Instadapp User Highlight: The Blockchain Guy
The Instadapp User Highlight is a highlight series where we learn how users use Instadapp today. Instadapp is DeFi super wallet enabling users to execute complex DeFi financial transactions.
In our first highlight we spoke with long time community member, some of you may know, as the ‘The Blockchain Guy’ on Youtube. The Blockchain Guy youtube channel is a rich mix of Crypto News as well as Defi Strategies, and videos breaking down common and not so common scams in Crypto. We first noticed The Blockchain Guy when he began producing videos showing how to utilize Instadapp to create short and other complex positions. The Blockchain Guy spoke to us about their Crypto journey and how they found Instadapp and use it today.
The Blockchain Guy was first introduced to cryptocurrencies in 2014. During this time he was building mining rigs and mining Bitcoin. The Blockchain Guy has a background in computer science focusing on machine learning and game theory. After taking a break and returning to crypto in 2020, The Blockchain Guy dove into smart contracts and all things crypto. Eventually landing on DeFi where he found an interesting blend of game theory and finance.
As The Blockchain Guy explored the crypto seas he was able to work on some DeFi projects including a decentralized insurance protocol and learned more about smart contracts. The Blockchain Guy described how smart contracts can help lower fees all around:
“For example natural disasters have really high capital requirements and this creates a lot of secondary markets for risk. As the risk get’s passed down the chain, the inefficiencies grow and the product gets more and more expensive for the consumer. These kind of inefficiencies could be addressed by DeFi.”
One of the first use cases that really wowed The Blockchain Guy was understanding the Balancer protocol. Balancer allows someone to create an automated rebalancing portfolio that also doubles as liquidity allowing the portfolio to be rebalanced overtime as well as earn fees. These examples showed The Blockchain Guy how DeFi could be more efficient than traditional finance.
The Blockchain Guy found Instadapp on DeFillama alongside more recognizable protocols and wondered ‘what is Instadapp?’ Initially, The Blockchain Guy dove into Instadapp and quickly saw its potential. The Blockchain Guy subscribes to the practice of teaching as a way of learning.To prove his mastery, he started creating videos teaching users how to use Instadapp. One of the things The Blockchain Guy points to in helping them understand Instadapp is understanding the underlying protocols, feeling confident in his understanding of AAVE made it easier to understand what was capable on Instadapp. To seal the deal he started creating videos showing others what he learned and proving the knowledge to himself.
“At the beginning there is so many levels of understanding, for example if you don’t understand AAVE its much harder to leverage AAVE with something like Instadapp”
The Blockchain Guy describes using Instadapp in the past for liquidity mining events such as incentives on AAVE. These strategies were generally low risk but most of these kinds of strategies are no longer available. The Blockchain Guy uses Instadapp as he describes, ‘to form opinions on different events.’
We can actually find this on one of Micheal’s first youtube video using Instadapp How to Short Tether USDT’ in this video. The Blockchain Guy uses Instadapp to form an opinion that the USDT peg could break. The Blockchain Guy shows users how to realize this opinion by to creating a short using USDC and the Leverage Strategy on AAVE on Instadapp. At that time there were concerns around the USDT peg, The Blockchain Guy was able to create a position with upside if USDT failed to maintain its peg at a minimal cost in the case it did not depeg, and in this case it did not. The Blockchain Guy expressed how useful Instadapp in creating positions.
Let’s take a detour to talk about ‘positions’ and what we mean when we use this word:
In protocols like AAVE and Compound the users sum assets acts as a ‘position,’ These protocols do not limit how you access credit from them just what collateral you supply, depending on how users think and use these protocols the position can express a leverage, a credit line or even a short it all depends on how you use it. Ok back to The Blockchain Guy!
More recently, The Blockchain Guy shared a video expanding on Samyak’s proposed stETH — USDC strategy. In this strategy users utilize AAVE to profit on the restoration of the stETH peg. This specificity is what The Blockchain Guy finds appealing on Instadapp. Let’s expand this example.
In the strategy described users deposit USDC or other stablecoins on AAVE, by supplying stablecoins users create a capital base and by using USDC users are not exposed to stETH itself but rather the price ratio, or specifically the ETH volatility. Most leverage strategies grant you increased exposure to the same asset, by using Instadapp you can specify the exposure you want to have.
The Blockchain Guy explained how the ability to narrow these financial strategies allows one to more accurately predict and respond to different scenarios. In particular, managing positions on Instadapp helps users manage risk and execute specific strategies that may relate to larger world events.
Another Strategy The Blockchain Guy shared on his youtube is the BTC/ETH ratio, this is a unique strategy betting on the increasing BTC price of ETH. Using AAVE The Blockchain Guy shows how users can leverage their ETH against BTC creating a position which is long the ETH/BTC ratio.
In the Future, The Blockchain Guy hopes to use Instadapp to help lead an investment fund. Expanding on his knowledge from DeFi this investment fund can form an opinion on a particular outlook in the world and can use Instadapp to form that opinion into a financial position.
We appreciate The Blockchain Guy for sharing with us how he uses and finds value with Instadapp. You can find The Blockchain Guy on Youtube releasing content on a regular basis and give them a follow on Twitter.
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Have a fascinating or unique story about Instadapp? Send us an email info@instadapp.io we would love to feature you in a future user highlight series!
