Creation and development of Summer.fi
Previously known as Oasis, our name paid homage to our origins during the Maker Foundation era.
Oasis was born back in 2016, even before the first Maker Protocol, Single Collateral Dai. The first project from MakerDAO that was deployed onto Mainnet was a contract called Simple Market, which was branded OasisDEX, a decentralized order-book based exchange, and the first decentralised exchange on Ethereum. Its main use at the time was to allow the exchange of MKR, the Maker governance token, for WETH.
In June 2021, as part of the dissolution of the Maker Foundation, development and running of Oasis.app moved out of the Maker Foundation and into its own entity. Borrow is now the primary product and Dai Wallet, where users can access the Dai Savings Rate and buy Dai with a credit card, is a secondary product.
After the recent rebranding the platform became Summer.fi – a name our team chose to embody simplicity, vitality, and a friendly atmosphere. Summer.fi evokes imagery of radiant sunshine, joy, and relaxation, encompassing the very essence of the experiences we aim to deliver to our traders.
How Summer.fi utilizes blockchain technology, and the benefits it provides over traditional systems
Summer.fi’s key features are transparency, and decentralization (everything is public, open source code). There are three main products that the platform offers to the users: Borrow, Multiply and Earn.
Summer.fi Borrow is a front-end application for creating and interacting with Vaults. To access Summer.fi users will need a compatible Ethereum wallet. Through Summer.fi, the Maker Protocol enables the generation of Dai, the world’s first user-created, unbiased currency and leading decentralized, asset-backed stablecoin. Dai has a stable price and lives completely on the blockchain, making it borderless and available to anyone, anywhere. These and other blockchain benefits allow Dai to extend the power of traditional currency: it can be freely sent to others, used as payments for goods and services, or locked in a smart contract to earn savings.
The Borrow feature allows Summer.fi users to borrow Dai using any of the acceptable cryptocurrencies as collateral. Over 20 assets are supported by the Maker Protocol, including ETH and WBTC. Another attractive thing about Summer.fi Borrow is Oracle Security Module, which ensures that prices update only once an hour, protecting borrowers from flash crashes. Summer.fi also offers flexible repayment schedules. Once the Vault is properly collateralized, users are free to repay at their own pace.
Multiply is a relatively new feature that can also be used to borrow funds from the Summer.fi platform. It can be very helpful in managing investments because it allows users to adjust their collateral in a single and simple transaction. When using the Multiply feature, users can choose to increase specific collateral. The procedures are straightforward. Users can deposit a particular supported cryptocurrency, use it to generate Dai, and then use Dai to buy more of another crypto they intend to increase. It eliminates the need for multiple transactions, switching between apps and incurring multiple transaction fees.
Summer.fi Earn products are curated DeFi-products that easily put your deposits in a position to earn a yield. Earn is a full self-custody solution for entering and exiting yield positions so you will always stay in control of your funds. It works with Aave and Maker protocols.
Key Summer.fi partners
The current compatible wallets are:
- Metamask
- WalletConnect
- Ledger
- Portis wallet
- My Ether Wallet
- Coinbase Wallet
- TrezorGnosis Safe
Summer.fi made an integration of 1inch Network decentralized finance aggregator protocol into its platform, so the users could enjoy cost-efficient token swaps and more secure liquidity provision. This integration aimed to permanently solve the issue of high gas costs being experienced by users.
In July 2023 Summer.fi launched on Optimism Layer 2, a scaling solution for the Ethereum network. This enabled Summer.fi to leverage the benefits of Layer 2 protocols, providing users with enhanced trading functionality, reduced transaction costs by up to 42 times using Summer Multiply on Optimism and improved scalability. Layer 2 solutions enable Summer.fi to provide a seamless and efficient trading experience even during peak periods. Traders may use one-click multiply functionality but with cheaper transaction costs – up to 42 times on Optimism and Arbitrum than on mainnet. This means that users are engaged in leverage-like trading while receiving reduced fees, making it more cost-effective to participate in trading activities and explore other strategies.
Also, Summer.fi expanded its multi protocol offer with the integration of Ajna protocol, a noncustodial, peer-to-pool, permissionless lending and borrowing system. This integration allowed users to borrow or lend on curated Ajna pools using Summer.fi. The absence of protocol-level governance and dependency on external price feeds gives users the advantage of a more secure system. Users looking to take out a loan using one of their existing assets as collateral can borrow using Summer.fi. Since Ajna has no oracles, Summer has augmented the UX of using Ajna by providing useful information like prices from external sources such as Chainlink. The benefits of this approach are that you can use Ajna comfortably with enhanced UI and UX provided by Summer.fi.
Summer.fi Multiply for AAVE is an interesting product on the platform. It offers another convenient way for users to utilize their borrowed Dai or USDC to increase their position on other assets. However, the earliest supported assets, including ETH, WBTC, and stETH remain the most demanded.
