Introducing Saddle, a specialized AMM for pegged value crypto assets
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Saddle up! We’re launching Saddle to unlock the potential of pegged value crypto assets like tokenized BTC in DeFi.
Today, we are excited to announce the launch of Saddle, an automated market maker (AMM) for pegged value tokens like tokenized bitcoin and stablecoins.
2020 was a breakout year for decentralized finance (DeFi) and AMMs, largely fueled by yield farming. On-chain liquidity is starting to be competitive with centralized exchanges and OTC desks. If the swift pace of DeFi this year has proven anything, it’s that the space is ripe for more innovation and optimization.
We are launching Saddle to accelerate the DeFi ecosystem by unlocking deep on-chain liquidity between pegged value crypto assets. Saddle recently spun out of Thesis, the crypto venture studio behind projects like tBTC, Keep, and Fold.
Why We Built Saddle
We built Saddle to address specific pain points and opportunities in the DeFi and AMM ecosystem.
Bitcoin as a First-class Citizen
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and the amount of tokenized BTC on Ethereum has been exploding — the supply has increased ~135X in 2020. Despite this growth, tokenized BTC is often not a priority when it comes to features and support. We believe bitcoin deserves to be treated as a first-class citizen in DeFi.
Virtual Synth Support
Virtual Synths are a new Synthetix feature introduced in SIP-89. SNX founder Kain Warwick provides a great overview of their potential in his post “Virtual Synths and where to find them”. In short, Virtual Synths will enable large, low slippage trades between any asset supported by Saddle. We are actively working on this integration and will have more details to share in the near future. Virtual Synths are the key to achieving our mission of unlocking deep on-chain liquidity between pegged value crypto assets, and we aim to become the premier on/off-ramp for the Synthetix ecosystem.
Incentivized LP Retention
DeFi protocols are still iterating on how to properly incentivize and retain liquidity providers (LPs). One common approach has been to add a fixed percentage fee to withdrawals (e.g. Yearn Vaults). However, this mechanism doesn’t reward long-term liquidity providers. Saddle fixes this by implementing a configurable withdrawal fee that linearly decays to 0 over one month. This fee will be disabled at launch until further notice. We are presently working on several other ways to incentivize LPs, stay tuned!
Our Priorities
Before diving into details about the launch, we’d like to highlight two key areas for the team.
Community
As regular DeFi users ourselves, we’ve seen firsthand how important an active and vibrant community is for a project’s success. You might have interacted with our founder Sunil (aka devops199fan) in the YFI community (he’s a multisig signer), or used tools created by members of our team, like yieldfarming.info by John (aka Weeb_Mcgee). We want to make sure the Saddle community is inclusive and that everyone feels welcome — come say hi in our Discord or Telegram! 🤠
Security
The security of user funds is our top priority. Saddle is built on our new Solidity implementation of the StableSwap algorithm. Deploying new code that deals with money requires extra care and scrutiny, which is why we conducted three back-to-back smart contract audits with Certik, Quantstamp, and Open Zeppelin. This is also why we are doing a guarded launch called Proof of Governance, but more on that shortly.
Launching Saddle
We are launching Saddle today with our first pool that supports 4 types of tokenized bitcoin: renBTC, WBTC, sBTC, and tBTC. In the coming months, we will introduce new pools for stablecoins and ETH-based tokens.
Proof of Governance (PoG)
As mentioned above, Saddle is launching with Proof of Governance to protect our users with certain limits and discourage sybil attacks. Initially, there will be a pool TVL cap of 150 BTC and a per-address deposit limit of 1 BTC. These limits will be raised every 1–2 weeks.
For LPs to qualify for PoG, an address must have demonstrated active network participation in one of the following ways:
- On-chain voting or delegation (MKR, COMP, YFI, YAM, CRV, UNI, UMA, Moloch DAO)
- Off-chain voting on Snapshot (all protocols)
- Staking SNX and minting sUSD (>$20)
A full list of eligible addresses is available here. PoG is temporary and will be phased out in the future.
The Keep Network team has committed 125,000 KEEP a week as reward incentives for liquidity providers. At the TVL cap, that means LPs will be earning up to ~30% APY on their deposits! Learn more about the Keep network, KEEP, and your opportunities to stake KEEP for additional APY.
Community Multisig
Saddle’s admin keys will be temporarily controlled by a 3 of 5 Gnosis Safe multisig until proper DAO governance is launched. The multisig signers are:
- Mariano Conti (ex-Head of Smart Contracts at Maker DAO)
- Kain Warwick (Synthetix founder)
- DegenSpartan
- Klim K (Yearn Ops)
- Damir Bandalo (Encode Club founder, MetaCartel Ventures)
Visit our risks page for a full list of the admin key capabilities.
Getting Started with Saddle
To begin providing liquidity on Saddle, visit the Saddle app and connect your PoG eligible wallet. When you provide liquidity in the form of renBTC, WBTC, sBTC, or tBTC you will earn KEEP as a reward incentive!
Not sure if your wallet is eligible? Not a problem — you can easily check by opening the Saddle app and connecting your wallet. Don’t worry if you aren’t eligible, PoG will be phased out soon. Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates!
Anyone can use Saddle to efficiently swap between tokenized BTC (and eventually between stablecoins and other pegged value crypto assets). Go to the Saddle app, connect your wallet, and begin trading today!
Partners and Supporters
Saddle has raised $4.3 million in funding led by Framework Ventures, Polychain Capital, and Electric Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, Nascent, Divergence Ventures, Alameda Research, Boost VC, Robot Ventures, and more. Angel investors include Kain Warwick, Andrew Kang, Mariano Conti, James Prestwich, and Spencer Noon.
Saddle is being advised by George Lambeth (Divergence Ventures), Tarun Chitra (Gauntlet), and Matt Luongo (Thesis).
Special thanks to Jon Itzler (Dragonfly Capital) and Fabien (Snapshot Labs) for their help with identifying eligible addresses for Proof of Governance, and to Michael Egorov for his work on the StableSwap invariant.
Saddle — 专用于固定价值加密资产的自动做市商（AMM）
备上马鞍，驾驭Saddle！我们现正推出的Saddle将为固定价值加密资产，例如DeFi体系中之代币化比特币，开启无限的可能。
今天我们很高兴地宣布Saddle问世，一个面向代币化比特币和稳定币等固定价值代币的自动做市商（AMM）。
在收益耕作的推动下，2020年是去中心化金融（DeFi）和AMM具有突破性的一年。链上流动性开始与中心化交易和场外交易（OTC）平台竞争。而今年DeFi迅速的发展更足以证明其迎接更多创新与优化的时机已经成熟了。
Saddle的推出能开启固定价值加密资产之间的深层链上流动性，加速DeFi生态系统的发展。Saddle是从Thesis分拆出来的子公司，而母公司Thesis则是tBTC、Keep和Fold等项目背后的加密风险投资公司。
<访问Saddle>
Saddle的创立初衷
Saddle旨在抓住市场机会并解决DeFi和AMM生态系统中特定的痛点。
比特币为一等公民
比特币是市值最大的加密货币，且以太坊上代币化比特币的数量呈爆炸式的增长 — 2020年的供应量的增加高达135倍[1]。但尽管如此，代币化比特币在功能与支持方面通常不会被优先考虑。我们深信比特币应被视为DeFi中的一等公民。
Virtual Synth功能支持
Virtual Synths是Synthetix在SIP-89中所引入的一个新特性。在“关于Virtual Synths以及何处寻找他们”一文中，SNX创始人Kain Warwick完整的概述了其潜在的发展。简而言之，Virtual Synths能够使Saddle平台上的任何资产实现大型、低滑点的交易。我们正积极的进行此项整合，并会在不久的将来分享更多相关细节。Virtual Synths是开启固定价值加密资产之间深层链上流动性的关键，而我们的目标是成为Synthetix生态系统的首要出入通道。
[1] https://btconethereum.com/
以奖励机制留住LP
DeFi众多协议仍在不停探讨如何适当的激励及留住流动性提供者（LPs）。其中一种常见的机制是在取款时收取固定百分比费用（例如Yearn Vaults）。但是这种机制无法奖励长期的流动性提供者。为解决此问题，Saddle重新配置了取款费用，使该费用在一个月内线性递减至0。在另行通知前，此费用将于上线后暂时取消。我们现正努力研商更多其他的方式来激励LP，敬请保持关注！
我们的优先重点
在深入介绍Saddle的启动前，这里先重点介绍我们团队的两个关键领域。
社区
身为DeFi的常规用户，我们已经亲身体会了社区活跃性对于一个成功项目的重要。您可能已经在YFI社区中与我们的创始人Sunil（亦称为devops199fan，是位多重签名的持有者）有过互动，或者已使用过我们团队成员所创建的工具，例如John（亦称为Weeb_Mcgee）的yieldfarming.info。我们希望能确保Saddle是一个具有包容性的社区，欢迎每个人加入 — 快来我们的Discord或Telegram跟我们打声招呼吧！🤠
安全性
保障用户资金的安全是我们的首要之务。Saddle运用Solidity来实现稳定兑换（StableSwap）算法。使用任何涉及资金的代码皆需要格外的谨慎和详尽的审查，这也是为什么我们透过Certik、Quantstamp、和Open Zeppelin，连续进行了三次智能合约审计。除此之外，我们还执行了名为“治理证明”（Proof of Governance）的受保护启动，下面将有更多细节。
推出Saddle
我们上线Saddle后，首先开启的第一个资金池共支持4种代币化比特币：renBTC、WBTC、sBTC、tBTC。在接下来的几个月内，我们将继续推出支持稳定币和以太坊代币的资金池。
治理证明（PoG）
如上所述，Saddle使用了治理证明，借此实施一定的限制来保护我们的用户，防止女巫攻击。起初，TVL资金池的上限为150 BTC，且每一个地址的存款限额为1 BTC，尔后这些限制将会于每1至2周提高一次。
若LP欲符合PoG资格，该地址必须透过下列任一方式来证明其积极的网路参与：
● 链上投票或委托（MKR、COMP、YFI、YAM、CRV、UNI、UMA、Moloch DAO）
● Snapshot链下投票（所有协议）
● 抵押SNX和铸造sUSD (>$20)
这里提供了完整的合格地址清单。PoG只是暂时的，并会在将来被逐步淘汰。
Keep Network团队已承诺每周提供125,000 KEEP作为流动性提供者的奖赏。这意味着若达到TVL上限，LP能获得高达~30%的年度百分比收益率（APY）！点击这里了解更多关于Keep Network、KEEP、和抵押KEEP以增加APY的机会。
社区多重签名
在适当的DAO治理启动前，Saddle的管理密钥将暂时由5个Gnosis Safe多重签名的其中3个控制。多重签名持有者包括：
● Mariano Conti（Maker DAO智能合约前负责人）
● Kain Warwick（Synthetix创始人）
● DegenSpartan
● Klim K（Yearn Ops）
● Damir Bandalo (Encode Club founder, MetaCartel Ventures)
请在我们的风险页面查看完整的管理密钥权限清单。
开始使用Saddle
想要开始在Saddle上提供流动性吗？请访问Saddle app，使用您符合治理证明条件的钱包。当您以renBTC、WBTC、sBTC、或tBTC形式提供流动性後，您便能获得KEEP作为激励的奖赏！
不确定您的钱包是否符合条件吗？没问题 — 只要打开Saddle app并连结您的钱包既能马上知道。若您不符合条件也别担心，治理证明很快就会被逐步淘汰。不妨在Twitter上关注我们的最新消息！
任何人都能透过Saddle在代币化BTC之间（以及随后的稳定币和其他固定价值加密资产之间）进行高效的交易。到Saddle app，连上您的钱包，立刻开始交易吧！
合作伙伴和支持者
由Fremework、Polychain Capital、和Electric Capital领投，加上Coinbase Ventures、Dragonfly Capital、Nascent、Divergence Ventures、Alameda Research、和Boost VS等的参与、Robot Ventures，Saddle已经募集了430万美元的资金。天使投资人包括Kain Warwick、Andrew Kang、Mariano Conti、James Prestwich、和Spencer Noon。
Saddle的顾问包括George Lambeth (Divergence Ventures)、Tarun Chitra（Gauntlet)、和Matt Luongo（Thesis)。
特别感谢Jon Itzler（Dragonfly Capital）和Fabien（Snapshot Labs）在辨别治理管理合格地址方面所提供的协助，以及Michael Egorov对于StableSwap定价公式之贡献。
