Synthetix Launches SNAXchain To Enhance Cross-Chain Liquidity

According to Cointelegraph, Synthetix has introduced a new app chain named SNAXchain, aimed at enhancing cross-chain liquidity and generating trading-fee revenues for native-token stakers and onchain trading products. This development was shared by Matt Losquadro, a core contributor at Synthetix, on September 6. Initially, SNAXchain will function as an onchain governance platform to oversee Synthetix deployments on Ethereum mainnet and various layer-2 (L2) scaling chains, including Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base, as per a post on the X platform dated September 4. SNAXchain is designed to serve as a neutral hub for governance and protocol decisions, especially as Synthetix expands to additional chains and L2s, Losquadro explained. The team is also exploring future functionalities for SNAXchain, such as staking for SNX, cross-chain liquidity, and a custom-built perps product. More proposals regarding these features are expected in the fourth quarter. The long-term objective for Synthetix is to launch SNX staking on SNAXchain and share liquidity across multiple L2s using Optimism’s Superchain, Losquadro added. SNAXchain operates on Optimism’s Superchain, a network of interconnected layer 2s built on Optimism’s technology stack, and utilizes interoperability platforms Conduit and Wormhole for cross-chain messaging. Synthetix is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol specializing in providing liquidity for permissionless derivatives like perpetual futures and options. It launched on Arbitrum, considered Ethereum’s leading layer-2 for DeFi, in July. Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are derivatives that allow traders to buy or sell an asset at a future date without expiration. Currently, the DeFi protocol GMX dominates the decentralized perps market on Arbitrum, with more than $450 million in total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama. Synthetix aims to differentiate itself in Arbitrum’s competitive DeFi ecosystem by accepting a variety of tokens as collateral, Losquadro mentioned in August. The DeFi derivatives platform currently accepts collateral in tokens such as wrapped Ether (WETH), US Dollar Coin (USDC), and Arbitrum’s native token, ARB. Yields for liquidity providers, in the form of SNX incentives, range from around 7% to nearly 16%. On September 4, GMX launched a series of products called GMX Liquidity Vaults, designed to improve capital efficiency for its liquidity providers, as announced in a post on the X platform.