The Polkadot ecosystem has rapidly expanded since the launch of the Parachain auctions in November of last year. The initial cohort of projects that launched on Polkadot set the bar for the ones that are now onboarding onto the Relay chain. Astar Network was part of that initial group and became the third Parachain to launch on Polkadot in January 2022.
Some of Astar Network’s unique features include EVM and WASM support, dApp staking, and support for rollups (Layer2). Although Astar Network doesn’t position itself as a DeFi-specific Parachain per se, it has nonetheless become a hub for DeFi projects and created a healthy collaborative ecosystem in the process.
As of writing this article, Astar Network boasts:
- 452,128 token holders
- $175.1M in Total Value Locked (TVL)
- 23 protocols
- 7 wallets are supported on the network.
This article will examine the various DeFi opportunities available on Astar Network and how you can maximize the productivity of your assets.
Seven projects on Astar Network you need to know to maximize your profit
Algem
Algem is a DeFi dApp on Astar Network that solves a critical problem DeFi users know all too well…
The inability to remain liquid when staking, and the opportunity cost they incur as a result.
Algem is addressing this problem by creating a product with two main features: liquid staking and liquid lending.
Liquid Staking: Algem allows Astar token holders to stake their tokens to earn rewards and remain liquid in the process. Think of Algem like Lido Finance, except for the Astar Network and Polkadot ecosystem.
On Algem, you get one liquid nASTR token for every ASTR token you stake which can be used to participate in Astar’s DeFi ecosystem.
In addition, nASTR can be exchanged for Astar tokens on a DEX like Arthswap at any time. This effectively removes Astar’s 10 ERAs (approximately ten days) delay period before the staked tokens can be unstaked and redeemed.
Liquid lending is the second product and lets you stake your Astar tokens in vaults and receive an equal amount of nASTR tokens. The tokens will provide liquidity on Algem’s partner protocols. After staking into a vault, the user decides which protocol the tokens will provide liquidity on. Users earn revenue from the protocols for the tokens supplied as liquidity and earn incentives in ALGM tokens for providing tokens to these protocols. Algem will launch liquid lending in Quarter 3 of 2022.
Arthswap
Arthswap is a one-stop DeFi protocol on Astar Network whose main functionalities are that of a DEX that lets you swap native and cross-chain tokens. You can provide liquidity for tokens, use the liquidity pairs created in farming, and earn rewards in ARSW. ARSW is Arthswap’s utility token, and you can also stake ARSW to earn more ARSW tokens. Arthswap also functions as a launchpad to incubate new projects and give them access to funding.
AstridDAO
AstridDAO is a decentralized money market and multi-collateral stablecoin protocol. BAI is AstridDAO’s stablecoin and is pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar.
AstridDAO’s features include:
- Depositing risk assets to borrow the BAI stablecoin: Users can borrow BAI at a zero interest rate. Only a small one-time fee is required to borrow on AstridDAO. Risk assets such as $ASTR, $BTC, $ETH, $DOT, etc. can act as collateral to borrow BAI.
- Liquidity farming through BAI in stability pools: You can earn by depositing BAI into the stability pools of any of the supported tokens. You will earn rewards in the deposited token and ATID which is the protocol token.
- Staking ATID to generate veATID tokens: Staking ATID tokens earn the user staking rewards and a share of the protocol revenues. The veATID received can also be used to boost ATID rewards.
- Participation in DAO governance using veATID
SiO2 Finance
SiO2 Finance is a multi-virtual-machine lending hub on Astar Network, which supports the Ethereum virtual machine and WASM.
SiO2 Finance lets you:
- Use multiple assets as collateral to borrow other assets.
- Deposit multiple assets and earn a passive income on those assets with the rewards in SiO2 tokens.
- veStaking, where you can lock SiO2 tokens and receive incentives.
- One-click flash loans allow you to use flash loans for position migration (e.g. move position from one protocol to another in seconds) and arbitrages without having to code.on migration
- One-click shorts: This allows you to short any asset in one click.
Sirius Finance
Sirius Finance is a cross-chain swap market for stablecoins within the Astar and Polkadot ecosystems. Sirius Finance offers low slippage and trading costs for stablecoin swaps. Users who provide liquidity on Sirius finance earn revenue from the fees charged for every trade of the stablecoins they have provided liquidity.
Additionally, users can farm SRS, Sirius Finance’s native token, using the stablecoin LPs they provided while also earning trading fees. The SRS token can be locked for varying durations to yield veSRS. veSRS is yield-bearing and is the governance token of Sirius finance.
Starfish Finance
Starfish Finance is a multichain DeFi x NFT-Fi protocol in the Polkadot ecosystem with multi-token stable and weighted swap, based on Balancer V2, cross-chain aggregation for crypto assets and NFTs, and unleashing liquidity potentials in NFTs on multiple prominent ecosystems subsequently.
You can swap tokens, provide liquidity, and farm using LP tokens. You can also use whitelisted NFTs as collateral to take loans in stablecoins or supported tokens.
Kagla Finance
Kagla Finance is an AMM and stableswap on the Astar Network. Kagla finance charges a minuscule 0.04% trading fee on all trades done. In addition, users can provide liquidity in stables or native tokens and earn percentage returns of the liquidity supplied.
Closing Thoughts: Take Advantage of DeFi Opportunities On Astar Network
DeFi users are always searching for new and efficient DeFi opportunities to partake, and Astar has blossomed in this aspect. Moreover, with the advent of dApp staking, one of Astar Network’s unique features that incentivizes developers by giving them a basic income, the ecosystem is becoming self-sustainable.
Teams are also increasing their dApps and tokens’ utilities by forming partnerships in the ecosystem projects to offer Astar Network users more DeFi opportunities. So far, this has bred progressive competition and innovation within Astar. Projects are thinking outside the box and pushing to create the best and most useful DeFi applications in the space.
Ready To Plunge Into The DeFi Ecosystem That Will Make You Money?
The Astar ecosystem will continue to grow as developers build newer dApps and refine the existing ones to help you maximize your earning potential.
About Algem
Algem is a dApp built on Astar Network and offers two main features: liquid staking and liquid lending. As the name implies, these two solutions enable ASTR holders to remain liquid with their assets while putting them to work. In addition, the liquid staking and lending solutions allow users to accumulate staking rewards and increase their earnings using Algem’s liquid nASTR tokens across Astar’s Defi ecosystem. In doing so, Algem supports other Defi protocols by providing liquidity and creating a sustainable and cooperative ecosystem on Astar Network and Polkadot.
How we had been making Algemantis Nautilus Pass NFT
Everything You Need To Know About Liquid Staking On Astar Network
Partnership with Sirius Finance
Introduction in Algem