3 DeFi Projects To Check Out

The last few days we’ve been on the topic of DeFi. Let’s talk about some interesting plays related to that.

Even if you lived in a crypto cave for the past few months, I am 100% sure you would still have heard about the DeFi craze that appeared this summer. Since July, the total value locked inside DeFi protocols has now reached close to $11 billion;

It seems that other blockchains have been figuring out ways to take advantage of this DeFi craze, and the recent announcement of Flamingo will bring DeFi protocols to the NEO blockchain. On top of this, other blockchains are creating bridges to become interoperable with Ethereum in hopes to catch the DeFi wave.

In this article, I want to discuss 2 projects that are enabling the Ethereum DeFi craze to hop over to other blockchains and one being already a platform on Ethereum. These are platforms that will be essential to keep your eyes on over the next months!

1. Switcheo 

https://switcheo.exchange/

Token: SWTH
Price: ~$0.028
Total Supply: 983,988,072

Switcheo is a Singaporean-based non-custodial decentralized cryptocurrency exchange that is built on top of the NEO blockchain. The platform brings all the typical features that you would expect from a DEX, and it allows NEO-based assets to be swapped directly from users’ wallets. 

However, Switcheo takes matters one step further as it is cross-chain compatible. On Switcheo, traders can trade between NEO-based tokens and ERC-20 tokens – providing a dedicated Decentralized trading infrastructure for cross-chain swaps on-chain. It can be thought of as a Loopring.io-like DEX, but it encompasses NEO-based assets and ERC-20 assets.

Why is it a gem?

• Switcheo is the longest-running DEX on the NEO blockchain.
• Flamingo, a NEO-based cross-chain asset gateway, synthetic stablecoin creator, and an automated market maker, will be launching on the NEO blockchain very soon.
  • Once this occurs, it will put all DEX’s and protocols based on NEO in the spotlight. As a result, NEO will enter the DeFi game, and the Western blockchain world will flock to Switcheo as it will act as an on-ramp to the DeFi of China.
• Switcheo unveiled its Switcheo Tradehub in March 2020. This is a purpose-built sidechain for trading on Switcheo. The order matching engine is held on each node, which validates every trade submission. After trades are validated, it is broadcast in batches on Layer-1 blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and NEO. 
• It already has multiple assets to trade from on the exchange across USD, BTC, ETH, and NEO.

In conclusion, once the Flamingo infrastructure is rolled out, and DeFi appears on the NEO blockchain, users will instantly flock to take advantage of the new DeFi craze on NEO. As a result, the majority of them are likely to run to the longest-standing NEO-based DEX to take part in the newly formed non-Ethereum-based DeFi craze.

Extra stuff to take note on 

– Raised $8.7 million in its March 2018 ICO.
– Roger Lim is an advisor. He is a Founding Partner of NGC and has advised other projects such as CoinFi, SelfKey, and Bluezelle.

2. Polkastarter 

https://www.polkastarter.com/

Token: POLS
Price: ~$0.638 
Total Supply: 100,000,000

Polkastarter is a Decentralized Exchange built on top of the Polkadot blockchain. If you are unaware, Polkadot has been around for a long time, since ca. late 1016, however, its token went public in September 2020. It appeared on CoinMarketCap in top 10 ranked projects – to the surprise of many crypto heads. What many of them did not realize is the fact that Polkadot was being worked on behind the scenes for around three years by Gavin Wood – an Etheruem co-founder.

Going back to Polkastarter, it’s still a project in development, however, it has big plans laid out – it will be a DEX that allows for swaps on the Polkadot blockchain. In addition to this, it will be cross-chain compatible with Ethereum and ERC-20 assets. Lastly, Polkastarter also combines a funding protocol that allows projects to raise capital on a decentralized and permissionless platform.

Why is it a gem?

• Based on the Polkadot blockchain – created by Gavin Woods (ETH co-founder).
• It combines a decentralized exchange with a fundraising platform for different types of token listings.
• Interoperable with Ethereum, so Polkastarter allows for DOT/ETH swaps and DOT/ERC-20 swaps.
  • These swaps are powered through Polkadot, which provides much higher throughput and cheaper transaction fees.
• As a result of the interoperability, Ethereum DeFi fans will likely hop onto the Polkadot ecosystem to see what is on offer and take part in the upcoming Polkadot DeFi Craze
  • They are likely to use Polkastarter as one of the main core-bridges to enter the Polkadot DeFi rush
• The platform has a KYC protocol to ensure that investors and projects looking to raise funds are all trustworthy to a certain degree.
• Governance occurs via its POLS token. 

In conclusion, the interoperability in the Polkadot ecosystem provides an easy route for Ethereum DeFi users to migrate over to Polkadot DeFi protocols. With Polkastarter being one of the only DEX’s on Polkadot (and with its KYC integration for fundraising).

Extra stuff to take note on 

– Raised $875K in Seed Rounds and Private Sales.
– Backed by heavyweights such as NGC capital, Moonrock Capital, Signum Capital, and Astronaut Capital
– John Patrick, Managing Director at MD Labs, is an advisor to both Polkadot and Polkastarter. He is a revered mentor at LONGHASH and a guest lecturer at HKUST Business School and Tongji University in Shanghai.
– Matthew Dibb is also an advisor for Polkastarter. He has held posts as an account manager for Macquarie Bank, Head of Futures and FX tradings at Halifax, and is on the Investment Committee at Astronaut Capital. 

3. Swerve Finance 

https://swerve.fi/

Token: SWRV
Price: ~$1.30 

Swerve is the only project based on Ethereum in this article. It is a fork (or in other words a copy) of Curve.fi platform – the stablecoin swapping protocol. Curve.fi allows for the quick and easy swaps between Stablecoins while at the same time, also enable Liquidity Providers to earn a yield.

However, Curve.fi was riddled with accusations of an unfair launch. As a result, an anonymous group decided to fork the project and create a 100% community-owned version of Curve.Fi from the outset.  

Why is it a gem?

• Fair release from day one. Liquidity Providers who deposited into the protocol instantly were farming $SWRV tokens as a reward.
  • The spark that started all this was probably this tweet by Andre Conje
• 100% controlled by the community. Any proposals are put forward by members and are voted upon by the community as a whole.
  • On the other hand, Curve.fi was governed entirely by Michael Egorov (founder) for quite sometime before the community had any say in the project.
  • The downside to the community governance is that it might take longer to integrate other stablecoins to the platform. Currently, there are only four tokens available on Swerve (DAI, USDC, USDT, and TUSD). 
• The Swap Fee on Swerve is 0.03%, which is 0.01% lower than the swap fee on Curve.fi (0.04%). This lower fee will have a considerable impact on whales looking to do stablecoin swaps, which will likely cause them to choose Swerve instead of Curve.fi.
• It has a total supply of 33,000,000 tokens as opposed to the 3 billion CRV tokens.

In conclusion, Swerve is a GEM due to the fact that it launched with fair distribution and is 100% owned by the community. It has no pre-mine, no founders-fee, and no venture capitalists (seed investors) onboard waiting to get their investment returns. This creates an environment in which investors can feel more comfortable about its fair governance. 

In addition to this, as soon as Swerve starts to increase the number of tokens it has on the platform and increases the number of swap options, we should see a flow of liquidity being directed to the protocol from Curve.fi – especially if Swerve retains its 100% community governance and its lower fee structure.

Extra stuff to take note on 

– Within a day of launching, Swerve managed to reach over $400 million in total locked value (TVL).
– The TVL continued higher as it locked $914 million within 12 days of launching.
– The TVL settled down to $41 million in late-September.
– The team (and community) seem to be hesitant in introducing new pools as they might be unnecessary because it would force Liquidity Providers to make deposits just to chase yields.