Cygnus, the stablecoin money market designed for LPs, was launched in late 2023. Currently, we’re live on Polygon and Arbitrum, and we’re gearing up to deploy Cygnus on all chains listed in our docs by Q1-Q2 2024.
It’s no secret that the Cygnus contributors are enthusiastic supporters of Zero Knowledge Proofs, considering them the holy grail for scaling Ethereum. With that in mind, our next destination is the Polygon zkEVM!
What we achieved with Cygnus in 2023:
- We performed a CYG airdrop to over 200 users on Polygon back in July.
- We finalised the migration of the old CYG token to a new multi-chain token using Layer Zero. More info here.
- Contracts underwent a successful audit in November 2023.
- We open sourced the entire code base of Cygnus, including our core, router and oracles. The code for ALL deployed contracts can be found on our Github Organization including EVM + Cairo!
- Created one of the first money markets for Concentrated Liquidity positions on both Arbitrum and Polygon, enabling users to borrow stablecoins or leverage their position using their concentrated liquidity position as collateral.
- Integrated with 3 of the most used dexes for concentrated liquidity: UniswapV3, SushiswapV3 and QuickswapV3.
- We were joined by 2 new developers (@rust_only and @0xJosey on Discord) who are helping with our EVM strategies and third party integrations.
- Launched the protocol on 2 of the most popular blockchains, Arbitrum and Polygon (PoS).
From the start our vision for Cygnus was crystal clear — the entire protocol had to be fully cross-chain. Given the high costs associated with Ethereum and the unique offerings of Cygnus, such as the ability to collateralize Concentrated Liquidity positions for borrowing or leveraging stablecoins, confining the protocol to a single chain really didn’t make much sense.
It’s no surprise that the top two chains most requested by our community happen to be Polygon zkEVM and Starknet! Both are ZK rollups, offering the promise of substantial scalability for Ethereum without compromising on security.
While we haven’t launched on these ecosystems just yet, we’ve made remarkable progress on both fronts. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re fully ready to deploy the entire Cygnus protocol to zkEVM and Starknet!
Our Cygnus smart contracts for zkEVM closely mirror those on Arbitrum/Polygon, as they are fully EVM compatible. With the exception of the strategy’s implementation, everything else remains exactly the same.
For Starknet, we had to re-write our contracts in Cairo, and this was really a massive task, as the whole Cygnus protocol is really a constellation of core + periphery smart contracts that work together to bring one of the most efficient lending protocols EVER. If you are learning Cairo or are interested in seeing Starknet smart contracts in action, here is the whole Starknet repo for Cygnus https://github.com/CygnusDAO/cygnus-starknet/tree/main
Plans for Cygnus in 2024
With our finalized codebase, Cygnus is geared up to fulfill its mission of widespread adoption. Here's what we aim to achieve in Q1 and Q2:
- Launch on ZK Rollups: Expand our reach to Polygon zkEVM and Starknet, tapping into the scalability promises of ZK Rollups.
- Diversify Dex Integrations: Beyond our current three dex integrations, we plan to broaden our horizons, including deploying with Balancer's concentrated liquidity pools managed by Gyroscope.
- On-Chain Lending Aggregator: Streamline lending in Cygnus with the introduction of a fully on-chain lending aggregator.
- Ethereum Mainnet Debut: Launch the CYG token and the entire Cygnus protocol on the Ethereum Mainnet.
- Chain Expansion: Extend our presence to other chains listed in our Docs, fostering accessibility and user engagement.
- DAO Communication Channels: Establish exclusive channels and forums for DAO communications, aligning with our goal to create a decentralized community. The DAO itself will find a home in a crypto-friendly state, Switzerland, to facilitate seamless operations.
- DAO Decentralization: Prioritize decentralization of the DAO, emphasizing the importance of community involvement and governance.
Note: In terms of setting up the DAO in a crypto-friendly state, our exploration has led us to Switzerland due to the team’s location and affinity with the country. Nothing is finalised but we expect this to be ready this year.
In the realm of decentralised finance, Cygnus stands as a true community-led project. Our entire codebase is open source, with no external backing or private sales. Really, we owe our existence to ecosystem grants which we are extremely grateful for and personal funding from the passionate individuals behind Cygnus.
Most of us at Cygnus have projects outside of the web3 space that financially sustain us and lets us contribute to Cygnus and other great open source projects. The reality is that none of us are millionaires or in it for money. This is the same reality of most open source contributors! Our dedication to Cygnus is fuelled by our genuine love for open source, DeFi and Web3. We operate without external directives on when or what to ship; decisions are made collectively by the community.
Importantly, Cygnus is not just a project; it’s a shared vision of creating a real money market for LPs, born from the perspective of LPs themselves. Every step we take is a collective effort, and our commitment to the project is driven by our shared values within the Web3 ecosystem.
As we started the development of Cygnus, a bit of centralization was essential for organizational clarity and progress. Swan_of_bodom (@swan_of_bodom on Twitter) / 0xhyoga emerged as a pivotal contributor during this phase. However, as the protocol evolved and new contributors joined, we started discussions on how to best decentralize to avoid single points of failure.
To steer towards greater decentralization, we’ve initiated a roadmap that involves the strategic hiring of new developers and community managers. Already, we’ve welcomed four developers and two community managers, all with substantial experience in Web3 projects — true defi heads! The major push for decentralization is scheduled for Q3, following the full deployment of Cygnus on Ethereum.
As we gaze into 2024, we anticipate both challenges and excitement on the horizon for Cygnus. The good news? The foundational layer laid in 2023 positions us for success. The DAO at the moment has a solid financial standing, and with an increased number of developers actively contributing to the project, we’re fully ready to bring Cygnus to the world and create one of the most sophisticated and capital efficient money market in all of DeFi!
Thank you for reading and wishing you all the best in 2024!
CygnusDAO
