Founded in 2018, THORChain is a decentralized exchange built with the Cosmos SDK. By late 2018, THORChain had solved the problem of cross-chain trading by building bi-directional bridges between blockchains at the protocol level in a permissionless, non-custodial manner. ShapeShift was the first major player in the crypto industry to integrate with it and offer THORChain trading to users.
Since decentralizing into a DAO and releasing our open-source platform, we wanted to continue to offer this awesome capability of swapping to/from the native assets that THORChain supports (BTC, ETH, BCH, DOGE, etc). Simply connect your wallet and swap 5000+ native assets through any of our supported wallets with no KYC and no added fees.
Our relationship with THORChain doesn’t stop with just cross-chain swapping. This year, we are excited to introduce the innovative THORChain Savers Vaults!
Savers Vaults
If you are a DeFi enthusiast, you may know that THORChain Savers Vaults have been highly anticipated in the space. Savers Vaults are a new, permissionless, open-source, and self-custodial solution for users to provide single asset liquidity on THORCHain, allowing them to earn yield on native assets without price exposure to any other assets, including RUNE.
Example:
- User deposits native L1 Bitcoin
- BTC is added as liquidity in the Savers Vault, contributing to the pool’s depth
- Swappers pay fees to make trades on the network
- A portion of the fee is distributed to Savers after each swap
- Savers can leave at any time by sending a small transaction with their L1 BTC address
This is unique in that it not only allows anyone to earn rewards, but it also gives users full control over their funds, meaning they can connect their non-custodial wallets (no KYC), stake to these single asset staking pools, and earn yield. Deposit BTC and earn BTC一it’s as simple as that. Why is this a major milestone? Because this similar earning mechanism was limitedly available via centralized exchanges where users are required to KYC and give up custody of their digital assets. On THORChain, only a valid signature from the user’s private key on the corresponding Layer 1 blockchain can be used to move or withdraw a Saver’s deposited assets.
When asked about the importance of THORChain Savers, Chad Barraford, the THORChain Technical Lead, said "There has been an incredible downturn in CeFi services. Organizations like Blockfi, Celcius, and almost all others have almost completely collapsed. This left a hole in the industry to get yield on a single asset such as Bitcoin. THORChain has made a series of innovations to rebuild the services that CeFi provides but in a completely decentralized way. The community is super excited and proud to launch a major feature like Savers to allow the cryptocurrency industry to gain a yield on their favorite blue-chip assets in a way that wasn't possible before.
Seeing one of the oldest and original organizations一like Shapeshift一capture this value and provide it to their user base is great. I appreciate and commend the Shapeshift community for their ability to analyze objectively and see where projects and services provide significant value to their users."
One Interface for All DeFi Needs
Being an aggregator of DeFi applications and protocols, we had to integrate Savers Vaults into our open-source platform and offer more juicy yield-generating opportunities for our users.
With Savers Vaults on our platform, users can earn great yields on popular Layer 1 assets without wrapping or price exposure to multiple assets. Savers Vaults are now available for the following Layer 1 assets on ShapeShift: BTC, ETH, BCH, DOGE, LTC, ATOM, and AVAX.
In addition to the Savers Vaults on ShapeShift, you can manage your crypto on our non-custodial platform while enjoying swapping, staking, on/off ramping, earning yield while maintaining control of your data and privacy and never risking your funds being frozen. Our community-owned platform has no infrastructure holding your data and is powered by THORChain, CoWSwap, and Ox; providing native swaps, MEV protection, and aggregation.
How can I access Savers Vaults on ShapeShift?
Depositing assets into THORChain Savers has never been easier or more transparent! Follow these five steps to start earning like a THOR Chad today:
- Visit the DeFi Earn tab on our platform
- Select which asset you would like to deposit
- View your estimated yearly earnings in dollars, APY and token received
- Click “Deposit”
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet
How Do THORChain Savers Work?
Savers Vaults are all single-sided and super simple to deposit and withdraw from. The yield generated on THORChain comes from swap fees and block rewards. As traders swap assets using THORChain, fees are paid to liquidity providers. Savers will earn approximately half of the yield that a typical RUNE-ASSET liquidity provider would earn over the same period. Therefore, the more swap volume, the higher the APRs.
Users should note that slippage fees are associated with entering and exiting a Savers Vault. These increase with deposit size relative to total pool depth. So the higher the amount you deposit, the higher the fee. Hence, this product is more aligned with long-term depositors HODLers. It is recommended to break up large deposits to minimize the total amount of slippage paid.
Here is an excellent example of THORChain savers in practice:
A user deposits 1 BTC in a pool 1000 BTC deep; thus pays a 0.1% slippage fee (1/1001) and is credited 0.999 BTC in the vault. If the pool is paying 3.65% APR, this is 0.1% earned every 10 days. Thus the user should plan to stay for at least 20 days to pay for the entry and exit fee as a minimum. If the user does not stay long enough, they risk having the yield they earn not offsetting the fees paid to enter and exit the vault, thus causing them to experience a loss of principal.
Earn Yield the Non-Custodial Way
ShapeShift and THORChain share many of the same values, one of which is providing access to truly decentralized, immutable finance. Integrating these vaults further strengthens our relationship and support for the THORChain ecosystem. One of the key benefits of any DeFi product is self-custody, and Savers Vaults are no exception, allowing you to have complete control over your crypto while enjoying generous rewards.
To start using Savers Vaults, you only need a self-custodial wallet, which you can choose from on our platform with 8 available options. No registration or KYC is needed to access the vaults. Plus, there are no restrictions based on location or citizenship. Savers Vaults are a key innovation for THORChain and the first decentralized product to offer native yield on native Bitcoin, and many other native assets.
We couldn’t be more excited to lead the decentralized crypto revolution alongside THORChain by helping create and facilitate a borderless financial system built on open, decentralized protocols.
Try it out on app.shapeshift.com
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