In 2018, the trend of decentralized exchangers continues, and IDEX is a market participant that began its work at the beginning of this year, but has already received the attention of the crypto community. What is IDEX, what does it offer? How does it work POS in the Aurora conglomerate and why keep AURA tokens?
IDEX is a decentralized crypto exchange powered by Ethereum smart contracts that allows real-time trading and high transaction throughput.
The team behind the project aims to make the platform one of the most advanced decentralized applications on Ethereum and to attract traders who want to work with a wide variety of Ethereum network tokens.
IDEX Exchange is part of the Aurora project, which is a set of applications and protocols created on Ethereum, which together represent a decentralized banking and financial platform.
“The Aurora team is committed to providing an advanced, open and stable financial network that is accessible to everyone in the world,” the project website says.
Aurora includes IDEX Exchange, Stablockcoin Boreal, Snowglobe decentralized exchange protocol and Decentralized Capital digital banking solution.
Aurora and IDEX
Aurora Labs SA was founded by a group of crypto enthusiasts who gathered 5411,38 ETH at the ICO, which ended on January 11 and 2018. After the end of the sale of tokens, IDEX moved from the MVP version to the full version and quickly began to conquer the crypto keys. The reasons why the platform was able to circumvent the established competitor EtherDelta, we consider below, but for now let's turn to trading on the platform.
According to Coinmarketcap data, today the daily trading volume on a crypto-exchange is of the order of 300 BTC (~ $ 2М), and 432 currency pairs formed by ERC-20 standard traded on the stock exchange.
The most popular currencies traded in tandem with the ether (ETH) are the tokens Eden, Quant, CyberMusic, Moneytoken and one of the own tokens of the Aurora DAO platform (AURA), which gives holders the privilege to receive part of the trading commissions of the platform, which we will look at in detail below .
Of course, the team behind the creation of IDEX, not only made a demanded product on the market of ICO-investors (since the exchange lists any ERC-20 token without payment), but also turned out to be “in the right place at the right time”, launching during a series of failures Direct competitor - EtherDelta, which previously alone, judging by the volume of trades, occupied almost the entire market segment.
IDEX Features
Functionality. The IDEX platform uses a simple but well-designed interface and includes features such as TradingView charts and encrypted wallets.
Unlike the previously popular EtherDelta, which was often compared to cycling without a rudder, because of the inconvenience of the user interface, IDEX provides a fast and convenient way of trading, and also uses an OTC trading mechanism. The exchange operates on Ethereum smart contracts, which provide control of funds, trading permits and final settlement of transactions, which ultimately allows users to trade continuously, without waiting for the transactions to pass.
Security. The use of smart contracts, the mechanism of trade and arbitration of transaction processing, allows you to store all assets on the platform without transferring them to the accounts of the exchange, and all completed trading calculations can be resolved only by the user's private keys. IDEX also uses full encryption with a private key, and also allows users to trade through Metamask and Ledger wallets.
Customer support. Support allows you to cope with any problems, and users can contact the team using the contact form. The exchange team can be contacted via twitter и chat in telegram. In addition, the site has a frequently asked questions section that addresses common issues, as well as a series of well-written guides that help users work on the platform.
Trading IDEX provides a wide range of trading options, and users have access to limit and market orders, guarantee-free refusals and the ability to conduct multiple transactions simultaneously.
Technology. IDEX provides all the benefits of a hybrid decentralized exchange system and manages all user transactions.
After users sign a transaction, the exchange translates it into the Ethereum blockchain and updates the account balances and order register in real time. As a result, IDEX provides a user experience similar to centralized exchanges.
API. Despite the fact that IDEX is a decentralized exchange and works on smart contracts, there is a full-featured interface on the exchange that, among other things, supports trading using trading bots. API documentation presented on the github branch company.
Built-in wallet. To work with any functionality provided by IDEX, it will be most convenient to use the built-in wallet developed by the exchange. This wallet will be offered to unlock at the entrance to the site in a welcome message, and detailed instructions for working with any activities supported by IDEX can be found in the corresponding section of the guides.
AURA Token and Trade Commissions
IDEX also includes the AURA token, a native currency that encourages users to quote the coin and helps keep the network going.
The AURA token allows stack holders to receive a portion of the commissions generated by IDEX and other Aurora products. When AURA tokens are held, node operators are remunerated in proportion to the size of the stack, with 50% commission fees from operations performed on the platform being rewarded.
About how AURA will participate in POS and what benefits it provides, we consider in detail below, now turn to half of the transaction fees.
Market makers or users who create a new order on the exchange, thereby increasing liquidity, receive a reward of 0,1%. The party receiving the order, respectively, reduces liquidity and pays 0,2%. Also, the receiving party is responsible for making gas transaction payments; IDEX explains this process in detail on the FAQ page.
Each transaction costs about 140 thousand gas, and gas costs are about 1,5 times higher than EtherDelta, but IDEX users do not compete for the same orders and do not risk spending gas. IDEX allows users to cancel transactions without paying gas, as you can cancel orders on IDEX at no additional charge, because all transactions are executed by the exchange itself. The exchange's smart contract is responsible for broadcasting transactions to the network, and the exchange can cancel the transaction before sending it.
Snowglobe, POS and AURA
After running on the core network, the IDEX components will be upgraded to Snowglobe, a fully decentralized exchange protocol.
Snowglobe works on a POS sharding chain connected to the main blockchain of Ethereum. Snowglobe can be used for any exchanges, and its purpose is to create high-capacity real-time data exchange networks with a single pool of liquidity and, accordingly, a general register of orders. As with IDEX, all exchanges on Snowglobe will use the transition rate to achieve real-time calculations.
In this system, the AURA token will fulfill the interests of the Aurora and Snowglobe operators. Aurora's revenue is used to compensate users who use their AURA to keep Snowglobe secure. Basically, Aurora implements a protection program that is activated by AURA tokens to harness the liquidity of the exchange and encourage the creation of limit orders on IDEX.
In the future, the use of AURA tokens in the Snowglobe system is in demand and increases the liquidity of the token itself, since it will not only be a sidechain security pillar, but also calculated as an element of aligning economic interests within the network.
Hack and predictor Aviator
Despite the fact that in January the company only began its work, IDEX quickly established itself in the competitive field of decentralized exchanges and lured away a significant number of former EtherDelta users.
Despite this, there are a number of decentralized exchanges serving the Ethereum network, including ForkDelta, Radar Relay, Paradex, Kyber Network, and Ethfinex. IDEX is a reliable platform with relatively high liquidity, which will be convenient for token traders and ICO enthusiasts.
It is worth noting that IDEX is the leader among other crypto exchanges in terms of active users, the number of transactions they make, and the volume of transactions for a decentralized application on the Ethereum network.
IDEX can support real-time trading and high transaction bandwidth, as well as an offline trading mechanism and works on smart contracts, which makes trading safe and fast.
Aurora's decision to use AURA tokens as a means of settlement in the Snowglobe sidechain, which IDEX will use, from a technical point of view, is a guarantee of the availability of token liquidity, and from an investor's point of view, it makes the token in demand and profitable to hold, including by obtaining POS and commission payments.