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Frequently Asked Questions | Symbiosis

Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Symbiosis protocol.

Vision and Product

❓ Why should I care about Symbiosis?

Our vision is that users need a simple solution to move their liquidity across multiple chains; current solutions like bridges create liquidity fragmentation and are not trivial for end users.

❓ So then what is Symbiosis?

Our idea was that a multi-chain world needs an easy-to-use solution like Uniswap. So we created Symbiosis: it acts as a cross-chain AMM DEX and interchain communication protocol allowing users to swap their assets and move liquidity between chains with one click (in one transaction).

❓ Interesting, but how does it work?

Here is a simple explanation of how the Symbiosis protocol handles cross-chain swaps Cross-chain Swaps with Symbiosis.

❓ What's new in Symbiosis protocol V2?

In a nutshell,
  • Symbiosis protocol V2 inherits the main concepts and the logic of cross-chain operations from V1.
  • The difference lies in the liquidity pools used to perform cross-chain operations via the Symbiosis protocol.
Please refer to Symbiosis V1 vs. V2 for more information.

Relayers and Staking

❓ What is the Symbiosis relayers network?

The Symbiosis relayers network is a P2P network with built-in crypto-economic incentive mechanisms. The relayers network is an off-chain part of the Symbiosis protocol. The main purpose of the network is to provide fast, accurate, and secure transfer of information about cross-chain operations conducted via the Symbiosis protocol.
Please refer to Relayers network for more information.

❓ Do bridge operators (relayers) receive rewards for bridging blockchains?

Relayers receive rewards as a part of the relayers consensus distribution. For more information on the rewards, please refer to Symbiosis Relayer.
If you ask who is paying gas fees for bridging, the answer is relayers pay for the gas, which is deducted from users swaps. For more information on how it works, please refer to Gas Fees for Cross-chain Operations via Symbiosis​

❓ What blockchains are supported?

Technically, the Symbiosis protocol can support the chains listed below:
  • L1/L2 EVM compatible blockchain (with the correct Solidity version).
  • WASM blockchain (Near).
In practice, we will support blockchains that gain market traction and are appreciated by the users. Since there are legal risks in integrating new blockchains, we consult legal advisors before integrating any.
For the up-to-date list of supported blockchains by the Symbiosis protocol, please refer to Supported Blockchains

Symbiosis DAO

Govern the Symbiosis DAO and DAO Treasury. See Governing Symbiosis for more information.

❓ Who can submit governance proposals on the DAO?

Users with a voting power of 2,000 veSIS or more can submit proposals.

❓ Does a SIS token holder have to stake SIS tokens to be able to vote on proposals?

Yes. In order to vote on the Symbiosis DAO, users should stake SIS tokens. By doing so, users get veSIS tokens that give voting power, rewards for participating in the Symbiosis DAO, and boost APRs for providing liquidity.

❓ Are there rewards in the form of additional SIS tokens provided for participation in governance functions?

Yes. Users who lock SIS tokens are rewarded for participating in the governance process. For more information, please refer to veSIS​

Problem Solving

❓ How do we solve the problem of uneven exchange direction between networks, resulting in a balance increase of an asset on one network and a decrease on the other?

The simple solution to this problem is AMM pools, which are perfectly designed to handle this problem.
At Symbiosis, we rely on proven solutions for Uniswap-like and Curve-like models that have been confirmed to be efficient over time. A liquidity pool between two networks is always deployed on one of these networks (usually, on the one with fewer transaction fees).
The ratio of the number of assets in the pool to each other determines their prices. With an increase in one of the directions of exchange, the ratio of assets changes, and the price of each of them comes to a "non-market" state.
At this point, arbitrageurs come into play. Arbitrageurs are an important element of the AMM protocols. They compete for the right to buy an asset from the pool at a discount price.
💡 There is an excellent description of this process in the documentation provided by Paradigm.
There is one difference in the implementation of Symbiosis pools: one of the assets in a pool is a wrapped representation of the source token. Thus, arbitrageurs should execute the bridging scenario (Token A <> sToken A) in addition to the usual scenario of buying an asset on the open market. It’s done to transfer source tokens from (or into) the Symbiosis protocol and manage them in the pools. The stablecoin pools have their peculiarities and can potentially work between multiple networks at the same time.

❓ How do you incentivize TVL for the stablecoin pools?

The main directions are:
  • Fees collected from all swaps going through that pool,
  • Farming incentivization.
Please refer Symbiosis Reward Programs for more information.

❓ The non-EVM chain swapping, how does it work?

There are two cases:
  • EVM-incompatible blockchains with smart contracts (e.g. Solana, Near):
    We will support them as long as they allow the EdDSA/ECDSA key generation. Integration complexity depends on the virtual machines and the smart contract languages they use.
  • Blockchains without smart contracts (e.g. Bitcoin):
    We definitely cannot run the AMM logic directly on them. However, if they support ECDSA and HTLC (hash time lock) contracts, we can bridge the native assets since the Symbiosis relayer network supports that. So as for UX, it will be similar to swapping ETH -> BTC, and slightly different for BTC -> ETH.
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