zkLend Reviews: Outstanding Lending Platform With Zk-rollup Technology

The year 2021 revealed DeFi’s feasibility and promise as a modular financial ecosystem. Yet, when it comes to institutional adoption, DeFi accounts for just 0.3% of the worldwide fixed-income market capitalization. The next frontier in blockchain and DeFi will be organizations.

ZkLend is a lending initiative that is an essential component of the StarkNet ecosystem. ZkLend seeks to create a financial platform based on chains that are not only cheap, rapid, and scalable but also safe and decentralized. Moreover, zkLend reaches both users and organizations.

Layer-2 is already forming as a phenomenon inherited from Optimism and Arbitrum’s substantial airdrop effects. The completion of Ethereum Shanghai provides Layer-2 solutions with more time to recruit consumers. Together with Optimism, possible scaling options include StarkNet, Abitrum, and zkSync.

Since then, zkLend has been seen as a development step for StarkNet in order for it to compete with other Layer-2s. So, what exactly is zkLend? Let’s find out more about this project with Coincu.

What is zkLend?

zkLend is a lending and money market platform built on StarkNet, Ethereum’s Layer-2 solution. As a consequence, zkLend combines zk-rollup scalability, improved transaction speed, cost reductions, and Ethereum security.

Zk Rollup is one of the Zero Knowledge Proof techniques for developing scalability on the Ethereum network.

Zk Rollup technology will enable the aggregation of several transactions and Rollup blocks, as well as the generation of proofs for Off-chain blocks.

In the Ethereum network, smart contracts will validate transaction proofs without re-executing transactions. This lowers gas costs since proof-of-concept verification requires fewer calculations and transactions. Other projects that use Zk Rollup include dYdX, Loopring, Zksync, Starknet, and others.

zkLend offers parallel money market access solutions for two client files, which include:

• Customers at the level of financial institutions – Institution: Apollo.
• DeFi User: Artemis.

Initially, the two initiatives will run separately; but as time passes and the demand for liquidity grows, Apollo and Artemis will collaborate to complement one another.

What is special about zkLend?

ZkLend = Ethereum + Starknet + Zk Rollups

Based on Starkware’s StarkNet, zkLend will be able to grow at a fraction of the cost of Ethereum while inheriting its high degree of security. StarkNet is the foundation for zkLend, and StarkNet is a scaling solution based on zero-knowledge proof (zkRollups) technology. StarkNet provides rapid transaction speeds and minimal transaction costs (approximately $0.2 against $8 on Ethereum).

To create one of StarkNet’s primary DeFi platforms:

• In the third quarter of 2022, the team debuted Artemis, a permissionless loan business. Artemis will enable Defi users to borrow using their assets in a cost-effective, efficient, and secure manner.
• Apollo will be available to institutional and corporate customers that want a KYC and AML-compliant solution.
• To encourage users to join in targeted money market pools, the protocol employs a unique ouroboros paradigm.

Additional notable zkLend features include two-sided mortgage and loan aspects, protocol lending, and variable liquidation costs.

The team’s significant expertise in conventional banking, fintech, and consumer companies, as well as leading cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi protocols, drives the creation of breakthrough products and solutions.

How does it work?

zkLend is developed on the StarkNet platform.

StarkNet is a decentralized ZK-Rollup, which is an L2 network on Ethereum. StarkNet helps dApps achieve unlimited scale for their computations while taking advantage of the security of Ethereum. Developers can write StarkNet contracts and deploy them on the network, and users can send transactions to these contracts (in a similar way to how it is done on Ethereum).

The StarkNet node (called a sequencer) is implemented in Python. The StarkNet transaction execution environment, known as the StarkNet OS (similar to the Ethereum Virtual Machine), is deployed in Cairo. This optimizes the proof performance of each transaction execution. A Solidity contract deployed on Ethereum connects the StarkNet (L2) network to Ethereum (L1).

At its heart, zkLend provides a permissionless service for DeFi users (Artemis) as well as permissioned compliance solutions for institutional customers (Apollo).

At a high level, Artemis allows users to deposit assets in order to receive a return, with the option of using these assets as collateral to borrow additional digital assets. Apollo operates similarly, except borrowing and lending operations are restricted to permissioned individuals who have completed the protocol’s KYC/KYB procedure. As a consequence, the two products will operate separately, with their own capital pools and governance.

Features

Lend

Users will be able to deposit their assets into a reserve pool, which will provide liquidity in the money market.

In exchange, the user will get an interest-bearing zToken reflecting their deposited percentage in the pool, as well as a claim on the pool’s interest earnings. The total assets in the pool grow over time as a result of the interest gained on borrowing, the amount of which depends on the interest rate model of each asset.

Customers may deposit whatever money they want into the pool with no time limit.

Borrow

Users will be able to use their zToken as security to borrow assets placed in various money markets.

The interest rate model will determine the borrower’s financing rate for each property. The maximum loan amount is governed by the borrower’s borrowing ability. If a user’s total loans surpass their borrowing limit, their holdings may be liquidated in order to maintain the protocol’s sustainability.

ZEND Token

Key Metrics

• Ticker: ZEND.
• Blockchain: Updating…
• Contract: Updating…
• Token Standard: Updating…
• Token Type: Utility, Governance.
• Circulating Supply: Updating…
• Total Supply: 100,000,000 ZEND.

Token Allocation

• Private and public investors: 17%.
• Ecosystem: 33%.
• Team and advisors: 15%.
• Satking and distribution reward: 35%.

Use Cases

The protocol includes the native token ZEND. Users will be able to stake ZEND and benefit from governance, higher rate rewards, and the interest income gained by pools.

Roadmap

• Phase 1 (Artemis MVP – Q3 2022): establishing the reliability of core functions.
• Phase 2 (Artemis 1.0 – Q4 2022): launching Artemis mainnet product.
• Phase 3 (Apollo MVP – late Q4 2022): launch the Apollo test network. The first institutional client is referred.
• Phase 4 (Apollo 1.0 – Q1 2023): launch of Apollo mainnet. Prepare for a DAO governance transition.

Team

Several members of the zkLend team have worked for well-known firms such as Bloomberg, Standard Charter Bank, Credit Suite, and even crypto companies such as Crypto.com and StarkWare.

Moreover, advisors for the project come from significant financial firms such as Mirae Asset and the World Bank.

• BRIAN FU (Co-Founder): Brian is zkLend’s co-founder and project head. At the University of British Columbia, he majored in Engineering Physics and studied Commerce, at which time he acquired an interest in computational finance.
  It’s a deep dive into the world of finance with over 15 years of expertise in TradFi, investment banking, and private equity at major financial organizations such as Bloomberg, Standard Chartered Bank, Silk Road Finance, and China Merchants Capital. The experience of using on-chain protocols and cryptocurrencies is eye-opening. Having seen firsthand the constraints and challenges of the TradFi infrastructure, he is excited to collaborate with the people and technology that will make this new financial model a reality.

• JANE MA (Co-Founder): Jane is the co-founder and project team leader of zkLend. She began her career in sales and transactions at Credit Suisse before joining Deliveroo in Hong Kong as HR Manager, where she fell in love with the start-up atmosphere and metrical work ethic, a high octane fuel. She has vast expertise in assisting startups in scaling their company operations.
  She was initially skeptical of web3 protocols until she utilized them on her own and got interested in the scalability challenges that hindered broad adoption and generated an ecosystem. Financial status is completely on-chain. Borrowing and lending are the most fundamental forms of early funding, and this is where she naturally wants to begin. Jane earned a degree in Economics and History from Columbia University’s Barnard College.

• ZK LEUNG (Tech Lead): ZK is zkLend’s co-founder and Tech Lead. He is in charge of the protocol’s technical development and is a Cairorian resident of zkLend (also an expert on Solidity and Rust). ZK has a wealth of expertise in the blockchain industry. He has previously led and implemented initiatives like a decentralized synthetic asset system, CEX and DEXes, safe wallets, and on-chain multiplayer games.
  ZK has already completed many controlled and decentralized crypto exchanges, as well as secure wallets. ZK is enthusiastic about zk-rollup and Starknet technology, and this enthusiasm has led to his being an active and well-known member of the Starknet development community. His most recent contribution is “starknet-rs,” a developer tool that is the Rust client library for the Starknet network. ZK received an Honors degree from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

• EMMA LEE (CMO): Emma is zkLend’s chief marketing officer. She started working at a blockchain firm, a digital securities business, after graduating from King’s College London with first-class honors in Politics, Philosophy, Law, and then decentralized finance, all while beginning his adventure as a local.
  To further her skills, she worked as a DeFi and NFT research analyst at Crypto.com before returning to the startup world at zkLend. Important in DeFi memes and NFTs, but also drawn to and inspired by the amazing individuals in this environment. She believes that zkLend will be part of a larger return to the DeFi concepts that first drew her to the space: finance, transparency, and decentralization.

Investors and partners

Investors

zkLend raised $5 million in a seed round led by Delphi Digital, mentored by StarkWare and Three Arrows Capital.

Other major investors include Genesis Block Ventures, Alameda Research, CMS, MetaCartel DAO, DCVC, Amber Group, TPS Capital, Ascensive, D3Web Capital, 4RC, and SkyVision Capital, among other top Web 3.0 angels.

Partners

zkLend is based on StarkNet technology developed by StarkWare. As a result, firms in the StarkWare ecosystem, including StarkNet, will work together to expand this ecosystem.

Conclusion

While Zk Rollup technology has received a lot of attention recently, and ZkLend is a good name, there are many projects that are heading in the same direction as ZkLend, such as AAVE P3, Aurigami, Basion…and but this project has gone extremely well. This generates both a competitive market and a chance for consumers to choose the best product.

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to do your own research before investing.

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Harold

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