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Manifesto

After experiencing the recent bull run and the rise of Ethereum DeFi, the cryptocurrency industry uncovered the limitations of the Ethereum smart contract development platform when faced with high network loads. Skyrocketing gas fees and sluggish confirmation times prompted developers to seek out new and supposedly superior smart contract platforms.

Yet, as with any improvement, there are trade-offs to consider. The blockchain trilemma, which encompasses security, scalability, and decentralization, became the primary concern for developers during that time. In their quest to solve this trilemma, some sacrificed decentralization while others compromised security in their pursuit of creating the fastest and most scalable platform imaginable.

Realizing that Layer 1 blockchains couldn't elegantly address all three problems, the emergence of Layer 2 scalability solutions became prominent, primarily designed to tackle the scalability challenge. It appeared that the solution had finally been discovered, leading to a belief that everything would now be smooth sailing. However, due to the existence of numerous Layer 1 platforms solving specific problems and a multitude of Layer 2 platforms addressing others, the market became flooded with a plethora of crypto assets.

Each DeFi ecosystem embarked on its unique development path, presenting itself as the ultimate "best solution." However, this fragmented landscape posed limitations for everyday users aspiring to engage with multiple ecosystems. While it's true that using centralized finance (CeFi) tools are always an option for transferring assets between ecosystems, is this truly the future we envision?

To propel the DeFi industry's evolution forward, we require a decentralized and trustless protocol capable of constructing a programmable messaging channel connecting all Layer N blockchain networks. Our community is diligently working on developing such a solution, poised to usher in the next phase of this transformative technology.

Mission​

The mission of the Spectrum protocol is to provide users worldwide with fast, borderless, and non-custodial financial tools.

Principles​

Here are simple principles guiding our community:

  1. Decentralization: No component or protocol should have central control.
  2. Trustlessness: The element of trust must be eliminated.
  3. Permissionlessness: Any person should be able to use the protocol when connected to the Internet.
  4. Security: The protocol must not have vulnerabilities that compromise participants' assets.
  5. Open source code: The protocol's source code must be available to everyone.

DeFi problems we aim to solve​

Traditional DeFi applications, such as Uniswap, have demonstrated promising features and decentralization. However, they have also highlighted significant limitations inherent in the prevailing approach adopted by most existing dApps. These limitations can be broadly categorized into two main areas:

  1. Low capital efficiency: This issue arises due to factors like Miner Extractable Value (MEV), arbitrage opportunities, and liquidity fragmentation. These factors hinder the optimal utilization of capital within the DeFi landscape.
  2. Poor user experience: Users often face challenges associated with high fees and long confirmation times, resulting in low transaction throughput. These issues adversely affect the overall user experience.

However, these challenges are not the only prevalent issues in the DeFi landscape. When it comes to exchanging one native asset for another (e.g., ETH to ADA), there is a lack of a fully decentralized tool to facilitate such direct exchanges. Consequently, users are compelled to rely on centralized exchanges (CEXes) or semi-centralized bridges as intermediaries, leading to increased costs and risks associated with the transfer.

The Spectrum Protocol has been designed to address these concerns by offering a secure, fast, and cost-effective exchange of native currencies and tokens without the need for intermediaries. This fully trustless and decentralized protocol eliminates the necessity of placing trust in dubious third parties.

We envision a world where financial products are decentralized and as native and comfortable as traditional finance.