Last updated on January 12th, 2023 at 03:59 pm
The world of decentralized finance is exciting, although its main problem is that it can sometimes be very complex to manage so many different protocols, blockchains and platforms.
In this sense, Zapper seems to have emerged as the perfect solution to these problems. But what is Zapper Fi, how does it work and what is it for?
What is Zapper Fi?
Zapper Fi is a decentralized finance (DeFi) tool that lets you monitor and control your entire portfolio; assets, debt, liquidity pools, yield farming and even NFTs, all from one platform and anonymity.
Thus, Zapper’s main goal is to bring simplicity to the blockchain world , reducing the time, cost, and effort required to manage so many different positions.
How Zapper Fi was born?
Zapper Fi is a project resulting from the union of 2 DeFi projects : DeFiZap and DeFiSnap. On the one hand, DeFiZap allowed users to invest across multiple platforms with just a few clicks, like Uniswap’s liquidity pools.
On the other hand, DeFiSnap had a control panel to control our cryptocurrency positions invested in a large number of DeFi protocols, such as Compound, dYdX or Synthetix to name a few. As you can see, both projects were trying to make DeFi investing much easier and more accessible, and the two projects fit together very well.
While DeFiZap was used to invest in various platforms from a single interface, DeFiSnap was used to control these positions. For this reason, in May 2020 they came together to create Zapper Fi , one of the most promising DeFi projects in recent years.
How to use it What is it for?
If you are interested in this type of investment, I’m sure you will want to know how this platform is used, right? The first thing you need to know is that you don’t need to create an account to use Zapper Fi , all you need is an Ethereum wallet to connect to their protocol.
Some of these wallets are: MetaMask , Ledger, Trezor, WalletConnect, Fortmatic, Portis… To connect to Zapper, all you have to do is go to their website and click on the “Connect Wallet” button .
Then your wallet interface will appear or Zapper Fi will show you the steps to connect your wallet. Once you access it, you will be in front of the main panel of Zapper, where you can see a small summary of your portfolio and you will have all the options of the platform at your fingertips.
In the left menu you can see the functions of Zapper Fi, which from top to bottom are:
Swap
In the “Exchange” tab, you can perform cryptocurrency exchanges. Moreover, Zapper not only uses the Ethereum blockchain, but also works with the following blockchains:
- Avalanche
- polygon
- Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
- Optimism
- Phantom
This way, you can trade up to 2,000 different tokens from a single platform.
Bridge
This is one of Zapper’s coolest features, and as the name suggests, it acts as a gateway between 2 different blockchains .
The reason? Under normal conditions, you would not be able to exchange a token from the Ethereum network for one from the network, for example from Polygon (in one step).
In Zapper, you can do this through its Zaps. Zaps are DeFi “shortcuts” that generate smart contracts that traverse protocols so you can access more investment opportunities, faster, and pay fewer fees.
Pool
In “Pool” , you will find a large number of liquidity pools in which you can deposit your tokens and cryptocurrencies , either to obtain the right to vote in the protocols, or to obtain commissions or any other incentive.
In addition, and since Zapper is a platform that supports several blockchains, you can access a particularly large and diversified catalog of pools.
Moreover, adding liquidity to any of these pools in Zapper is quite simple, since you just need to click on “Invest” and enter the cryptocurrencies you wish to deposit.
To safeguard
The “Save” section gives you the opportunity to deposit your cryptocurrencies and earn interest on them. But where do these interests come from? Contrary to what it may seem, this is not about staking, but about DeFi loans.
This way, by locking up your cryptocurrencies here, you will become part of the P2P blockchain lending market, passively earning interest with your cryptocurrencies.
Cultivate
The “Farm” feature is located in the “More” sub-menu, and there you will find options for investing in yield farming . As with liquidity pools, there are a large number of farms, especially since Zapper works with multiple blockchains.
It is therefore a good way to find a farm with an interesting risk/benefit ratio and to invest part of your portfolio there.
Coffers
Zapper Fi vaults are similar to cash pools , although instead of depositing your funds into a pool and they remain static, by depositing them into a vault, those funds have some mobility between protocols to maximize the investor’s profit.
So your cryptocurrencies can go from Aave to Compound and from there to Rari, all to deliver the highest possible return at all times.
In short, as you have seen, the main use of Zapper is to collect hundreds of investment opportunities in a single control panel, making your stay in the DeFi world much more comfortable and bearable.
Advantages and disadvantages
Zapper is a very interesting DeFi platform, but like all platforms, it has certain strengths and weaknesses.
Its main advantages are:
✔️It is very easy to use , both when logging in with your wallet, and when moving around the platform, accessing the various features available to it.
✔️ It supports multiple blockchains , which makes Zapper a very versatile DeFi project, allowing them to work with many different platforms and tokens.
✔️In addition to providing a platform to control your cryptocurrencies and the myriad things you can do with them, you can also control your NFTs .
✔️They have an excellent team of developers who are constantly adding features and protocols to the platform, making Zapper a more complete platform every time .
And its disadvantages:
❌Many of the operations performed on Zapper use smart contracts to be able to connect 2 different protocols or platforms. And although these contracts are quite safe, they can sometimes generate bugs or cause problems.
Final Notices
In short, Zapper Fi is a platform that serves as a “meeting point” for a large number of different protocols and platforms.
Thus, they manage to reduce the time it takes to invest and control your assets, while managing to reduce commissions and operating gas thanks to their Zaps.
One of the things I liked the most about Zapper is how easy it is to use , the large number of blockchains and tokens they work with, and how quickly they improve their platform.
And it looks like I’m not the only one, as they currently have over a million users and over $11,000 million has been invested through their platform.
Therefore, I believe that if they continue on this path, Zapper Fi will be one of the leading DeFi investment platforms in the years to come.
