Ycash Is Coming to Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain
The Ycash Foundation will launch ERC-20 tokens representing wrapped Ycash on both Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain
By Howard Loo, Ycash Foundation
Announcement
I am excited to announce that the Ycash Foundation will launch ERC-20 tokens representing “wrapped” Ycash on both Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain by January 15, 2021. These tokens will enable Ycash holders to use Ycash with Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications like Uniswap on Ethereum and PancakeSwap on Binance Smart Chain.
The tokens will be centrally managed by the Ycash Foundation. Specifically, the Ycash Foundation will handle the minting and burning of the tokens, as well as the custody of the underlying Ycash coins. Information about how to obtain wYEC will be will be provided prior to launch.
The Ethereum token and the Binance Smart Chain token will each have their own distinct names and ticker symbols, to be announced at launch. Until then, I will refer to both tokens interchangeably by the placeholder name wYEC.
The Ycash Foundation hopes that one day Ycash will be integrated into a more decentralized wrapping protocol like Ren, but we aren’t going to wait around for that to happen. By launching wYEC, we are taking matters into our own hands and delivering DeFi capabilities to Ycash users now.
We choose Ethereum because of its preeminence. Ethereum is truly revolutionary, and we want to give Ycash users the opportunity to participate in that revolution. With that said, we are aware that the Ethereum network’s transaction fees have risen to a point that may make some uses of wYEC on Ethereum cost-prohibitive. Although we strongly believe that Ethereum 2.0 will eventually bring down transaction fees significantly, we have listened to the feedback of Ycash users who want to use Ycash with DeFi applications as soon as possible on a network with low transaction fees. To that end, we will also deploy wYEC on Binance Smart Chain.
Ycash, like Bitcoin, is sound money: There will never be more than 21 million Ycash coins, and 95% of all future block rewards will be fairly allocated to Ycash users via the free market mining process. These are the sacred promises upon which Ycash was founded, and the Ycash Foundation is the institution that will insure that these sacred promises are honored — forever. wYEC brings the fair, trusted, sound money approach of Ycash to the exciting world of DeFi.
Motivations
More Ways to Buy and Sell Ycash
We have faced difficulties getting Ycash listed on additional centralized exchanges. Many centralized exchanges charge exorbitant listing fees, and the top-tier centralized exchanges that do not charge listing fees are not as eager to list coins with smaller market capitalizations like Ycash as they were in, say, the 2016 and 2017 timeframe.
We will continue to work towards getting Ycash listed on more centralized exchanges. But luckily for Ycash users, the world seems to be moving on from centralized exchanges to more permissionless alternatives. Once wYEC is launched, we can immediately list wYEC pairs on automated market makers like Uniswap without asking anyone’s permission. That is beauty and power of a decentralized, permissionless platform.
I am particularly interested in fostering pairings between Ycash and popular stable coins . For example, I will work with other Ycash users to create liquid wYEC/USDC and wYEC/BUSD pairings on Uniswap and other automated market makers.
More Ways to Use Ycash
wYEC has the potential to give Ycash users exciting new ways to use Ycash:
- By providing wYEC-related liquidity toautomated market makers, Ycash users will be able to use their Ycash for so-called “yield farming” (also known as “liquidity mining”).
- As DeFi lending markets evolve, wYEC could eventually allow Ycash users to use their Ycash holdings as collateral for loans.
- Similarly, future DeFi lending markets could eventually allow Ycash users lend out their Ycash and earn interest.
As innovators in the Ethereum ecosystem create new uses cases for ERC-20 tokens, wYEC will enable Ycash users to enjoy these new use cases as soon as they are launched.
More Users
In order for Ycash to reach its full potential, we need A LOT of new Ycash users. By enabling new ways to acquire Ycash and new ways to use Ycash, I believe that wYEC has the potential to bring new users to Ycash (especially users interested in DeFi).
Furthermore, once wYEC is launched, anyone with an ERC-20-compatible Ethereum wallet will be able to hold Ycash (via wYEC) without even needing to download a Ycash wallet. This lowers the barriers for any Ethereum user who wants to hold a bit of Ycash.
Currently, Ycash users are free to choose between storing Ycash in a transparent way (similar to Bitcoin) or storing Ycash in a shielded pool. With the launch of wYEC, there will now be a third option: storing Ycash as wYEC on Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain. I envision wYEC being a “first-class citizen” in the Ycash ecosystem, with some Ycash users choosing to use wYEC as a long-term store of value.
Join Us
I invite you to join the ranks of Ycash users in advance of the launch of wYEC. I will be hosting several live discussion sessions leading up to the launch. Follow the YcashFoundation on Twitter to be notified of these sessions.
