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Interview with Philip De Smedt: Founder of “Arkadiko Finance”

Today we have the Founder of Arkadiko Finance, Mr. Philip De Smedt, to tell us more about Arkadiko Finance and what inspires him to work on such a type of project. However, before diving into the question and answer session, let’s first understand what Arkadiko Finance is?…

  • Can you explain how Arkadiko’s decentralized, non-custodial liquidity protocol works and how it benefits users?

Arkadiko allows you to get access to extra liquidity without selling your tokens. As an example, you can lock up the STX token (Stacks) in an Arkadiko contract to earn yield (around 7% APY) and borrow a stablecoin (USDA) against the STX tokens at the same time. The borrowed tokens will be sent to your wallet and are free for you to use however you like. To learn more, you can visit our website at https://arkadiko.finance/ 

  • How does Arkadiko’s use of the PoX (Proof of Transfer) mechanism and STX-collateralized Vault enable the creation of a self-paying loan?

When you lock up your STX tokens in an Arkadiko contract (also called the STX-collateralized vault), you can opt-in to stacking those STX tokens. Stacking is very similar to staking and allows you to earn a yield (around 7% APY). When you borrow USDA against that position, you pay a fee of 4% per year. Since your yield earned is higher than the cost of borrowing, this means that the loan has the ability to pay itself back, resulting in a self-repaying loan.

  • How does Arkadiko’s token-swapping feature work, and what benefits does it offer users?

It acts as an Automated Market Maker (AMM), just like Uniswap and other well-known decentralized exchanges work. Only the Arkadiko token swap runs on the Stacks blockchain. The Arkadiko AMM has the deepest liquidity on all USDA stablecoin pairs (such as STX/USDA and DIKO/USDA), which helps users trade with lower slippage.

  • Can you discuss the unique benefits of using the Stacks blockchain for DeFi and Arkadiko’s plans for utilizing Bitcoin as a collateral asset on the platform?

The goal of Stacks is to truly bring DeFi applications to Bitcoin which has not been possible or feasible up until today. Soon it will be possible to use and program a decentralised version of Bitcoin, called sBTC, on the Stacks blockchain. This will enable users to use Bitcoin as collateral on Arkadiko and access BTC liquidity without selling. Important to note that this won’t be a wrapped bitcoin or another centralised version of it, but the real bitcoin. You will be able to lock up your BTC through a Bitcoin transaction and borrow USDA against that position!

  • How is Arkadiko structured as a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and how is the project governed by its holders of the DIKO governance token?

Any code or protocol changes for Arkadiko have to go through a governance vote, which all DAO members who hold the DIKO governance token can vote on. This means that not even a core contributor who writes smart contract code for Arkadiko could deploy new changes without the ultimate permission of the community. This is programmed in a permissionless way and allows Arkadiko to be a fully decentralized protocol. A governance vote is typically announced several days in advance and can be started by anyone who holds 0.25% of the DIKO supply (100m DIKO in total, so 250K DIKO).

  • Can you discuss Arkadiko’s primary objectives and how the project aims to increase the utility and efficiency of assets on the Stacks blockchain and establish USDA as a decentralized, asset-backed stablecoin?

Within the team of core contributors and our community we have a very clear vision and mission. We want to enable Bitcoin as pristine collateral and enable deep, functioning money markets on-chain. Ultimately when you use BTC as collateral to mint a stablecoin, we can build the most decentralized and permissionless stablecoin that exists on-chain today.

  • How does Arkadiko plan to kickstart and support the development of the DeFi ecosystem on the Stacks blockchain?

Arkadiko has built essential building blocks for the DeFi community and ecosystem to use on Stacks. When you consider money markets on-chain, it is impossible to drive them without a stablecoin or a decentralized exchange with deep liquidity.

Aside from building our stablecoin, we have also bootstrapped a network of decentralized nodes that can automate the execution of smart contracts. This product is especially useful for Stacks developers who would like to deploy their own automated jobs on-chain. See https://keepers.arkadiko.finance/ for more information.

  • Can you provide an overview of Arkadiko’s roadmap and any major milestones or updates the project is currently working towards?

In 2023 we will focus further on enabling bitcoin capital to be used as collateral for minting our stablecoin USDA. The anticipated release of sBTC in the second half of 2023 will enable that swiftly. Closer milestones include a rework of our tokenomics where DIKO stakers might be able to claim a piece of the revenue that the protocol generates. If stablecoins and innovation around DeFi interest you, make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ArkadikoFinance) or join our community on Discord (https://t.co/jo5NH7IkR7)!

Website – https://arkadiko.finance/

Email – [email protected]

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipdesmedt/