The History of DeFi on Avalanche
Hi there Lydians!
So we have been talking a lot about DeFi recently but we wanted to go over the DeFi origins of our favorite network, Avalanche! We think this article will be loved by many as if you were involved in the early days of Avalanche then you can read and reminisce on past growth. If not then we hope this will be an interesting and informative read for you to learn about how it all started!
The Dawn of Avalanche
The arrival of new blockchains has become commonplace in the web3 world as many new projects vie to make a difference and create new and innovative ideas to help further the expanse of crypto infrastructure. Avalanche arrived on the scene first introducing the X-chain, which is an instance of the Avalanche Virtual Machine (AVM). Transactions originally done on Avalanche were done so on the X-chain. What set Avalanche apart and still does is it’s transaction finality speed, low gas fees and it’s vision with subnets, that can allow individual projects to power their own protocol more effectively and efficiently. After a short time, Avalanche launched it’s C-chain, which is what most transactions currently use today. Things were still a bit complicated as one would have to use the Avalanche web wallet and send tokens to it using the X-Chain and then in the wallet convert the AVAX over to the C-Chain and then you could finally send it to your Metamask. As with any form of building, with time came immense progress and we have reached a point where sending funds to your c-chain wallet is rapid and simple.
The DEXs
With any blockchain comes an essential need for a functioning exchange. Right away, there was a DEX that saw the potential of what Avalanche had to offer. It was called ZeroDEX. It was the first to kick off the decentralized exchange involvement within the network. Shortly after that, Pangolin was born and they had done an airdrop for users of UniSwap in order to attract new users from the Ethereum Network. Pangolin was intially entirely community ran with no core developement team. It brought forth a vision of a strong and community focused project with a platform that allowed for speedy and super cheap transactions in a time where Uniswap was struggling with high gas fees coupled with it’s lack of speed. While ZeroDEX was the first actual DEX on the Avalanche Network, Pangolin was the first to make a profound impact.
Shortly after Pangolin’s inception, another DEX popped up on the scene; yours truly, Lydia Finance (Go Lydians!). Lydia was the first to build a one-stop shop platform for many crypto needs within Avalanche. Providing a DEX/AMM, single staking and LP farms, lottery, autocompunder, etc, Lydia made a name for itself as being more than just a DEX. Along the way, many other DEXs were born such as the likes of YetiSwap, Canary, PartySwap, TraderJoe and many others. A clutter of exchanges have entered the foray but many have withered away without too much success while the rest continue to co-exist and build a fruitful environment for all users.
Yield Protocols
The other lure of Avalanche was what it had to offer in terms of lucrativness via platforms that provided oppurtunites to generate income with varying ranges of attractive APR/APY. Along with the few original DEXs were yield farming and auto-compounding LP projects such as Penguin Finance, Snowball, Yield Yak more. These provided much incentives for use on the Avalanche network and helped build the yield farming ecosystem we see today. The ability to produce income through multiple platforms in forms on single staking, LP farming and autocompounding was intuitive and abundant. With that came a great variety of other platforms that would mimic the same protocols of others to try and supply the same service. Few succeeded, many were rugs or scams which is why it’s important to do your research and have a good head on your shoulders when eyeing new yield projects.
Lending Protocols
As time progressed, the launch of the first lending protocol on Avalanche transpired. BenQi was the first lending project to land on Avalanche and the first recipient of the Avalanche Rush Initiative. The arrival of BenQi was huge and was a positive introduction into the Avalanche space as lending features weren’t available but desired by many users. Moving forawrd, Aave, having orignally being launched first on the Ethereum network also launched it’s lending protocol on the Avalanche Network further helping to expand all things lending.
The Great Integration
With Avalanche’s continued growth and vision came a rapid influx of users and more progessive and forward-thinking ideas. Avalanche quickly garnered the attention of many. Not just users, but developers from other chains as well. Slowly and then more increasingly, projects from the Ethereum network saw interests and the benefits of having their platforms cross-chain and running on the Avalanche network. Aave, as mentioned above and others such as SushiSwap, OlympusDAO and others decided to diversify their foundations and integrate their protocols onto the Avalanche network. Even till this day, many projects continue to do so and not just from Ethereum.
Just The Beginning
Around the first era that included Avalanche’s launch and introduction of the platforms that lead the way, there weren’t too many users. The denizens within this blockchain was but a fraction. The idea that they were the first few pioneers of this space and a space full of potetential and innovation quickly amassed a deep and inspiring bullish movement within the community, as they saw a significant and positive future held for Avalanche and it’s newly deployed C-Chain. They were early and as the old and cliché saying goes, “The early bird gets the worm”, but this worm was a more discerning treat to digest.
Many early users of Avalanche, of course, began to feel very vilified as we all knew Avalanche was going to be a powerhouse and it proved such merits. When everybody likes you, everybody hates you. Avalanche’s rise in popularity and CMC rank seem to have awaken doubt and envy amongst users of other blockchains but that alone can’t impede its progress. Even now at the time of writing this article, OpenSea is preparing to migrate over to Avalanche as well. Why? Well if you have used Avalanche before then you already know. The DeFi scene within Avalanche continues to grow with immense capacity as more exceptional and bright minds/ideas enter the playing field. DeFi has made a significant imprint in the history of Avalanche and will continue to make its mark and progress with the evolution of Avalanche and crypto in general.
About Lydia Finance
Lydia Finance is an Automated Market Maker, Yield Farming, Staking, and Launchpad platform on Avalanche.
Their rich UI and comprehensive documentation/tutorials allow every level of user to invest in DeFi and maximize their earnings by taking advantage of Avalanche’s lightning-fast infrastructure with very low gas costs.
Trade, stake, pool, and earn $LYD and many other token utilities all on Lydia Finance.
