Reduced costs and faster transactions
Most decentralized finance (DeFi) projects are hosted on the Ethereum blockchain and according to the 2020 DappRadar Industry Report, the DeFi ecosystem accounted for 95% of all transaction volume on Ethereum last year.
Ethereums leading DeFi product Uniswap provides a fast and convenient way to trade tokens because you can use existing browser-based wallets like MetaMask. Despite leaping the time-consuming deposit step, it slows down during times of congestion. Layer-2 scaling solutions have been catching on as a stable way to decrease confirmation times and Ethereum gas fees. Layer-2 simply refers to methods for processing transactions “off-chain,” i.e., not on the blockchain itself which improves speed.
Many of the applications you will discover below are forks of the Uniswap code running on layer-2 or independent blockchains. Ethereum DeFi alternatives are vying for attention and some offer cheaper fees and faster services than those found on Ethereum. In this article, we take a look at the best Ethereum DeFi alternatives as we head into 2021.
- QuickSwap
- PancakeSwap
- Venus Finance
- JulSwap
- LoopRing Exchange
- Neutrino
- Swop.fi
- JustLend
- JustSwap
- Newdex
QuickSwap – Matic
QuickSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) based on Ethereum, powered by Matic Network’s Layer 2 infrastructure. Running on a Layer 2 scaling solution like Matic enables it to achieve low fees and complete trades in a matter of seconds. Even if Ethereum is congested. QuickSwap has become a more practical way to carry out swing trading and micro trades due to its low fees.
PancakeSwap – Binance Smart Chain
PancakeSwap is an automated market maker (AMM) that allows two tokens to be exchanged on the Binance Smart Chain. It is fast, cheap, and open to anyone. PancakeSwap is aiming to be the #1 liquidity provider on Binance Smart Chain and the home of new, innovative gamified yield farming mechanics.
Venus – Binance Smart Chain
The protocol design of Venus Is based on Compound and MakerDAO and synced into the Venus platform giving the benefits of both systems into one. Recently, Venus surged in transaction volume to become the leading DeFi dapp on BSC.
JulSwap – Binance Smart Chain
Supported through the JustLiquidity Protocol JulSwap is the equivalent of Uniswap on Binance Smart Chain and has recently been attracting a lot of attention. JulSwap offers the same trading options and analytics as Uniswap and some additional features from Sushiswap.
LoopRing Exchange – Loopring
Loopring Exchange describes itself as is the first zkRollup DEX on Ethereum, built atop the Loopring Protocol. It supports the non-custodial trading of ETH and ERC20 tokens. The DEX is still a small fish but a promising start for scaling Ethereum off-chain.
Neutrino Protocol – NEO
Neutrino is an algorithmic price-stable cryptocurrency protocol collateralized by the Waves native token USDN. Neutrino USD (USDN) is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and backed by WAVES. Staking USDN can yield a reward of up to 15% APY. The platform enables the creation of stablecoins pegged to specific real-world assets, such as national currencies or commodities.
Swop.fi – WAVES
Swop.fi is an automated market maker (AMM) that offers different pricing formulas based on each specific token pair. The platform stakes a portion of pools’ liquidity, and daily payouts are included in pools, adding APY to liquidity providers’ income on top of trading fees. Furthermore, the platform also rewards liquidity providers in SWOP, the protocol’s governance token. Transactions can be in just a few seconds and the network fee is only 0.005 WAVES.
JustLend – Tron
JustLend is a money market protocol aimed at establishing fund pools whose interest rates are based on the supply and demand of TRON assets. There are two roles within the protocol, namely the depositor and borrower. Both of them can directly interact with the protocol to earn or pay the floating interest rate.
JustSwap – Tron
JustSwap is an exchange protocol for exchanges between TRC20 tokens. Fundamentally JustSwap is UniSwap on Tron and conversion between any two TRC20 tokens based on system price is possible. Moreover, all the collected trading fees go directly to liquidity providers of the protocol, rather than the protocol itself.
Newdex – EOS
Newdex is a decentralized exchange and was the first one based on the EOS blockchain. Offering a user-centered design, users can import wallets to trade and funds are transferred to the account without the need to carry out withdrawal operations.