Written interviews with DeFi projects on the Cardano blockchain.
Link to post on my Medium
This week’s Cardano DeFi project is building a cross-chain, portfolio-based decentralized exchange (DEX) that operates on multiple blockchains: Blueshift.
This initiative is a point of reference for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) on Cardano and every week or two I will invite someone to answer some questions and give us an update directly from within the Cardano community.
What is Blueshift and how do you differ from the many other DeFi protocols out there?
Blueshift is a cross-chain, portfolio-based decentralized exchange (DEX) that operates on multiple blockchains, including Milkomeda Cardano C1 sidechain, Milkomeda Algorand A1 Rollup, Kava and cross-chain enabled BluesChain.
It enables users to trade cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in a secure, trustless environment without the need for intermediaries. Blueshift aims to provide a user-friendly trading experience and to increase accessibility to decentralized finance (DeFi) by expanding its presence on multiple blockchain networks. The initial launch on Cardano followed by Algorand and the expansion of its partnership with Milkomeda, Multichain, Celer & Symbiosis are part of Blueshift’s efforts to provide its users with a multi-chain DeFi experience.
Furthermore, Blueshift has launched its own cross-chain solution, called BluesChain. Being built on the Cosmos SDK, it allows for a high level of interoperability between chains. Having this tie into our existing portfolio solution allows users to swap tokens from one chain to another via the various liquidity routes that we have in our portfolios. You’ll be able to do this without the need of using bridges or having wrapped assets allowing for a cheaper and faster solution compared to what is currently available.
Blueshift runs on Milkomeda. What is Milkomeda and what advantages does it offer compared to running directly on the Cardano blockchain?
Milkomeda is a layer 2 blockchain that acts as a roll up or sidechain to other layer 1 blockchains such as Cardano and Algorand. The benefits of having Milkomeda is that it is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain and allows developers that know Solidity and how to build decentralized applications on Ethereum to bring their skills and know how to Milkomeda to quickly develop and launch new applications.
Secondly, Milkomeda has bridges that allow for the transfer of liquidity from the layer 1 chain, such as Cardano and Algorand, and back again.
Milkomeda allows for a secondary layer of decentralized finance, NFTs and GameFi that might not be possible on the main chain itself.
This is the exact technology that Blueshift has taken advantage of to be able to build a complex and new DeFi platform that integrates into existing blockchain users and liquidity on Cardano and Algorand.
What is the Cardano Index, what tokens does it include and why have you chosen these projects in particular?
The Cardano Index is a portfolio on the Blueshift DEX that incorporates a few key project tokens. After months of research into the Cardano ecosystem, we found projects that had good communities and desires to go cross-chain into other blockchains and ecosystems where they currently don’t exist.
The projects that make up the current portfolio include NMKR, an NFT infrastructure platform, VyFinance, a protocol that combines AI and DeFi to make it as easy as possible for users, Cornucopias, a Cardano based metaverse game building a leading AAA gaming experience and of course Blueshift with its cross-chain & portfolio based ecosystem.
All of these projects have communities that are looking beyond just Cardano and have desires to grow and expand to new blockchains when the time comes. Blueshift and Milkomeda are the first explorations for these projects to move liquidity to a new chain for their platforms and communities.
Talk about your team, what are your backgrounds?
The team is broad, decentralised and made of multiple key individuals from around the world.
Igor Mikhalev is the founder and CEO of Blueshift. Prior to this, he worked as Director and Blockchain Chapter Lead at BCG (Boston Consulting Group) and served clients, including Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano.
During the development of the Decentralized Consortium Fund mechanism for Cardano, Igor and his team became familiar with the Cardano ecosystem and decided to launch Blueshift, which offers an enhanced portfolio approach similar to S&P 500 index funds.
The Blueshift team, primarily based in Europe, includes experienced industry veterans, such as leaders in blockchain development for European banks, a visiting Professor at ESADE Business School, a Forbes award-winning entrepreneur, Cardano Ambassador of the year, and experienced crypto professionals who have been in the industry since 2013.
Amazing. Any closing thoughts? Where can people learn more about Blueshift?
The Blueshift team has a lot of new ideas and concepts that are being brought out to the various ecosystems they’re connected to. Some key innovations and features to look out for include:
- The analytics dashboard
- Tradable Cardano Index LP Token
- The Referral program
- Direct Cardano wallet integration
- NuFi wallet integration
- And the BluesChain cross-chain protocol that will allow swaps from any chain to any chain it is connected to
These are just a handful of innovations that are coming from the Blueshift team in the first half of 2023.
Our aim is to be a premier cross-chain solution not only for Cardano but for the entire crypto space. If you are wanting or needing to swap tokens from one chain to another, you’ll be able to do without the need of using bridges or synthetic wrapped assets. Our technology and platform will allow for those swaps directly from one chain to another with our intermediary layer 0 solution, BluesChain.
You can learn more on our website and find us on Twitter.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the people interviewed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOG. Moreover, this content is for educational purposes, it doesn’t constitute financial advice.