PancakeSwap is one of the most popular yield farming projects on Binance Smart Chain. However, beyond the usual yield farming method, PancakeSwap offers multiple products which users can maximize in order to leverage their holdings. This makes PancakeSwap is a strong competitor against similar projects in the space such as Uniswap.
Check out or video on PancakeSwap yield farming strategies and particularly how to avoid impermanent loss!
What is PancakeSwap?
PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) platform that facilitates the trading of BEP-20 tokens. It implements an automated market maker (AMM) model to provide liquidity on peer-to-peer trades within the protocol.
Through this model, PancakeSwap matches buy and sell orders from different platform users directly in a liquidity pool. The supply of tokens in this pool is provided by user deposits in a process called “staking.”
When they stake tokens, PancakeSwap rewards them in return with a proportional amount of their share in the platform’s trading fees as well as liquidity provider (LP) tokens. The LP token that stakers will receive as an incentive will be the same asset that they supplied to the liquidity pool.
But basically, it works closely similar to how Uniswap and SushiSwap works. Even its user interface looks almost the same. The difference lies in the yield strategy that anyone can take advantage of in the platform. When users stake, they also earn CAKE tokens.
There are multiple liquidity pools where users can stake. Here are some examples for them:
- CAKE-BNB
- BUSD-BNB
- BETH-ETH
- USDT-BUSD
- USDC-BUSD
- DAI-BUSD
- LINK-BUSD
- TWT-BNB
CAKE token: What is it?
PancakeSwap token ($CAKE) is the platform’s native token. Users are rewarded with CAKE tokens for staking their funds on the platform. They can then stake their CAKE tokens to earn other types of tokens on special staking pools. The CAKE token is mainly for participating in community governance where users can vote on decisions relating to the direction or running of PancakeSwap.
PancakeSwap Guide: How do you start using PancakeSwap and earn CAKE tokens?
PancakeSwap is easy to use. First, you will have to visit their website at https://pancakeswap.finance/ and link your wallet there. You have the option to connect it to your MetaMask, Binance Chain Wallet, WalletConnect, and Trust Wallet, among others.
As mentioned, it also supports MetaMask even if that wallet is Ethereum-based. This is because the platform is built on top of the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which supports interoperability between Ethereum-based wallets.
On the platform, there are options to either swap your tokens or supply liquidity in the ‘pools’ section. There is also an option to start ‘farming’ if you look through other sections.
You can farm CAKE tokens on the platform. But before you can start doing so, you first have to supply liquidity to PancakeSwap’s pool in order to earn rewards in CAKE tokens. You can stake them back to the platform and get more in return. And again, users can also farm other tokens by participating in other liquidity pools.
Syrup Pools
Project owners can launch their tokens with the help of the Syrup pools. Here, they can commit a portion of their own tokens and distribute them to CAKE holders. There will be two categories for projects supported by the Syrup pool: Core and Community.
Core projects are those that have been vetted by the team behind PancakeSwap. Community projects are those that CAKE holders voted in governance decisions. Despite this, anyone can distribute their tokens to CAKE holders through the Syrup pool. However, only the projects that get the vote of the community gets to be listed on the interface of the platform.
Transaction Fees
DEXs that follow the AMM model also charge trading fees. Users that participate in liquidity pools receive their LP token rewards on top of the accumulated trading fees on the platform.
PancakeSwap charges 0.2% trading fees for users. In these fees, 0.17% is redistributed to liquidity providers with the other 0.03% allocated for burning by the PancakeSwap Treasury.
Since the platform is decentralized, this distribution schedule can be revised by the stakers as necessary.
CAKE Lottery
There is also an option for users to join the CAKE lottery. It will have an interval of 6 hours per lottery session and you can get one lottery ticket for 10 CAKEs. This ticket will generate a random four-digit combination of numbers between 1 to 14.
A winner’s take-away can go as high as 50% of the entire lottery pool if their ticket numbers match all four winning numbers on the lottery. There are also rewards too even if at least two of your numbers match the same position as the ones on the winning ticket.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on PancakeSwap
PancakeSwap also offers an option to participate in the exchange of collectibles on the platform. There is a section for non-fungible tokens (NFT) (called “Pancake Collectibles) represented by cute figures that users can trade for CAKE. You can choose to keep these NFTs if you own a few and trade them at a sooner date.
Initial Farm Offerings (IFOs)
PancakeSwap introduced Initial Farm Offerings (IFO) on the platform to help out newly-launched tokens in opening opportunities for yield farming. To do this, users can commit their LP tokens to available pools. Here, those who will launch their tokens to the IFO will first be asked about the specifics of their project like their token’s current development stage, use case, distribution schedule, smart contract audits, expected valuation, and the purpose for the fundraising.
Is PancakeSwap safe?
PancakeSwap is audited by CertiK, one of the most reputable smart-contract auditors in this space. However, there is always risks involved in using these platforms such as bugs, which could result in loss of funds.
Conclusion
There are many yield farming projects in the space today and it can be difficult to assess where to focus on. And in selecting a platform to use, it is important to look beyond their promised APY. On multiple fronts, PancakeSwap seems to be a strong competitor to some of the biggest yield farming protocols in the space today.
Since the platform is built on top of the Binance Smart Chain, it has an edge because this means that their blockchain network is faster than others in the space as it features around 3-5 second block times with their Proof-of-Stake model. Above that, there are other profit-generating opportunities with PancakeSwap. Beyond yield farming, users have the opportunity to participate in lotteries, collect NFTs, and launch fundraising rounds through IFOs. These are features that many other popular yield farming projects do not offer yet.
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