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## What Is TerraUSD (UST)?

TerraUSD ([UST](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terrausd/)) is the decentralized and algorithmic[ stablecoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/stablecoin) of the Terra blockchain. It is a scalable, yield-bearing coin that is value-pegged to the US Dollar. TerraUSD was created to deliver value to the Terra community and offer a scalable solution for[ DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-decentralized-finance) amid severe scalability problems faced by other stablecoin leaders like[ Dai](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/multi-collateral-dai/). Thus, TerraUSD promises users a higher level of scalability, interest rate accuracy, and interchain usage.

TerraUSD provides several benefits that have made it a stand-out stablecoin competitor. Due to its minting mechanism, UST meets the requirements of DeFi protocols that it uses without losing scalability. UST can also be easily added to crypto wallets by simply integrating TerraUSD as a payment method. Another area where TerraUSD has shown its power is[ DApps](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps). For example, platforms that mint fungible synthetic assets and track real-life asset prices use UST as a pricing benchmark.

TerraUSD (UST) was launched in September 2020 (in collaboration with Bittrex Global) and has since gained the reputation as the most scalable stablecoin. UST can be used in conjunction with[ LUNA](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/), Terra's non-stablecoin crypto, or as a standalone token.

### The UST LUNA Relationship

After the UST depeg, Do Kwon [proposed](https://agora.terra.money/t/terra-ecosystem-revival-plan-2-passed-gov/18498) a [revival plan](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/crypto-news-may-16-do-kwon-s-revival-plan-doesn-t-impress-lfg-wallet-out-of-btc) that would split the Terra blockchain into a new chain called [Terra](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna-v2/) (also sometimes called [Terra 2.0](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna-v2/)). The old Terra chain would continue to exist as [Terra Classic](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/). This revival plan passed a community vote, and most of the [DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi) [DApps](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps) subsequently migrated to the new Terra 2.0 chain.

UST is now called [TerraClassicUSD (USTC)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terrausd/) and only trades on the old Terra Classic blockchain. According to Do Kwon, there will be no migration of USTC to Terra 2.0 and also no updated version of the algorithmic stablecoin. Thus, TerraClassicUSD is de facto a defunct stablecoin and is not expected to regain its dollar peg in the future.

### Who Are the Founders of TerraUSD?

Do Kwon and Daniel Shin founded[ Terra (LUNA)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/) in April 2019. In September 2020, they launched TerraUSD on Bittrex Global. Since that date, TerraUSD has outstripped many stablecoin competitors in the market, such as[ GUSD](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/gemini-dollar/) (Gemini) and[ PAX](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/paxos-standard/) (Paxos). Terra is TerraUSD's own blockchain, the creation of Terraform Labs (a subsidiary of Terra Alliance).

Do Kwon is the CEO of Terraform Labs. He is a former software engineer at Microsoft and Apple. He also served as CEO of Anyfi, a startup providing decentralized solutions for wireless mesh networks. Kwon is included in the Forbes[ 30 Under 30](https://www.forbes.com/under30/list/2019/asia/finance-vc/#14e4d974baab) list of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.

Co-founder Daniel Shin is a talented economist and entrepreneur. Before Terra Alliance, he co-founded Fast Track Asia, a startup incubator, and managed to co-found and lead TMON (Ticket Monster), a South Korean e-commerce platform.

### What Makes TerraUSD (UST) Unique?

* **Enhanced Scalability** - TerraUSD is an algorithmic[ stablecoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-a-stablecoin) with a value equal to the face value of minted stablecoins. To issue 1 TerraUSD, you need to burn 1 LUNA reserve asset. It turns out that TerraUSD's monetary policy scales nearly without limits, thereby helping DeFi projects reach their full potential.
* **Easy Exchange** - The stablecoins in the Terra ecosystem share the total liquidity, meaning you can exchange TerraUSD for[ TerraKRW](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-krw/) (their stablecoin pegged to the Korean Won) with minimal fees. 
* **Passive Income Potential** - Additionally, users can gain passive income using TerraUSD with the Anchor protocol's stable interest rates. Anchor is a lending protocol that promises a 20% return on UST savings. Additional and steady income appears through rewards in PoS chains, which maintain their stability due to commissions and inflation. This nuance will make it possible to form a reliable interest rate.
* **Interoperability** - With the Dropship bridge protocol, TerraUSD allows blockchain ecosystems to be connected. Dropship integrates TerraUSD into numerous[ DeFi](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/defi) and[ DEX](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-exchange-dex) platforms, and most importantly, moves assets between chains. LUNA supply and demand determine the value of TerraUSD. Thus, a stable UST cost is guaranteed as the Dropship protocol helps maintain scalability.

To summarize, TerraUSD (UST) is the first decentralized stablecoin that provides interest earnings, incredible scalability, and easier interchain movement.

### Anchor Protocol Yield Reserve Top Up

[Anchor Protocol](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/anchor-protocol/) is a decentralized savings protocol offering low-volatile [yields](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/annual-percentage-yield-apy) on TerraUSD deposits. The Anchor yield (around 19.5%) is derived from staking rewards from major [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) blockchains and from interest paid by borrowers, and the community believes it could be the reference interest rate in crypto. 

Total deposits on Anchor grew from $2.5B in early December 2021, to over $6.5B currently. Over $10B worth of UST, including collateral, is locked up in the protocol currently, as crypto users pile on to capitalize on the attractive yields during the market downturn. As a result, concerns over the protocol burning through its yield reserve (at around $2M a day) to maintain the high benchmark returns grew. On Feb. 18, 2022, the founder of Terra, Do Kwon [announced](https://twitter.com/anchor_protocol/status/1494565290734075911) an Anchor yield reserve top-up of $450M. The yield reserve now sits at over $500M.

## Why Did UST Depeg?

On May 9, 2022, UST [depegged and plunged](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/are-algorithmic-stablecoins-dead-already-a-full-breakdown-of-the-terra-crash) from $1 to a low of $0.68. At the time of writing, it is unclear whether UST will recover its peg.

After UST started trading slightly below its dollar peg, the [Curve](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/curve-dao-token/) pool containing UST got progressively emptied — people were cashing out their UST for other stablecoins. At the same time, short selling of LUNA drove the price of LUNA, the collateral for UST, down. This downwards price pressure forced Terra to mint even more LUNA in an attempt to stop 

the downwards spiral of UST. This diluted the price of LUNA but did nothing to restore the peg. Even a $1.5 billion sale of BTC out of Terra's treasury did not succeed in restoring faith in UST. Akin to a bank run, UST holders would rather take pennies on their UST than redeem it for LUNA.

You can read the full breakdown of the UST depeg [here.](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/ust-stablecoin-implodes-and-falls-to-0-68-bitcoin-reserves-liquidated-luna-crashes-50) 

## What s the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG)?

The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) is the organization managing Terra, the company behind the LUNA and UST tokens. LFG made headline news when it [repeatedly bought Bitcoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/luna-hits-all-time-high-of-106-as-excitement-over-bitcoin-investment-builds), leading to a [LUNA all-time high](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/luna-hits-all-time-high-of-106-as-excitement-over-bitcoin-investment-builds) only one month before the UST depeg. Although the declared goal of the Luna Foundation Guard was to accumulate BTC worth $10 billion, it had to liquidate its Bitcoin reserve in an attempt to save the UST peg. At the time of writing, it is unclear whether LFG will continue buying Bitcoin in the future.


### Related Pages:

Read about[ Terra (LUNA)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/terra-luna/).

Read about[ Tether (USDT)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/) and[ Dai (DAI)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/multi-collateral-dai/) - other popular stablecoins (stable-value cryptocurrency) that mirror the price of the U.S. dollar.

What is a stablecoin? Check an in-depth guide on[ CMC Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-a-stablecoin).

What are DApps? Learn more with CoinMarketCap's[ educational resource](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-are-dapps).

[Click here](https://coinmarketcap.com/view/defi/) and see the top DeFi tokens by Market Capitalization.

### How Many TerraUSD (UST) Coins Are There in Circulation?

TerraUSD (UST) is a stablecoin built on the Terra blockchain. The UST token has no technical support. Instead, the creation of the UST is facilitated by burning LUNA tokens.

The UST value fluctuates because it’s driven by supply and demand for the asset and the US dollar value. When the value of the UST exceeds a dollar, LUNA holders can sell tokens for UST. As a bonus, due to the increase in the UST supply, the prices for LUNA are also growing. When supplies are reduced for profit, UST tokens can be sold for Terra (LUNA). This action returns the UST price to the target level. Consequently, a certain amount of LUNA is burned, which creates scarcity and increases their value. 

As of June 2021, the maximum supply is about 1.93B UST, and its qualities of scalability and functionality make TerraUSD (UST) one of the most notable stablecoins in the cryptocurrency market.

### How Is the TerraUSD Network Secured?

TerraUSD (UST) is pegged to the price of a dollar and is secured by Terra (LUNA). LUNA is an asset reserve that ensures the stability and security of the UST through the seigniorage process (income received from an emission of money).

Miners also play a significant role in Terra's security. Miners participate in a proof-of-stake ([PoS](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/proof-of-work-vs-proof-of-stake)) consensus, providing stability by absorbing short-term demand volatility for Terra. After all, stable demand for mining is one of the main requirements for security and stability. Therefore, the TerraUSD protocol strives to provide stable rewards in all economic conditions. This way, TerraUSD can provide compensation to those who protect and build the network. 

### Where Can You Buy TerraUSD (UST)?

To buy TerraUSD (UST), you need to have Bitcoin or Ether to swap for UST on the exchanges where the token is listed. These exchanges include[ KuCoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kucoin/),[ Uniswap (V2)](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/uniswap-v2/),[ Bittrex](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bittrex/),[ Bitfinex](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bitfinex/),[ Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/gate-io/),[ PancakeSwap (V2)](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/pancakeswap-v2/),[ Sushiswap](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/sushiswap/),[ Terraswap](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/terraswap/),[ 1inch Exchange](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/1inch-exchange/),[ MEXC](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/mxc/),[ OpenOcean](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/openocean/),[ DODO BSC](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/dodo-bsc/).

Learn more about how to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on our education platform — [ CoinMarketCap Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria).

Binance

TerraClassicUSD

Ledger

HyperPay

Trust Wallet

MetaMask

Binance Chain Wallet

SolFlare

Backpack

Phantom

Welcome to TerraClassicUSD's Community channel aggregated by CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum

Shiba Inu

Chainlink

Uniswap

UNUS SED LEO

Immutable

Aave

Bitget Token

JasmyCoin

Pepe

SingularityNET

Pendle

Bonk

Ethereum Name Service

Fetch.ai

FractonX

Nova

RAYN

Suzuverse

Trog

Terra is a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems. According to its white paper, Terra combines the price stability and wide adoption of fiat currencies with the censorship-resistance of Bitcoin (BTC) and offers fast and affordable settlements.

Development on Terra began in January 2018, and its mainnet officially launched in April 2019. As of September 2021, it offers stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar, South Korean won, Mongolian tugrik and the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket of currencies — and it intends to roll out additional options.

On May 28, 2022, the genesis block of the new chain was launched to conduct future transactions under the name Terra (LUNA), and the original Terra Chain was rebranded as Terra Classic. The original native token — LUNA has also been renamed as LUNA Classic (LUNC). Moreover, all network stablecoins (UST, KRT, EUT) have been renamed to Terra Classic stablecoins (USTC, KRTC, EUTC). There will be no Terra stablecoins on the new chain.

There is a theory that the additional term “classic” is a reference to the Ethereum / Ethereum Classic split in 2017. According to CEO, Do Kwon, the collapse of UST in the spring of 2022 is the equivalent moment of the Ethereum’s DAO hack that took place in 2017.

Terra Classic

Terra (LUNA) is a public blockchain protocol that emerged from Terra Classic. Terra Classic is home to the algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (UST). It's now-renamed LUNC token collateralized UST, which crashed in a bank run in May 2022. That devalued LUNA to virtually zero and caused a launch of a new chain — resulting in Terra Classic and Terra. Read a full breakdown of the Terra crash here.

The development of Terra Classic launched in January 2018 and the blockchain launched in April 2019. It attempted to combine the price stability and wide adoption of fiat currencies with the censorship-resistance of Bitcoin (BTC) and offer fast and affordable settlements through its UST stablecoin. Terra Classic offered stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar, South Korean won, Mongolian tugrik, and the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket of currencies.

The new Terra blockchain continues the legacy of Terra Classic without the UST stablecoin. It will keep building with the help of the LUNA community dubbed “LUNAtics” and evolve the world-class UX and UI that brought Terra Classic up to second place in total value locked (TVL) at its peak. Many DApps have agreed to migrate to Terra to continue their functionality.

Terra

FTT is the native cryptocurrency token of the crypto derivatives trading platform FTX that launched on May 8, 2019. On Nov. 11, 2022, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., and is currently undergoing proceedings. Some of the information below may not reflect the current standings of the FTX exchange, please proceed with caution when interacting with the FTT token.

The team behind FTX comprises some of the largest crypto traders over the past few years who, having found issues with most mainstream crypto futures exchanges, decided to launch their own platform. FTX claims that it stands out due to such features as clawback prevention, a centralized collateral pool and universal stablecoin settlement. FTX is a centralized crypto exchange launched by Sam Bankman-Fried in 2019, backed by significant trading companies in the industry, including Almeda Research, OTPP, Temasek, BlackRock, Coinbase Ventures and Sequoia Capital. As of 2022, the platform has over a million registered members, and the daily trading volume has reached billions of dollars.

In regards to clawback prevention, a significant amount of customer funds on other derivative exchanges have been claimed by socialized losses. FTX reduces this by using a three-tiered liquidation model.

On existing crypto futures exchanges, the collateral is fragmented across separate token wallets; this can be difficult for traders as it prevents positions from getting liquidated. On the other hand, FTX derivatives are stablecoin-settled and only require one universal margin wallet.

Another feature of the FTT are leveraged tokens, which allow traders to put leveraged positions without the need to trade on margin. If a trader wants to short Bitcoin with 3x leverage, they can simply buy a 3x short Bitcoin leveraged token on FTX. These tokens are ERC20-compatible and can be listed on any spot exchange. FTX currently offers XRP, BNB, TRX, BTC, ETH, EOS, USDT and LEO leveraged tokens.

A year after its founding, FTX Exchange introduced the exchange token called FTX Token or FTT. The FTT coin is an ERC-20 standard token that is actively used by ecosystem participants.

Initially, FTT was established as a reward for exchange transactions; however, over the years the list of functions has grown:

FTT is applicable in the creation of leveraged tokens on the FTX Exchange; users can receive VIP discounts in the form of FTT depending on the number of coins they own, and it’s possible to earn rewards for providing liquidity through futures positions.

In order to maintain its value, the exchange regularly buys back and burns its tokens, spending on the purchase of FTX: 33% of trading fees, 10% of the reserve fund, and 5% of other commissions.

FTT Token use cases:

1/3 of the commissions received from transactions on FTX are utilized to buy back FTT. Tokens redeemed in this way are burned;

FTT tokens are used to reduce trading fees and to secure futures positions;

Profits from massive market movements are distributed among the holders;

By purchasing a white label version of FTX’s OTC portal and futures market, institutions and investors pay expenses in FTT tokens;

By creating leveraged tokens, projects can pay listing fees with FTT;

Users can stake FTT to benefit from discounts, bonus votes, and blockchain fee waivers.

One benefit of FTX Token (FTT) is commission discounts. Members pay a low fee and obtain tighter spreads. Traders use FTT as collateral, and those who are active on FTX Exchange see percentage differences of up to 60%. Traders get insurance protection, which ensures a net profit in moments of market volatility, then makes it possible to continue trading even without a margin call.

In addition to the fact that FTT is useful for opening positions with leverage, FTT staking also offers perks: discounts, the opportunity to win NFTs, participation in airdrops, bonus votes and IEO tickets.

FTX Token

SHIB is a decentralized, community-led currency held by millions across the globe. Since its inception in late 2020, the Ethereum-based SHIB token has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon, and is now accepted as a form of payment at hundreds of locations, either directly or through third-party intermediaries.

Shiba Inu coin was created anonymously in August 2020 under the pseudonym "Ryoshi." Ryoshi says about himself that he is a nobody and not important and that the efforts to unmask his identity, even if successful, would be underwhelming.

This meme coin quickly gained speed and value as a community of investors was drawn in by the cute charm of the coin paired with headlines and tweets from personalities like Elon Musk and Vitalik Buterin.

Since release SHIB now trades on the ecosystem's proprietary DEX, ShibaSwap.

Launched in 2021, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is an open-source, permissionless and decentralized technology. Benefits of the XRP Ledger include its low-cost ($0.0002 to transact), speed  (settling transactions in 3-5 seconds), scalability (1,500 transactions per second) and inherently green attributes (carbon-neutral and energy-efficient). The XRP Ledger also features the first decentralized exchange (DEX) and custom tokenization capabilities built into the protocol. Since 2012, the XRP Ledger has been operating reliably, having closed 70 million ledgers.

ApeCoin is an ERC-20 governance and utility token used within the APE Ecosystem to empower and incentivize a decentralized community building at the forefront of web3.

ApeCoin holders govern themselves via the decentralized governance framework controlling the ApeCoin DAO, and vote on how the ApeCoin DAO Ecosystem Fund should be used. The APE Foundation administers proposals agreed upon by ApeCoin holders.

ApeCoin

Polygon (previously Matic Network) is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building multiple types of applications.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Polygon Matic.

Using Polygon, one can create optimistic rollup chains, ZK rollup chains, stand alone chains or any other kind of infra required by the developer.

Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system (aka Internet of Blockchains). This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.

The $MATIC token will continue to exist and will play an increasingly important role, securing the system and enabling governance.

Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a Layer 2 scaling solution backed by Binance and Coinbase. The project seeks to stimulate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by resolving the problems of scalability on many blockchains.

Polygon combines the Plasma Framework and the proof-of-stake blockchain architecture. The Plasma framework used by Polygon as proposed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, allows for the easy execution of scalable and autonomous smart contracts.

Nothing will change for the existing ecosystem built on the Plasma-POS chain. With Polygon, new features are being built around the existing proven technology to expand the ability to cater to diverse needs from the developer ecosystem. Polygon will continue to develop the core technology so that it can scale to a larger ecosystem.

Polygon boasts of up to 65,000 transactions per second on a single side chain, along with a respectable block confirmation time of less than two seconds. The framework also allows for the creation of globally available decentralized financial applications on a single foundational blockchain.

The Plasma framework gives Polygon the potential of housing an unlimited number of decentralized applications on their infrastructure without experiencing the normal drawbacks common on proof-of-work blockchains. So far, Polygon has attracted more than 50 DApps to its PoS-secured Ethereum sidechain.

MATIC, the native tokens of Polygon, is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain. The tokens are used for payment services on Polygon and as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Polygon ecosystem. The transaction fees on Polygon sidechains are also paid in MATIC tokens.

Polygon

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Cardano.

The open-source project also aims to “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals” — helping to create a society that is more secure, transparent and fair.

Cardano was founded back in 2017, and named after the 16th century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano. The native ADA token takes its name from the 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer. The ADA token is designed to ensure that owners can participate in the operation of the network. Because of this, those who hold the cryptocurrency have the right to vote on any proposed changes to the software.

The team behind the layered blockchain say that there have already been some compelling use cases for its technology, which aims to allow decentralized apps and smart contracts to be developed with modularity.

In August 2021, Charles Hoskinson announced the launch of the Alonzo hard fork, causing Cardano price to surge, gaining 116% in the following month. On Sept. 12, 2021, the Cardano ‘Alonzo’ hard fork officially launched, bringing smart contract functionality to the blockchain. Over 100 smart contracts were deployed in the following 24 hours after the launch.

Cardano is used by agricultural companies to track fresh produce from field to fork, while other products built on the platform allow educational credentials to be stored in a tamper-proof way, and retailers to clamp down on counterfeit goods.

Cardano

Dogecoin (DOGE) is based on the popular "doge" Internet meme and features a Shiba Inu on its logo. The open-source digital currency was created by Billy Markus from Portland, Oregon and Jackson Palmer from Sydney, Australia, and was forked from Litecoin in December 2013. Dogecoin's creators envisaged it as a fun, light-hearted cryptocurrency that would have greater appeal beyond the core Bitcoin audience, since it was based on a dog meme. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted several tweets on social media that Dogecoin is his favorite coin.

Dogecoin

Binance USD (BUSD) is a 1:1 USD-backed stable coin issued by Binance (in partnership with Paxos), Approved and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), The BUSD Monthly Audit Report can be viewed from the official website. Launched on 5 Sep 2019, BUSD aims to meld the stability of the dollar with blockchain technology. It is a digital fiat currency, issued as ERC-20 and supports BEP-2.

BUSD

Launched in July 2017, Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally based on daily trading volume. Binance aims to bring cryptocurrency exchanges to the forefront of financial activity globally. The idea behind Binance’s name is to show this new paradigm in global finance — Binary Finance, or Binance.

Aside from being the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, Binance has launched a whole ecosystem of functionalities for its users. The Binance network includes the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Academy, Trust Wallet and Research projects, which all employ the powers of blockchain technology to bring new-age finance to the world. BNB is an integral part of the successful functioning of many of the Binance sub-projects.

Pancakeswap was originally built on the BNB Chain and allows users to trade tokens without using a centralized exchange. It provides an array of products, such as:

An exchange to swap tokens

A yield farm to earn rewards

Syrup pools to stake CAKE tokens

Ethereum liquid staking (wBETH) and simple staking

Pancake Protectors game

v3 position manager (new feature)

A prediction market

Initial Farm Offering (IFO) token launches

A bridge to bridge CAKE to Ethereum and Aptos

A lottery

An NFT marketplace

Pancakeswap innovates quickly and ships new products regularly. In April 2023, PancakeSwap voted to transition to a deflationary token model called "Ultrasound CAKE." The protocol passed a proposal called CAKE Tokenomics v2.5 to create a structure combining real yield (no supply impact) and reduced token emissions. Over 102% of minted CAKE is burned weekly. This is intended to provide a multi-year runway for emissions and incentivize locking up CAKE, making the token more valuable long-term.

PancakeSwap has an anonymous team of “Chefs,” working in the PancakeSwap “Kitchen.” The platform is open-source and has been audited by multiple reputable blockchain security firms like Peckshield and Slowmist.

Although the bear market has impacted TVL and trading volume for the protocol, PancakeSwap still boasts an annualized revenue of $27 million, with 42% of CAKE is staked:

PancakeSwap

Cronos (CRO) is the native cryptocurrency token of Cronos Chain — a decentralized, open-source blockchain developed by the Crypto.com payment, trading and financial services company.

Cronos Chain is one of the products in Crypto.com’s lineup of solutions designed to accelerate the global adoption of cryptocurrencies as a means of increasing personal control over money, safeguarding user data and protecting users’ identities. The CRO blockchain serves primarily as a vehicle that powers the Crypto.com Pay mobile payments app.

In the future, Crypto.com plans to expand the reach of the CRO platform to power its other products as well.

CRO went live in November-December 2018.

Cronos

BitTorrent is a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and torrent platform which has become increasingly decentralized in recent years.

Originally released in July 2001, BitTorrent was purchased by blockchain platform TRON in July 2018.

Since its acquisition, BitTorrent has added various new tools, with a dedicated native cryptocurrency token, BTT, released in February 2019. BTT was launched on TRON’s own blockchain, using its TRC-10 standard.

According to its official literature, BitTorrent is currently the “largest decentralized P2P communications protocol” in the world.

BitTorrent [New]

Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based trading and battling game that is partially owned and operated by its players.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Axie Infinity.

Inspired by popular games like Pokémon and Tamagotchi, Axie Infinity allows players to collect, breed, raise, battle and trade token-based creatures known as Axies.

These Axies can take various forms, and there are more than 500 different body parts available, including aquatic, beast, bird, bug, plant and reptile parts. Parts from each type class come in four different rarity scales: common, rare, ultra rare and legendary — and Axies can have any combination of body parts, making them highly variable and often rare and unique.

Each Axie is a non-fungible token (NFT) with different attributes and strengths and can be entered into 3v3 battles, with the winning team earning more experience (exp) points that are used to level up an Axie's stats or evolve their body parts. These Axies can be bred together to produce new and unique offspring, which can be used or sold on the Axie marketplace.

The Axie Infinity ecosystem also has its own unique governance token, known as Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). These are used to participate in key governance votes and will give holders a say in how funds in the Axie Community Treasury are spent.

Axie Infinity

Anchor Protocol is a lending and borrowing protocol offering up to 19.5% yield on stablecoin deposits. Lenders can deposit their UST and earn attractive rates on their investments while simultaneously benefiting from low volatility. Borrowers can turn their LUNA collateral into productive assets without giving up control of it.

Anchor Protocol can thus attract risk-averse investors looking for high-yield, low-volatility investments and increase demand for UST. This advances the adoption of UST as a stablecoin and subsequently the adoption of the Terra project in DeFi. With the increasing adoption of Terra, whose founders are behind the launch of Anchor Protocol, the price of LUNA will increase.

Anchor Protocol

Zilliqa is a public, permissionless blockchain that is designed to offer high throughput with the ability to complete thousands of transactions per second. It seeks to solve the issue of blockchain scalability and speed by employing sharding as a second-layer scaling solution. The platform is home to many decentralized applications, and as of October 2020, it also allows for staking and yield farming.

Development work officially started on Zilliqa in June 2017, and its testnet went live in March 2018. A little over a year later, in June 2019, the platform launched its mainnet.

The native utility token of Zilliqa, ZIL, is used to process transactions on the network and execute smart contracts.

Zilliqa

eCash (XEC) is the rebranded version of Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA), itself a fork of Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). It calls itself a “cryptocurrency that’s designed to be used as electronic cash.” eCash strictly aims to be a means of transaction used to pay for goods and services. The coin was rebranded on July 1, 2021, and has since tried to distinguish itself from its predecessor. The base units of eCash are called “bits” and replace the unwieldy decimal places of Bitcoin Cash ABC. Instead of sending 0.00001000 BTC, you would send 10 bits with eCash. ECash integrates a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus layer called “Avalanche,” which is not to be mistaken for the blockchain Avalanche (AVAX). Upon rebranding, eCash announced that it would convert all BCHA coins to XEC at a ratio of one to one million.

The cryptocurrency’s developers have set their sights on three main improvements:

Scaling transaction throughput from 100 transactions per second to more than five million transactions per second

Improving the payment experience by reducing transaction finality time

Extending the protocol and establishing fork-free upgrades

eCash

Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient, all critical properties for effective applications in the real world. Algorand will support computations that require reliable performance guarantees to create new forms of trust.

The Algorand mainnet became live in June 2019, and was able to handle almost 1 million transactions per day as of December 2020. Algorand transaction metrics can be viewed here. Algorand initial coin offering (ICO) was held in June 2019, with the Algorand price of $0.24 per token.

Algorand

Polkadot is an open-source sharded multichain protocol that connects and secures a network of specialized blockchains, facilitating cross-chain transfer of any data or asset types, not just tokens, thereby allowing blockchains to be interoperable with each other. Polkadot was designed to provide a foundation for a decentralized internet of blockchains, also known as Web3.

Polkadot is known as a layer-0 metaprotocol because it underlies and describes a format for a network of layer 1 blockchains known as parachains (parallel chains). As a metaprotocol, Polkadot is also capable of autonomously and forklessly updating its own codebase via on-chain governance according to the will of its token holder community.

Polkadot provides a foundation to support a decentralized web, controlled by its users, and to simplify the creation of new applications, institutions and services.

The Polkadot protocol can connect public and private chains, permissionless networks, oracles and future technologies, allowing these independent blockchains to trustlessly share information and transactions through the Polkadot Relay Chain (explained further down).

Polkadot’s native DOT token serves three clear purposes: staking for operations and security, facilitating network governance, and bonding tokens to  connect parachains .

Polkadot has four core components:

Relay Chain: Polkadot’s “heart,” helping to create consensus, interoperability and shared security across the network of different chains;

Parachains: independent chains that can have their own tokens and be optimized for specific use cases;

Parathreads: similar to parachains but with flexible connectivity based on an economical pay-as-you-go model;

Bridges: allow parachains and parathreads to connect and communicate with external blockchains like Ethereum.