Is FTX's Serum The DeFi Cure?

By Jose Macedo

Today, FTX announced the launch of Serum, a decentralised, non-custodial, cross-chain derivatives exchange.

While there are still a multitude of pending questions regarding implementation and timelines (Serum’s white paper is sadly sparse on detail), the SERUM value proposition, if successfully executed, could be a paradigm-shift for DeFi, challenging many existing projects, including Ethereum, DEXes like Uniswap and cross-chain infrastructure such as REN.

The reason SERUM’s approach is interesting is because unlike other projects  that seek to compete head-to-head with Ethereum by building entirely new ecosystems, SERUM will be interoperable with Ethereum from the beginning, enabling it to benefit from the existing assets/ecosystem while leveraging Solana’s scalability and cost advantages to provide superior rails.

Augmenting Ethereum

While DeFi on Ethereum has been on fire, near