The Moonbeam Chronicle #1: Spotlight on Emerging DeFi Innovators

Behind the Scenes: Insights from DeFi Founders on Their Journey with Moonbeam, Unveiling the Stories of Prime Protocol, Squid, and DAM

Welcome to this special edition of our newsletter! Today, we're going beyond the familiar and diving into the very heart of the Moonbeam DeFi-verse. We've gathered insights directly from the trailblazers themselves—the creators behind Prime Protocol, Squid, and DAM. 

Stay tuned, stay informed, and let's embrace the DeFi revolution together.

1. What sparked your interest in building your DeFi project on the Moonbeam ecosystem, and how did your journey with the platform begin?

- Prime Protocol: "I’ve been following the Polkadot ecosystem for a long time, and I’ve been a DOT holder for years. As a developer with solid experience, Moonbeam was the most exciting project in the DotSama ecosystem to me when it launched, and I was excited to have the opportunity to build on Moonbeam when I began my DeFi journey." 

- Squid: "We've been Moonbeam enthusiasts from the start, captivated by the fusion of Polkadot's cutting-edge tech, an EVM, and a strong emphasis on interoperability. It was a no-brainer to connect with Moonbeam first."

- DAM: "As DeFi users, we are always conducting research, whether it's on products, platforms, or projects. As part of our personal DeFi research, we came across Moonbeam in 2020 and participated early in the ecosystem. In 2022, we reached out to Derek Yoo and pitched DAM Finance for Moonbeam and beyond, with the goal of being a structural part of solving the native liquidity issue in the ecosystem."

2. How has your journey been while teaming up with other founders and developers in the Moonbeam ecosystem?

- Prime Protocol: "The Moonbeam ecosystem provides an exceptional environment for collaboration among innovators, thanks in part to the efforts of the Downtown Moonbeam team. They have created spaces where teams building on Moonbeam can come together to exchange ideas and experiences, which has fostered a strong sense of community and collaboration. We’re actively working on collaborations with multiple other Moonbeam native projects that will help with onboarding users and offering unique yield strategies enabled by Prime Protocol. Our goal is to bring in more liquidity to the Moonbeam ecosystem, along with many new users. We're proud to be a part of this thriving ecosystem and look forward to continued collaboration with other like-minded projects."

- Squid: "The Moonbeam ecosystem provides an exceptional environment for collaboration among founders and developers. Our initial key partnership was with Stellaswap, and we've also bonded with Beamswap. Both teams have expertly navigated us through technical nuances."

- DAM: "Let's start by mentioning that the Moonbeam core contributors are very supportive of their ecosystem and have a lot of great initiatives to highlight and support founders and builders. In addition, other builders in the ecosystem have been very approachable. We collaborate with a wide spectrum of projects - gaming, NFT, DeFi, and infrastructure protocols. There is a significant appetite for projects to come together to increase utility for their communities."

3. Have you made any special partnerships or shared valuable resources?

- Prime Protocol: "We've had the pleasure of collaborating with several exceptional projects within the Moonbeam ecosystem, such as Downtown Moonbeam on the Moonbeam Ignite campaign and Exiled Racers. We're continuously working on new partnerships and ways to work with other innovators in the moonbeam ecosystem to deliver even more value to the community. Stay tuned for more exciting developments on this front!"

- Squid: "Stellaswap incorporated our Squid swap widget, powering all cross-chain Moonbeam swaps and routing them through their pools. Together, we've exchanged code snippets, RPC/node solutions, and innovative ideas. ZooDAO integrated our cross-chain swaps, making the movement of liquidity into Moonbeam a breeze. They've been fantastic partners and have crafted something truly innovative."

- DAM: "We have made a lot of good friends in the space. We have calls to discuss architectural best practices such as gas golfing, as well as the general vision and direction for our individual projects. Sometimes, these calls also include code reviews, whether for learning purposes or to help troubleshoot. There is a lot of opportunity within the Polkadot ecosystem, which is exciting for founders and developers."

4. How can community members contribute to be more involved in your project or Moonbeam ecosystem at large?

- Prime Protocol: "We’re building Prime for the entire DeFi community, and we want you to help build this experience with us. Join our community today by trying out our Testnet, following us on Twitter, and joining our Discord to stay up-to-date with all things Prime. Additionally, we're hosting monthly Super OG sprints where our most active members can earn the Super OG role. Stay tuned for more updates and exciting developments from the Prime team!"

- Squid: "Members can utilize our cross-chain swaps on Stellaswap and ZooDAO for asset transfers in or out of Moonbeam, and promote cross-chain adoption by urging other projects to go cross-chain using Squid."

- DAM: "Anyone can join DAM and be part of what we are doing via our discord. As for Moonbeam, there are a lot of great resources to get started, all depending on your goals. Don’t be shy to DM other developers or community members, we find that most people are very open to conversations."

5. What have been some of the most memorable moments or milestones you've cherished during your time working on your DeFi project within Moonbeam?

- Prime Protocol: "We've had several memorable milestones during our journey so far, but two stand out in particular. First, the launch of our testnet was an incredible moment, with over 50,000 users testing the platform and providing invaluable feedback. We're proud of what we've achieved so far, and we're committed to building an even better user experience for our community. Second, we were thrilled to receive over 30% of the votes in the Ecosystem Grant Vote, which resulted in the approval of a Moonbeam ecosystem grant for Prime Protocol. This grant will be used for liquidity incentives to encourage healthy use of the protocol, which we believe will help to drive even more growth and adoption of Moonbeam and Prime Protocol in the months and years to come."

- Squid: "Moonbeam was our go-to chain for testing due to its reliability and affordability. It was exhilarating to see real users on mainnet using Squid instead of just our team. Moonbeam remains one of our most popular chains to this day."

- DAM: "We launched our MVP on the mainnet, which, for any project, is a big milestone! We also recently received an ecosystem grant from the Moonbeam Foundation to supercharge growth of d2o in the ecosystem. We are now working through the logistics of deploying additional token pools on Moonbeam with GLMR-based farming rewards. Stay tuned for more on this imminently."

6. How do you picture the future of DeFi and the Moonbeam ecosystem, and what role do you envision your project playing in shaping that destiny?

- Prime Protocol: "As of early 2022, the lending and borrowing market in DeFi was estimated to be worth around $50-60 billion, according to data from DeFi Pulse. While there are numerous borrowing protocols within the blockchain space, Prime Protocol stands out as a unique platform. Its natively cross-chain borrowing and liquidity supply architecture is the first of its kind, allowing for support of the most diverse set of networks to date. This makes Prime Protocol well-positioned for success in the future of cross-chain apps, a main focus for the Moonbeam Ecosystem. As a leading implementation of a cross-chain connected contracts, Prime Protocol aims to become the leading lending protocol and help to drive more usage in the Moonbeam network. As more projects embrace cross-chain compatibility, we can expect to see even more innovation, collaboration, and value creation in the blockchain space."

- Squid: "As Polkadot and the crypto world expand, so will DeFi on Moonbeam. Squid aims to simplify onboarding to Moonbeam and become a core component of users' initial Moonbeam app experience."

- DAM: "Our role will be to continue providing native stablecoin liquidity with utility to the ecosystem, and to be a mechanism for cross-crypto industry collaborations and workflows."

7. What exciting features or updates can users eagerly anticipate in the near future to make their experience with your DeFi project on Moonbeam even better?

- Prime Protocol: "More tokens and supported chains to use are coming soon! We’re working on adding a wide variety of useful collateral to allow novel DeFi strategies."

- Squid: "We're launching GMP Express with Axelar, slashing transaction times on Squid to 20 seconds or less—a total game-changer. Plus, we're connecting the Cosmos with EVM chains, paving the way for the first Polkadot-Cosmos partnerships."

- DAM: "We are very close to launching a d2o<>GLMR pool on Moonbeam with GLMR LP rewards, as well as a d2o <> xcDOT pool also with GLMR LP rewards."

8. Lastly, what are some of your favorite Twitter accounts to follow for the inside scoop on DeFi or Moonbeam? We'd love to learn from the best!

- Prime Protocol: "@DownTownMoonbeam, @DotSamaHub, @MoonbeamNetwork, @DerekYoo"

- Squid: "@squidrouter, @axelarcore, the fantastic @KevinKNeilson, and @ecdsafu!"

- DAM: "Of course @hoco_dam, as well as our good friends: @mar1dev, @OnlyDeFiGuy, @csaint02, @Maxverleye8, @1xKBL"