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Among the various layer-1 blockchains aiming to capitalize on Ethereum’s shortcomings pertaining to lack of scalability, high gas fees, and others, there is Fantom (FTM), a decentralized, open-source, and permissionless smart contract protocol that allows developers to build decentralized applications (dApps), NFTs, and more on top of it.
In a nutshell, the Fantom blockchain aims to provide a solution to the infamous blockchain trilemma that argues that at a given time, a blockchain can only address two out of the three problems that plague distributed ledger technology, i.e., scalability, security, and decentralization.
Fantom leverages the innovative Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm for transaction validation. Notably, the aBFT network structure allows Fantom to process hundreds of thousands of transactions at minimal cost and without compromising on network security.
Recently, the Fantom Foundation announced a mammoth 370 million FTM incentive program to encourage developers to build innovative and robust applications in the Fantom ecosystem. The incentive program provided a shot in the arm to the Fantom ecosystem, leading to the emergence of a number of promising projects that hold the potential to dominate the young ecosystem in the long run.
In this article, we will look at two leading Fantom-based DeFi protocols, SpiritSwap and SpookySwap.
SpiritSwap (SPIRIT) is one of the earliest applications developed on the Fantom blockchain. SpiritSwap is an automated market maker (AMM) that allows decentralized swapping of tokens and digital assets on Fantom. However, unlike the vast majority of decentralized exchanges (DEX) that only offer swapping functionality, SpiritSwap offers a lot more to its users.
In addition to token swaps, SpiritSwap allows users to provide liquidity to its liquidity pools and earn SPIRIT tokens as a reward.
Trading on SpiritSwap involves a 0.3% transaction fee which is subsequently distributed to liquidity providers on the DEX. Further, all liquidity providers on SpiritSwap receive the SPIRIT-LP token as a receipt for liquidity provision. The LP token holders are eligible for boosted SPIRIT farming rewards that create a positive feedback loop by further encouraging users to provide liquidity on the DEX.
For example, a liquidity provider on SpiritSwap farming 100% APY on the SPIRIT-FTM liquidity pool can increase their gains to 250% by just holding the SPIRIT-LP token and depositing the same on the protocol.
In addition to SPIRIT and SPIRIT-LP tokens, the DEX has a governance token called inSPIRIT that allows its holders to chart the future course of SpiritSwap by taking part in DAO discussions for upgrades, partnerships, and others.
SPIRIT has a maximum supply of 1 billion and is built on the FRC-20 token standard. Out of the total token supply, a massive 81.8% has been allocated for yield farming which indicates the project’s egalitarian ethos to put the community at the forefront.
To conclude, SPIRIT is an infant project in an ecosystem that is finally getting the recognition it deserves. The future looks promising for SpiritSwap that is committed to letting the community take charge through its fair tokenomics.
SpookySwap (BOO) is a rival to SpiritSwap and another leading DEX on the Fantom blockchain.
Akin to SpiritSwap, SpookySwap leverages the AMM model to facilitate seamless swap of tokens on the Fantom mainnet without the involvement of any intermediary.
SpookySwap, however, charges 0.2% fee on every swap on the protocol unlike SpiritSwap that charges 0.3% for every swap. This means that while users will be able to swap tokens at a relatively low cost on SpookySwap, the liquidity providers on the DEX might earn a little less than their counterparts on SpiritSwap.
Similar to SpiritSwap’s SPIRIT token, SpookySwap is governed by the BOO token that has multiple utilities based on the holder’s appetite for risk.
In addition to being used for governance purposes, BOO allows users to provide liquidity on SpookySwap to earn swapping fees from the token pairs. Moreover, BOO can also be used to farm more BOO token rewards by staking the spLP token.
Further, users can deposit their BOO tokens in the buyback BOO pool to receive xBOO tokens that represent the holders’ share of stake in the pool. These xBOO tokens can then be staked on the protocol to earn additional tokens available in the pool list.
While both SpiritSwap and SpookySwap are competing in the fiercely contested DeFi landscape in the industry, the two AMMs have witnessed remarkable growth in recent months, according to data from DeFi Llama.
At the time of writing, SpookySwap boasts of $590 million in TVL while the same for SpiritSwap sits at $320 million. Considering the massive room of growth left for Fantom as its adoption continues to grow, expect a promising future for both the Halloween-inspired AMM.