Updated August 3, 2022 – In light of recent events, the Harvest Moon campaign has been paused. The Moonbeam Foundation will continue to evaluate the situation to determine when it may be an appropriate time to restart the campaign in the future.
The Next Generation of Unified DeFi Applications is Upon Us
Moonbeam launched in January 2022 and quickly became a top destination for multi-chain applications of all kinds. Now, having completed the initial bootstrapping that brought key infrastructure and tools online, Moonbeam has entered the next phase of its launch: Harvest Moon.
Harvest Moon is a campaign designed to spark DeFi activity and attract the next wave of cross-chain connected applicationsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/builders/connected-contracts/ — those unconfined by the constraints of their origin chain — to come build the future of DeFi on Moonbeam. It’s an expansion of the possibilities in DeFi, powered by Moonbeam’s unique cross-chain connected smart contractsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/blog/cross-chain-smart-contracts/.
About Harvest Moon
The Moonbeam Foundation has indicated that it has allocated up to 1.5% of the GLMR genesis supplyGo to page https://moonbeam.foundation/glimmer-token/ to fund a grant-based liquidity program for the Harvest Moon campaign.
Moonbeam has already attracted DeFi heavy-hitters like Lido and Curve to the network, in addition to its own burgeoning ecosystem of native protocols like AMM StellaSwap and lending and borrowing protocol Moonwell.
In its first wave, Harvest Moon is designed to help these pillar applications launch and grow. As the next wave of projects deploy, particularly those that are using Moonbeam’s cross-chain messaging capabilities to redefine what DeFi applications can do, Harvest Moon will be expanded to allow users to harness these new use cases.
Harvest Moon will run for approximately three to four months and will focus on building the core DeFi primitives needed for the multi-chain connected smart contract vision to come to life. The amount of tokens allocated to the Harvest Moon and the length of the campaign are subject to change.
DeFi Building Blocks: Tools to Help Ensure Security and Reliability
Now, with the recent launch of Chainlink oraclesGo to page https://moonbeam.network/announcements/chainlink-price-feeds-live-on-moonbeam/, Moonbeam has the major integrations in place to provide the economic security needed by leading DeFi DApps. This update follows months of building, during which nearly every major tool and integration has launched on Moonbeam.
- Oracles: Chainlink
- APIs & Indexers: The Graph, Covalent, SubQuery, Subsquid
- Wallets: MetaMask, Ledger
- Multisig: Gnosis Safe
- Custody Provider: Fireblocks
- Explorers: Etherscan, Subscan
- Dev Tools: Hardhat, Scaffold.eth, OpenZeppelin, Gelato, Remix, Mars, Waffle, Truffle
- RPC Providers: Blast, OnFinality, Pinata (for NFTs)
- VRF (randomness function): API3, WitNet
This list is for illustrative purposes. For a full list of integrations, refer to project listing sites like Downtown MoonbeamGo to page https://www.dtmb.xyz/.
The combination of these best-in-class tools — the leading oracles, indexers, explorers, layer twos, and more — with the cross-chain messaging capabilities of Moonbeam, DeFi developers can build new kinds of apps that span assets and functionality from many chains.
Cross-Chain Connected DeFi Apps on Moonbeam
Moonbeam is positioned at the center of the multi-chain movement, ready to usher in the next evolution of DeFi applications capable of tapping into liquidity and resources across any existing blockchain with a single app.
The Moonbeam platform has been designed to support cross-chain scenarios, enabling applications built on it to interact with any remote chain through secure messages. By removing the constraints inherent in solo chain development, Moonbeam becomes an orchestration point for aggregated markets, liquidity, and users — allowing development teams to construct DApps that span multiple blockchains with a single set of smart contracts.
Using Polkadot’s built-in cross-chain capabilities, Moonbeam already offers secure messaging connections with the Polkadot Relay Chain plus parachainsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/education/what-is-a-parachain/ like Acala and Statemint. This allows Substrate-based assets from within the Polkadot ecosystem, like DOT, to be deposited and used in Moonbeam-based DeFi applications without need of the traditional token transfer bridge.
But these interactions within Polkadot are only the beginning: applications that leverage messaging connections to Ethereum, Cosmos, and other ecosystems are already in the works, using integrated protocols such as Axelar. These technologies allow developers to work with remote assets as part of a single application. Moonbeam offers a broad range of secure messaging connections to a variety of destination blockchains to best support developers creating cross-chain use cases.
As part of this movement, Moonbeam acts as a connector and translator, offering developer-focused support and compatibility that unites the many standards of these chains under one smart contract platform. This includes complete Ethereum compatibility, but also innovations like the XC-20 standard, which enables users to “deposit” tokens from elsewhere in the Polkadot ecosystem to be used in Moonbeam-based applications and vice-versa.
Leading DeFi Projects on Moonbeam
Dozens of DeFi projectsGo to page https://moonbeam.network/networks/moonbeam/defi/ have already deployed to Moonbeam smart contract platform ranging from well-established multi-chain DeFi applications to new and promising native projects.
The following DApps are leading DeFi projects in Moonbeam’s Harvest Moon campaign that are central to kickstarting the next wave of DApps driven by interoperability, including bringing Polkadot based assets as XC-20s into their DeFi protocols. For example, you can learn how to bring your DOT into MoonbeamGo to page https://moonbeam.network/tutorial/how-to-interact-with-xcdot/ or bridge over new tokensGo to page https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jolvKUgZkBs.
AMMs and DEXes
StellaSwapGo to page https://app.stellaswap.com/exchange/swap is an example of a decentralized exchange on Moonbeam that enables peer-to-peer transactions supporting native assets. StellaSwap is native to Moonbeam.
CurveGo to page https://moonbeam.curve.fi/factory/1 is a decentralized liquidity pool and offers stablepools including, for example, one that supports xcDOT / stDOT.
Lending/Borrowing
MoonwellGo to page https://moonwell.fi/ is a lending and borrowing protocol built on Moonbeam with available applications for xcDOT and other native assets.
Liquid Staking
LidoGo to page https://polkadot.lido.fi/ is a project on Moonbeam that offers a liquid staking solution for DOT (xcDOT). As the largest liquid staking protocol, users have access to new use cases for their Polkadot tokens on Moonbeam.
Help Build a New Era of DeFi
Over time and as additional DeFi protocols launch on Moonbeam, there may be new projects that join the above list of participants to become part of the Harvest Moon campaign. To stimulate the development of new DeFi projects, the Moonbeam Foundation introduced a new $100 Million Ecosystem FundGo to page https://moonbeam.foundation/news/arrington-capital-fund-moonbeam-ecosystem/, co-created by Arrington Capital and dedicated to funding teams building on Moonbeam’s expansively interoperable platform. These funds, as well as grants offered directly by the Moonbeam FoundationGo to page https://moonbeam.foundation/grants/, serve to fuel teams with great ideas and fundamentals.
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