As we bid farewell to 2023, we reflect on a remarkable year for SaucerSwap and the broader Hedera DeFi ecosystem. The year, marked by groundbreaking developments, substantial community growth, and significant technological advancements, was pivotal. Here is a retrospective of our year and a preview of what lies ahead.
Key Developments and Achievements
Defining the year was the launch of SaucerSwap V2, a unique concentrated liquidity market maker that leverages the Hedera network’s unmatched advantages. Even before the November launch of V2, SaucerSwap achieved remarkable growth and expanded into the broader DeFi ecosystem through various integrations, partnerships, and milestones.
The year commenced with an announcement in January of a partnership with Ledger Works Sentinel DNaaS, enabling a more robust event-listening architecture for improved scalability. In February, we smoothly transitioned away from the HBAR Foundation grant by extending HBAR rewards to yield farmers indefinitely via a novel yield-bearing WHBAR contract that takes advantage of Hedera’s Proof-of-Stake rewards. This pivotal moment for SaucerSwap served as a harbinger of further sustainability developments later in 2023. In the following months, SaucerSwap integrated with data aggregators and accessibility platforms such as, Mises dApp browser, GeckoTerminal, DexScreener, and CoinMarketCap. Our presence expanded further by attending the Permissionless II web3 conference in Austin, TX alongside Hedera.
Throughout 2023, SaucerSwap more than doubled its Total Value Locked (TVL) to $60 million, ascended from #45 to #29 in Top DEX rank on DeFiLlama, and increased its daily average volume by over 300% to $3 million. With the integration of MetaMask and enhanced capital efficiency through SaucerSwap V2, we observed an increase in website traffic exceeding 250%. Additionally, with the publication of extensive developer documentation, we anticipate more dApps will be developed on SaucerSwap V1 & V2 in the near future, as evidenced by the heightened activity in our developer forums.
As we approach 2 million total trades, SaucerSwap has facilitated interaction for users of all types with Hedera DeFi in a permissionless and non-custodial environment. With an average transaction speed of 5 seconds and a cost of less than $0.10 (fixed in USD, regardless of network traffic), SaucerSwap has realized its vision of decentralized access to a fair, accessible, and efficient trading protocol on Hedera, the most performant network in web3.
In 2023, SaucerSwap’s social network presence saw significant growth, evidenced by a 500% increase in Twitter followers and a 250% rise in impressions. Furthermore, the SaucerSwap Labs team conducted 16 AMAs throughout the year, maintaining an active dialogue with the community.
Most importantly, SaucerSwap attained a crucial 2023 goal: reducing reliance on token emissions and transitioning to real-yield incentives. Following the successful implementation of SaucerSwap Tokenomics V2, SAUCE token emissions were reduced by 60%, along with an 80% reduction in V1 yield farms. Despite this substantial reduction in the inflation rate of newly-minted SAUCE, APRs remain competitive, driven by increased trading volume and consequently higher fees for liquidity providers, as well as the development of the Liquidity-Aligned Reward Initiative (LARI). This shift towards a more sustainable model marks a remarkable achievement for SaucerSwap and a significant victory for Hedera DeFi.
Presented below is a detailed list of key events, milestones, and developments for SaucerSwap in 2023:
- January 4: Announced partnership with Ledger Works Sentinel DNaaS for scalability.
- January 12: Achieved 500,000 all-time trades.
- January 14: Held SaucerSwap AMA; released Discord price bots for default listed tokens.
- January 17: Reached $25M in Total Value Locked (TVL).
- January 20: TVL reached $30M.
- January 28: SaucerSwap AMA.
- January 29: Published Japanese documentation.
- February 3: Published Turkish documentation.
- February 4: Achieved $100M in total trade volume.
- February 11: SaucerSwap AMA; announced post-grant extension of HBAR mining incentives via staking in WHBAR contract.
- February 26: Integrated into Mises dApp browser.
- March 1: Open-sourced LP token timelock smart contracts.
- March 7: Released an overhauled web-app.
- March 11: SaucerSwap AMA.
- March 13: Upgraded HTS charts for price, liquidity, and volume in terms of HBAR.
- March 25: SaucerSwap x Citadel Wallet AMA.
- March 26: Announced partnership with Citadel Wallet.
- March 30: Launched SAUCE buyback Discord price bot.
- April 9: Achieved $150M in total trade volume.
- April 22: SaucerSwap AMA.
- April 28: Achieved 1M all-time trades; integrated as an exchange on CoinMarketCap.
- May 6: SaucerSwap AMA.
- May 11: Updated SaucerSwap Token Listings methodology and documentation.
- May 17: Announced upcoming SAUCE Pro feature.
- May 20: SaucerSwap AMA.
- June 3: SaucerSwap AMA; collaborated with CoinMarketCap to create a ‘Hedera ecosystem’ category.
- July 1: Announced plans to navigate HSCS security update via token allowances.
- July 10: Published tutorial video for navigating HSCS security update.
- July 12: SaucerSwap V2 passed all unit tests.
- July 15: SaucerSwap AMA; published ‘SaucerSwap Tokenomics Model V2’ proposal.
- July 29: SaucerSwap AMA.
- August 5: Celebrated SaucerSwap’s one-year anniversary.
- August 9: ‘SaucerSwap Tokenomics Model V2’ officially confirmed by SaucerSwap DAO.
- August 12: SaucerSwap AMA.
- August 16: Published job opening for front-end software engineer.
- August 18: Achieved $200M in total trade volume.
- August 26: SaucerSwap AMA.
- September 9: SaucerSwap AMA.
- September 11: Attended Permissionless II with Hedera.
- September 17: Featured on the main stage at Karate Combat KC41.
- September 26: Announced LARI (Liquidity-Aligned Reward Initiative).
- September 28: Achieved 200M HBAR balance in WHBAR contract.
- September 29: Published SaucerSwap V2 audit results.
- October 1: Integrated into GeckoTerminal.
- October 2: Achieved 500 unique liquidity pools.
- October 4: Unveiled SaucerSwap V2 UI.
- October 13: Announced SaucerSwap V2 volatility strategies.
- October 14: SaucerSwap AMA; announced SaucerSwap V2 testnet public beta and bug bounty.
- October 19: Published overhauled ‘SaucerSwap Docs V2.0’.
- October 25: Published “SaucerSwap V2: Create Position” and “SaucerSwap V2: Manage Position” video tutorials; released SaucerSwap V2 Core Whitepaper.
- October 28: Launched SaucerSwap V2 Testnet Beta.
- October 30: Published written tutorials for SaucerSwap V1 & V2 in official documentation.
- November 1: Announced SaucerSwap DAO legal wrapper established in the state of Florida.
- November 4: Concluded SaucerSwap V2 Testnet Beta.
- November 6: Published “SaucerSwap V2: Depth Chart” video tutorial; distributed rewards for SaucerSwap V2 Testnet Bug Bounty program.
- November 8: Secured #35 Top DEX spot on DeFiLlama.
- November 11: SaucerSwap AMA; announced SaucerSwap V2 launch date.
- November 15: Announced MetaMask integration into SaucerSwap web-app.
- November 16: Published “SaucerSwap V2: MetaMask” video tutorial.
- November 17: Published “SaucerSwap V2: Migrate Liquidity” video tutorial; published “SaucerSwap V2 Launch: What to Expect” article; launched SaucerSwap V2; commenced LARI Epoch 1; initiated Phase I of SaucerSwap Tokenomics V2.
- November 18: Achieved $5M TVL in SaucerSwap V2.
- November 19: Achieved $10M TVL in SaucerSwap V2.
- November 20: Published extensive Developer Documentation for V1 & V2.
- November 29: Integrated into DexScreener and KarateCombat iOS & Android apps.
- December 1: Commenced LARI Epoch 2.
- December 3: Created CLXY-HBAR V2 pool.
- December 5: Achieved $40M TVL.
- December 8: SaucerSwap V2 integrated into CoinGecko and GeckoTerminal; initiated Phase II of SaucerSwap Tokenomics V2.
- December 15: Commenced LARI Epoch 3; announced partnership with The Creator’s Galaxy for LARI rewards in CLXY token.
- December 16: Announced weekly trading volume all-time high.
- December 21: Achieved $50M TVL.
- December 23: Created SaucerSwapEs X account for Spanish users.
- December 24: Secured #29 Top DEX spot on DeFiLlama.
- December 27: Announced SAUCE buyback record.
- December 29: Initiated LARI Epoch 4; announced expansion of CLXY rewards to multiple pools; commenced Phase III (final) of SaucerSwap Tokenomics V2.
- December 30: Achieved all-time high in weekly trade volume.
2024 Prospective
Looking forward to 2024, SaucerSwap Labs is thrilled to continue developing the SaucerSwap protocol. Although not comprehensive, here are some select highlights from our 2024 roadmap:
In Development (projects actively being developed):
- SAUCE Pro
- Active Liquidity Management Protocol Integration
- Upgraded Buyback Program
- Initiate more Custom-Tailored LARI Campaigns
- Improved LARI Analytics
- Ongoing Web-App Optimizations
Planned for Development (projects that are on the near-term roadmap):
- Token-Weighted Voting System
- Auto Router
Prioritized for Development (projects that are prioritized but not yet planned for development):
- Community Pools
- On-Chain Limit Orders
- Front-End Bridge Integration
- Fiat Onramp Integration
- Batch Transactions (HIP-551)
- Hedera WalletConnect Integration
Generally speaking, our overarching goals for 2024 are to expand and improve accessibility, increase reach and presence within the larger web3 ecosystem, and leverage the unique benefits of the Hedera network to develop technologically superior and user-friendly solutions to push forward the realm of decentralized finance.
Conclusion
The extraordinary growth in 2023 has set a new benchmark for SaucerSwap’s potential. We extend our profound gratitude to our community, partners, and team members, whose contributions have been pivotal in this success. As we enter 2024, we are enthusiastic about further innovating and expanding Hedera DeFi together.
Wishing a Happy New Year and a fruitful 2024!
