KuCoin AMA With Lends (LENDS) — Lend Beyond Limits: A Smart Approach to Cross-Chain Lending with Arbitrum

Dear KuCoin Users,

Time: February 28, 2024, 12:00 PM-1:36 PM (UTC)

KuCoin hosted an AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) session with the Core Team Members of Lends, Ahmed, and Haroun, in the KuCoin Exchange Group.

Official Website: https://www.lends.so/

Whitepaper: https://docs.lends.so/

Follow Lends on Twitter and Discord

Q: Can you start by introducing yourself and sharing what sparked your interest in Web3?

Haroun: Hey everyone, I'm so excited to chat with you all! My name is Haroun and I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of Lends Protocol. I first dove into crypto back in 2017 when I learned about Bitcoin - that really opened my eyes to this whole new world of blockchain technology and its potential. With my background in computer science, I was fascinated by the technical side of things. But as I learned more about Ethereum and DeFi, I became enthralled by the possibilities of decentralized, open finance. My co-founder Ahmed and I saw an opportunity to contribute to this vision by creating Lends Protocol. Our aim is to help build a truly decentralized lending system in DeFi. I can't wait to connect more on our mission today!

Q: As a founder of Lends Protocol, how do you spend your days and what unique value do you bring to the team?

Haroun: In my role as CEO, I'm focused on guiding our product vision, building partnerships, getting the word out, and leading our operations. On a typical day, you'll find me meeting with our developers to refine our technology roadmap and prioritize features that create the most value for users. I also connect with other platforms and builders to form integrations and partnerships - expanding the reach of our products across DeFi is key.

On the operations side, I oversee our marketing, manage our expanding team, and work to scale up our infrastructure smoothly. My co-founder Ahmed is our CTO, brilliantly leading our engineering team to turn our ideas into reality through Lends' protocol architecture and codebase.

As co-founders, we meet daily to discuss priorities, troubleshoot challenges, and brainstorm innovations. It's been amazing to work with such talented people to build the future of decentralized finance! I'm honored to lead this team in delivering our vision.

Q: For anyone new to Lends Protocol, can you give us a quick rundown of what it is and some of the key services you offer users?

Haroun: Lends Protocol enables decentralized lending and borrowing within the Thorchain ecosystem. For users looking to earn yields on their crypto assets, you can supply assets like RUNE or BTC to our protocol and earn yield from trading fees. If you're looking to borrow assets, you can deposit collateral and borrow stablecoins or assets like RUNE with 0% interest.

Some key features we offer:

• Earn yield by lending your assets to pools and collecting trading fees

• Borrow stablecoins and assets by putting up collateral at competitive ratios

• Seamlessly swap between assets using Thorchain's on-chain liquidity

• An easy-to-use interface to manage positions and view analytics

Moving forward, we'll be rolling out peer-to-peer lending so lenders can provide loans directly to borrowers in a decentralized way. Our goal is to make non-custodial lending accessible and safe for the Thorchain community. Excited to continue building the future of DeFi together!

Q: What inspired the creation of Lends Protocol and what problem are you aiming to solve?

Haroun: Lends Protocol was founded to bring essential DeFi utilities like lending and borrowing to the Thorchain ecosystem. We are huge believers in Thorchain - its security, efficiency, and innovative cross-chain dex capabilities are extremely impressive.

However, we noticed Thorchain lacked P2P borrowing and lending functions that are core to DeFi. So we set out to build lending infrastructure directly on top of Thorchain to unlock these key building blocks.

The result is a protocol that inherits the trustless, permissionless, non-custodial security of Thorchain. But users now gain access to the lending and borrowing utilities they expect from ecosystems like Ethereum. For Thorchain to reach its full potential, it needs composability. We're thrilled to provide that and expand what's possible on this cutting-edge platform!

Q: Why did you decide to build Lends Protocol specifically on top of Thorchain compared to other L1/L2 solutions?

Haroun: We chose Thorchain as the base layer for Lends Protocol because it provides a best-in-class decentralized exchange - fast, inexpensive, and incredibly secure. Some of the key factors:

• Leveraging Thorchain's deep liquidity pools across a huge range of assets that our protocol can tap into instantly for lending/borrowing.

• Inheriting the speed and efficiency Thorchain is designed for when it comes to lightning fast cross-chain swaps.

• Building on Thorchain's state-of-the-art security model rather than having to reinvent the wheel - we can focus on our unique lending products.

• Joining the growing Thorchain community using and building on the platform made sense for integrated lending utilities.

• Benefiting directly from Thorchain's constant innovation like fragility bonding curves.

By building on top of a leading DEX, we can concentrate on our core competency of lending/borrowing while Thorchain users get access to the DeFi financial products they expect. Excited to leverage Thorchain's strengths to advance decentralized finance!

Q: Looking ahead, which other blockchain ecosystems are you excited about or interested in exploring beyond Thorchain?

Haroun: While Thorchain is our main focus right now, I'm constantly exploring and learning about new innovations across the wider crypto landscape. I'm especially bullish on projects enabling more interoperability and cross-chain connectivity.

Cosmos, with its emphasis on bridging siloed networks, is extremely promising to me. Unlocking seamless liquidity flow and composability between chains unlocks so much potential. I'm also fascinated by Polkadot's heterogeneous multi-chain approach and ability to enable creative cross-chain applications.

On the DeFi side, I'm a huge fan of the innovations in self-repaying credit like Alchemix - there's still so much open experimentation to mimic traditional finance in a decentralized way.

And zero knowledge technology like zkSNARKs could be game-changing for privacy and scaling. Chains adopting zk tech like Polygon and Ethereum are worth monitoring closely.

While Thorchain is our current focus, it's an incredibly exciting time building at the intersection of blockchains. As a developer, I'm most interested in combining these tools to create truly open and composable finance.

Q: Who are some of Lends Protocol's main competitors, and how do you differentiate yourself?

Haroun: In decentralized lending, protocols like Aave, Compound, and MakerDAO lead the space, many initially built on Ethereum. We have deep respect for these projects and the founders who pioneered DeFi.

At Lends Protocol, we differentiate ourselves in a few key ways:

• 1% interest rates - we don't charge high interest rates on borrowed assets, making lending more accessible

• No liquidations - borrowers don't have to worry about abrupt liquidations

• Native Thorchain integration - built specifically for Thorchain assets and liquidity

• Upcoming peer-to-peer lending - direct lending between users rather than pooled funds

• Strong collateralization - competitive LTV rates to protect lenders

• Intuitive interface - easy to use even for DeFi beginners

Our goal is to build an open, self-sustaining lending protocol tailored to the Thorchain ecosystem. By avoiding interest and liquidations, we lower barriers for borrowers while protecting lenders. And our native Thorchain integration and asset support differentiate us from generic lending platforms.

We're just getting started and have lots of work ahead! But by focusing squarely on serving Thorchain users, we think we can provide the most value as adoption grows. Excited to keep differentiating ourselves as we scale.

Q: Lending and borrowing protocols can be highly complex, making them susceptible to hacks and exploits. Do you agree, and what security measures does Lends Protocol have in place?

Haroun: You're absolutely right! Security is critical for lending protocols, given they deal with user funds. Poorly written code could lead to loss of funds or other exploits if not careful.

At Lends Protocol, our guiding principle is defense in depth:

• Overcollateralization requirements protect against price drops

• Avoiding liquidations reduces urgency during crashes

• Implementing circuit breakers lets us pause activity during volatility

• Operational controls via high threshold multi-sig for any admin actions

• 24/7 monitoring and alerting for any irregular activity

In addition, we plan to introduce rigorous auditing from reputable firms, bug bounties, and will continue evaluating and implementing best practices around securing users' funds. It's incredibly important we instill trust through rock-solid security. We'll never be complacent and are taking every precaution possible to safeguard the protocol.

Q: When and where can I buy your tokens?

Haroun: You can buy our tokens on various decentralized and centralized exchanges, see the link for more information.

Q: Where can a new user find basic information and guide on how to use your platform?

Haroun: We recently released a medium article for this exact reason. You can also find more here.

Q: Can you share your social media links so we can keep ourselves updated?

Haroun: Here’s the link to our official social media accounts: Website, Twitter, and Discord.

Q: Can the token holders participate in the governance of the project? What decisions can they vote on regarding the project?

Ahmed: Yes, they can. It's live now to stake, and you can vote here.

🎁 Participate in the Lends AMA quiz now for a chance to win $10 in LENDS!

The form will remain open for five days from publishing this AMA recap.

KuCoin and Lends have prepared a total of $2,000 in LENDS to give away to AMA participants.

1. Pre-AMA activity: $800 in LENDS

2. Free-ask section: $50 in LENDS

3. Flash mini-game: $400 in LENDS

4. Post-AMA quiz: $750 in LENDS

Sign up for a KuCoin account if you haven’t done so yet, and ensure you complete your KYC verification to be eligible for the rewards.

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