated domains from&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://d.id/"><strong>D.ID</strong></a><strong> and&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://unstoppabledomains.com/"><strong>Unstoppable Domains</strong></a>: Access all features, including portfolio tracking, risk assessment, and profit calculation, with just a domain name. Easily find frens to view their portfolios and profits.&nbsp;<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/unstoppable-domains-1.png" width="1600" height="900"></li><li><a href="https://www.alchemy.com/"><strong>Alchemy</strong></a><strong> Listing:</strong> Find us at 👉🏼 <a href="https://www.alchemy.com/dapps/notum-10b54"><strong>DeFi Yield Aggregators</strong></a>&nbsp;<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240301-at-11.47.41.png" width="2880" height="1548"></li></ol><p>New events on the horizon! Stay tuned for engaging content, on-chain activities, and prizes. Keep up with updates and subscribe to our socials to be on the edge of DeFi👇🏼</p><h2>Follow Us on Socials</h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>X</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a><br>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

What’s New, Notum? | February Product Update

Today you'll find out more about VERSE token, low-fee trading, and other Verse perks that you get when joining the Verse universe.

VERSE: Bitcoin.com’s Ecosystem Token

<h2>About Alpaca Finance</h2><ul><li><strong>TVL: $72.06M</strong></li><li><strong>Chains: BSC, Fantom</strong></li><li><strong>Socials:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.alpacafinance.org/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/AlpacaFinance"><strong>X</strong></a><strong>|&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.com/invite/jkC2j9ZVDf"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;</strong></li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/alpaca-finance?borrowed=false&amp;staking=false&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p>Alpaca is one of the biggest platforms of leveraged DeFi products on&nbsp;BNB Chain &amp;&nbsp;Fantom.</p><p>The platform aims to help crypto investors to earn on their crypto deposits. That’s beneficial for both — lenders earn yields, and borrowers can unlock liquidity from their spot positions or short tokens available on the Money Market. Investors can also earn high yields by providing liquidity to Pancakeswap through Automated Vaults using leverage, and multiplying their farming principles and resulting profits.‌&nbsp;</p><p>The platform also has unique features — Perpetual Futures exchange allowing users to capital-efficiently hedge their spot holdings, take directional bets or engage in carry trading by farming funding fees.&nbsp;</p><p>The platform was designed the way an investor could quickly and easily switch between different products and diversify their portfolio by different revenue generation strategies.</p><p>How does Alpaca improve capital efficiency? It offers a real use case of leveraging through bridging borrowers and lenders; connecting people to earn more crypto and invest wiser.</p><p>Alpaca is a fair-launch project meaning no pre-sale, no investor, and no pre-mine, as it’s a product built by the people, for the people.&nbsp;</p><h2>Advanced Ways of&nbsp; Decentralized Trading with Alpaca Finance’s Perpetual Futures Exchange</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/7K6mpi0k4eWV8-oAQFupRuSKGl1vzOz298REo7bOEgvh0KFKbj5pYkfIjN1zhXWxFekK9gXV-Ho13a0UJtaX3z1OyseuLjdMv9ZHcyLo9qlVsykSKa53axQ-hMtaWJQQUKT1r3aEMbgg76Uk8BH5upM" width="602" height="339"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.alpacafinance.org/perpetual-futures-exchange/introduction-to-perpetual-futures-exchange">Alpaca Docs</a></h6><p>Decentralized trading is evolving and so is Alpaca. We’d like to highlight the perpetual futures role in hedging strategies and carry trading in crypto, and some innovative features of Alpaca Finance’s platform that make it truly unique in the DeFi landscape.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/alpaca-perpetual-futures-exchange?&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><h2>Perpetual Exchange: Key Features</h2><h3>1. Funding Rates Farming</h3><p>Alpaca Finance Perpetual Futures Exchange stands out for its funding rates farming. This unique mechanism allows traders to earn by holding positions that are in opposition to the majority of the open interest on an exchange.&nbsp;</p><p>"Unlike centralized exchanges offering futures contracts, Alpaca’s Perp Exchange is fully decentralized, meaning users retain control of their funds at all times. This makes the funds immune to being frozen or becoming inaccessible for any reason, with their presence always being visible on-chain," the Alpaca team.&nbsp;</p><p>If most traders are long - shorts, they are paid. When most of the Open Interest is in shorts then, vice versa, longs are paid.&nbsp;</p><p>Alpaca Finance funding rates are compounded hourly which amplifies the compounding effect.</p><p><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/DV2NK5YsqjqduKZ8KBJPRhazcOHWhawhLaGTRfOHUtWCXxalxMg2p78hgjxuEouiQJrbJuHoDaAkSd3dCOz_MS_3kFtO7fzdZ_a57zy6WjnIQ62xnyycw2UUkeN1cbMCvtK6t3u40NVEwP5pZZ61sg4" width="591" height="306"></p><p>Just compare. Typically, on centralized exchanges, you get funding fees compounded every 8 hours and the revenues looks less exciting:<br><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/EitKpp2KgE4LjjdcoiYtFekMCG6JV4mZQHJX4W5bMcPDAALu3O6dshNL2g6zMO8ONS0-zof1Im_ZcBJuPnfdRzZqEt-LZGidb57Dr_KcFjlsnhT6NOa4nvBFRQfKcyeAk2YKgXFs-N6BU6Qds7wZ0Fk" width="590" height="306.0030256545758">&nbsp;</p><h3>2. Long and Short BTC, ETH, and BNB on Perpetual Futures</h3><p>Users can try out the following trading strategies:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>longing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/mDU5EB2EpWF4nB5LwCEqW8LgVNcyn20fO3XMlJSlOwDm90DjPjieuzoA0L22WHZsKhTojhjTV7Lw2cxo1k5m7-Q4YspmvUFFvkOgEbZ7jS9d8XNSFSjc-ESwf3J6SBaQ-5OkZjqBifQWNKbazUgh4LA" width="602" height="331"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.alpacafinance.org/perpetual-futures-exchange/introduction-to-perpetual-futures-exchange/traders">Alpaca Docs</a></h6><ul><li>shorting those assets to hedge spot positions when the market is in a downtrend.&nbsp;</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/kdX5jXzW8AlEWsffwdgIpl0OGLThhKoBUEhdTwfxZnCIiCJfbLNhqnBea8_k3SMa5Pv1miT-cv8hGYKLoYTg0RgpcwXMckDoOwj0uraUzow_Zq6efc3l8hZ95FNA8KrEWHNAuH8NgTshisF4_HHmV7g" width="602" height="331"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.alpacafinance.org/perpetual-futures-exchange/introduction-to-perpetual-futures-exchange/traders">Alpaca Docs</a></h6><h3>3. Delta neutral setup. Spot and Perpetual Futures Hedge</h3><p>In case, you want to achieve a stable value of your portfolio in crypto or you foresee a downtrend and you don’t want to liquidate your position you can hedge it with Perpetual Futures.&nbsp;</p><p>You can create a short position of the same size as your spot position. Thanks to leverage you can do it optimally by engaging a smaller amount of collateral.&nbsp;<br><br>Very often you can farm the hourly compounded funding fees which are the result of more Open Interest is on long than short.&nbsp;<br><br>You can hold your position as long as the market goes down and funding rates are bringing you profit. After successfully closing a position in profit you will be able to buy more of the base asset you&nbsp; intend to accumulate.hold.&nbsp;</p><h2>Benefits for ALPACA Holders</h2><p>The protocol revenue generated will be issued to xALPACA holders and burn in the following ways:</p><ul><li><strong>10% of 16%</strong>&nbsp;of Perpetual Futures Exchange Fee is used for ALPACA buyback and distributed as revenue sharing to Governance Vault stakers (as Protocol APR).</li><li><strong>6% of 16%</strong>&nbsp;of Perpetual Futures Exchange Fee goes towards weekly buybacks and burns of the ALPACA token.</li></ul><h2>How to Start Using Perp Exchange? Case Study&nbsp;</h2><p>Let’s have a look at a real example of how you can earn more with Perp Exchange.&nbsp;</p><ol><li>You go Short ETH on Alpca Finance Perp Exchange 500$ with 5x leverage;</li><li>Your position size is 2470$ after the entry fee;</li><li>The Funding rate is 0.006% for Shorts with hourly compounding which gives you 69.14% APY on the position size (after borrowing cost);</li><li>You need an opposite exposure now to make your position Deta Neutral;</li><li>You buy 2470 worth of ETH on the spot at the same price and put it into the Alpaca Money Market for Lending;&nbsp;</li><li>Your ETH is safely earning an additional 1% APY;</li><li>You engaged 2970 of your capital (500$ for the perp position and 2470 on spot) and put it to work at a 70% APY rate;</li><li>The Funding rate might change over time to be higher or lower so you should monitor it. Over a longer period, this setup should produce positive results.&nbsp;</li></ol><p>Also, remember to protect your Perp position from liquidation. Sometimes you might need to rebalance the positions if the price goes up.&nbsp;</p><h2>Find Alpaca on Notum</h2><p>You can easily try Alpaca Finance Liquidity Pools right now. Liquidity providers (or LPs) issue assets to one unified liquidity pool which acts as the market-making fund for traders.&nbsp;</p><p>It is similar to an investment into a type of index fund that holds a mix of blue-chip assets such as BNB and ETH and stablecoins e.g. BUSD and USDT, and earns yields from multiple sources, which will be listed below.&nbsp;</p><p>Notum offers&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/investments?protocols=Alpaca%20Finance">4 strategies</a> on the BNB chain. Here are 2 liquidity pools to check out:</p><p>https://app.notum.ai/investments/0x74e4716e431f45807dcf19f284c7aa99f18a4fbc?protocol=Alpaca+Finance&amp;chainId=56<br>&nbsp;</p><p>https://app.notum.ai/investments/0x58f876857a02d6762e0101bb5c46a8c1ed44dc16?protocol=Alpaca+Finance&amp;chainId=56</p><h2>Why Use Alpaca Perp Exchange?</h2><p>Trading on Alpaca Finance’s Decentralized Perpetual Futures Exchange opens a world of opportunities for crypto traders. Whether it’s for funding rates farming, hedging your portfolio or shorting top cryptocurrencies, the platform provides a secure, on-chain environment for both seasoned and novice traders.&nbsp;</p><p>The ability to trade perpetual futures on the BNB chain, coupled with sophisticated hedging strategies, makes Alpaca Finance’s platform an invaluable tool in any trader's arsenal.</p><h2><span style="color:rgb(33,34,36);">Follow Us on Socials</span></h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>X</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Explore Alpaca's gateway for leveraged DeFi products, offering up to 6x leverage on BNB Chain and Fantom.

Alpaca Finance: Decentralized Trading + Case Study

<h2>About Swell&nbsp;</h2><ul><li><strong>TVL:</strong> $815.66M</li><li><strong>Type:</strong> Liquid staking &amp; restaking</li><li><strong>Chains:</strong> Ethereum</li><li><strong>Socials:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.swellnetwork.io/">Website</a>|<a href="https://twitter.com/swellnetworkio">X|</a><a href="https://discord.com/invite/swellnetworkdao">Discord</a>|<a href="https://docs.swellnetwork.io/swell/what-is-swell">Docs</a></li></ul><p>Swell is a staking protocol aimed to provide the best liquid staking and restaking services and simplify DeFi while securing the future of Ethereum and restaking services.</p><p>Crypto investors can generate passive income by staking or restaking ETH to get blockchain rewards and restaked AVS rewards. In return, they will get a yield-bearing liquid token (LST or LRT) to hold or participate in the wider DeFi ecosystem and gain additional yield.</p><h2>Liquid Restaking Narrative</h2><p>Restaking pioneered by&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/blog/investment-idea-restaking-with-eigenlayer">EigenLayer</a> is a new era for Ethereum. It enables staked ETH to be used to secure not only Ethereum’s blockchain, but also other services. What does this mean for…?</p><ul><li><strong>For stakers</strong>, it opens up new opportunities to pledge assets to secure additional protocols (known as&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.eigenlayer.xyz/overview/key-terms#:~:text=Actively%20Validated%20Services%20(AVS)%3A,schemes%2C%20and%20trusted%20execution%20environments.">Actively Validated Services</a>, check out the picture below) adding more layers of risk and reward.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/JEe3z4IA79h1oByCNSEOhnqNH6OmG2kaQgepTVBb2u1AyhCbsp-36rRljBfUfIvKsy9BtEuSrz0X9JyAWhykBSBywnRwoC2KZDXpJoDw9RLD88nWS4KG9h5ZGXNsk2u5wGqcVdPNRfbx-QNy9UEtl2Y" width="602" height="257"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@jamesowen.dev/eigenlayer-an-eth-restaking-protocol-supercharging-off-chain-security-04897f4e3154">Medium</a></h6><ul><li><strong>For new protocols</strong>, makes development way smoother. Instead of bootstrapping the validators and tokenomics needed to secure a blockchain network, they can easily access restaked ETH for immediate economic security.</li></ul><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: From your point of view, what can explain the skyrocketed liquid staking narrative? Why did it gain popularity among crypto investors?</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p><i>A: Staking yields are likely to compress over time and restaking provides a solution to that. The stacking of restaking yields is enticing too, though must be carefully risk managed.</i></p><h2>About rswETH &amp; swETH</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/vW04tK0zjzkIS2FA1EY1klCil-J1NAMyXHJKFxsQgvJ9B7PHTfQXw-BJqqOxVBK7-rS7-XLkcgFpPIsCnfibzkJXwD2YNBP6LByCMNZ82_-4sRhWkceGo9u8AewlxpW1oZBPweBhhJtiU2ceuVe73EY" width="602" height="345"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.swellnetwork.io/">Swell website</a></h6><p><a href="https://notum.ai/blog/investment-idea-restaking-with-eigenlayer">Restaking</a> looks like the biggest narrative within the Ethereum staking landscape at the moment. It was EigenLayer that paved a revolutionary new concept and by doing this drove capital efficiency and improved security outcomes for multiple blockchains from oracles and bridges to data availability layers.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/906269913?h=99d343745f" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"  ="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>How does Swell use this? Let’s highlight 3 main rswETH &amp; swETH features:</p><h3><strong>1. Risk management&nbsp;</strong></h3><p>Yet restaking has looked like potential, using the same pool of assets to provide security for multiple networks creates additional risk. These include slashing risks and risks where the failure of a single validator creates a domino effect across the ecosystem.</p><p>Harnessing these risks is the highest priority in the rswETH creation, and that’s why Swell is working closely with EigenLayer and leading DeFi risk management firms.</p><p>It’s worth noticing that the development of rswETH is supported by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.swellnetwork.io/post/swell-launches-liquid-restaking-council">Liquid Restaking Council</a>. This gathered leading players to ensure the best practice design, development, and delivery of rswETH.</p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: As we can see, the stages of earning yield break into the following scheme: base staking yield =&gt; EL yield (Restaking yield+ EL points) =&gt; LRT protocol yield (Swell's pearls + Emissions) =&gt; DeFi interaction using LRTs (LP, Farm), Trading and Speculation with LRTs.&nbsp;</strong></i></span><br>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><p><i><strong>A:</strong> Users have multiple options available to them when it comes to utilizing their rswETH.&nbsp;</i></p><p><i>We have deployed the first ever double LRT and tri-LRT Pools on Curve and Balancer in collaboration with Ether.fi and Renzo. We also have multiple positions on Maverick that users can deposit into.&nbsp;</i></p><p>All of the pools are earning double Pearls and Points for a specific duration of time.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>2. Uncapped access to Pearls and Points</strong></h3><p>In addition, rswETH provides uncapped access to EigenLayer rewards.</p><p>These rewards will comprise both Pearls and Points:</p><ol><li><a href="https://www.swellnetwork.io/post/the-voyage">Pearls</a> acts as a claim to SWELL tokens, and will be available to collect until the Token Generation Event (TGE), which is forecast for late Q1, 2024.</li><li><a href="https://docs.eigenlayer.xyz/restaking-guides/restaking-user-guide/restaked-points">Restaked Points</a> shows your contribution to the shared security of the EigenLayer ecosystem.&nbsp;</li></ol><p>On top of that, users will also earn restaking rewards by contributing economic security to Actively Validated Services (AVS's). This will happen when EigenLayer begins onboarding AVS’s to mainnet later this year.</p><h2>How to Get Pearls?</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/V0tVh85YCe6PZBdGGOWKUCIJ_CZ4yM1UfSUTz5Yx6gJI7bB3yUjG5gLmsLVRhCIaiuYu209fKw-iMGHgZNd-XJX3onOwtnDGu9_VEAnSb8YYVlpZGpvpj9RIigHuWrtvGHA3pQqIHxjawz4-SgTmTQU" width="602" height="336"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/swellnetworkio/status/1740014882807021912">X</a></h6><ol><li>Stake ETH for $swETH: Earn 30 pearls for a staked ETH.&nbsp;Restake $swETH on EigenLayer: Additional 30 pearls for an ETH.</li><li>Referral Program:&nbsp;Get 10 pearls for each ETH staked by a referred user.</li></ol><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q:&nbsp;Your Pearls incentive program is actively used now and gained popularity among users.&nbsp;</strong></i></span></p><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>The community is wondering if all those Pearls are off-chain, is that possible to track them on the frontend somehow? Do you have a leaderboard or any stats for providing more transparency on already issued Pearls?&nbsp;</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p><i><strong>A:</strong> No, we don't have a leaderboard or overall statistics available. Users can track their individual Pearl earnings on the Voyage dashboard.&nbsp;</i></p><p><i>Despite Pearls being offchain, our dev team is still able to actively track swETH and rswETH users positions in multiple pools and allocate their Pearls accordingly.</i></p><h3><strong>3. Wider rswETH usage</strong></h3><p>When you restake Swell’s liquid staking token swETH into EigenLayer, you must keep it there to continue earning restaking rewards.</p><p>rswETH on the other hand, will remain liquid. This means you can use it however you choose in DeFi — without losing out on your restaking rewards.&nbsp;</p><p>As a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.swellnetwork.io/post/reward-bearing-vs-rebasing-tokens">reward-bearing token</a>, rswETH will continue to rise in price as the rewards accrue, regardless of where it is allocated.</p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: Does it make any sense to hold swETH? It seems that rswETH will bring more yield through time. Can you comment on why you have decided to keep swETH?</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p><i><strong>A:</strong></i><strong> </strong><i>Different users have different risk appetites that we at Swell will continue to cater to. There are some users who are happily holding swETH to earn passive income on their staked ETH, whereas others are interested in the more risk-on opportunities where they can LP their LRT or LST to receive additional rewards.</i></p><h2>Why Invest with Swell?</h2><p>Swell makes it possible to make use of&nbsp;staking and&nbsp;restaking with a transferable ERC-20 token (swETH &amp;&nbsp;rswETH). Thanks to Swell an investor gets the following benefits:</p><ol><li><strong>Higher yields.</strong> Swell provides a unified space for staking yields. You can stake or restake your ETH, and get liquid swETH or rswETH to use in other DeFi protocols.</li><li><strong>Lower fees. </strong>The average ETH staking APY is around 4%, which doesn't leave much room for staking providers to levy their own fees. Swell takes 10% staking fees, and that makes it one of the lowest-cost staking options across the DeFi.</li><li><strong>Staking for everyone. </strong>As you know, it costs a whopping 32 ETH (sth about $50,000) excluding many people from an opportunity to stake. Swell breaks this barrier, enabling anyone to earn rewards by staking with only a few dollars worth of ETH.</li><li><strong>User-friendly staking.</strong> Swell removes technical complexity and makes the staking process streamlined. Thus, you can get started the process right away thanks to a clean and simple interface.</li><li><strong>Self-custody.</strong> Swell's self-custodial staking empowers you to hold assets in your own wallet, and receive staking rewards without compromising on control.</li><li><strong>Security-first approach. </strong>Too many DeFi protocols have sacrificed security for the sake of growth. Swell takes the opposite approach; prioritizing security every step of the way with continuous auditing by leading blockchain security firms.</li><li><strong>Fully-vetted node operators. </strong>When things go wrong and node operators display harmful behavior, staked assets can be forfeited to the network. That's why Swell’s staking pool is managed by a vetted group of best-in-class professional node operators that have the technical expertise and experience needed to avoid problems.</li><li><strong>Tax efficiency.</strong> Swell's swETH and rswETH is not a rebasing token. Instead, it is a reward-bearing token, meaning that the value of the tokens increases to reflect the accumulated staking yield — avoiding the creation of potentially taxable transactions.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Technically innovative.</strong> Swell was built to provide a first-class staking experience that’s why it’s always aligned with the latest Ethereum innovations.</li></ol><p class="idea" style="text-align:center;"><strong>Try out a hot Liquid Restaking narrative with&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/Hjr1ut"><strong>Notum</strong></a><strong>!</strong></p><p style="text-align:center;">https://app.notum.ai/investments/0xf951E335afb289353dc249e82926178EaC7DEd78?protocol=Swell&amp;chainId=1</p><p style="text-align:center;">&nbsp;</p><h2>Final Questions &amp; Thoughts</h2><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: Are you planning to add any other liquid staking tokens to amplify rswETH? If so, what other LST are you aiming to add in the short term?</strong></i></span></p><p><i><strong>A: </strong>Yes there are plans for that, it would start with all the LSTs accepted by Eigenlayer. Plus, we have a great update. Swell is live on Pendle Finance now.&nbsp;</i></p><p><i>This integration makes it possible for you to farm points with leverage or get rid of points and gain fixed substantial yield on Ether.&nbsp;</i></p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/VFUEB5T-dqapovDllwU6FeEj02OUS1ZVIrL0K9Q_BM04kHvihkhhmvbx6D0dEo3mlP4H2QG9ySIDebaXC6GTty8KRy_Z78Re9GVVKNZdxc0v23vL4lEnL2OAcV93bRsbe0HNuuN7t_gVXk6-QA3Mgdg" width="602" height="331"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.pendle.finance/lrt">Pendle App</a></h6><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>Q: Do you have any other plans for how to motivate your users in the future after the TGE?</strong></i></span></p><p><i><strong>A: </strong>Swell has plans to continue to incentivise the community post TGE when we reach Swell City. We will be announcing more information on this in the coming weeks.&nbsp;</i></p><p><i>Liquid staking has its risks and it’s not a bed of roses. However, Swell's TVL shows that it continues to be a naturally growing space within the Ethereum ecosystem.&nbsp;</i></p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/swell-liquid-restaking?&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p>The protocol simplifies the complexity of staking, especially in terms of running validator nodes and helping users control their capital on their own.</p><p>Swell users receive a yield-bearing liquid staking token that provides flexibility, as it can be used within the DeFi ecosystem to generate more yields.</p><h2>Follow Us on Socials</h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>X</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Learn more about liquid REstaking and Swell protocol with its unique initiatives in our Q & A session with Swell's team!

Open Up Liquid Restaking with Swell & Notum

<h2>Intro</h2><p>DeFi is evolving and going beyond the limits of the traditional financial system which looks a bit rigid and conservative for being a part of our future. Decentralization is creating a new reality for us and the next generations right now, and that explains why the market is full of multiple Dapps, narratives, and protocols.</p><p>Fluid, an <a href="https://instadapp.io/"><strong>Instadapp’s brainwave</strong></a>, is one among others to become a part of Web 3.0 history and make DeFi more accessible and user-friendly lending and borrowing space for everyone who needs it.</p><h2>Instadapp: Overview &amp; Key Products</h2><p>One of InstaDApp's highlights is implementing the&nbsp;<strong>DeFi Smart Layer (DSL)</strong> and <strong>DeFi Smart Accounts (DSA)</strong> that helps to integrate various DeFi protocols, so users can manage their positions in lending protocols in a one-click manner, reducing operation steps and gas costs.&nbsp;</p><p>The protocol supports six chains:&nbsp;Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Fantom, Optimism, and&nbsp;Base, providing features like token cross-chain transfers.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/5vF3nM14ofZrg008W0pVdM_7oOfX_tFfHxrbyMNIWgIk9XvvFFsu3zf_ZPxt6lwKMh6wTV5hdBylzIcyC7dMNrviJVzBDGNjz2YQsHweEJy_-1n-b54BZcclRecxKl74eJSkd1YLCvZNjabi" width="602" height="400"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://instadapp.io/">Instadapp website</a></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/F0gI6s8UfTzrjZ6BjHz2tfhU-BN_dC8JsFO0dAylTKIoktrZV-HpdXJ4xfuZ_KMN8EdJT_ItGo_NIskryLZDKG-sJlElnKX40TEy8SIaHEy7yk90AJ0Xj-C3AjWjrgtUomqvl6RE4KjKwiwK" width="602" height="304"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/instadapp">DefiLlama</a></h6><p>The protocol offers several options to interact with the DeFi:</p><h3 style="text-align:center;">Avocado</h3><p><a href="https://instadapp.io/product/avocado">Avocado</a> is a Web3 and absolutely decentralized wallet. Top up the USDC gas tank and easily interact on any network. Simplify gas management and focus on getting things done.&nbsp;</p><p>Key features:</p><ul><li>All transactions on Avocado go within your unified USDC gas tank. You can pay all gas fees in USDC using USDC from any network;</li><li>Built in access to the best DEXes and Bridges from all networks on Avocado;</li><li>A multi-chain USDC gas tank. You can top up once and transact everywhere;</li><li>Secure and quick management of all your multi-chain digital assets from Avax to Polygon zkEVM.</li></ul><h3 style="text-align:center;">Instadapp Pro</h3><p><a href="https://instadapp.io/product/pro">Instadapp Pro</a> is a platform for the guru of the DeFi. It helps to:</p><ul><li>Boost your revenue with advanced built in strategies leverage and unwind in 1-click manner;</li><li>Refinance between different DeFi protocols and use ‘Automation’ to make the most of your investments;</li><li>Try advanced DeFi management.</li></ul><h3 style="text-align:center;">Instadapp Lite</h3><p><a href="https://lite.instadapp.io/">Instadapp Lite</a> is the easiest way to deposit to earn interest on some of the most popular DeFi assets on the market. It could be an option for you if you’re seeking for how to:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>deposit funds into your Strategy Vault and forget about it;</li><li>maximize gains by reducing the number of transactions, saving on gas, automating fee collection;</li><li>simplify the overall process of getting into the DeFi,&nbsp; setting up and actively monitoring a DeFi strategy.</li></ul><h3 style="text-align:center;">Fluid</h3><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/PlpOQOoriIJfLqXZ4dzB0mLUNs1OxdHWd5Z4HmuPSCwEfLXo2WbQjO6b-5q7BwntCTJCajBVtQtEHhjRKVUWIdeTMZiwlm5qlU-VKBuu4zGpePWMUMzu_YNQBbZH2Hn6WYXx7_9ouSoFPL0f" width="602" height="496"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://instadapp.io/">Instadapp website</a></h6><h2>What Is Fluid?</h2><figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/n3v1Bbk21ck?feature=shared"><div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n3v1Bbk21ck" style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0; left: 0;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></figure><p>Fluid is a lending protocol developed by Instadapp’s experienced team. It combines the functionality of the most popular platforms Aave, Compound, Uniswap, Maker and Curve, providing users with unprecedented flexibility and efficiency in managing their funds.</p><p>The protocol's killing feature is to accumulate liquidity and overcome fragmentation.&nbsp;</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/fluid?denomination=USD&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</div><h2>Key Features</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/u3NNrZ5C5u4d4y29DQShrwKydbrBVOFAxT5JTPnzXe9GY6f3BM9SNEnfYq7riZvlljEALB8BZBVFNeWB2pHNX7ltpqJNPMiiyDYrQrRFKgIMzuOtpgijG2vjw6f5exG7iDlnI1iu74V97IPw" width="602" height="364"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.instadapp.io/2023/">Instadapp’s blog</a></h6><ul><li>Highest LTV (Loan to value). Borrow up to 95% against ETH;</li><li>Better rates for lenders and borrowers;</li><li>Advanced security by isolating risk, automated limits and protocols class;</li><li>Opportunity to earn with smart collateral and smart debt;</li><li>Lowest liquidation penalties (about 0.1%);</li><li>Lowest liquidation gas (3-4 times less comparing to other protocols);</li><li>Capital optimization due to no segregation concept.</li></ul><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/_rUdMTZ25BTDRc6eliob3CoLSIdYmnluBjDZjTHYasaLgpJURzZN2MVK1MYFCh6i-OgGm-4KylyWcFw3XFP_9YNarwrhTPMc3ICTYR9_C3IxBculVv9_w4cn5GLGuNtqX5OY2ahgqe4uEbtA" width="602" height="349"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://instadapp.io/">Instadapp website</a></h6><h2>Lending Protocol</h2><p>A lending market is popular among users for the simplest and most habitual use cases of finance. Fluid removes all the complexities related to borrowing and provides a Web2 UX. It’s worth noting that there are 2x-5x more Lenders than there are borrowers. (look at the chart below) So, there is a friction between these two groups of users. Fluid eliminates that. Fluid’s borrowing protocol can be introduced without disrupting lenders, thereby enhancing efficiency.&nbsp;</p><p>Generally, all advancements are made for the borrower’s side. Thus, Fluid solves this by providing users with a long term safe yield while also benefiting from any new advancements on the borrowing side without having to move any assets.&nbsp;</p><p>The&nbsp;Lending protocol has simple rewarding methods and follows the&nbsp;<a href="https://ethereum.org/ru/developers/docs/standards/tokens/erc-4626">ERC4626 standard</a> and is gas optimized, allowing simple and cheap integrations for developers.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/MQIpi7pg9Hdegr4KqSRfTWnvzwEaJ4sbgvvk6CaTiwb105zD46uUW4QdkReJTvnWChFLeq2MX9qkDdDLQqy-rO9f35iGbaoPdnHWQDBTfnDryhpOFu-BB8hoKX_0A-h8su-GRBQsIz9ZLSGt" width="602" height="337"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://instadapp.io/">Instadapp website</a></h6><h2>DEX Protocol</h2><p>Smart debt&nbsp;empowers you to turn your debt into a productive asset by using debt as a liquidity and allowing traders to trade on top of it. Instead of having a token as liquidity, the debt is used as liquidity. Every trade rather than increasing the token liquidity from swap fees, smart debt reduces debt from swap fees.</p><p>Users borrow from a smart debt pool with available vaults. Example: a vault as&nbsp;ETH collateral &amp; smart debt of&nbsp;USDC/USDT. Users deposit their collateral and then borrow against it. The borrowing initiates through the smart debt pool and a share of the overall pool is allocated to that user.</p><ul><li>borrow rate generally remains stable ranging from&nbsp;3-5%&nbsp;(depending on how the rate curve is being managed);</li><li>trading APR varies from day to day depending on the trading activity.&nbsp;</li></ul><p>This allows users to get the best borrow rates in the market. In some scenarios they might even get paid to borrow making Fluid the perfect place to manage your position.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/YSuvkMqbuR0Jr56NHzmiV7cH6jf7nOJ1vGpUZuVarBmdIF1Bl5VJE5HLhSJkyh7AIbjRy6m8RbKuwXQjqT7pqqX-TI12wok783mXMHP7mvneo5k0gXak-LX9cmYQm4YSBJeisXhC-BR_ohT9" width="602" height="328"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Instadapp website</h6><p>The DEX protocol introduces&nbsp;smart debt and smart collateral. That was made for users to utilize their debt and collateral as liquidity for trading purposes.&nbsp;</p><p>The v1 of DEX protocol will be similar to a combination of Uniswap v2 and Uniswap v3. V2 may be based on Uniswap v4.</p><p>Smart collateral pools are like any AMM pool, where users can earn from trading fees while simultaneously lending their collateral &amp; borrowing against it.&nbsp;</p><p>Smart debt pools can be imagined as an inverse of any AMM pool, allowing borrowers to use their debt as liquidity and having a discount on debt through trading fees.</p><p>By using these features, users will discover the best rates in the ecosystem to earn more on their collateral and receive discounts on their debt.&nbsp;</p><h2>Governance</h2><p><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/instadapp/"><strong>INST</strong></a><strong> </strong>acts as a governance token for Fluid. INST holders will have a responsibility to decide all components of it.</p><p>Main responsibilities break into:</p><ul><li>Regulating rate curves, fees and configurations for tokens in the&nbsp;Liquidity layer;</li><li>Determining protocols configurations and allowance to interact with the&nbsp;Liquidity layer;</li><li>Setting&nbsp;automated limits for protocols;</li><li>Deciding on rewards on&nbsp;Lending protocol and&nbsp;Vault protocol;</li><li>Setting up&nbsp;Vault's Configuration.</li></ul><h2>Is Fluid Safe?</h2><p>The biggest issue of any financial protocol is its security. The simplest way so far is to use traditional finance tools such as daily spending limits.</p><p>Some popular DeFi protocols adopt something similar with debt ceilings and other limitations. Thus, MakerDAO applies a debt ceiling to minimize their risk exposure to various assets. We observed a similar approach extended with Aave v3 isolation mode, as well as with Compound v3 and Aave v3, which imposed restrictions on the supply amount limiting the risk of supplied assets.&nbsp;</p><p>Fluid's Liquidity Layer implements&nbsp;Automated Limits, which dynamically adjust the debt/collateral ceiling every block when funds are nearing limits. This allows organic borrowings to process, while restricting any out of the blue whale moments.&nbsp;</p><p>So, if there were code vulnerabilities or economic manipulation on a protocol of Fluid, the&nbsp;Liquidity Layer forbade unusually large and sudden borrowings and withdrawals, limiting losses.</p><p>Liquidity Layer is a simple contract that holds all the liquidity from all the protocols and makes sure that assets are secured. This feature ensures that any instabilities within these protocols will result in minimal losses for affected users.</p><p>As protocols and assets become established on Fluid, the borrowing and supply limits expand, while newer protocols can be kept on very tight limits. This allows the secure addition of new protocols without introducing additional risk to the overall Liquidity layer.</p><p>The parameters for automated ceiling are divided into:</p><ul><li><strong>Base ceiling;</strong></li><li><strong>Max ceiling;</strong></li><li><strong>Rate;</strong></li><li><strong>Limits in %.</strong></li></ul><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Fluid can be considered as a climax of Instadapp’s deep background in developing on-top DeFi protocols. Fluid introduces new and more capital-efficient ways for building innovative DeFi protocols providing better utilities to users such as&nbsp;high LTV, better rates, and productive debt.&nbsp;</p><p>Thanks to Fluid you can turn your debt into a yield-producing asset with smart debt, reducing borrowing costs and creating new opportunities for traders to liquidate at minimum fees. Fluid’s&nbsp;built-in DeFi strategies, leverage, swap collateral assets and debt swap make it possible for you to maximize your crypto investments.</p><p>The protocol removes fragmented liquidity issues to make Fluid the financial layer of the future and becomes the base layer for future financial systems.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Fluid gathered the best of Aave, Compound, Uniswap, Maker, and Curve to make your lending experience really smooth. Come and try!

Fluid: Shaping Financial System of the Future

<h2>Product Side</h2><p>We are excited to announce several significant updates that enhance the functionality and user experience on Notum:</p><ol><li><strong>Bridge Functionality</strong>: We've introduced a new bridge feature that simplifies fund management across different blockchains. This allows for seamless cross-chain swaps, enabling users to transfer assets between chains effortlessly on the Notum exchange.<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240408-at-15.02.50.png" width="2308" height="1384"></li><li><strong>Redesigned Swap Page</strong>: The swap interface has been overhauled to offer a simpler and more intuitive user experience. This improvement makes the functionality of the page easier to navigate and use.<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240408-at-15.03.27.png" width="2306" height="1378"></li><li><strong>Enhanced Wallet Management</strong>: Managing multiple wallets on Notum has never been smoother. Users can now easily browse through and operate several wallets simultaneously, enjoying a seamless and hassle-free experience.<br><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/notum-platform/blog/screenshot-20240408-at-15.04.01.png" width="2330" height="1400"></li><li><strong>Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements</strong>: We've also addressed various minor bugs and issues, resulting in a more stable and responsive platform.</li></ol><h3>Upcoming Enhancements in April</h3><p>This April, we're excited to bring a series of updates to the Notum platform that will further empower our users to navigate the DeFi space efficiently. Here’s what’s on the horizon:</p><ol><li><strong>Points Tracking Integration</strong>: We are set to integrate a new functionality for tracking points on Notum, making it easier for users to accumulate and manage their points through various DeFi protocols.&nbsp;<br>This feature aims to become a cornerstone for users engaging in point farming activities.</li><li><strong>Curated List of DeFi Campaigns</strong>: Understanding and participating in DeFi campaigns is about to get easier. We plan to launch a curated list of protocol airdrops and points campaigns.&nbsp;<br>This list will provide detailed insights into each campaign, clarify the terms required to qualify for potential rewards, and highlight new opportunities in the DeFi space.</li><li><strong>Expansion of Swap Providers</strong>: In our ongoing effort to enhance value for our users, we will add more swap providers to our swap and bridge pages.&nbsp;<br>This expansion will allow for more competitive swap options, enabling users to execute transactions at lower fees.</li><li><strong>New Investment Options</strong>: To provide our users with more diversified investment opportunities, we will introduce additional investment providers.&nbsp;<br>It will allow for investments in a broader range of protocols, also at reduced fees.</li></ol><h2>Marketing Side</h2><ol><li><p>Integrated multiple pools from Alpaca Finance, the leading leveraged farming protocol on the BNB Chain. Collaborated with Alpaca on a review article, showcasing insightful yield strategies.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi/status/1763399211536838965"></oembed></figure></li><li><p>Teamed up for a cross-promotional article on Verse, the native token of the&nbsp;<a href="http://bitocoin.com/">Bitocoin.com</a> ecosystem, exploring its utility and reward mechanisms.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi/status/1767913538096656433"></oembed></figure></li><li><p>Conducted research in collaboration with Jones DAO, covering the protocol, potential new vaults, jAssets usage in DeFi, and more.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi/status/1768361073399500818"></oembed></figure></li><li><p>Analyzed the innovative lending protocol Fluid and received support for its promotion from their team.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi/status/1768632271588978758"></oembed></figure></li><li>Established numerous connections with top-tier chains and protocols, setting the stage for exciting upcoming activities and content in April. Stay tuned! 🫶🏻</li></ol><h2>Follow Us on Socials</h2><p><a href="https://notum.ai/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://go.notum.ai/U3l8tq"><strong>DApp</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/NotumDefi"><strong>X</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.gg/notum"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.me/notumDefi"><strong>Telegram</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/notum.eth"><strong>Mirror</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://debank.com/official-account/111578/"><strong>DeBank</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></span></p>

What’s New, Notum? | March Product Update

<h2>Morpho Blue: Essentials</h2><p>Morpho Blue is a lending protocol with permissionless market creation.</p><p>What does it all mean? The protocol enables the creation of minimal and isolated lending markets by choosing one loan asset, one collateral asset, a liquidation LTV, and an oracle.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/rtuFaUc4ZBAh9syT-kEXJ6v_BXLOKiD-eiTR_MfNG2p-zg1eolBD9jetm22xB39ps05oZsldR1iYeTs8bhmB3k5hWB2YmwT6XxK4OGIz-YRiH8xY8kAaE-_yEgm4L0S_WyOJ5kYqbzDlSjhxAh8C9Bk" width="602" height="161"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s docs</h6><p>The protocol was designed&nbsp; with a main thing in mind — to be more secure, efficient, and flexible than other decentralized lending platforms. Morpho has EVM smart contracts facilitating interactions and integrations.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/morpho-blue?&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p>That’s how&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/PaulFrambot">Paul Frambot&nbsp;</a>describes the project himself: "Morpho Blue externalizes risk management by making it a separate layer of the stack with unlimited permutations, versus the one-size-fits-all approach we see from today's lending services."</p><blockquote><p><span style="color:hsl(240,75%,60%);"><i><strong>"Therefore, institutional players can integrate it into their own risk and compliance management systems. On their end, crypto risk managers could even rebuild the classic lending pool abstractions such as Aave, Compound, Spark, or Flux, but on top of a common trustless, efficient, and flexible primitive."</strong></i></span></p></blockquote><p>How does Morpho Blue differentiate from the whole bunch of other protocols alike? Let’s highlight those points and compare:</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/46wYrLS-H0dDxRZl3wLBc7dDoZFThpR52sQqQ69JutKtmhQRywp4vu-soBGrYopZza_1s3sfx2XU1DSaCOnd-9M71XnOWDa5eW3LVCCbisazNKYEAK-mUTdEdFMok47Z8DJ68R8XyI-4wN5PWR5NS6A" width="602" height="337"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s website</h6><h3>Trustless</h3><ul><li><strong>Immutable</strong><br>Morpho Blue is not going to have any upgrades. It will run the same way forever.</li><li><strong>Governance-minimized</strong><br>Morpho Governance can’t stop the operation of a market or manage funds on users’ behalf. Thus, risk management is delegated to the above layers.</li><li><strong>Simple</strong><br>The whole protocol is packed in only 650 lines of Solidity code making it really easy to understand.</li></ul><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/MbrkO3zMom3GX_gIjFocerB-K2EoS7ia1Jf5lWAQ-zJLSXWRVuvgJE5ljdA8twhIFo3csECASKXGhIyQy-wI5xnzg6xTG-dIkQv7MK2ZP3Mqi8uKd6JqEPDu9q7yeMY2EUs7Jk_aqKxQrZZztMUAD3o" width="602" height="317"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s docs</h6><h3>Efficient</h3><ul><li><strong>Higher collateralization factors</strong><br>As Morpho Blue’s Lending markets are isolated (so they are efficient and flexible par excellence), liquidation parameters for each market can be set without consideration of the most risky asset in the basket.&nbsp;<br>It means suppliers can lend at a much higher LLTV (loan-to-value ratio) and remain exposed to the same market risk as when supplying to a multi-asset pool with a lower LLTV.</li><li><strong>Better interest rates</strong><br>Collaterals are not lent out to borrowers. This facilitates the liquidity requirements for liquidations to function properly in current lending platforms and by doing this, Morpho Blue can offer higher capital utilization.&nbsp;<br>Morpho Blue is entirely autonomous, so it does have fees to cover costs for platform maintenance, risk managers, or code security experts.</li><li><strong>Low gas costs</strong><br>Morpho Blue was born to be simple, so it was built in a singleton smart contract that groups every possible primitive market in the same place. It cuts off gas consumption by 70% compared to existing lending platforms.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/9Q6sgKH8WKkbntj72QvyBJAOM6h9ngm5cVAxMHugCwsnsLjz3FBEC0lJxHz9fnSMkdGVA9QbVU_j1ASf_SMxO-UrJ0Hp3NT8bjjO2DQ4z2IBGw5jiODxUbNQw_MBk1JGUTk7ywJLeU2qVZizi7t1Vh4" width="602" height="304"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s docs</h6><h3>Flexible</h3><ul><li><strong>Permissionless market creation</strong><br>Morpho Blue features permissionless asset listing. Markets with any collateral, loan assets, and risk parametrization can be launched. The protocol also supports permissioned markets, enabling such use cases as RWAs and institutional markets.</li><li><strong>Permissionless risk management</strong><br>Morpho Blue is designed to be a base block allowing adding more logic layers on top. The layers can boost the core functionality by addressing risk management issues and/or untangle the user experience for passive lenders. Actually, any lending pool with any asset and any risk management method can be built on this rather unique platform.</li><li><strong>Developer-friendly</strong><br>Morpho Blue implemented several latest smart contract patterns:&nbsp;<br>1. Callbacks empower liquidators and seasoned users to chain advanced actions without any flash loans.&nbsp;<br>2. Account management delivers gasless interactions and account abstractions.&nbsp;<br>3. Free flash loans&nbsp;on the&nbsp;<a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-2470">singleton contract</a> expose anyone to access the assets of all markets at the same time with a single call, as long as they are repaid in the same transaction.</li></ul><h2>MetaMorpho: Vaults</h2><p>Users can deposit assets in a MetaMorpho vault and earn passive yield from overcollateralized lending on Morpho Blue. MetaMorpho vaults provide:</p><ul><li>Curated Risk: Each vault caters to a different risk profile, ending the one-size-fits-all approach.</li><li>Better Yield: Dynamic rebalancing across Morpho Blue's capital-efficient markets improves returns.</li><li>Transparent: Noncustodial with immutable logic and verifiable allocations.</li></ul><p>First and foremost, a MetaMorpho Vault makes lending to isolated markets as simple as a lending pool.</p><p>When using a multi-asset lending pool, a lender only has one option, however, with isolated markets there could be several markets for one loan asset.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, Morpho Blue could have five options to lend&nbsp;USDC: sDAI/USDC, wstETH/USDC, wbIB01/USDC, WBTC/USDC, and&nbsp;WETH/USDC.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/rpCGGi1UWr2XvyVX3r8GJcKS3VNGyVu1roWE5ln_Tg5ubE0AnLpEJaOtenJtrd_--Hd_kfM5k9IXWBqNFMSQkywS5XnoNdpFVLLbQppzaeYm-Z0MO6jE--Tr7FEc7YzJk50eLlR0rHEiD0-uyuLKlmk" width="602" height="301"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s docs</h6><p>Each market also has parameters such LLTV, oracle, and supply caps that lenders must consider. In other words, users are required to perform risk management themselves.</p><p>A MetaMorpho vault eliminates the complexity of risk management by creating a single point of entry. Rather than requiring users to make multiple decisions, they can simply deposit USDC into a USDC MetaMorpho Vault to allocate liquidity.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/-8DqG8lyWV9rJ8odQuXQwWSB7a1jRo5Jv9t9t3jFWNjJlsC5F-DmtMb67urEAUnUPTFZ2ZSOPVnNuDi4ynZPAzeg0Gowr2E9pZGy_BkmkbThKdfZK5Y4ESFYDDWPCeYbt_MiSZ62E4QY61Uxntn2Vi4" width="602" height="301"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s docs</h6><p>Not only does it make it easier to supply, but it helps to improve yield. As market conditions change, a vault can rebalance across markets to optimize interest earned by lenders.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/LOkYmpgbQgKi_2VxJ9ThNCPCFJzzo6pArpu3b7chyYlfVu8GvjUVcwdcJZCLN1CcNCtrU5Lkqg7ycsdPTKTu7AgNqf31woXFXr4jd1rlmbY7NP_dtZdmIkXd9NPeAbgrPcYlmtH976YNA5Wzhk_4V0U" width="602" height="273"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s docs</h6><p>In the end, MetaMorpho vaults provide users with the same simple user experience as a multi-asset lending pool with the benefits of lending to isolated markets.</p><h2>Why Choose Morpho?</h2><p>Morpho was able to stand out by developing a more stable, user-controlled risk assessment platform with a one-of-a-kind lending pooling and matching system.&nbsp;</p><p>The protocol’s system narrows the spread between lenders and borrowers and allows end users to select who assesses risks as opposed to most DeFi protocols that are managed by third-party risk assessors. Morpho recently surpassed&nbsp;<a href="https://morpho.org/">$2 billion</a> in supplied funds, making it one of the fastest-growing DeFi protocols in the market.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/RgX1NuMfBwbiyj2KVTd2FONJkj2I86X0cTffQxbKR--Sv7ezH__vMdL4Cq9LTsuMvmIiFdDwcxdOqQ88ksZbldUWyz_hOxrjusqirKjoPGYjPpYlas3hsLgMQA8h6BdEWI1iM3Ese3DZNGhBqxuwphE" width="602" height="443"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Morpho’s Mirror</h6><p>The Morpho team has also recently announced the launch of Morpho Blue, a decentralized protocol which enables overcollateralized lending and borrowing of any digital asset.&nbsp;</p><p>This protocol is a base layer upon which many other applications and protocols are built, including MetaMorpho, their protocol for noncustodial risk management. MetaMorpho enables risk experts to create a vault that aggregates and allocates user liquidity into one or more Morpho Blue markets.</p><p>The team, comprised of individuals from technical backgrounds who have dedicated years towards researching advanced topics within crypto, founded Morpho during university.&nbsp;</p><h2>Risk Management on Morpho</h2><p>Morpho Blue lets anyone layer their risk models on top of a trustless and ultra-efficient lending primitive.</p><p>As such, users can choose the risk model that meets their needs, rather than having risk managers compete against each other with mutually-exclusive proposals that token holders must vote on.&nbsp;</p><p>This model will have&nbsp;fewer trust assumptions, stronger efficiency, and way more use cases.&nbsp;</p><p>However, it’s not only Morpho’s team work but also the community’s contribution:</p><ul><li>Discuss the shortcomings of the existing models;</li><li>Propose alternatives that might enhance risk management more strong and open;</li><li>Publish research and learnings on risk management so others could learn from Morpho’s lessons and failures;</li><li>Open source codebases and models.</li></ul><p>Have a look at the 1st step in that direction:</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Hn13AyV8NLaGvftl8v8lYh6NOLkgnT9m7KyEWK3LUZ_Rh2DTo2I5Qo-QuLwcqnFxPY6mR08jRiYwlftqdoF8on6H6VLaAlq1u7DM-NRMWHjs29gUh3fAb477S0laYRzP8JOptW2-WSAEZ5lB_noSPfI" width="602" height="589"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MorphoLabs/status/1691796656625492151?s=20">Morpho’s X account</a></h6><p>Morpho Labs has published a research paper co-written with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.simtopia.ai/">Simtopia team</a>.</p><p>All&nbsp;thoughtful&nbsp;responses, ideas, and proposals&nbsp;inspired by Morpho’s study on how to design better, more resilient DeFi systems will be collected. It could be a kind of treasury of the best thinking in this area.</p><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Morpho introduces a groundbreaking protocol to serve as the foundation for DeFi lending. Thanks to Morpho Blue, devs can build onchain and offchain applications going along with managing risk-return, handling compliance, and increased usability. The protocol is a simple, immutable, and governance-minimized base layer that allows building a wide variety of other layers on top.&nbsp;</p><p>Users have an opportunity to interact with the protocol directly or delegate certain tasks to different layers depending on their needs. It provides higher collateralization factors, improved interest rates, and lower gas fees.&nbsp;</p><p>Morpho Blue sounds like a solid and decent project that understands the challenges of the DeFi’s future and the current rather critical condition of the DeFi market being flooded with token incentives and speculations and “stuck at a local extremum.”&nbsp;</p><p>Besides, serious investors such as Pantera Capital, a16z, Spark Capital, and Coinbase ventures showed their genuine interest in the project, and that is another reason to pay close attention to the protocol.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Morpho Blue empowers trustless and efficient lending and borrowing. Get exposure to higher interest rates, reduced gas costs, and permissionless pooled lending.

Morpho Blue: Unleash New Era of DeFi Lending

<h2>Mantle: Essentials</h2><p>Mantle Network helps to build an EVM-compatible scaling solution for Ethereum. That makes it possible for contracts and tools running on Ethereum to operate on Mantle Network with minimal modifications.&nbsp;</p><div class="raw-html-embed"></div><p>Thanks to its modular architecture, Mantle Network combines an optimistic rollup with multiple innovative data availability solutions with cheaper and more accessible data while having the security of Ethereum and being user-oriented. Mantle delivers a comprehensive set of infrastructure for the next wave of mass-adopted dApps.</p><h3>Key Features</h3><ul><li>Built as a Rollup<ul><li>Uses Ethereum validators and consensus protocols to substantially reduce gas fees, decrease latency, and increase throughput.&nbsp;</li></ul></li><li>Modular Architecture<ul><li>Mantle’s innovative approach separates transaction execution, consensus, settlement, and storage into individual modules as a&nbsp;<a href="https://docs-v2.mantle.xyz/intro/more/glossary#modular-chains">modular chain</a>.&nbsp;</li></ul></li><li>Secured by Ethereum<ul><li>L2 state transitions are verified by Ethereum validators, having the same processes as L1 transactions.</li></ul></li><li>Modular Data Availability<ul><li>Independent DA modules, such as Mantle DA geared by EigenLayer's EigenDA technology. This helps to save costs of more than 90% compared to on-chain L1.</li></ul></li></ul><h2>Mantle Journey in 2024&nbsp;</h2><p>Mantle Rewards Station&nbsp;is a place for $MNT stakers to get exclusive rewards from Mantle Ecosystem. It started on March 27 with the Mantle Sharding With ETH ena campaign, where participants can receive Ethena Shards in the form of mShards.</p><p>Participants can lock or unlock their MNT from Mantle Rewards Station at any time. Any changes in the locked $MNT amount will be updated immediately for reward calculations. To get maximum&nbsp; rewards, users are encouraged to keep their $MNT locked throughout the entire campaign period.&nbsp;</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/tfrXHxR-zgsVZNKSEaN8fv-TAHoNfiAdEVfgii0QyEoRb2joG-UUPlXNP7SMcoQ-0A3eAh7yCt0xkhYL8yOPEiMvJqhKk2S5nXOR-KU5CFGgjI1YmHHxKFJZxAOQbkXji3OEw3hpdRp6qwtEKOmug_s" width="602" height="328"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Mantle website</h6><p><a href="https://www.mantle.xyz/blog/ecosystem/ethena-to-deploy-usde-on-mantle-network-special-pre-launch-mantle-showcase">Ethena</a> is a synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum, offering a crypto-native alternative to the traditional banking system. It provides a universally accessible, dollar-denominated savings tool. Shards measure a user's contribution to the Ethena ecosystem during the campaign period.&nbsp;</p><p>Ethena Shards earned by the Mantle Treasury in the form of&nbsp;mShards, are used to reward users for their participation and support Ethena's innovative financial ecosystem.</p><p>mShards rewards are allocated based on a time-weighted calculation of the MNT locked on Mantle Rewards Station. The total prize pool is fixed at 2.5 billion Ethena Shards and will be distributed real-time.&nbsp;</p><p>The share of shards per second formula is:&nbsp;</p><p class="note" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>User’s locked MNT / Total $MNT locked Per Second By All Participants</strong></span></p><p>&nbsp;* Per Second Rewards Prize Pool</p><p>There is no minimum requirement for locked $MNT to get rewards in this event. The more MNT you stake, the more mShards you earn. It will also be possible to trade Ethena Shards (mShards) across various DeFi dApps. Keep in mind, you need MNT to pay for gas fees.</p><p>Users may claim mShards daily during the official staking period and nine days after the end of the campaign. mShards holders could withdraw Ethena's native token&nbsp;$ENA in due time.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/OaxT8xDU0VHs0yLSoaDOvoDEKCRY61uS5FwUv7lrp9wptl62WXLntziTVpW3Lbpdg5TgSeV_FTCiX-5CISu7qdK3pJltxCyyhhuGq7UO4W7jH3W3apQyDJI5FmvEkFJBvMzRSfpERnNfxVnYCXsbOwc" width="602" height="339"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Mantle’s X account</h6><h2>$MNT Token</h2><p>BitDAO merged with Mantle meaning that the BitDAO token (BIT) rebrands to Mantle (MNT) and is integrated into the MNT tokenomics while Mantle Network and its ecosystem inherit the BitDAO project financial mechanisms, including the BitDAO treasury.</p><p>The BitDAO merger has already provided the Mantle project with some financial benefits, such as a&nbsp;$100 million issuance into the Mantle Ecosystem development fund (Mantle EcoFund). The Mantle EcoFund is a catalyzed capital pool of&nbsp;$200 million that delivers support for developers building on Mantle Network alongside its strategic venture partners.</p><p><a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/mantle">MNT</a> is the native token of Mantle, and it fuels the project. It covers the tax, utility, and governance system of Mantle Network and ecosystem. All fees for every transaction on the network level are paid in MNT.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/CBdGmFiSoKC10Yyn9cYwF9SMAou3AnyICJW9uIAAGKWLocew46SM_S1WvoewZ_Ch1DRPc3eRcljbcdopbS16-n8E-zmS9pBqeaA6jX0BO7f8S_wChzyMSOeFTTRoE0_XZt1eoNA3pPcS6LCXIAACpTs" width="602" height="404"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Mantle Docs</h6><p>According to&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.mantle.xyz/governance/parameters/tokenomics">data from the project</a>, the total MNT token supply is over 6 billion tokens with about 3 billion MNT tokens currently in circulation, representing 51% of the total supply. About 3 billion MNT tokens are yet to come into circulation.</p><p>Mantle Treasury holds and manages the remaining 49% of the MNT token supply. Mantle Governance, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) convenes and vots to decide on the distribution of the tokens, including allocations to community incentives and more.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/tEvizCCaY2b9X_wDtcsAN4PTbsRG0SrjC9IYSvcyOBSCTttKl9jR6ojavkGZ_Snn2Dgf2dD6lGbmfUB2kpPvrntfd5Tnk91BHMbinBzcCA5TK-378PEFOk0l_D7y6aSqKtAXd5D5Oun5EpY-qjymTTY" width="602" height="339"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Mantle’s X account</h6><h2>Is Mantle Safe?</h2><p>Mantle Network aims to provide a secure and reliable layer-2 (L2) scaling solution, with strong risk control being a crucial safeguard.&nbsp;</p><p>The protocol inherits the Ethereum security architecture. Mantle also uses MPC nodes to verify a block’s validity to reduce the challenge period over time.&nbsp;</p><p>Mantle's risk analysis comprises three key aspects:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs-v2.mantle.xyz/intro/risk-management/overviews">Data Availability, Fraud Proofs,&nbsp;</a>and<a href="https://docs-v2.mantle.xyz/intro/risk-management/overviews"> Forced Transaction Inclusion.</a></p><p>Mantle was tested by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.secure3.io/">Secure3</a>, a Web3 audit contest platform that has provided security audits for 140+ projects, such as zkSync, Polkadot, Savvy, and others. Check the Mantle v2 Tectonic&nbsp;<a href="https://app.secure3.io/e2ad89ff9b">here</a>.</p><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>On the whole, Mantle Network offers users the opportunity to enjoy the capabilities of the network without the current pain points of poor user experience while using the network.&nbsp;</p><p>The protocol empowers users with faster transaction speed, lower transaction fees, and a rich ecosystem fund to incentivize development on the platform. By doing this, Mantle is attracting established projects to expand its network, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pendle.finance/">Pendle</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://rarible.com/">Rarible</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>One of the main Mantle’s strong advantages is that even when compared against other Layer 2s like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.optimism.io/">Optimism</a>, which charges a gas fee of&nbsp;<a href="https://optimism.blockscout.com/">0.16 Gwei</a>, Mantle’s fees are still way lower. So, the protocol is a great option for those seeking to save costs and time.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Embrace Mantle's philosophy of a less costly and more user-friendly experience while enjoying Ethereum's safety.

Mantle Protocol: Your DeFi Paradise

<h2>TLDR;</h2><ul><li>Crypto points open up new ways of earning more crypto such as trident them on OTC platforms, being eligible for airdrops, etc.;</li><li>Notum has implemented a&nbsp;<a href="https://app.notum.ai/?mtm_campaign=chcqiorw&amp;mtm_cid=hfkoglob&amp;mtm_source=landing&amp;mtm_medium=button">Points</a> tab to track all your points across various protocols;</li><li>Such popular platforms as Kinza, Swell, Ethena, and EigenLayer have their points system giving more opportunities for earning crypto;</li><li>Some prominent crypto projects such as Metamask are losing their users as they don’t keep up with the crypto points hot trend.</li></ul><h2>Intro</h2><p>"Crypto points" is a new trend in web3 space that marks user behavior. Web3 projects may give out points to gamify their protocol, with governance or voting, deter airdrop farmers, and more. These points can give you allocations and drop tokens after TGE (Token Generation Event).</p><p>Often, crypto points are centralized; a specific web3 project is disseminating and tracking their point system rather than recording those points on a blockchain.</p><p>The matter is that crypto projects airdrop tokens to users who previously used their platform. This led to airdrop farming and speculators tried to create high levels of activity for projects that might do an airdrop — to get a more substantial share if it took place.&nbsp;</p><p>Points are a kind of evolution of this trend, and even more — the absence of the points system can be a factor in why people lose interest in the project. Thus, Metamask lost its market share because Rainbow and Rabby wallets have implemented the points feature.</p><h2>What Are Crypto Points For?&nbsp;</h2><p>Crypto points system can be implemented in various ways, depending on the project’s goals and use cases. These are the main ways cryptocurrency projects might use a points system:</p><ol><li><strong>Inspiring more activity</strong>: Crypto projects may use a points system to incentivize behavior that is beneficial for the ecosystem. If a project is going to have an airdrop, it might reward users with points for showing appreciation to the devoted users.&nbsp;<br><br>Afterwards, those points could be exchanged for tokens or other rewards, so users can further participate in activities that support the project's goals;</li><li><strong>Gamification</strong>: Sometimes projects implement gamification elements by introducing a points system to make interacting with the project more engaging. Users earn points when completing tasks, achieving milestones, or taking part in community challenges.&nbsp;<br><br>Points can be displayed on leaderboards or used to give away badges or other virtual rewards, bringing a sense of competition and community engagement;</li><li><strong>Bridge to tokens</strong>: Points can also act as a step before users can get the project's native tokens. Users may earn points through different actions, and then convert or redeem these points for tokens at a predetermined exchange rate.&nbsp;<br><br>This can serve as a fairer distribution of tokens to incentivize early adoption and engagement before the full-ledged token ecosystem is launched.</li></ol><h2>Why Are Crypto Points Getting Popular?&nbsp;</h2><p>The main reason here is that it’s a fairly new feature, and like everything new and fresh it draws lots of attention and sincere interest. It motivates user engagement, community participation, and adoption within their ecosystem.</p><ol><li><strong>Taming airdrop farmers</strong>: Airdrops happen when a crypto project rewards early users by dropping tokens to loyal users. Airdrop is a practice of strategically participating in cryptocurrency airdrops to make the most of the received rewards.&nbsp;<br><br>It is often without engaging in the project any longer. &nbsp;Having crypto points through airdrops makes airdrop farmers stay within the ecosystem to make those crypto points beneficial.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Motivating engagement</strong>: Accruing points for interacting with decentralized applications, participating in governance, providing liquidity, or referring new users can encourage users to become active participants.</li><li><strong>Strengthen community</strong>: Points can build a lively and engaged community around the project. Users may want to earn points, leading to increased participation in community discussions, events, and initiatives. Such engagement can contribute to the project's growth and sustainability.</li><li><strong>Adoption:</strong> These points can bring new users to the project's ecosystem. Those interested in earning points may want to explore the project's earning opportunities. Thus, it can end up with the adoption of its services and applications.</li><li><strong>Enhancing governance</strong>: Crypto points can be connected to governance rights within the project. Users who have points may be granted voting privileges on governance proposals, giving them voting power in the project's future direction and development.</li></ol><h2>Crypto Points Vs Cryptocurrencies</h2><p>Crypto points and cryptocurrencies aren’t the same. Points do not have a monetary value. A cryptocurrency like $ETH will have a price and market capitalization, but crypto points won't. However, you can trade your points on special OTC platforms such as&nbsp;<a href="https://pro.whales.market/points">Whales Pro</a>. If you don’t want to wait until airdrop, you can easily trade your points.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/91-DqUuaDON2ZI5dViAlljjMwAV4a-CS4smymvsqKrGksUv_q4RhzO1ABTblLyaDkgX1z9S5an-byAK0N6-JSAdOPtRQNRaH8c-sxnNEbZSwW_9eqM8qq2ylNbhIZoycL0wEDOeSgRQyV8gUvyQRki8" width="602" height="332"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Whales Pro</h6><p>Web3 projects must track the crypto points given out. As for cryptocurrencies, they are recorded on a blockchain. However, some projects started to record points on the blockchain.&nbsp;<a href="https://lineascan.build/token/0xd83af4fbd77f3ab65c3b1dc4b38d7e67aecf599a">Linea</a>, for example.&nbsp;</p><h2>Web3 Projects Using Crypto Points</h2><ul><li>Crypto wallet&nbsp;<a href="https://rainbow.me/points">Rainbow</a> gave out points for interacting with Ethereum, swapping assets using Rainbow, doing habitual on-chain activities, and referring a friend to the platform.&nbsp;</li><li>A web3 social networking app,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.friend.tech/">Friend.Tech</a>, grants points to users to interact with the platform. These points might be converted into tokens once Friend.Tech developers will issue their tokens.&nbsp;</li><li>The NFT marketplace&nbsp;<a href="https://blur.io/">Blur</a> issues points to users who&nbsp;<a href="https://mirror.xyz/blurdao.eth/zuBExm1kwf8quOIV2EdGpCtvNjvJikbMfVj2TVcVRQo">list</a> and bid on items, as well as lend their assets. The amount of points a user has will determine what kind of so-called 'Care Package' reward they receive, including items of different rarities.</li><li>A lending protocol&nbsp;<a href="https://kinza.finance/">Kinza</a> has a point system to give&nbsp;users a preview into how much airdrop they can get following TGE.</li></ul><h2>Crypto Points on Notum</h2><p>That’s an interesting idea that can help to add some novelty to the crypto space and incentivize new activities all over the protocols, but the paint point is evolving. There are so many point programs and it’s getting so difficult to track them in different that Notum decided to work that out.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/OFLAIes2nyEi0btoWhyOP_Wnqw0BH-5oeKijyXAQ3FZXZa7TaITOP13d-WZuY6OaH4jZBkefGuuj0o1mUvi-tjX3x693OWavm86mgzu-UxKQiNQ1Soo18rIvy4s21rkmAp6vKnqVG-Tf67m4rnBHJrg" width="602" height="283"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Notum app</h6><p>Notum app is offering a solution — we’ve implemented a tracker for 7 protocols (<a href="https://kinza.finance/">Kinza</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://notum.ai/blog/open-up-liquid-restaking-with-swell-notum">Swell</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ethena.fi/">Ethena</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.renzoprotocol.com/">Renzo</a>, etc.) so far, but we are in the active development stage of adding new protocols. So, if you have a protocol to submit, don’t hesitate and contact us. We’ll add it ASAP.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/D4yIh5oAbsARHcgbUBbDDIYHRvCsfnPGNu1JOs1XKTXAcaEEl508g6CqfJjXWt20_kxN7FDvk04scWXmA2WKWbGo4zqHTfib0P7TWKvI3RdojgxjxkL47yXF6HpHxIx90U6oKqj71Yn6yTzHYUfvUpQ" width="602" height="349"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Notum app</h6><p>Soon we’re going to add more guides and information on airdrops campaigns where you can get all the necessary information on current and upcoming events and won’t lose fruitful opportunities!</p><h2>Crypto Points' Future</h2><p>​​Web3 startups continue to think of new ways how to incorporate loyalty points programs. There is still room to grow in terms of clarification and transparency regarding crypto points' functionality and benefits.&nbsp;</p><p>All in all, while loyalty points programs represent an innovative approach to motivating user engagement in the crypto space, they also have challenges and opaque spots that must be fixed.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Crypto points — a new trend that is spreading all over Web3 space and infecting various projects. What are they? How to use and where to track them?

Crypto Points System: What’s the Point?

<h2>Gearbox Protocol: Essentials</h2><p>Gearbox Protocol opens up various options for earning: allowing anyone to margin trade on&nbsp;<a href="https://uniswap.org/">Uniswap</a>, leverage farm on&nbsp;<a href="https://curve.fi/">Curve</a>, leverage liquid stake on&nbsp;<a href="https://lido.fi/">Lido</a>, leverage restake with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eigenlayer.xyz/">EigenLayer</a> derivatives, and use 10X more capital on protocols you find interesting and promising to invest in.&nbsp;</p><p>The main goal is to make decentralized leverage a real thing thanks to Credit Account abstraction.&nbsp; Gearbox is supposed to be a place where lending and prime brokerage meet finally.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/protocol/gearbox?revenue=true&amp;events=false&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><p>Gearbox protocol is ambivalent:</p><ul><li><strong>Passive lenders:</strong> these are asset lenders who are interested in passive yield and low-risk tolerance. It could be compared to providing liquidity to Compound and getting cTokens back. Lenders' assets are utilized by others, for which they get APY. Anyone can be a liquidity provider on Gearbox. <a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/lending-market/manage-liquidity"><strong>Check out how it works here.</strong></a></li><li><strong>Borrowers:</strong> active traders, farmers, and protocols who want to increase their position by borrowing liquidity from the protocol at multiples of their collateral. The liquidity they borrow can be 10x of what their initial size. That’s how leverage works. <a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/traders-and-farmers/strategies"><strong>Find out more here.</strong></a></li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/PBL1mAvhehrDRfrx89t-wYcL2N24vqTL_XgyJ-zigBnN7NjIvZ5mIN6ok8U-6gygO7latp2ctyfMe4nyFANkFYxk0zKtSJASb6aEcXaHhk6EhsJkNoEZ8URFvg10Wj02S0cqyK7gt5BU1tUpDMrIXmA" width="602" height="204"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">source: https://docs.gearbox.finance/overview/how-it-works</h6><h2>GEAR Token</h2><p><a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/gearbox">GEAR</a> token is an ERC20 utility token, acting as a governance token for the protocol. It stays exposed for taking new functions the DAO could propose for it. The GEAR supply is capped at $10B which can't be technically changed.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/9uJPKPXsBTnVhhDR4lzVkjyMfvNnNJw-16g6IJ-FtywxAjhiR16CnsB6urqkgMjjHrtCNlqoIws08-o88A3dN9nMBXRxfyBtTNqagYre782-ICHQ-lKwgc2CNDHOd3xJfUtTeCdpBf2t6cd3vlFQ0T0" width="602" height="403"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/gear-token/supply-information">Gearbox docs</a></h6><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Utility &amp; Staking</h3><p>Tokenomics can be adjusted in different ways. What is crucial is that the protocol has had the fee switch turned on by the DAO back in 2022. There are 4 fee streams, and they are all configurable to adjust to different use cases and integrations. GEAR staking is live with gauges, almost 3% of circulating is now staked.</p><h3>Protocol Fees</h3><p>All protocol fees that DAO earns go to the&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/governance/setup/guards-multisigs#fee-temporary-guard-5-10">fee guard</a>. The protocol is fully operated by holders. The fees, collected in dTokens, automatically become a&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/overview/liquidations/insurance-fund">Reserve Fund&nbsp;</a>unless unwrapped. As Gearbox is modular, fees can vary. They differ from one Credit Manager to another, depending on the integrations inside.</p><p>Most of the fees are static and are voted in through the main&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/governance/setup">governance process</a>. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/governance/quotas-and-gauges">Gauges</a> are voted on separately onchain every epoch by GEAR stakers.</p><h2>Gearbox: Passive Lending</h2><p>Earning with Gearbox is as simple as lending on Compound or Aave. Next to that, pools are semi-isolated. Lend liquidity in the asset you choose and start earning APY! No impermanent loss.</p><p>With Gearbox's Credit Accounts, your assets never end up in custody of any one person or company. They are held on an isolated smart contract after they are borrowed.</p><h2>How Is&nbsp;Yield Generated?</h2><p>The yield comes from various sources:</p><ul><li>Borrowers pay rates according to the regular utilization curve. The more the liquidity in the pools is utilized, the higher the rate;</li><li>Borrowers pay extra rates according to gauges. These rates can be configured by GEAR stakers and vary from epoch to epoch;</li><li>Any extra GEAR rewards or other tokens that are available.</li></ul><h3>M for Modularity</h3><p><span style="color:#000000;">The protocol can function into modules enabling individual pieces to be used in various contexts and yet serve their purpose for Gearbox when used together. That delivers higher flexibility for:</span></p><ol><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Better Composability</strong>: the opportunity to integrate and add adapters into new protocols and assets quicker;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Enhanced Risk Granularity</strong>: the possibility to add any interesting credit opportunities without increasing risks to the protocol. Thus, lenders have a wider choice concerning risks.</span></li></ol><p><span style="color:#000000;">What else does modularity bring to the table?</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:#000000;">a separate risk pool where lenders can be exposed to profitable assets staying 'passive' and making more yields on top;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">DAO treasury with “its own gearbox” where their own governance decides the AllowedList and their LTVs, essentially pricing their own risks;</span></li><li><span style="color:#000000;">KYC pools with restricted lists.</span></li></ul><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/n8gSdRdhILcfAM5DB4fKglyKuRzcy5rJ7gf6Y2-QtjBfl9vpu2CRZ2lL0q-gRKVkPA6xQ_s6pGaNXvY66FoLnSTTtqrlgKB9wHZfDVAJxsnZqXeomKJ1g5b2oU2l9EwkCs7h7WoWfsmOKdM53ryFRCU" width="602" height="348"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Gearbox docs</h6><p>In the future, there can be Pool N or other pools like the Alpha pool… modularity doesn’t have to stop. This modularity overall helps granularize risks while allowing for growth. Such a pool setup doesn’t fractionalize liquidity which is also quite important for lending-like protocols.</p><h2>How to Earn Passive APY&nbsp;</h2><p>On Gearbox you can earn APY in the same asset and additional GEAR APY. To do that, follow these steps:</p><p><strong>Step 1.&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Go to the&nbsp;<a href="https://app.gearbox.fi/pools">Passive Pools</a> page and click on the asset pool you want to earn with.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/VuHa6PuOmiG9DxjiAQYEPBT5MqDZ8SjZPXChsKZh4vjtFbL12uJBbI2e4mbAFy7wt9n7yMNthxUv4BCe1Orxrbo36b-srRgD7ejOhgL472fdrXi6SEJBegk32WCqDA8yJ2GtoNXWWm3T9mXPQ-t5T1o" width="602" height="339"></p><p><strong>Step 2.&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Decide on the amount you want to supply or just click on MAX</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/vdYKiSnKIxzsgO92gKspDHCXHzrOnts2-f0mlXxP1Qm1UHXeyK3qRH4z3VUc8Ub5CODzYw8lJt1zO0baB6b9GRK2KFpbuBJYH0EnEMDyIIj2_yeTeOBmuZ6Sa62OXutn7ymbavYgyO69eKCWBhgC2Lk" width="602" height="295"></p><p><strong>Step 3.&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Click&nbsp;‘Approve’ and wait for the transaction to be confirmed. Then, click&nbsp;‘Supply’&nbsp;and wait for the confirmation. Once a transaction is confirmed, you will receive staked <a href="https://docs.gearbox.finance/lending-market/pools-and-apy#what-is-diesel-token">diesel tokens</a>.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/J0meHZ0tLyyj0pwsaSVStjh0T9Dzoq0402u1PN6dswx57UILtUECCpzelaWxxRF7NfN0YAIAaxcZ1j5kLxlDbcwG4wtXWgpPjgyPZtgVGJ3vVgMDjjPSq1R_2DfV2MUSmQy4kE_sHDhJKu-4ecblLQ0" width="602" height="260"></p><p>You accrue GEAR or any other extra token yields too, those are accruing to your staked dTokens too, but you need to claim them.</p><p>You can claim the GEAR rewards either onchain through&nbsp;<a href="https://etherscan.io/">Etherscan</a> or by clicking on the rewards tab.</p><p>As for <a href="https://go.notum.ai/EPIYfq "><strong>Notum</strong></a>, the platform offers to consider the following ones with nice risk profiles and interesting numbers in terms of TVL and APY:</p><p>https://app.notum.ai/investments/0xda0002859B2d05F66a753d8241fCDE8623f26F4f?protocol=Gearbox&amp;chainId=1</p><p>https://app.notum.ai/investments/0xda00000035fef4082F78dEF6A8903bee419FbF8E?protocol=Gearbox&amp;chainId=1</p><p>https://app.notum.ai/investments/0xda00010eDA646913F273E10E7A5d1F659242757d?protocol=Gearbox&amp;chainId=1</p><h2>Passive Yield Strategy Breakdown</h2><p>That’s a real fact — when you just stake <strong>$ETH for ~4%</strong>, you don’t use the whole potential of your asset, so you miss the opportunity to earn more.</p><p>Gearbox protocol wants to fix this and find a solution in leveraged borrowing that boosts $ETH lenders' <strong>APY to 25%</strong>.</p><p>After launching leveraged restaking, it saw a serious inflow of borrowers seeking to enhance their restaking airdrop rewards to the fullest. As a matter of logic, this surge in demand ended up with the growth of the lending capital utilization ratio which impacted the APY.</p><p>The formula is rather simple: to supply more borrowers, it is essential to incentivize lenders, and the increasing APY serves this exact purpose.</p><p>The&nbsp;$USDC lending APY has surged to 14% recently, while&nbsp;$ETH has an impressive 25% APY.</p><p>On top of other perks, lending is a relatively low-risk strategy. The only risk you're exposed to is the smart contract risk, which is the same risk you face when staking. The leveraged restaking launch of ETH resulted in an initial increase of the <strong>APY to 17%</strong>, and then <strong>to 22%</strong> to foster new deposits.</p><p>Be ready, as some impressive numbers are coming! This could be translated into&nbsp;<strong>4,000+ ETH or $13M+</strong> in fees generated by lenders.</p><p>It's crucial to mention that even when the supply/demand comes to its norm, lenders with Gearbox will continue receiving an&nbsp;APY of 17% which is higher than the average. That’s achieved thanks to the leveraged nature of borrowings.</p><p>The APY you gain is split into two parts:</p><p><strong>• Organic borrow APY;</strong></p><p><strong>•&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24GEAR&amp;src=cashtag_click"><strong>$GEAR</strong></a><strong> incentives.</strong></p><p>Your organic borrow APY accrues to your dTokens (Diesel Tokens) automatically, so you don’t need to do anything.</p><p>As for the&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24GEAR&amp;src=cashtag_click"><strong>$GEAR</strong></a><strong> </strong>incentives, they are accumulated separately. You can claim them just by clicking on a button. Yeah, that's simple.</p><h2>How Safe Gearbox Is?</h2><p>Also, audits can’t guarantee complete safety, Gearbox protocol goes through a number of them (you’ll see the list of the latest ones below). In the world of decentralized finance, there are always high risks involved, as many platforms are composable and depend on each other. Nevertheless, Gearbox is constantly evolving and thus, going through audits.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/eRYKMQOMVIRXkkVCbARPnARvxOpFuBiVflVfc1j0Pm4oUgF3hSnQzxjYNmoYvcb4OFnnVhf9DiaHmt1zoqbXbtcIdeG-2eDABWxBOPPCBqJ3PhfSCGOxCwE8eDA3MWwjx4ONAoUA7279bX1ZuVpefX4" width="602" height="213"></p><ul><li>ChainSecurity (Q2-Q4 2023): full V3 coverage,&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/Gearbox-protocol/security/tree/main/audits">reports</a> (see multiple files);</li><li>ABDK (Q2-Q4 2023): full V3 coverage,&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/Gearbox-protocol/security/tree/main/audits">reports</a> (see multiple files);</li><li>Decurity (08/11/2023 - 20/11/2023): governor audit,&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/Gearbox-protocol/security/blob/main/audits/2023%20Dec%20-%20Decurity_Governor_Report.pdf">report</a>.</li></ul><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Gearbox has created a DeFi primitive that provides cross-chain composability and blends various protocols within the space. It helps users to squash the maximum out of their crypto.</p><p>The protocol stands out from other DeFi lending protocols, as Gearbox’s borrowers don’t have custody over the assets they borrow from liquidity providers. Besides, they introduced modular and composable pools meaning that users can deploy and redeploy different pools up to their choice. That gives extra freedom and flexibility. Thus, a taste of true decentralization.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Squash out the max out of your crypto and delve into scalable and transparent lending with Gearbox protocol.

Gear Up Your Yields With Gearbox

<h2>TLDR;</h2><ul><li>Scroll protocol uses ZK proofs helping them to disclose only the necessary information while keeping the rest private;</li><li>Scroll isn’t just a protocol, but the whole ecosystem gathering including DEX, Bridge, Swap, Lending, and Name Service;</li><li>Scroll is into the crypto points system. They’ve launched a loyalty program called “Scroll Sessions.”</li></ul><h2>What Is Scroll?</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/vRELpY8vM5cx48F978jhWHXSW5YkREQaJm1AXOZ_eDJ3Q2UxpznmySwH0s5_63LxhX2VRim1kTsn8f36pUFs7oDZ48_QWUhIcKpR_4h-3g1RJQw_W8oqebf9clu7_4K6FwpIHvs8koi-yhkXTKz1pOU" width="602" height="359"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://scroll.io/">https://scroll.io/</a>&nbsp;</h6><p>Scroll is a scaling solution for Ethereum, using innovations in scaling design and zero-knowledge proofs to build a new layer on Ethereum. Thus, the Scroll network is more accessible and can support more users at once than Ethereum.&nbsp;</p><p>Scroll pulls together research and engineering from Blockchain Protocols and Zero Knowledge Cryptography.&nbsp;</p><p>QN: What is ZK?&nbsp;Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are a cryptographic method used to prove knowledge about data, without showing away the data itself.</p><h2>What is a ZK Proof?</h2><p>A zero-knowledge proof is a convenient way of proving that one piece of information is true. It’s necessary for building relations in the DeFi space. So when one party (the prover) needs to transfer something to another party (the verifier), they can be thanks to this technology. What is even more important, this happens without revealing any information apart from the fact that this specific statement is true.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/o9Hq2toxNmSEikjejLHIRbo4yYR9DC6fo41MoMiT2BdtcDV_XL0bUFQdx-McgMhWPEYPUfsQcSru26_Gnd_xyMBSBFl8T8XErjiSyDazlB8trFnCsm60XdzjwnCLLoguuJkxU0OZk6iAzo28e2Nd5lk" width="602" height="372"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/what-are-zero-knowledge-proofs-7ef6aab955fc">Medium</a></h6><p>To illustrate the situation when ZK is helpful and useful, let’s assume that Ada wants to sell some secret information to George. George needs to verify that Alice truly has this secret piece of information but if Ada shows it to him, it won’t be a secret and valuable anymore.</p><p>A ZK proof is a way to guarantee that Ada does, indeed, have the exclusive data but without revealing the actual data.&nbsp;</p><h2>Scroll Ecosystem</h2><p>Since Scroll’s Mainnet launch in October 2023, the protocol has been working on the ecosystem consisting of all types of applications, from DeFi to social and everything in between.</p><p>Providing secure, efficient, and cost-effective development for Ethereum-based applications, DeFi, and other blockchain applications, Scroll is expanding its ecosystem projects, the protocol has already built 100+ projects, distributed across various types such as DEX, DeFi, NFT, GameFi, and domains.&nbsp;</p><h3>Scroll Bridge</h3><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/8_Yg_nbBojQeZdR_qRhobcS9fJZCaVSWUoJIpY6LO3ivgAGEl_86_fxgN9kARXvJUZBJf5DS5W6p_H9AWQ1j0KuNGSrga7DPfdK5c1cOg9Dd5ZKx0nUXWFXLziG_fYKkKwzO0XJZg-0gWXajvsfJlqw" width="602" height="372"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: https://scroll.io/bridge</h6><p>The official cross-chain operation is straightforward. You need to enter the amount to be crossed and click “Deposit Funds” to initiate the entire asset cross-chain process.&nbsp;</p><p>Currently, the official cross-chain bridge only supports cross-chain from the Ethereum mainnet to the Scroll network. The current gas fee for each transaction is relatively high (around 30-40 Gwei). To save on transaction costs, users can choose to temporarily use third-party bridging services for cross-chain operations.</p><h3 style="text-align:center;">Zada Finance</h3><h3 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/wIfSCYF0G6Q_25YPSi3M3EQFgnHkWCaZ_AG19TuQopRtC1qw8lO5B5Xf7FCyasjNky9bOzmM58BhrUI6BvVXRjt-y8tW3a2lOy8XYj0wJXQQoMp5HXFlwjtgfosCXWZfn7OqDUqR1PoG-lMUn6HAsw8" width="602" height="337"></h3><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.zadafinance.com/swap">https://www.zadafinance.com/swap</a></h6><p>Zada Finance is a cross-rollup DEX based on Scroll. Zada Finance brings users lower costs, maximized security, and faster transactions, supporting account abstract wallets, order aggregation, and more flexible interest rate options.&nbsp;</p><h3 style="text-align:center;">Papyrus Swap</h3><h3 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/HSlCLsCTgBhnmOFo4ppAIuQyfGUQQMPLjdIJxdOGiQOIiE7LdPyHo8yuLKQUmxV-JcxP0okzWVAHTUqCLDAeJjSDiwDIDLTBoTGcnU6UeH9reun6XdJshf6RA0W5rGZ87jxV7On9ad6SK43gcGUGjQU" width="602" height="341"></h3><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://papyrusswap.com/">https://papyrusswap.com/</a>&nbsp;</h6><p>It’s a native DEX platform on Scroll, Papyrus is an automated liquidity protocol. Anyone can exchange pool tokens by depositing an equivalent amount of each underlying token, becoming a liquidity provider (LP) for the pool.</p><h3 style="text-align:center;">Cog Finance</h3><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/ILkg-oiCaNTGa1KwTEs3i9JPlDuyCqpgCRNoUgSVnncwshqWnlA2Kk-0TaVTDqtWhVKjjaIMNAx8s3lLErIPhU8An0zBwJX400WmlC6RLmgv7xlqhZw4OU3i_SSEr0QVXiFCXAHK01lGu7e_Q7Y-lA4" width="602" height="331"></p><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cog.finance/">https://www.cog.finance/</a></h6><p>Cog Finance is a lending platform built on Scroll, supporting users to lend their assets and choose the collateral they want to accept, earning profits by lending assets with continuously changing interest rates.</p><h3 style="text-align:center;">Scroll Name Service</h3><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/KlogQIq5rq8YlZdOtvoGNfdIJWxMUXGVU76xcWvA0mMHklHEhdaSIPCfIJBIiPlOaXcnMUpfICo3TABm668gi92mJdGTsPcbL-GyUgc5YMUg0iule-r7aUM4IqL7TKovF7Oa2Nk0I9tf6pv3w9PPaTI" width="602" height="372"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://scroll.name/">https://scroll.name/</a></h6><p>It is a decentralized naming service developed and built on the Scroll. Scroll NS provides an online identity solution for Web3 space. It comes with a one-time payment of ownership fees, fair launch and distribution, and next-generation domain utility.</p><h2>Scroll: Key Features</h2><p>1.&nbsp;<strong>Improved Ethereum scalability</strong>: Scroll aims to solve Ethereum's scalability issues by using zk-rollups, allowing it to process more transactions in less time and at a lower cost.</p><p>2.&nbsp;<strong>Zk-proofs technology</strong>: This technology allows Scroll to provide highly secure and confidential transactions while maintaining transparency and decentralization.</p><p>3.&nbsp;<strong>Lower costs</strong>: Scroll's main goal is to reduce gas costs for transactions on the Ethereum network. It makes the use of the blockchain more affordable.</p><p>4.&nbsp;<strong>Improved transaction speed</strong>: Zk-rollups help Scroll to increase the speed of transaction processing on Ethereum.</p><p>5.&nbsp;<strong>Compatibility</strong>: Easier integration with existing decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum.</p><h2>Scroll Sessions</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/n-NSlWyq9sCxtZtsEBDA2KvmgFJQvya_KDpludYG8pXCrqKBHajV6zFuJ9Im7IsrAsnZOdhkbPoJDWeI7wzWi0E2u6iA3hjxQX7iASuWn8nUAYSfC3Bh9m-Vwh2YxHn_utKSY4eUt72uTWPWp8OW0HI" width="602" height="301"></p><p>Scroll Sessions is the protocol’s loyalty program to reward the community with Scroll Marks for being actively involved in the Scroll ecosystem.&nbsp;</p><p>Users can get Scroll Marks by depositing assets to Scroll. To get exposure to Session Zero, you need to bridge ETH or&nbsp;<a href="https://help.lido.fi/en/articles/5231836-what-is-lido-s-wsteth">wstETH</a> via the&nbsp;<a href="https://scroll.io/bridge">native bridge</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://stakestone.io/">STONE</a> using&nbsp;<a href="https://app.stakestone.io/u/bridge">LayerZero</a> to Scroll.&nbsp;</p><p>You can swap your assets on the Notum app in a one-click manner.</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/sOc0vGShgoPWFLOtHkHJGn_rNG29tbtGB0nX1LMvhPB_b_Bx-o9E8dv23P67uR91M9WygS26oollYFOglFaore8QnVbBNHz9i63YzsQrswLwHeSWwGhITgJuBKIVA-1OcOS6aqyTY840efivX3sZqHk" width="602" height="351"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: Notum app</h6><p>Marks will be accrued by holding these assets on Scroll. You don't need to do any additional transactions or activities for Session Zero. Scroll Marks will also be issued to Scroll community members who have been with the protocol from the very beginning.&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://twitter.com/Scroll_ZKP/status/1780584704175161392"></oembed></figure><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><p>Scroll protocol is a quickly developing project that uses innovative zk-Rollup. The platform allows to building and develop various projects saving costs and time.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>zk-Rollups technology is a key to the Ethereum scaling issue. Scroll’s advantages of EVM equivalence and comprehensive decentralization, its own value might also experience significant growth.</p><h2>Follow Scroll on Socials</h2><p><a href="https://scroll.io/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/Scroll_ZKP"><strong>X</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://t.co/doOMIhIuLv"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mirror.xyz/scrollprotocol.eth/subscribe"><strong>Mirror</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

Explore Scroll Ecosystem geared by ZKP, and the protocol's Scroll Sessions crypto points program together with Notum!

Scroll: Powering DeFi with ZK Proofs

<h2>TLDR;</h2><ul><li>Mode aims to actively contribute to the Optimism network's growth and strength;</li><li>Mode stands out thanks to its lowest fees, robust tools for deploying apps within Web3, and its rewarding system for both users and developers;</li><li>The protocol has an impressive list of ecosystem integrations such as&nbsp;<a href="https://thegraph.com/">The Graph</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://layerzero.network/">LayerZero</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://pyth.network/">Pyth</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ether.fi/">Etherfi</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.okx.com/web3">OKX Wallet</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.renzoprotocol.com/">Renzo</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://safe.global/">Safe</a>,</li><li>Mode is about to have an airdrop due to the MODE token launch;</li><li>The project is keeping its finger on the pulse of the latest DeFi trends, so they are into a points system together with Renzo protocol.</li></ul><h2>About Mode</h2><p>Mode is the L2 protocol that incentivizes and rewards developers, users, and protocols to grow Mode and the Superchain ecosystem. Applications and users using the Mode blockchain will get a proportion of network sequencer profits. It is one of the largest L2 DeFi ecosystems that became larger than zkSync, Starknet, and many others.</p><p>Mode’s core includes:</p><ul><li><strong>Contract Secured Fees</strong>: Smart Contract developers will get fees that run through the contracts they deploy to the network.</li><li><strong>Referral Program Fees:</strong> Developers, users, or protocols that refer new developers, users, or protocols to the network will receive a share of the transaction fee.</li><li><strong>Convenient Monitoring</strong>: Developers get access to a project dashboard with crucial data on their applications and integrations to help them scale their community.</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Ethereum L2 Scalability</strong>: Mode blends Ethereum’s security and improved transaction speeds with reduced costs. Thus, it works out a notorious scalability issue.</li><li><strong>Optimism’s OP Stack Integration</strong>: Optimism’s OP Stack provides easy and efficient application development.</li><li><strong>Growth-Centric Mechanics</strong>: Mode uses unique growth mechanics at protocol and product levels, creating a network that evolves with its user base.</li></ul><p>It’s important to note that Mode has implemented&nbsp;<a href="https://community.optimism.io/docs/developers/bedrock/">Optimism's Bedrock upgrade&nbsp;</a>which has significantly lowered the fees to be over 95% less than Ethereum.&nbsp;</p><p>Mode is geared up by the&nbsp;<a href="https://stack.optimism.io/">OP Stack</a>, in collaboration with Optimism. The protocol wants to contribute to growing Optimism's Superchain ecosystem acting as the DeFi hub.</p><h2>Mode’s Toolbox</h2><p>So, why is Mode so convenient to use? It’s achieved thanks to the tools the protocol can offer:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.spindl.xyz/">Spindl</a>: analytics tool for Web3;</li><li><a href="https://guild.xyz/">Guild</a>: automated community management tools;</li><li><a href="https://www.addressable.io/">Addressable</a>: helps to host web3 advertising campaigns;</li><li><a href="https://galxe.com/">Galxe</a>: the most popular platform for building Web3 community;</li><li><a href="https://jokerace.xyz/">JokeRace</a>: governance participation tooling;</li><li><a href="https://3rm.co/">3RM</a>: a CRM and relationship manager for Web3;</li><li><a href="https://terminal.rabbithole.gg/">Quest Terminal</a>: providing micro airdrops for on-chain actions built by&nbsp;<a href="https://rabbithole.gg/quests">Rabbithole</a>.</li></ul><p>All these tools empower developers with access to the distribution channels that are indispensable for building stable and secure on-chain businesses. The Mode dashboard will give insights to help developers effectively allocate resources to scale their applications.</p><h2>About $MODE</h2><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640px" height="360px" src="https://defillama.com/chart/chain/Mode?volume=true&amp;theme=dark" title="DefiLlama" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</div><ul><li>$500m in TVL;</li><li>20,000,000 onchain transactions;</li><li>450,000 wallets;</li><li>100+ ecosystem integrations such as&nbsp;<a href="https://thegraph.com/">The Graph</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://layerzero.network/">LayerZero</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://pyth.network/">Pyth</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ether.fi/">Etherfi</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.okx.com/web3">OKX Wallet</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.renzoprotocol.com/">Renzo</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://safe.global/">Safe</a>, and 30+ native applications including Ionic, KIM, Ironclad, and many more;</li><li>Mode Flare L3 launching in partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://celestia.org/">Celestia</a>.</li></ul><p>Mode’s growth is only getting started with blue-chip applications such as Velodrome and Balancer deploying, over 35 new native ecosystem projects, and Mode Flare L3s launching in the coming weeks.&nbsp;</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/iDTfugzn45-AdWTeAe2oysz_DiiISKi4Faq5-DY9te5uHpd_E_wsN9epE_p8nsEkUIJckVj9qL8DnM38O4nbtaku8UJ3Smttif8zSLtnP_zro7vctb20g5bplEongP_V-oFJJGXFg3zyIxoiKvXN8HE" width="602" height="376"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://www.mode.network/">Mode’s website</a></h6><p>To support continued growth, Mode will organize Airdrop 2 with&nbsp;500,000,000 MODE to reward users who grow the ecosystem.</p><p>To decentralize Mode protocol, there will be the launch of the ecosystem’s native token, $MODE scheduled to launch on 7th May.</p><h2>$MODE Token</h2><p>Mode’s tokenomics is seeking to decentralize Mode and reward users and developers who contribute to growing the Mode ecosystem.</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://twitter.com/modenetwork/status/1786115441233973419"></oembed></figure><h2>$MODE Tokenomics</h2><ul><li>Ticker: $MODE</li><li>Total Supply: 10,000,000,000</li><li>Initial Circulating Supply: 1,300,000,000</li></ul><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/OGAFixPDeyPr7zoPpydp3MeSCApKzJVoM0KiLBQJjFPKHrSXtliHJgJlAZTG2WlrPGs46Tt8w68htHoVjKppLF_oz3zUWs2IsM4Nv3lB3-DfmVdjeByXep8ch7y8ZIGYB_8_w8mXY9CkHWog_5uMiQc" width="602" height="339"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://mode.mirror.xyz/">Mode’s Mirror</a></h6><h3>Vesting Schedule</h3><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/oMImdnRJ361m5luVYkj7qHD9ZOit3Aq61pZ98ogHiwLaNCJJx98P4el8QEcsiHmLPplpj1FFzPqgcavvpfJMbDvmSIIv3qQV9NEtm-aOn2DZ8exvD7xTTh7XZu3QhRz_onW_lzj0742nf9n_tug-qes" width="602" height="339"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://mode.mirror.xyz/">Mode’s Mirror</a></h6><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>User and Developer Airdrops</strong>: 35%</p><p>This part is for users and developers that contribute to the Mode ecosystem.</p><ul><li>5.5%is for the Mode users and developers for Airdrop 1;</li><li>5% is for the Mode users and developers for Airdrop 2;</li><li>the rest is for future airdrops.</li></ul><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Investors</strong>: 19%</p><p>For the Mode investors from past and future investment rounds.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Core Contributors</strong>: 19%</p><p>For the Mode core contributors that contribute to developing the Mode ecosystem.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Foundation and Onchain Treasury</strong>: 27%</p><p>The Foundation allocation will be used to fund initiatives to grow the MODE network.</p><h3>$MODE Utility</h3><p>The token will be used to govern and grow the Mode protocol and ecosystem through:</p><ul><li>Mode Governance;</li><li>User and Developer Campaigns;</li><li>DeFi Integration Grants;</li><li>Community Grants;</li><li>Growing the Mode ecosystem.</li></ul><h3>Claiming MODE</h3><p>Users are eligible to claim Mode by going to&nbsp;<a href="https://claim.mode.network/">claim.mode.network</a> (the link will be accessible only on the launch day) on May 7th at 11.00 am UTC.&nbsp;</p><h2>Mode Airdrop 2&nbsp;</h2><ul><li>Airdrop 1 finishes on the 5th of May;</li><li>Airdrop 2 begins on the 5th of May 2024 and runs until the 6th of September 2024.</li></ul><p>NB Users who move assets off Mode may not receive their full airdrop on the 7th of May – snapshots are ongoing.</p><ul><li>User points from Airdrop 1 will be replaced with MODE tokens and users can claim them on the 7th of May at 11.00 am UTC at&nbsp;<a href="https://claim.mode.network/">claim.mode.network</a>.</li><li>The top 2,000 wallets by points will get 50% MODE at launch and 50% MODE after 90 days. User assets must stay within the ecosystem during this period to earn the second portion of tokens.</li><li>For example, if a vested user is still active after 45 days, they will get 50% of the second share of tokens and 50% will be seized. All forfeited tokens will be reissued to other participants in Airdrop 2.</li><li>There is a minimum amount of points required to get exposure to the airdrop to prevent sybils.</li><li>Users will have 30 days to claim tokens from Airdrop 1 and the unclaimed ones remain for future rewards of the Mode’s users and developers.</li><li>Those who participated in Airdrop 1 and continue to participate in Airdrop 2 will receive a substantial multiplier.</li></ul><h2>Mode Airdrop Points</h2><p>Mode is always on the avantgarde, so it aims to expand support for yield-bearing Liquid Staking and Restaking assets. Thus, the protocol wants to encourage a more efficient ecosystem for these assets.</p><h3>Mode x Renzo</h3><p>ezETH - Renzo Restaked ETH - 1.2x points&nbsp;</p><p>*multiplier is given for assets when held in a wallet, when added to protocols the standard 1x multiplier is given</p><p>Additional assets will be added soon and multipliers will be confirmed on the Mode airdrop page.</p><h3>LST/LRTs and Native Yield</h3><p>The first LRT asset supported on Mode is ezETH, Renzo Restaked ETH.</p><p>Renzo is a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) and Strategy Manager for EigenLayer.&nbsp;</p><h6 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/YLd7iaynl4h1L0hmXXRral3tyh5pPVQty6jFZT4VsXDQDC8L3CAsmZYgbUbmscF-8a0SPsvnVOf9c4jF4vjeHUWdXzszC1t0FGA9Snx5lidDd4ilR27TAGj8yEX7IZFlSTWzagZxsEl4aAbXoEYRtBM" width="602" height="360"></h6><h6 style="text-align:center;">Source: <a href="https://www.mode.network/">Mode’s website</a></h6><p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.renzoprotocol.com/">Renzo protocol</a> provides this by removing all complexity from the user and ensures flawless collaboration between users and EigenLayer node operators.</p><p>Users holding ezETH on Mode get:</p><p style="text-align:center;"><i><strong>&nbsp;ETH Staking APR + Restaking APR + Eigenlayer Points + Renzo points + Mode Points</strong></i></p><p>You can mint ezETH on Mode by visiting Renzo’s website and selecting Mode as the network&nbsp;<a href="https://www.renzoprotocol.com/">Renzo’s website</a>.</p><h2>Money Markets on Mode</h2><p>Several new money markets and asset integrations have launched on Mode that enable users to use&nbsp;ETH and LST/LRT tokens.</p><ol><li><a href="https://www.ionic.money/">Ionic&nbsp;</a>- integration of ezETH into the money market;</li><li><a href="https://mode.layerbank.finance/">Layerbank</a> - integration of ezETH into lending and borrowing;</li><li><a href="https://sturdy.finance">Sturdy</a> - ezETH integrated into lending and borrowing.</li></ol><h2>Follow Mode on Socials</h2><p><a href="https://www.mode.network/"><strong>Website</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://docs.mode.network/"><strong>Documentation</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/modenetwork"><strong>X</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://discord.com/invite/modenetworkofficial"><strong>Discord</strong></a><strong> |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://mode.mirror.xyz/"><strong>Mirror</strong></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.</i></p>

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