Traders seem to expect BTC’s momentum could slow down a bit after the price hit over $97,000.

Positive sentiment has continued to fuel the cryptocurrency market as the expectation of further institutional adoption of 

 keeps growing. Options trading of BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT 

 with a bang, attracting almost $2 billion on the first day of trading. The hope of more spot ETF derivatives to change the market structure with additional institutional money onboarding crypto is high.

, we explored the possibility of the market being overleveraged, which could be painful if the current leverage unwinds. Data from CryptoQuant shows that the estimated leverage of the current BTC markets has reached another YTD high.

Derivatives data on Bybit shows that traders seem to expect that BTC’s momentum could slow down a bit after the price hit over $97,000, and are focusing more on downside protection.

Figure 1: Bitcoin estimated leverage ratio at 0.23. Source: CryptoQuant

BTC Options Open Interest Returns to Previous High While Perps Are Catching Up

Derivatives traders have been actively participating in BTC markets as 

 on Bybit has surged to over $3 billion, on par with the previous high on Nov 14, 2024. Although the options OI has increased, it still hasn’t surged above the previous high. At the time, BTC’s price had already jumped to over $97,000. If the OI doesn’t follow suit and break above the previous high in the coming days, this could be a sign that the market could become a bit exhausted — something for all market participants to be aware of.

Figure 2: Daily open interest for BTC options on Bybit. Source: Bybit

 have also seen increased open interest in recent days. Perpetuals have been among the most favorable products for day traders and short-term speculators. Rising open interest could indicate that more traders are looking for short-term profit, which could bring additional volatility to the market. 

Figure 3: Daily open interest for BTCUSDT Perpetuals on Bybit. Source: Bybit

Dec 27, 2024 remains the most popular expiration date for BTC Options on Bybit, with most of the open interest there. Within that expiration, $120,000 calls had the most OI, and $100,000 calls accumulated the second-largest OI. 

Figure 4: Open interest by strike for BTC Options with a Dec 27, 2024 expiration. Source: Bybit

Meanwhile, the market’s optimism that BTC will hit $100,000 by the end of the year seems to support the current price momentum. Shorter-dated options could show that traders are also looking for downside protection. The Bybit 

 page shows that BTC Options with a Nov 29, 2024 expiration have a strong 24-hour inflow to $90,000 puts. This could indicate that some traders are also anticipating some degree of price correction by the end of the month. 

Figure 5: 24-hour volume by strike for BTC Options with a Nov 29, 2024 expiration on Bybit. Source: Bybit

 for BTC Options on Bybit also indicates a possible downside protection in play among options traders. A smirk skew, or left skew, is a skew curve that’s steeper on one side (the left side) than the other. Traditionally, a smirk skew curve could mean that traders have been protecting their portfolios against a possible declining market. At the time of this writing (Nov 21, 2024), BTC Options contracts on Bybit with Nov 29, 2024 and Dec 27, 2024 expirations have both shown a smirk skew. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean traders are bearish on the price, and could just be part of the trading strategy. For example, traders could set up collars by buying out-of-the-money (OTM) puts and selling OTM calls simultaneously, so that they can profit in case BTC’s price drops, gain upside exposure and potentially offset the cost of buying the puts. 

Figure 6: Implied volatility of BTC Options with Nov 29, 2024 and Dec 27, 2024 expirations. Source: Bybit

The current BTC leverage trading may be complex, but tells a revealing narrative about market sentiment. The divergence between high leverage and increased hedging activities also reminds us that market dynamics are rarely straightforward, and adopting a 

 seems increasingly important in this diverse market.

: Investing in cryptocurrencies and their derivatives involves substantial risk of loss, and isn’t suitable for every investor. This article provides facts for educational purposes only, and does not represent any financial advice. Prior to making any investment decisions, please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary. Our customer support team is available to assist you with any inquiries.

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Learn From Smart Money: BTC’s Leverage Remains High as Traders Hedge Against Downside Risks

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report dives into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

Spot prices have jumped significantly in the two weeks following the November 5, 2024 U.S. elections, propelling Bitcoin to new all-time highs, while Ethereum hasn’t kept pace. The implied volatility term structure has inverted again in tandem with these spot price movements, although longer-dated tenors remain relatively stable. Derivatives market indicators reflect strong positive sentiment: perpetual funding rates are consistently positive, open interest in futures contracts is rapidly increasing and options skew remains firmly positive.

Open interest in futures has surged, indicating heightened market participation and a growing interest in leveraged exposure due to recent price movements. Similarly, open interest in perpetual contracts has sharply increased, fueled by rising trader confidence and a growing demand for leveraged positions in light of recent market rallies. Meanwhile, the implied volatility term structure continues to invert in alignment with spot price increases, demonstrating a sustained correlation between spot prices and volatility.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Futures Open Interest Reaches ATH Along With Price

Perpetual swap open interest has been increasing alongside futures, with a consistent rise in open positions over the past week reaching all-time high activity levels. This trend suggests that traders are actively pursuing leveraged exposure in response to the ongoing spot rallies, aiming to capitalize on the rising spot prices. Notably, there’s been renewed interest in Ethereum (ETH), reflected in rising trading volumes. 

Perpetual swap funding rates have reached exceptionally positive levels, indicating that long positions are confident enough to pay these rates to sustain their leveraged exposure. This trend has consistently been observed across all tokens, with a noticeable rise in funding rates since Nov 10, 2024. The persistently high funding rates highlight the strength of the bullish sentiment, which is also evident in the increasing open interest in futures contracts. This aligns with the recent spot price action, demonstrating significant upward momentum.

Option Volatility Term Structure Inverts 

The implied volatility term structure for Bitcoin has inverted amid the recent spot rallies over the past few weeks, indicating heightened market uncertainty and expectations of imminent price movements. However, levels haven’t exceeded the highs seen before the elections, and longer-dated tenors remain firmly range-bound. Concurrently, open interest in Bitcoin options has risen significantly, with a notable increase in put trading volumes. Open interest in puts has slightly surpassed calls, despite the persistently bullish market outlook indicated by the volatility smile skew.

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Bybit X Block Scholes Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report (Nov 20, 2024): Market Becomes Extremely Positive About Bitcoin as Volatility Curve Turns Invert

Learn how to join Bybit's VIP Program, where you can realize exclusive benefits — from up to 50% off trading fees and tailored interest rates to instant OTC trades up to $10M.

With the Bybit VIP Program, you can realize exclusive benefits — from up to 50% off trading fees and tailored interest rates to instant OTC trades, Bybit Card cashback and more. Joining the ranks of the very best traders on the platform will boost your profitability, raise your limits and offer access to VIP-only perks.

 and guides you through the steps to become a VIP trader and unlock exclusive benefits. Let's get started!

 is an exclusive club for the most esteemed traders in the crypto market. It’s designed to provide members an enhanced Bybit experience with numerous VIP-only benefits and perks. The program aims to reward avid traders who have high volumes, account equity levels and borrowing activities.

The Bybit VIP Program offers a multitude of benefits for members. These range from discounted trading fees and high limits for withdrawals and application programming interface (API) trades to priority Bybit customer support access, relationship managers and exclusive VIP events and meetups. You can find the full list of VIP exclusive benefits 

Requirements to Become a Bybit VIP Trader

You’ll need to fulfill a specific level for one of the criteria below to become a VIP trader on Bybit:

Bybit's VIP Program features six distinct tiers: 

. Each successively higher tier offers greater rewards, and also comes with more stringent qualification requirements. For instance, as a 

 trader, you’ll enjoy reduced trading fees, such as 0.03% for makers and 0.045% for takers in the spot market. To qualify for this exclusive tier, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

Once you become a VIP trader, you must continuously meet the above criteria to maintain your Bybit VIP status and keep enjoying the benefits. 

However, this doesn't mean your account will immediately lose its VIP status and revert to standard after a single day in which you don’t meet the requirements. Bybit offers a 14-day grace during which you can continue enjoying VIP perks and benefits, even if you no longer meet the program's conditions. If the criteria are not met by the end of this period, your VIP status will automatically be revoked. However, if that occurs, you can regain your status by fulfilling the requirements for any VIP tier either during or after the grace period. When this happens, Bybit will grant you a new 14-day grace period.

How to Sign up to Become a Bybit VIP Trader

In the following section, you'll find a step-by-step guide that shows you how to join the Bybit VIP Program.

The first step to becoming a VIP trader is to open a Bybit account (if you haven't already done so). Simply 

 and fill out the form with your details. After registering, you’ll need to verify your account to enjoy the platform's full functionality.

Next, fund your Bybit account with crypto or fiat currency.

You can deposit cryptocurrencies by using the 

 menu. On the page, choose your desired coin and the blockchain where you'll be depositing the assets. To avoid any loss of funds, please always ensure that you're transferring crypto from the correct chain.

Next, copy-and-paste the wallet address displayed on the page, or scan the QR code with your smartphone's camera, and initiate the deposit from your wallet. After a few confirmations, your cryptocurrencies will be credited to your Bybit account.

To fund your Bybit account with fiat currency, click on the 

 button and select one of the available services (e.g., 

 service, choose a fiat currency, the deposit amount and one of the available payment methods. After clicking on 

, follow the instructions displayed on the next pages to initiate the transaction. Your funds will be credited to your Bybit account, with processing times varying according to your chosen service and payment method.

After you have a verified Bybit account funded with either crypto or fiat, perform eligible activity on the platform until you qualify for VIP status (see table below).

You can achieve VIP status by fulfilling a minimum level of VIP 1 in either of the following categories (

After becoming a VIP trader on Bybit, don't forget to maintain your VIP status to continue enjoying the exclusive perks and benefits.

If you have active VIP status at another crypto exchange, or your total MT5 trading volume meets Bybit's VIP criteria, you can apply for a VIP+2 upgrade. This upgrade will grant you VIP status on the platform — and instantly elevate it by two levels. (Please 

 that Bybit only considers 10% of any MT5 forex trading volume.)

 and submit your 30-day trading volume on your current exchange. Bybit’s VIP team will review your application, and a Relationship Manager will contact you if you're eligible for the VIP upgrade.

How to Get Started With a 20-Day Bybit VIP Trial

Another way to qualify for VIP status on Bybit is through a 20-day trial. Instead of fulfilling the requirements of the VIP 1 level, simply fund your account with $50,000 to enjoy the exclusive benefits of the program for 20 days with a VIP Trial Card (issued one day after your deposit). The VIP trial offer is available to users who haven't used a trial within the past two months.

To unlock the 20-day VIP trial, head to the 

 menu on Bybit and use one of the available payment methods to fund your account with $50,000 in assets.

With VIP Level-Up Tasks, you can earn generous bonuses as high as 6,000 USDT. You can claim rewards for Level-Up Tasks for five VIP levels (VIP 1, VIP 2, VIP 3, VIP 4 and VIP 5), with higher tiers offering greater bonuses upon completion.

If you're eligible, you’ll see a pop-up window with VIP Level-Up Tasks after you log into your account. To claim your rewards, complete the specified trading volume requirement within 14 days of receiving the task, and click on the 

 page. You can learn more about Bybit VIP Level-Up Tasks

Exclusive Trading Benefits Offered to Bybit VIPs

As a member of the Bybit VIP Program, you can unlock exclusive benefits to supercharge your trading experience. Among these are discounted trading fees (which can significantly boost your trading revenue), profitability and chances of winning trades.

In addition to discounted trading fees, you’ll also enjoy substantially higher API trading and withdrawal limits. While the former is restricted to 10 trades per second for non-VIP users, you can take advantage of up to 120 API trades per second as a VIP trader. Simultaneously, your daily withdrawal limit is increased from the basic 1 million USDT to as high as 12 million USDT.

 is an exclusive club that provides an enhanced service experience for the most esteemed traders. As a member, you can access a multitude of exclusive benefits and perks, such as the following:

Are you ready to supercharge your trading experience? 

Intermediate

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How to Become a Bybit VIP: Your Guide to Exclusive Benefits

LETSTOP is a drive-to-earn mobile app that monitors phone distractions while driving. Learn more about how it works in this article.

Smartphone distractions have created an unprecedented road safety crisis worldwide. 

: texting behind the wheel makes drivers six times more likely to crash than drunk driving does — yet millions of drivers still use their phones while operating vehicles.

This article explores how LETSTOP is transforming safe driving into rewarding experiences through blockchain technology. We'll examine its drive-to-earn model, reward system, tokenomics and potential as both a road safety solution and an investment opportunity.

 is a drive-to-earn mobile app that monitors phone distractions while driving. Users earn STOP tokens for phone-free driving through a gamified system that transforms daily drives into rewarding experiences.

A life-changing car accident caused by a distracted driver running a red light inspired LETSTOP co-founder Almog Nissan to reimagine road safety. Together with co-founder and CEO Dor Levy, they envisioned rewarding safe driving, rather than just punishing dangerous behavior.

The founders built a platform that combines automotive technology, cryptocurrency and AI to revolutionize road safety through rewards. This innovative approach has quickly gained traction, with over 50,000 users logging over 3 million kilometers of safe driving since the app’s launch.

Distracted driving claims thousands of lives annually, with 

, of which 9% are directly linked to phone use. LETSTOP aims to tackle this crisis as follows:

Each of these objectives works harmoniously to support LETSTOP's ultimate mission of transforming road safety into a rewarding experience that benefits both individual drivers and society.

The LETSTOP app operates through a sophisticated system that monitors and rewards safe driving through the following apps and features:

The result is a dynamic system in which better driving habits unlock greater earning potential.

The following five core features power LETSTOP's drive-to-earn ecosystem.

LETSTOP uses a dynamic 40-level system to make safe driving rewarding. As drivers earn XP through distraction-free journeys, they advance from Level 1's 2% bonus toward Level 40's 70% boost. Through this gamified approach, daily commutes become opportunities to climb the ranks while building safer driving habits.

LETSTOP Credits are the core currency of the platform, earned directly through safe driving achievements. Earning rates directly scale with user level, vehicle type and subscription tier as follows: PRO subscribers enjoy unlimited earning potential, while PLUS and LITE tiers are capped at 300 and 150 monthly credits, respectively.

In the STOP Store, users invest their earned credits into virtual cars with unique earning multipliers. From the basic model's 2% bonus to the Jazzster GN's 150% boost, each vehicle offers different strategic advantages for maximizing rewards.

Beyond vehicles, the store features mystery boxes containing rewards from 10 to 450 credits, as well as car upgrades and subscription boosts. Users can also access a voucher marketplace to redeem credits for real-world rewards through LETSTOP's partnership network.

LETSTOP's triple-boost system combines vehicle multipliers for immediate earnings acceleration, a level-progression system for sustained growth and a 5% referral program for community expansion. Premium membership unlocks enhanced benefits across three tiers, while special events create time-limited opportunities for increased rewards.

The platform's comprehensive rewards system operates across three membership tiers, each one tailored to different user needs. LETSTOP PRO (at $9.90 monthly) offers unlimited credit earning potential and exclusive benefits. The PLUS tier provides a balanced option at $4.90 monthly with a 300-credit earning cap, while the free LITE tier allows users to earn up to 150 monthly credits.

Beyond direct earnings, the rewards system incorporates partner vouchers, cryptocurrency conversion options and community features, such as leaderboards. Achievement rewards recognize milestones in users' safe driving journeys, while the upcoming cryptocurrency integration will allow users to convert their efforts into tradeable STOP tokens.

LETSTOP has shown consistent progress, with the following key milestones already achieved:

Looking ahead to 2025, LETSTOP plans to implement the following key developments:

These developments aim to strengthen LETSTOP's position as a leader in drive-to-earn while furthering its mission to enable safer roads worldwide.

STOP is an SPL token built on the Solana network. It’s designed to bridge safe driving behavior with cryptocurrency rewards. The STOP token implements an annual halving mechanism to ensure long-term value preservation, similar to Bitcoin's model, but accelerated to align with the project's growth trajectory.

STOP has a max supply of 100 million tokens, to be distributed in the following manner:

The growing adoption of LETSTOP's drive-to-earn app and its impact on road safety directly influence STOP's price trajectory. While cryptocurrency forecasts remain speculative by nature, multiple price analysis platforms project the following for STOP:

These forecasts suggest a positive long-term outlook for STOP, driven by the growing drive-to-earn sector and LETSTOP's innovative approach to road safety. However, STOP's future value will ultimately depend upon user adoption, platform development and broader market conditions.

Looking to trade LETSTOP tokens? Bybit now offers the STOP/USDT Spot trading pair. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

STOP shows promising potential in the drive-to-earn sector, though investors should carefully weigh both its strengths and potential risks before making investment decisions.

While STOP's innovative approach to road safety and its strong initial traction distinguish it in the market, potential investors should 

 and invest no more than they can afford to lose.

As smartphone distractions continue to endanger lives on roads worldwide, LETSTOP offers an innovative path forward. Through its innovative drive-to-earn model and STOP token ecosystem, the platform transforms daily commutes into safer roads and user earnings opportunities, showing how digital innovation can effectively “drive” positive behavioral change.

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LETSTOP (STOP): Turning Daily Rides Into Profitable Journeys

Altcoins

Crypto

Thanks to its speed and usability, the Serum coin and network are steadily gaining attention. Read up about SRM here.

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The popularity of decentralized exchanges has been on the rise over the past year, with the decentralized finance (

) movement forcing developers to focus on issues surrounding complete decentralization. Despite demonstrating certain advantages (e.g., the ability to combine intuitive interface and access for substantial liquidity), centralized exchanges will never achieve the level of security that decentralized exchanges offer. One example of the latter is Serum. In order to become the cornerstone of the DeFi ecosystem, Serum has decided to offer a set of exciting new features.

Serum is a fully decentralized ecosystem based on Solana. Its main focus is interoperability, and the highlight of its ecosystem is decentralibility.

 Serum offers an easy-to-use platform from which any crypto token can be exchanged for another without the need to go through any KYC procedures. Serum’s 

 uses the traditional swap system, allowing users to add any trading pairs they like.

Since Serum is built on Solana’s blockchain, its DEX benefits from capabilities worthy of a centralized exchange while users retain full control of their funds. Thanks to its cross-chain features, you can trade BTC, ETH, ERC20 tokens and SPL tokens (Solana’s token standard), among others. These features allow 

 to find in Serum a truly decentralized platform, which has all the convenience offered by centralized platforms and more.

The Serum Foundation was launched in August 2020. It’s the brainchild of 

, a math and computer science graduate of MIT. Bankman-Fried is also the founder of Alameda Research (2017), a successful cryptocurrency trading company, and the popular crypto derivatives exchange FTX (2019). Along with his FTX colleagues, Bankman-Fried came up with a DeFi protocol to implement in which the DEX was autonomous.

Serum is supported by many centralized exchanges. To date, it has also entered into numerous collaborations, including one with 

, providing pricing oracles for its DEX within the ecosystem. The leading advisors for the project include Robert Leshner, the founder of Compound Labs, and Long Vuong, founder and CEO of TomoChain.

SRM is the native token of the Serum ecosystem. Serum’s cross-chain swap protocol allows users to reliably swap assets between blockchains. Serum offers investors a decentralized, automated full-limit order book that gives them full control over each order. The integration between Ethereum and Solana makes Serum faster, more efficient and interoperable with 

The regulated cross-chain contracts allow easy margin positions in DeFi on synthetic assets. SRMBTC is a model for creating ERC20 or Solana-based tokens for BTC, while SRMUSD is a model for creating a decentralized USD fixed constant currency.

Stake rewards are distributed based on the performance of nodes that take into account important in-chain actions, such as providing blockchain histories for cross-chain placement verification.

The SRM token also has a classic mechanism that is recognized by the tokens of exchange platforms. This system of redemption and destruction rarefies the total amount of SRM.

Apart from the utility of the SRM token in the ecosystem, all fees paid in SRM are automatically burned every week. This mechanism gradually reduces the number of SRM tokens in circulation, further increasing its rarity. That’s why SRM continues to remain valuable. 

Currently, Serum is the most preferred decentralized exchange on the Solana ecosystem. The Solana ecosystem offers users a fast trading experience, and as the ecosystem expands, the number of projects on Serum DEX will increase. 

Serum’s unique selling proposition (USP) is that it allows the public to create their own DEXs. What this means is that individuals who possess programming skills can create a decentralized market with the help of Serum. Typically, DEXs struggle to obtain sufficient liquidity for their users. The problem is solved, however, by building a DEX using the Serum ecosystem. The liquidity of each DEX built on Serum is pooled with the others, and even with the Serum DEX itself.

Serum also rewards those who provide liquidity for its markets. Some of the top DEXs created on Serum include 

As we’ve already mentioned, Serum is built upon the Solana blockchain architecture. Therefore, it’s impossible to talk about the Serum project without mentioning the Solana ecosystem. 

This affiliation with Solana makes Serum a unique and pure DEX, which allows the decentralization of all exchanges for several blockchains, an exclusively on-chain order book, speed and efficiency of orders, very low exchange fees, and perhaps most importantly, interoperability with Ethereum and ERC20 tokens. This means that the SRM crypto is an SPL token (Solana Program Library). This is, by the way, a standard similar to ERC20 on Ethereum, which makes it possible to issue interchangeable tokens on Solana. Serum therefore takes advantage of all the capabilities of the Solana blockchain to ensure that its ecosystem works smoothly.

It’s worth noting that Solana also relies on interoperability between blockchains. This network is fully compatible with Ethereum, and even with 

. This particular characteristic benefits Serum, which, as we’ll see below, enables collaboration for cryptocurrencies that are otherwise incompatible. In this way, these cryptocurrencies become exchangeable via Serum’s decentralized platform.

The Serum project is fueled by its governance token, SRM. It’s the native utility token of the Serum ecosystem built on the Solana blockchain. It confers several advantages on its holders, including:

Note that the Serum ecosystem chooses to burn these fees and contribute to the ecosystem. The rest of the fees, 20%, are distributed to users (stakers) who lock SRM tokens.

Like any blockchain, Solana comes with a consensus mechanism, with the main innovation behind the Solana network being 

. As the name suggests, it’s a form of consensus based on evidence of past events.

Note that for the Solana network, PoH presents itself as an overlay to 

, the well-known consensus that implements the concept of masternodes and staking.

Before getting into the specifics of how PoH works, it’s necessary to go back to the basics. Let’s take Bitcoin and its consensus, proof of work (PoW), as an example. On the Bitcoin network, all of the network nodes work in parallel to validate the next block. This implies that the majority of nodes must validate any block before it can be anchored forever in the chain. This process is relatively lengthy, and requires most of the network to agree that “such and such block has been validated at such and such time.”

To maximize its technical capabilities and meet the requirements of its users, the Solana blockchain implements PoH. This method obviates the need for all validators in the network to agree on creating a block. The PoH algorithm will cryptographically prove that one transaction was created before another, making its immediate implementation in the chain possible. In this way, blocks are created approximately every 400 milliseconds on the Solana blockchain, with the network theoretically approaching 50,000 to 65,000 

In addition, the costs incurred by a transaction on the Solana network are negligible, on the order of $0.00001 per transaction — or about $10 in fees for 1 million transactions.

As Serum is entirely built on Solana, it takes advantage of this blockchain’s capabilities, which are necessary for its ecosystem to function optimally.

 is a powerful, permissionless blockchain that tries to solve the scalability problems of blockchain without 

. This makes Solana a good go-to for DApps that need a high data rate. 

According to its developers, Solana can handle up to 50,000 TPS. It relies on a PoH timestamp algorithm which automatically strings together transactions that take place in fractions of a second. The Solana 

 went live in March 2020. Its primary goal is to develop a one-layer solution for DApps that’s both fast and scalable.

Why Is Solana a Good Blockchain for Serum?

As a full DEX, the primary benefit that Serum gets from Solana is interoperability. However, their relationship goes well beyond this. Here are some other benefits that Solana provides to Serum: 

 (AMMs) to facilitate decentralized exchanges between buyers and sellers. This eliminates the need for services to hold third parties’ or clients’ funds, taking advantage of smart contracts (along with user-provided liquidity) for a pair of tokens in a pool.

: It’s novel to see Serum supporting Bitcoin and Ethereum trading on its DEX, in addition to coins that use Solana’s SPL token standard. Both BTC and ETH are available on the platform as wrapped tokens in the form of SPL coins. SPL is a collection of on-chain programs run by the Solana team.

: Nodes in the Serum ecosystem can stake the project’s local SRM token. This means that nodes run hardware devices which meet Solana’s validator requirements. At the same time, they also lock coins for a certain time and perform tasks related to optimizing the protocol’s central order book and matching engine.

Almost every DeFi platform has been bogged down by slow transaction speeds. Serum aims to solve some of DeFi’s shortcomings and inefficiencies. While DeFi practices have created tremendous value, relatively long trading times are still an issue. 

Thanks to Solana’s PoH algorithm, TPS. Serum operates using the Solana blockchain to achieve super-fast TPS.

The primary goal of blockchains is to ensure complete decentralization. However, even as DeFi continues to garner mainstream acceptance, most crypto exchanges are centralized. Serum is unique because it uses centralized on-chain order books to make trading much more efficient and user-friendly thanAMM protocols such as Uniswap or PancakeSwap.

Another issue decentralized financial projects grapple with is costly transaction fees. Due to the increased use of gas resulting from high network activity, transaction fees for DApps are much higher than simple wallet-to-wallet transfers. Ethereum, the leading smart contracts platform and DeFi hub, has long struggled with limited scalability, which in turn has led to increased gas charges.

The Serum ecosystem is marked by fees and the buy-and-burn mechanism. Serum has set up a mechanism to buy back and destroy part of the transaction fees. Here’s a breakdown of the costs involved:

Buy-and-burn, therefore, takes care of two-thirds of SRM and is carried out weekly. As mentioned earlier, this mechanism gradually reduces the number of SRM in circulation, further increasing its rarity. 

Remember that Serum is a pure DEX, using the AMM model to provide liquidity. While the largest ecosystems for DeFi to date are based on either Ethereum (ETH) or Binance Coin (BNB) and their associated blockchains, Serum relies on Solana. With 50,000 TPS and minimal transaction fees of fractions of a cent, the technological course for future viability has already been set. In addition, SRM and Serum are also linked to DeFi under Ethereum via a currency bridge.

 of Serum is 50 million, against a total supply of 10 billion. Note that 90% of the total supply tokens are locked.

You can buy SRM via popular crypto exchanges. At the time of writing, it’s trading at almost $8.00 with a 

Despite the interoperability of the Solana blockchain, the Sollet open source wallet serves as an alternative to the popular 

. It allows you to connect the tokens you hold to the exchange platform of your choice, while retaining control of the digital assets. 

Serum brings a unique perspective to the world of DeFi. By combining the benefits of DeFi services and over-chain order books, Serum has designed a DEX that provides users with fast, inexpensive and efficient transactions. While it still lacks some of the features of centralized exchanges, Serum offers a much better user experience than traditional DeFi AMMs. The main differences between the SRM project/Project Serum and others are as follows:

However, not all crypto enthusiasts believe that Serum coin will survive in the long term. The model in which users provide collateral tends to be a poor experience for platform users. As a cross-chain swapping protocol, Serum can easily be forked and launched on the Ethereum blockchain, rendering Serum obsolete. 

As you can see in the SRM/USDT price chart below, this crypto has grown by over 930% since the beginning of 2021. 

By focusing on interoperability and allowing anyone to create their own decentralized exchange, Serum creates an ecosystem fully adapted to decentralized finance. With Solana as its base, Serum impresses with its low transaction costs and almost instantaneous fund transfers. Buoyed by strong support, the Serum project looks promising even as it faces strong competition.

Explained: What Is a Serum Coin (SRM)?

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards