Gate.io Twitter Spaces with ZKX

In Gate.io’s Twitter Spaces which took place on June 18, 2024, Johnny from Gate.io hosted Eduard from ZKX to discuss the innovations of ZKX, its gamified trading platform, unique features, tokenomics, future plans, and more! Read our notes below to learn more.

Background

Johnny (Host) – Contributor at Gate.io

Eduard (Guest) – Founder at ZKX Protocol

ZKX Protocol – a perpetual futures DEX with self-custody on Starknet

A Gamified Derivative Trading Platform on Starknet

Eduard shares his background, mentioning his initial foray into Bitcoin mining in 2014, his involvement in various blockchain projects, and his experience with venture capital at SOSV, where they were investors in BitMEX. This led to his interest in creating ZKX, a decentralized trading platform.
Eduard explains that ZKX is a gamified derivative trading platform on Ethereum and Starknet, designed to make trading more social and engaging. The platform aims to create a fun, interactive trading experience, contrasting with traditional, static trading terminals. ZKX also aims to build a DeFi platform that can compete with centralized exchanges.
Eduard describes the unique features of ZKX, including the ZKX Appchain, which offers fast, gasless trading with sub-millisecond price refreshes. The platform supports account abstraction for self-custody of funds and has its own bridging infrastructure for seamless trading across different ecosystems. ZKX offers transparency, security, and a user-friendly experience, distinguishing it from other platforms.
Eduard explains the multiple margin accounts feature, allowing users to create unlimited margin accounts to customize their trading strategies. Users can have cross-margin trading, isolated margin trading, or a mix of both, providing flexibility in managing their trades and strategies.
Eduard explains the differences between OG Trade and Pro Trade on ZKX.
- OG Trade is a gamified trading terminal with 30-minute trading competitions, rewarding users based on volume, profit, and loss. It offers a dynamic, engaging experience with real-time updates and interactive messages.
- Pro Trade, on the other hand, is designed for serious traders, offering advanced tools, detailed trade information, and high-performance APIs for bots and strategies. Both trading terminals are eligible for Starknet incentives, providing additional rewards for users.
Eduard mentions that OG Trade is for those looking for a fun, competitive trading experience, while Pro Trade caters to traders who prefer long-term, strategic trading. Both platforms aim to provide a comprehensive trading experience, meeting the needs of different types of traders.

ZKX: Trading and Tokenomics Explained

Eduard explains the process for beginners: visit the ZKX app, create an account with a 12-word seed phrase, and deposit $USDC from an L1 wallet. The platform is compatible with major wallets like MetaMask.
Users can immediately deposit to their OG trade margin account. On OG trade, users can place orders for various assets, participate in 30-minute trading competitions, and earn rewards based on their trading performance. Eduard advises new traders to start with lower leverage (2x or 3x) to avoid liquidation risks.
Johnny asks about the tokenomics of $ZKX and its core utility within the ZKX ecosystem.
Eduard explains that the $ZKX token is the governance token for the ZKX protocol. Starting from the next day, users can stake the $ZKX token and earn $USDC from the revenue generated by the exchange. The staking pool rewards more $USDC to those who lock their tokens for longer periods. He mentions the controlled inflation with vested airdrops and long vesting schedules for the team and investors. The vesting happens on the ZKX platform itself, ensuring transparency and equality.
Eduard also discusses the allocation of 18% of the $ZKX tokens for trading incentives and 15% for community airdrops. He explains that airdrop eligibility depends on earning OG trade NFT badges, referring people, and engaging in platform activities. The more trading and liquidations that occur on the platform, the more $USDC users can earn from their staked $ZKX tokens.
He highlights that those who lock their tokens for longer periods will receive a greater share of earnings, incentivizing long-term commitment.

ZKX’s Future Features and Gasless Trading

Eduard explains the plans for expanding ZKX’s gaming platform and introducing new features. The first two features they want to deploy are live chat on OG trade, allowing traders to communicate and engage during 30-minute trading sessions, and a market-making pool where traders can deposit $USDC for passive earnings through market-making strategies.
Long-term plans include deploying shorter trading competitions, improving prompts and messages with animations, and introducing gamified prediction markets. Additionally, ZKX is considering cross-chain deployments and new ecosystem expansions for ZKX v2.
Eduard explains that Starknet is a solid and advanced zk-rollup with stable performance and low transaction costs. Transactions on Starknet cost about 1 cent or less, providing a stable and cheap network that connects with Ethereum.
Once trading on ZKX, orders are processed on the app chain, and Substrate records transactions on the order books, synchronizing with Starknet and Ethereum. This design allows gasless trading on ZKX, avoiding congestion and high gas fees associated with Ethereum.
Users only pay trading fees, which decrease with higher trading volumes. This setup offers flexibility and cost advantages for traders, making the platform attractive for both new and experienced traders.

ZKX’s Interoperability Approaches and Community Engagement

Eduard explains that there are two main approaches to achieving interoperability.
- The first involves deploying ZKX accounts on different ecosystems and using account abstraction for rebalancing and self-custody, though this introduces complexity and additional risks.
- The second approach focuses on enabling cross-chain deposits, allowing direct transfers from any L2 to a ZKX account, which is more secure and manageable. Eduard mentions that ZKX v1 will facilitate cross-chain deposits while ZKX v2 may involve deploying on a new ecosystem, similar to GMX’s strategy.
Eduard highlights that ZKX can create a variety of products on top of the ZKX Appchain, such as derivatives, prediction markets, and gamified staking pools.
He highlights the potential of integrating social features with DeFi, allowing users to create private trading pools and groups, compete with friends, and deploy strategies together.
Eduard says that the intersection of social finance and DeFi is largely unexplored and presents significant opportunities for ZKX.
Eduard stresses that community is crucial for the development of any DeFi protocol, and ZKX is no exception. He notes that ZKX has a core set of over 25,000 users who provide constant feedback on the platform. This feedback helps maintain transparency and ensures that features are developed based on user needs.
Eduard mentions that ZKX engages with the community through Discord, conducts polls for asset listings, and has user feedback channels. Additionally, ZKX supports multiple languages on its platform and Discord to cater to a diverse user base.

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Show Information

Medium: Twitter (Audio)
Show: Gate.io Twitter Space
Show Title: Gate.io x ZKX (ZKX) Space AMA
Show Date: July 09, 2023