Fantom Ecosystem Spotlight – QiDao
On their Medium, the DeFi protocol QiDao includes a citation from the work of the Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism Lao Zi, whose image features in their logo: “When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be.”
The aphorism perfectly captures the hope, opportunity, and drive to innovate at the core of QiDao’s ethos.
A relative newcomer to the Fantom ecosystem, QiDao is growing quickly, and if you were lucky enough to be in Abu Dhabi for Fantom DC, you already know that 2022 is going to be a big year for this dynamic project.
1. What is QiDao?
QiDao is a stablecoin protocol that allows users to hold their crypto while still extracting its value. It does this by allowing you to borrow against your crypto assets at 0% interest.
QiDao has unique properties that make borrowing very attractive:
- 0% interest vaults
- Variable-rate lending markets
- Interest bearing collaterals
- Borrowing on multiple chains
2. How do you introduce QiDao to a novice or someone who knows relatively little about DeFi?
QiDao allows you to access the untapped value of your tokens to earn greater yields.
It enables you to borrow stablecoins at 0% interest against your tokens without selling them.
3. How did you come up with QiDao/what inspired you?
We are all big fans of the experience that MakerDAO, Liquity, and Fei built over the last few years.
Their model has helped provide the liquidity needed to power DeFi forward and helped grow the space into what you see today.
Even with all the great things these protocols provide, the one thing that held many of us and other DeFi users back from using them was the Ethereum gas fees. These high fees meant that it made sense to borrow only when transacting large amounts of crypto.
As more layer ones, sidechains, etc., started gaining popularity, we saw an opportunity to take the best bits of a few different protocols, combine them, innovate on top of them, and provide them on chains that were more accessible to your average DeFi user.
4. What’s your background?
Our team mixes individuals with diverse backgrounds, from finance, mathematics, Web3 developers, and a community of brilliant minds working together for a common goal.
5. Why did you decide to build on Fantom?
- The Fantom team was very friendly and inviting. They were open to helping support our launch.
- The growth that was happening on Fantom caught our eye.
- It had the money legos that make up a healthy DeFi ecosystem, such as strong DEXs, money markets, yield aggregators, etc.
- The incentive program was clear and enticing. Unlike other chains where you don’t know if you will get incentives or how much they will be, Fantom’s incentive program is upfront.
6. How did you learn about Fantom?
I think the way most people hear about anything in crypto. Twitter!
Although Twitter may have been the first place we heard about it, our Discord server community gave us a push. We had many of our users ask us, “wen Fantom ser?”
7. What has your experience been like building on Fantom?
Amazing! We were in a unique situation in that right as we launched, we were invited to speak at the Fantom Developer Conference in Abu Dhabi. Attending in person, we met many of the people behind the projects on Fantom.
What was great was that everyone at the conference was super friendly and willing to work together. The friendships we built at the conference definitely helped accelerate our growth on Fantom.
8. What brings you to DeFi, and what excites you most about the space?
The endless possibilities and opportunities to make a significant impact on people's lives.
9. How did the community receive QiDao?
Before we launched, our community was already telling us really good things about the Fantom ecosystem. They were not wrong. We were welcomed with open arms and minds.
We had an interview with FTM Alerts early on and really enjoyed Austin’s vibe, energy, and passion for Fantom. His support went a long way towards the Fantom community receiving us well.
Also, what’s not to love about zero-interest loans against interest-bearing FTM :)
10. What’s coming up for QiDao? Free alpha!
If you have been following QiDao, Tomb Finance, and Harry Yeh lately, you’ll know that there is a huge collaboration brewing.
We are working together to push out some exciting new things. Let’s just say we are building out a few things that should help connect more projects and strap a rocket ship on the back of Fantom.
11. Is there anything you can tell us about the projects you’re involved in, in Dubai?
We are working with some of the groups and projects in the UAE to build out an ecosystem that promotes collaborations and building off one another.
We strongly believe that the power of DeFi is in collaborations over competition. The sum is always greater than its parts.
Apes together strong, projects same!
12. What would you like to say to fellow developers who haven’t yet started building on Fantom?
Start building on Fantom. Though it sounds scary with Halloween themed projects, it’s actually a very friendly place :)
All the tools and resources for you and your project's success are at your fingertips. Grab them!
13. Is there anything you would like to add, about which we haven’t asked?
We want to thank Fantom and the Fantom community for making Fantom such a special experience.
Come join our communities on Discord and Twitter to stay up to date on what we are building.
If you haven’t already tried out Mai.finance, which is the front-end for the QiDao protocol, try it out and let us know what you think.
Engage with QiDao:
