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What is Ramp DeFi? $RAMP

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RAMP DeFi
RAMP DeFi

Ramp DeFi is a decentralized protocol that seeks to boost DeFi adoption by allowing non-Ethereum users to stake their tokens on ETH-powered platforms while Ethereum users can interact with the Ramp protocol to increase their yields.

Although decentralized finance (DeFi) was born in 2018, it was not until 2020 when a fresh breath of life was pumped into the sector. The fresh breath has been manifested by how much DeFi protocols have locked in digital assets this year compared to 2019. For example, by the third quarter of 2019, roughly one billion US dollars of value was locked in these networks.

Fast forward to August 2020, over $4 billion in total value locked (TVL) was recorded. Interestingly, within three months, August and October 2020, over $7 billion was added to reach a TVL value of $11.21 billion as of October 20th, 2020. Notably, most of these products make use of ERC-20 (Ethereum-based) tokens since the Ethereum blockchain powers them.

So, what happens for non-Ethereum investors? They are locked out of DeFi benefits. To bring non-Ethereum users into the DeFi train, protocols such as Ramp DeFi are casting their net outside the Ethereum ecosystem. Let’s peep inside Ramp DeFi to see how this is possible.

Background

Ramp DeFi is led by Lawrence Lim, who happens to be a co-founder. Lim is also an advisor at Moonstake. In the past, he has been involved with key blockchain-based projects such as Hashed Labs and IOST.

Loh Zheng Rong, another co-founder, has a strong educational background in wealth management and has held roles such as senior advisor (ICONIC Partners), chief innovation officer, and blockchain consulting partner. The project’s technical lead, Caspar Oostendorp, is a BTA certified blockchain developer.

From a great team to serious investors and advisors, Ramp DeFi’s advisors include Binance, J.P Morgan, Microsoft, and Blockwater Capital. On the other hand, its investors include Parafi Capital, Alameda Research, Orthogonal Trading, and Ruby Capital.

What is Ramp DeFi?

Ramp DeFi is a decentralized protocol that seeks to boost DeFi adoption by allowing non-Ethereum users to stake their tokens on ETH-powered platforms while Ethereum users can interact with the Ramp protocol to increase their yields.

The protocol offers a host of benefits to its users, top among them being a cross-chain liquidity bridge, providing staking rewards, and yield farming opportunities. Ramp achieves this through a thoughtfully designed platform. The system’s functionality is designed around three core areas.

Ramp DeFi’s core design

Liquidity on-off-Ramp design

To power token exchange between blockchain systems, the network uses liquidity on/off-ramp design. Here, tokens using a non-Ethereum standard are first converted into collateralized stablecoins (rUSD) before being used on the Ethereum blockchain. In the same manner, ERC-20 based stablecoins can be changed into eUSD for use in Ramp DeFi’s liquidity pool.

With the tokens having the same standard, even though locked for staking on different decentralized systems, they can easily be traded on Ramp’s ecosystem.

Some benefits of rUSD tokens include:

  • The ability to use funds locked in non-Ethereum blockchains.
  • The ability to use fully-collateralized stablecoins.
  • Earning staking incentives even after the conversion.

eUSD holders enjoy:

  • Interest from lending their digital wealth.
  • A chance to provide liquidity across a wide range of DeFi protocols.
  • Farming Ramp DeFi’s native token.
  • Yields from farming other tokens on DeFi-focused systems.

Collateralized and Liquidation Design

This design provides a collateralization assurance mechanism for rUSD. It uses the term MCR (minimum collateralization ratio) to indicate a collateralization ratio of 200 percent.

The ratio ensures that, by default, rUSD minted is half the value of the minting token. For instance, $200 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) can mint $100 worth of rUSD tokens.

With collateralization comes liquidation. Ramp DeFi initiates a liquidation activity when the surety falls below 120 percent. However, before reaching a liquidation ratio, Ramp issues a warning when the guarantee level is precisely between the surety ratio and the liquidation level.

Re-collateralization is easily achieved by sending the required funds into the staking contract. Note that liquidation happens on the platform’s universal pool, rPool. The pool sells the tokens on cryptocurrency exchanges and deposits the funds into the pool.

Interestingly, rPool repurchases an equivalent value of rUSD. Observe that profits emanating from this exchange are kept on the pool and later shared between the network’s native token holders.

Collateralization Management Score

The score ensures that collateralization efforts are rewarded or punished accordingly. This helps to keep only the serious players in the Ramp DeFi ecosystem. However, instead of calculating the collateralization management score (CMS) from individual users, the score is calculated on the entire blockchain population.

Note that each connected blockchain has a default CMS of 0. The higher the CMS, the lower the collateral needed, and vice versa.

5 DeFi products on the Ramp ecosystem

The above design powers a host of products on the protocol. They range from staking to minting. For example,

  • rFinance – Deals with the exchange of liquidity between Ethereum and non-ERC20 platforms. It powers lending and borrowing activities involving rUSD and eUSD.
  • eMint and eFarm – These are two different products that work closely to give Ramp users value. For example, eMint interacts with Ethereum-based stablecoins to produce eUSD. The eUSD is used in rFinance. Also, it can be used on other DeFi pools supporting yield farming.
  • rMint and rStake – These Ramp DeFi products work together to produce representations of non-Ethereum based stablecoins. rMint bakes non-ERC20 collateral coins to produce rUSD. rStake, on the other hand, is a collection of staking nodes that holds the collateral.
  • rSwap – Instead of converting coins to rUSD or eUSD, rSwap allows Ramp users to swap Ethereum-based tokens with non-ERC20 tokens directly. This Ramp product uses oracles to determine prices.
  • rPool –  This a “universal liquidity pool” that’s entrusted with executing liquidation, ensuring adequate collateral is maintained, and value distribution across the Ramp DeFi network.

Ramp Token (RAMP)

The protocol’s native currency is called RAMP. RAMP acts as a utility token and helps align activities on the network. For example, since the token system has an inflationary model, RAMP introduces a deflationary aspect through burning.

Other RAMP use cases:

Governance

With Ramp DeFi being a decentralized platform, its governance mechanism is community-based. However, to participate in governance-related activities such as suggesting changes, you have to hold at least 1 percent of the token’s total supply. Additionally, voting for suggested changes requires RAMP.

Referral Rewards

The platform rewards users for bringing in new users. Referral rewards are distributed using the RAMP token. Apart from bringing in new users, developers are also rewarded for helping integrate Ramp DeFi with other decentralized networks.

Boosting Efficiency for Yield farmers

The Ramp ecosystem uses what it calls ‘farming power mechanism’ to boost the farming efficiency of liquidity providers using RAMP.

Staking

RAMP supports staking. In return, stakers can receive part of the rewards in the rPool.

Note that RAMP’s value is tied to the protocol’s critical activities, such as rUSD/eUSD issuance, the usage of rFinance, rSwap, rPool, and vibrant community-based governance.

Conclusion

With a focus on non-Ethereum DeFi enthusiasts, the Ramp DeFi ecosystem is a crucial pillar in the growth of the DeFi ecosystem. Surprisingly, while connecting Ethereum and non-Ethereum DeFi platforms is a complex undertaking, Ramp breaks it down into a three-layered design, making it easy to understand and engage with.

In addition, the protocol offers easy to use products and token economics. Finally, being a decentralized platform that enables community-based governance is a great way to keep the decentralization fire burning.

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