SushiSwap (SUSHI)

What is SushiSwap?

SushiSwap is a multi-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) available across several blockchain networks including Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), BNB Chain (BNB), Avalanche (AVAX), and more.

SushiSwap launched in August 2020 as a fork of Uniswap – the pioneer of automated market maker (AMM) technology. AMMs like Uniswap and SushiSwap enable the trading of cryptocurrencies without the need for centralized entities that provide liquidity and facilitate trades. AMMs use liquidity pools and smart contracts to automate and execute trades.

In this article, we explain the meaning of SushiSwap and discuss its features.

History of SushiSwap

The launch of SushiSwap defined the exciting yet turbulent time that the crypto market experienced during the “DeFi summer of 2020”, with its quick rise and fall within a span of weeks from its launch in August 2020.

SushiSwap was created by an anonymous founder named Chef Nomi. The platform promised to offer various innovative products and improve governance features compared to its predecessor Uniswap.

In September 2020, SushiSwap’s promising start soon spiraled when rumors began circulating on Twitter that its founder Chef Nomi cashed about $14 million of community funds for personal gain.

Chef Nomi is no longer associated with the project today. SushiSwap is run by the Sushi DAO and its treasury account is protected by a multi-signature wallet. The SushiSwap community elected Jared Grey as its “Head Chef” in September 2022.

How to Use SushiSwap?

To start using SushiSwap, you will need a crypto wallet.

You will also need cryptocurrency to pay gas fees when transacting on SushiSwap. The gas fee payment will depend on which blockchain network you are transacting on. For example, if you are using the Ethereum blockchain you will need Ether (ETH) to pay gas fees, whereas you will need to pay gas fees using BNB tokens if you are using the BNB Chain.

Once you have set up your crypto wallet and added crypto tokens to pay gas fees, you can start using SushiSwap by visiting their official website – sushi.com.

What Can You Do on SushiSwap?

Here are the features that are available on SushiSwap :

1. Swap: You trade cryptocurrencies on several blockchains including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Polygon, Base, and more.
2. Cross-chain Swap: SushiSwap enables users to trade cryptocurrencies between seven blockchain networks without using bridges.
3. Liquidity Pools: Users can contribute cryptocurrency pairs to liquidity pools to earn a share of its trading volume.
4. Staking: SUSHI token holders can stake their tokens to earn interest on them.
5. Sushi Pay: Users can create payment links to pay or receive ERC20 token payments. This feature can be used for salaries and vesting rewards.
6. Onsen Farms: Onsen Farms on SushiSwap is a liquidity provision reward system for new and exotic tokens. This feature aims to bring new liquidity to the platform.
7. BentoBox: BentoBox is a token vault on SushiSwap where the stored tokens can be used for flash loans or other yield-generating strategies.
8. Trident: Trident is a production framework for building and deploying custom AMMs.

SushiSwap Token

SUSHI is the governance token of SushiSwap. SUSHI holders can gain voting power on SushiSwap governance in two ways:

1. Each SUSHI token deposited in the SUSHI-ETH liquidity pool is worth two votes.
2. Each SUSHI token staked on the platform is worth one vote.

For a proposal to pass and become binding, it must gain at least 5 million votes.

According to SushiSwap’s white paper, SUSHI tokens were distributed in a fair launch without any pre-sale. Initially, 90% of SUSHI tokens were distributed through liquidity pool reward programs while 10% was allocated to the treasury for team members and other expenses.

SUSHI’s total supply is capped at 250 million. According to SushiSwap, all SUSHI tokens have been minted and no new SUSHI emissions will occur going forward.

As of 31 January 2024, the SushiSwap token price was $1.11 and its market capitalization stood at $256 million.

Future of SushiSwap

In 2023, SushiSwap chose “multi-chain” as its theme as the platform extended its services to six new blockchains. SushiSwap is now available across thirty blockchain networks.

The platform also introduced a cross-chain swap feature called SushiXSwap on seven blockchains – Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Base, Avalanche, and BNB Chain – to enable seamless exchange of crypto across these blockchains.

Although SushiSwap has not disclosed its roadmap for 2024, we have already seen SushiSwap’s feature-centric approach with the reintroduction of a popular SUSHI staking program called Sushi Bar in January 2024.

Sushi developers are also working on collaborating with external developers to build plugins for added functionality and modular architecture.

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