Introduction
As we enter 2025, the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. SaucerSwap, Hedera’s leading decentralized exchange, has shaped the network’s DeFi ecosystem from the start. Today, we’re thrilled to share our roadmap — one that builds on our proven foundations while charting an ambitious course for the future.
Where We Stand
Since launching in 2022, SaucerSwap has evolved from a nascent AMM into a cornerstone of Hedera’s DeFi infrastructure. We now command the majority market share among Hedera DeFi protocols, boasting approximately $130 million in Total Value Locked (TVL), over 165 million HBAR secured in our wrapped HBAR contract, and more than $2.4 billion in cumulative trading volume across seven million swap events.
Our late-2023 launch of SaucerSwap V2 introduced concentrated liquidity, setting new standards for capital efficiency on Hedera. Meanwhile, the Liquidity-Aligned Reward Initiative (LARI) has optimized incentive structures for liquidity providers, building a more sustainable and efficient model for market-protocol alignment.
Vision & Strategic Direction
Our mission is simple: build the most efficient, accessible, and secure decentralized exchange — on Hedera and beyond. As we look to 2025 and beyond, our roadmap centers on four core pillars:
1. Protocol Improvement & Innovation
We remain committed to expanding DeFi’s possibilities. Our immediate priority is optimizing existing systems to ensure fair rewards, robust core functionality, and a seamless user experience. We will also explore transformative features such as permissionless V2 pool creation, on-chain limit orders, and, eventually, perpetual futures trading.
2. User Experience & Accessibility
DeFi’s future relies on making complex tools universally accessible. Our roadmap emphasizes near-term improvements — faster charting, enhanced mobile responsiveness, and more intuitive transaction flows. We are also building comprehensive solutions like a dedicated mobile app and multi-currency support to serve our expanding global community.
3. Infrastructure & Security
As our protocol scales, our commitment to robust infrastructure deepens. We are improving app performance via global backup locations (Multi-AZ), expanding our data analytics capabilities (via a subgraph), and fortifying our security framework through integrations with leading providers like Chainalysis.
4. Ecosystem Growth
We aim to support the ecosystem in every possible way. By integrating bridge protocols like Axelar and LayerZero, we will attract more cross-chain liquidity and a broader user base. Enhanced token classification systems and a frictionless listing process will further empower token creators seeking to leverage SaucerSwap. Our goal is a more interconnected, efficient, and accessible DeFi ecosystem on Hedera.
Our Roadmap
Informed by these four key pillars, we have put together a roadmap that incorporates new ideas and highly-requested items from the community.
This roadmap outlines our development priorities across three timeframes:
Immediate Term
- LARI system refinement and automation
- — Streamlined campaign initiation and reward distribution
- — Data-driven reward weight optimization
- — Improved epoch analytics for liquidity providers
User Interface & Experience
- Global search functionality
- Comprehensive website redesign
- Swap widget implementation
- Transaction flow optimization
- Enhanced token menu with balance sorting
- Advanced charting integration
- — Higher-fidelity data for top-traded pairs
- — Technical indicators
- — Improved price feeds
- Mobile responsiveness improvements
- Expanded token information on swap pages
- — Market data integration
- — Analytics overlays
- — Key performance metrics
Infrastructure & Security
- Resilient, faster app performance via global backup locations (Multi-AZ)
- Launch of SaucerSwap subgraph, integrating with Dune Analytics and other key protocols
- SAUCE 300 implementation
- — Pool ranking system
- — Improved token classification system
- Basic user support system automation
- Transaction reliability improvements
Ecosystem Development
- Axelar bridge integration to enable cross-chain liquidity
- Strategic protocol partnerships
- Token classification system enhancements
Near Term
Protocol Features
- Auto-slippage implementation
- Permissionless V2 pool creation
- On-chain limit orders
- Automated Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) functionality
- Community Pools
- V2 compound and rebalance features
- Comprehensive pool performance dashboard
- — Position analytics
- — Earnings tracking
- — Historical performance metrics
User Experience
- Local timezone integration
- Push notification system
- Dedicated faucet interface
- iOS and Android mobile applications
- Pool performance analytics dashboard
Infrastructure
- Chainalysis and Chainabuse integration
- Developer documentation overhaul
- LLM-powered semantic search
- LayerZero integration
Market Expansion
- Community Pools launch
- SAUCELING NFT launch
- Localization for key markets
- — Spanish-speaking regions
- — Southeast Asia
- — Other high-growth areas
Future Development
Protocol Innovation
- SaucerSwap V3 development
- Perpetual futures platform
- HTS ↔ ERC-20 compatibility layer
- Hedera “ETF” contracts
Infrastructure
- Decentralized website mirrors
- Universal analytics dashboard
- Advanced trading tools
- Cross-chain security framework
Ecosystem Growth
- DAO-as-a-service infrastructure
- Sub-DAO framework
- Institutional partnerships program
- Cross-chain liquidity networks
Technical Implementation Notes
This roadmap’s execution considers several key technical factors:
Smart Contract Development
Near-term protocol features requiring contract development (auto-router, community pools, and limit orders) are sequenced to ensure thorough testing and auditing.
Infrastructure Scaling
Multi-AZ deployment and enhanced monitoring systems remain top priorities to support rising transaction volume and global user adoption.
Data Architecture
Subgraph implementation will improve analytics, data retrieval, and third-party integrations.
Security Considerations
Each phase includes matching security upgrades — from standard transaction monitoring to advanced cross-chain security frameworks.
New Vision for Community Pools
Background
Since our initial protocol launch in 2022, community pools have been a highly anticipated feature among SaucerSwap users. In Phase 1, we introduced SAUCE staking (to mint xSAUCE), enabling participants to earn passive APR on their SAUCE tokens.
However, Phase 2 — staking xSAUCE to earn external project tokens — was delayed as our attention turned to foundational improvements like SaucerSwap V2. Additionally, the slow pace of new token projects launching on Hedera in 2023 and early 2024 meant fewer opportunities to partner on meaningful community pool campaigns.
The Turning Point
Recently, we’ve witnessed a surge of new projects on Hedera. HeadStarter has been steadily onboarding promising ventures, and memejob.fun (analogous to pump.fun) has shown creativity in incubating community-driven tokens. With more projects seeking fast and efficient token distribution, the time is right for community pools to thrive.
Embracing Decentralization
Our new vision for community pools puts decentralization at the core. Rather than limiting these pools to a single launchpad or specific partnership model, we will enable multiple pathways for projects to create their own pools on SaucerSwap. Whether a token graduates from memejob.fun, is incubated by HeadStarter, or emerges from another community launchpad, the process should be accessible, fair, and transparent. This approach empowers teams of all sizes — from indie devs to larger DAOs — to leverage SaucerSwap for token distribution and liquidity growth.
How It Works
1 . Stake xSAUCE in community pools to earn new project tokens.
- Projects looking to distribute tokens can use this mechanism to engage xSAUCE holders directly.
2 . Boosted Rewards with SAUCELING NFTs (Phase 3).
- Future community pools will offer reward multipliers for those who hold and stake SAUCELING NFTs.
- SAUCELING NFTs themselves will be obtainable by exchanging legacy Planck Epoch NFTs, bridging our earliest supporters into this new rewards ecosystem.
Why Community Pools Matter
- Faster, More Efficient Token Distribution: Projects can tap into an established user base by incentivizing xSAUCE stakers with their tokens.
- Community-Driven Liquidity Growth: By distributing tokens directly to engaged users, new projects can bootstrap liquidity more effectively on SaucerSwap.
- Inclusivity and Innovation: Any project, regardless of its origin or size, can build community pools. This opens the door to a richer, more diverse Hedera ecosystem.
Next Steps
We recognize the community’s enthusiasm for this feature and regret the delays. SaucerSwap V2 needed our full attention to bring concentrated liquidity and improved capital efficiency to the ecosystem. But now that the DeFi landscape on Hedera is rapidly expanding, community pools are back in focus. We’re working on a decentralized framework to ensure minimal friction for projects that want to launch pools and maximum choice for xSAUCE stakers looking to diversify their rewards.
Stay tuned for further updates on Phase 2, where xSAUCE holders will be able to stake in community pools for project tokens — and Phase 3, where staking SAUCELING NFTs for boosted rewards will bring additional depth and opportunity to our rewards ecosystem.
Together, we’ll usher in a new era of community-driven DeFi on Hedera, where projects of all shapes and sizes can thrive on SaucerSwap.
Conclusion
This roadmap represents a technically grounded strategy for scaling SaucerSwap’s infrastructure, improving capital efficiency, and expanding cross-chain functionality. As the DeFi market evolves, we will refine timelines and specifics based on technological breakthroughs, market conditions, and community feedback.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering an accessible, secure, and innovative DeFi experience — pioneering the next chapter of decentralized finance on Hedera and beyond.
For discussion, join us on:
- Discord: https://discord.gg/saucerswap
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaucerSwapLabs
- Governance Forum: https://gov.saucerswap.finance/
