AMA Highlights: Conflux Network & MoonSwap
By Daniel Dal Bello, Director.
April 4, 2021–9 min read
On Friday 2 April, we welcomed Harvie from MoonSwap and Sami Tannir from Conflux Network into the Hillrise Group Telegram chat for a conversation about AMMs in a unique fast-growing ecosystem.
Prominent layer-1 Conflux Network is the only public blockchain backed by the Chinese government. It has been making some big strides with its ecosystem since our last AMA in November 2020.
MoonSwap is the first AMM (‘Automated Market Maker’) DEX built atop Conflux technology. MoonSwap has a strong focus on optimization, near-zero gas fees, lightning-fast transactions, and incentivization of liquidity providers.
We were excited to explore the two unique startups, their experience working together, their visions moving forward, and their shared ecosystem.
In this post, we have compiled key questions and answers from the event.
Daniel Dal Bello
Welcome Sami and Harvie, it’s a pleasure to have you here today. We’re very much looking forward to learning more about MoonSwap, the synergies within the Conflux network ecosystem, and your view on the future. Could you please start with a brief introduction about yourself and what you’re working on?
Harvie
Hello everyone, I’m Harvie from MoonSwap. MoonSwap is an AMM DEX that runs on Conflux Network, and we provide users with the high-speed and zero-gas experience. Very happy to be here today.
Sami Tannir
Hey all my name is Sami, DeFi analyst at Conflux Network. Happy to be here, and answer any questions you may have on Conflux.
Rowan Zwiers
Let’s talk origins at first — I’m curious to know, how did MoonSwap and Conflux find each other in the ambition to create a DEX that solves the problem of Ethereum fees/throughput on AMM DEXes such as Uniswap/SushiSwap?
Harvie @HarvieW
MoonSwap was launched in September 2020, but in fact, our cooperation has started in March last year. At that time, our team checked many blockchains, and finally, we chose Conflux. They have a first-class technical team, and they also have a unique position in the Chinese blockchain industry.
We first cooperated with MoonDEX, an order book DEX running on Conflux. The development and the operation of MoonDEX has helped us accumulate valuable experience. At the same time, it has also verified the feasibility of large-scale application of key technologies such as ShuttleFlow asset cross-chain protocol and 0-GAS-Transaction. Then in July last year, we started planning for MoonSwap until now.
Ray Reijnders
As a project building on Conflux, how do you view the support that you receive from both Conflux and other ecosystem partners?
Do you feel like there is a strong sense of community among both the team and projects in the ecosystem?
Harvie @HarvieW
From my point of view, I think that cooperation based on “WIN-WIN” can be stable. Conflux has provided us with a lot of support. They are the most important partner of MoonSwap. Especially in marketing cooperation, Conflux has provided us with a lot of resources.
Of course, we also hope to help the Conflux community. MoonSwap APP can already be searched on GooglePlay and AppStore. It will become the mobile portal for all Conflux projects in the future. Our Kepler Protocol will also help Conflux have more connections with other blockchains.
Speaking of the community, the community has given us too many surprises. It is the most valuable asset of MoonSwap. Many developers from the community have discussed with me the new projects they are planning. Conflux is a rich and underdeveloped land, and we are very happy to see more and more projects appear on it.
Ray Reijnders
Sami, as someone who is involved in almost everything Conflux, what are you as the creator of the ecosystem doing to engage with teams building on Conflux?
Sami Tannir
I think for any early startup, especially a layer-1 the developers will be the hardest thing to find and get signed up into the ecosystem, as once the chain launches there is not as much liquidity and users as some other leading chains like Polkadot or Ethereum per se. Conflux realized this early on and set up a few programs to help bring the developers onboard such as out 2.4 billion (yes BILLION) CFX grants program.
Through funding and support from the grants program, our goal is to support innovation and build an equitable and inclusive future, connecting economies and communities across the globe.
We have some amazing grant recipients already building on Conflux. These projects all have ambitious goals that will hopefully inspire you to come to join us!
Daniel Dal Bello
How does the recently started Open DeFi initiative tie into Conflux? Have you noticed this leading to more interest in initiatives built on your network?
Sami Tannir
Open DeFi was a global alliance initiated by Conflux near the end of last year. Its main priority was to create a global initiative to develop the decentralized financial ecosystem and advance the collaboration of DeFi projects across borders and blockchains.
Luckily for us, many of the leading DeFi projects share the same vision as us such as Aave, Balancer, dYdX, and 25+ more of the top DeFi projects all signed up in the alliance. We work with them directly to create initiatives that will help promote a cross-chain ecosystem as well as marketing and market entry programs to the somewhat isolated market of China.
While we initiated it, we don’t necessarily lead it, it is led by its members including us! The push we have received from it has been great however, it is not often you see blockchains in such an early stage have the ability to work with some of the top DeFi projects.
Rowan Zwiers
Harvie, did your receive any grants from Conflux for the development of MoonSwap?
Harvie
We are more inclined to provide Grants for more new projects together with Conflux.
Rowan Zwiers
What kind of projects are you inclined to provide grants for together with Conflux? What are you looking for in a new project — and how does it benefit MoonSwap itself?
Harvie
This will be related to our MED FUND, it should not be decided by the MoonSwap team. MED belongs to the community. So we formed the Community Committee and the Technical Committee, and developers can publish proposals and apply for funds from the community. Of course, in the early stages, we do have a preference for certain development projects, because we think it will help MoonSwap develop faster, just like Aggregate Trading tools and NFT Games.
We believe that a more prosperous Conflux ecosystem will make MoonSwap better, after all, this means more assets will appear in MoonSwap.
Rowan Zwiers
I’ve read that in order to let more people experience Conflux, the Conflux community provided Moonswap with some of their FC tokens (initial voting/governance token), which will be sent to MoonSwap’s liquidity providers (LPs) also. This suggests a deep synergy between the Conflux and MoonSwap communities.
Can you tell us more about the decision of the Conflux community to provide their FC tokens as an incentive mechanism for liquidity providers and your general vision on these two communities and their synergies moving forward?
Sami Tannir
If it has not become evident by now, DEXes are by far the most important part of any chains DeFi ecosystem. MoonSwap did a great job of utilizing all of our technology and putting it to work on their exchange, as of right now it is the most adopted and used protocol on the network. In order to continue their growth trajectory, one thing we help gave them was FC and CFX tokens for different features of the exchange such as their yield farms, trading competitions, and early airdrops.
Rowan Zwiers
Do you feel there is a big mutual awareness and overlap between MoonSwap and Conflux community members?
Sami Tannir
In a sense yes, Conflux tries its best to support all the projects building on the platform. For the community members, it is obvious that without the chain performing, their favorite Conflux dApp will not work and grow, so we find that most of our feedback and support is coming directly from the usecases of the network such as the Moonswap community who can see the utility of the network first-hand.
Ray Reijnders
You have recently launched your asset introduction plan for MoonSwap, the program has some very strict requirements such as a circulating market capitalization of more than $100 million and initial liquidity provision from the team or community of at least $500,000.
Have you seen a lot of interest in your program and do you already have any projects going through the process?
Harvie
This is a rough plan. These standards are actually related to some rules of ShuttleFlow. In fact, we are about to usher in some new assets and some great events. We will announce more news later, so stay tuned!
Rowan Zwiers
Harvie, as a team that is building on Conflux, how do you view the future of Conflux? And why did you stick with Conflux Network after MoonDEX instead of continuing on Binance Smart Chain or Ethereum?
Harvie
Our cooperation with Conflux started a year ago, and we have a very good understanding of each other. Compared with Ethereum, the experience of “high speed and zero-gas” makes it a better choice, and as a layer-1 blockchain, Conflux is also very scalable.
Conflux mainnet has just been online for 5 months, I believe Conflux’s current stage is just like Ethereum in 2015. You just can’t underestimate its potential. At the same time, Conflux also needs us, it needs us to do the work we are doing now. Together, we will build it into the best blockchain in the world.
Ray Reijnders
From what we have seen, Conflux Network is more well known in China/Asia and lesser-known in the western markets. Are you seeing a difference in trust and pace of adoption between US/ EU and Asia-based communities?
Sami Tannir
That is definitely true, this is why we set up our new ambassadors program to help grow Conflux across the globe, and it has really helped pick up adoption of the chain in other markets such as Latin America and Europe.
There are now over 15 ambassadors spread across the globe in 5 continents helping to spread the word through localization, translations, and even helping build out our strategy to enter these markets! For a lot of these regions, the reason projects will have trouble entering is less about trust and more about the availability of support and translations. It is much easier when someone from Argentina for example has another fellow Spanish-speaking community manager to help answer their questions and get them signed up!
Rowan Zwiers
Harvie, do you have a view on the adoption rate of Moonswap amongst different demographics globally?
Harvie
In fact the MoonSwap team put more effort into the English market. 50% of MoonSwap’s PV comes from non-Chinese markets. For the past six months, I have been cooperating with Sami to develop the English market. In addition, 10% of our PV comes from Japan, which is also one of our main markets in the future.
Ray Reijnders
You have recently launched the MoonSwap DappStore, enabling the connection of dApps across the multi-chain blockchain ecosystem.
Where did the idea for creating this cross-chain dApp library originate from?
Harvie
There are not many wallets that support Conflux, so we developed the MoonSwap app, which is available to users in the MoonSwap and Conflux communities. MoonSwap app is also a decentralized multi-chain wallet that supports Conflux, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and TRON at the same time.
We will also open the app to other projects on Conflux. With more and more of these projects and the realization of Conflux-BSC, we decided to open a new section and give full play to our advantages to allow users to use the MoonSwap app across projects on different blockchains and transfer assets between different blockchains. This is MoonSwap DappStore.
Ray Reijnders
How did the DappStore come to be, and why have you chosen to implement blockchains such as HECO alongside the more well-known and utilized chains like Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum?
Harvie
Partly because of their ecological prosperity, partly because of the partnership that MoonSwap has established with them. We hope to build a real cross-chain system through Conflux and ShuttleFlow. We will integrate more blockchains in the future.
Rowan Zwiers
What are you looking forward to the most for both Moonswap and the Conflux Network?
Harvie
I can’t wait to see more projects appear in Conflux, our IDO tool will serve this and Kepler Protocol, help users improve asset utilization efficiency, especially the combination of Kepler, Ethereum, and BSC.
Hillrise Group supports ambitious Web3 startups with early-stage venture capital and fundamental research.
Conflux Network is a layer-1 public blockchain that uses a novel highly tested PoW consensus mechanism.
MoonSwap is a next-generation AMM DEX supported by Conflux Network.
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