Loopring: An Exchange and Payment Protocol in the DeFi Pulse Index

Loopring (LRC) is an ERC-20 token released in 2017 as the governance token for Loopring, an exchange and payment protocol. It is one of several tokens currently held within the Index Coop’s DeFi Pulse Index (DPI).

• What is Loopring?

• Who created Loopring?

• Loopring Governance

• Why is LRC included in DPI?

• How can I buy LRC?

What is LRC?

Loopring (LRC) is the utility token of the Loopring Protocol, an open-source project built on the Ethereum blockchain designed for building decentralized crypto exchanges.

Loopring is a unique project in the Defi ecosystem that combines the benefits of centralized and decentralized exchanges. While centralized exchanges are currently the most popular platforms for cryptocurrency exchanges (Coinbase and Gemini are two examples), the disadvantage in using these platforms is that they are custodial. These exchanges hold onto investors' assets, making them vulnerable to hackers, regulatory changes, or unfavorable actions from company leaders.

Custodial exchanges leave investors with less control over their assets as they would have on a decentralized exchange. While a number of decentralized exchanges (DEX) have emerged in recent years, these exchanges pose issues as well in the form of lower efficiency and fragmented liquidity.

Loopring provides an innovative solution in the Defi space by combining the benefits of centralized and decentralized exchanges. LRC first became available in an initial coin offering in August 2017.

Loopring’s goal is to give investors the benefits of decentralized exchanges while keeping the efficiency of centralized ones. The first versions of Loopring (v1 and v2), worked by managing and matching orders off-chain, so that actions did not all have to depend on the blockchain, which can be time consuming and include high gas fees. The trades were then settled on-chain. “With our latest version, Loopring 3.0, we employ zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to do even more computation off-chain (including settlement), without sacrificing the security of the Ethereum base layer. This allows us to scale an incredible amount: to a throughput of 660 trades/second, vs 2 trades/second in our previous versions,” Daniel Wang, the founder of Loopring explained in an interview.

Who created LRC?

Loopring was founded by Daniel Wang, a software engineer and entrepreneur based in China who had previously worked as the senior director of engineering, search, recommendation and ads system JD.com and as a Senior Software Engineer at Google.

Loopring Governance

Holders of the LRC token are able to vote on and make proposals on the current and future parameters of Loopring.

Why was LRC included in DPI?

Loopring combines the benefits of both centralized and decentralized exchanges, thus allowing investors to make trades without the high gas fees on the Ethereum network and with greater speed. Loopring opens up new possibilities in the Defi space and is one quickly growing in the Defi ecosystem.

How can I buy LRC?

You can gain exposure to Loopring and other leading blue-chip DeFi assets by buying DPI which includes LRC tokens. You can buy DPI directly from the Index Coop by connecting your wallet to the Index Coop app.  

If you’re looking to exchange a fiat currency, like the U.S. dollar, directly for DPI, then you’ll want an Ethereum wallet like Argent, Gemini, Metamask, or Rainbow. With each of these wallets, you can connect to your bank account or debit card, which allows you to exchange fiat currencies directly for Index Coop products like DPI.

What is DPI?

The DeFi Pulse Index ($DPI) is a digital asset index that tracks the performance of “blue chip” decentralized financial (DeFi) assets across Ethereum. It combines the features of an ERC-20 token and a traditional structured product to create a 21st-century digital upgrade to traditional structured products.  DPI is capitalization-weighted based on the value of each token’s circulating supply and aims to track projects that have significant usage and show a commitment to ongoing maintenance and development.

As a bundled crypto asset, you effectively own all of the underlying tokens and can redeem your units of $TOKEN for the underlying tokens, a feature of traditional structured products that is typically reserved for large, institutional investors.

As an Ethereum-based crypto-asset, $DPI can be used productively throughout DeFi with opportunities for liquidity provision (LP), borrowing and lending, yield farming, and collateral debt position (CDP)

DPI was launched jointly by Set Protocol and Scalara (formerly known as DeFi Pulse Inc.), and was the first product to be managed by the Index Coop.

About Index Coop

Index Coop is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that powers structured decentralized finance (DeFi) products and strategy tokens using smart contracts on the blockchain. We offer a suite of sector structured products, leverage and inverse products, and yield-generating products. We aim to create products that are simple to use, accessible to everyone and secure. Our products are built on Set Protocol, a twice-audited, self-custodial DeFi tool that allows for the creation and management of Ethereum-based (or ERC-20) tokens. Among users, partner protocols, and our composable products, Index Coop maintains one of the largest partnership networks in the DeFi ecosystem.

How to buy Index Coop products with fiat currencies:

• First, you’ll need to create an Ethereum wallet like Argent, Metamask, Gemini, or Rainbow.

• Next, you’ll set up your new wallet and connect your bank account.

• Once you’ve deposited fiat currency in your wallet you can exchange it for Index Coop products like DeFi Pulse Index (DPI) or the Metaverse Index.

You can also earn or buy DPI tokens directly via your favorite decentralized exchange.

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