Cardano Spotlight #3: MinSwap
Overview:
MinSwap is the largest DEx and the second largest protocol in Cardano DeFi. It is the premiere destination on Cardano for trading and farming Cardano native assets. It currently boasts a large number of yield farms and staking vaults for its governance token MIN. Governance takes place on the protocol itself and there is a launch bowl feature that allows DEx users to participate in new projects before they are launched on the Cardano main net. There is a very active forum that provides support for all things MinSwap. In a nutshell, it is an excellent place to start in Cardano DeFi. Currently, it supports most of the major browser extension wallets in the ecosystem with Ledger; Typhon; Nami; Flint; Eternl; Gero; and Yoroi being supported. According to the website, support for Trezor wallets is coming soon.
DEx Features:
The MinSwap DEx features an overview of the trading data for that day with the option to see an overview of the trading data for that week or month. The DEx holds an ADA standard as opposed to a USD or Bitcoin standard when measuring trading volume and total value locked (TVL).
It is also possible to see an overview of the top pools and how much ADA is currently held in liquidity within each pool.
When adding liquidity, there is a useful zap feature that allows you to add single tokens to a liquidity pool in exchange for LP tokens that can then be staked for yield farming. This reduces the complexity of the DEx experience and simplifies the liquidity provision process.
Once you have provided liquidity, you can stake your LP tokens in the respective farm of interest. Rewards are usually provided in the form of the tokens staked. However, reward tokens are clearly stated on the bottom of the farm tab under the ‘Withdraw’ and ‘Stake’ buttons.
MIN rewards can then be staked into locked vaults for different lock periods and the longer tokens are staked the more these rewards will be amplified. Staked tokens will allow the user to participate in the governance of the DEx.
Overall, the DEx works smoothly with all wallets tested when writing this article. The community in the governance forums are supportive and the DApp is intuitive and easy to use.
Project Potential:
Along with Cardano DeFi in general, MinSwap is a project that I am extremely bullish on. The DEx supports many assets native to the Cardano blockchain and the MIN token is doing well in terms of value retention since its inception according to CoinGecko.
Further, it has retained TVL well during the bear market in ADA terms. This is a good sign that the MinSwap community is committed to the long term survival of the project.
Overall, the future looks bright for MinSwap. The DApp is simple and easy to use and supports all the major projects within the Cardano DeFi Ecosystem. It is currently ranked ahead of its competitors on DeFiLlama in terms of total value locked and it has a good governance system that supports and rewards the users of the project. This is a decentralized project that acts as a good gateway into the world of DeFi. Personally, I appreciate that it is intuitive to use and that it is less complex in structure when compared to a DEx such as MuesliSwap. I am a user of both DExs but MinSwap is no doubt easier to use for those new to DeFi.
Learn More:
MinSwap Documentation and Whitepaper
Learn Cardano — MinSwap Tutorial
DApp Central — MinSwap Beginners Guide
CoinGecko — MinSwap Token Dashboard
DeFiLlama — MinSwap DEx Dashboard
Disclaimer: this is NOT financial advice. I’m a cow and I like to eat cereal. Any knowledge gained from this post is merely incidental and you are responsible for your own financial decisions. Make investments wisely and make sure to do your own research.
Cardano Spotlight #1: Indigo Protocol; Cardano Spotlight #2: Gero Wallet;
