Analysis Curve Finance — Is it the best Stableswap?

5 min readSep 15, 2024

The Ethereum network is a hub for innovative projects, including dApps and DEXs. One notable example is Curve Finance, a platform specializing in trading stablecoins. Curve has inspired Thorn Protocol to develop a powerful stableswap on the Sapphire network based on its mechanism.

To understand the foundation upon which Thorn is built, let’s deconstruct Curve Finance’s architecture in this blog!

What is Curve Finance?

Curve Finance operates as a DEX and AMM built on Ethereum. It specializes in swapping different digital assets, especially stablecoins with minimal slippage and low fees.

Curve Pros

High liquidity for stablecoin trading
Lower transaction fees
Advanced mechanisms for minimizing slippage
Strong community and governance structure

Curve Cons

Can be complex for new users
Limited to stablecoins and few other tokens
Requires a good handle on wallets and moving crypto around

Curve Stableswap Interface

How does Curve Finance work?

Curve Finance shakes up traditional DEXs with its innovative Automated Market Maker (AMM) protocol instead of Order Books. This means that there’s no need for a central authority to match buyers and sellers.

📍AMM is really complex but we explained it simply on the blog “All About AMM — Automated Market Maker”

Curve is a completely decentralized and permissionless protocol, governed by the Curve DAO. The Curve DAO token, $CRV, serves as its native cryptocurrency. Due to Curve’s decentralized nature, anyone can provide liquidity to one or more pools. Smart contracts are used to execute any swap transactions.

What are its key features?

Curve Finance truly stands out in the DeFi landscape. Not only does it support a wide range of chains, but it also boasts several innovative features below:

The Curve exchange relies on liquidity, which means that it is always favoring having plenty of crypto assets in the pool. Some transaction fees in Curve are specified such as:

Minimum Deposit: No minimum but be mindful of gas fees
Swap Fees: 0.04%
Deposit and Withdrawal Fees: Free if balanced, otherwise 0.02%

Ideas to develop the first Stableswap on Sapphire

Built upon Curve’s robust algorithm, Thorn Protocol is the first AMM DEX stableswap on Oasis Sapphire. Our platform offers users a highly efficient and cost-effective way to swap stablecoins, compared to existing DEXes on the Sapphire network.

Thorn achieves low slippage when swapping stablecoins comparable to major DEXes like Uniswap and Sushiswap. All transactions have a fixed fee of 0.04%, equal to Curve’s swap fees.

Users can also provide liquidity to various pools and earn rewards through Farming or Staking, just like on Curve.

But what sets Thorn apart? And why choose us?

Curve is a great platform! No doubt. However, we’ve identified some limits on Curve’s architecture where we can improve: Trading experience and User Privacy.

Personal data untouched by MEV attacks

Thorn’s greatest pride lies in being backed by Sapphire’s robust security network. We leverage the powerful Sapphire Paratime’s confidential runtime to encrypt all transaction data.

Our platform has 2 layers of protection:

Selective View Functions: Control access through selectively disclosed view functions — from fully open to authenticated access;
Transaction Calldata Encryption: Encrypt transaction Calldata within the Sapphire Paratime.

Due to the dual-layered approach, users can effortlessly swap without fear of MEV attacks or disclosing personal information.

Easily trade with Thorn’s AI Wallet

Thorn has developed AI Wallet, based on Account Abstraction, in order to enhance flexibility, user experience, and security.

AI Wallet of Thorn has these key features: Social recovery, Enhanced Privacy, Cross-chain Recipe, Paymaster, Auto Trade, and Restaking. With more advanced functions than the other crypto wallets, AI Wallet offers outstanding benefits:

Automate steps and make the process more seamless
Reduce transaction fees
Confidentially protect your funds and trading transactions

All-in-One Platform

Curve has inspired Thorn’s team with various ideas for integrating dApps into a unified platform, including Thorn Lending, Stablecoin, and DAO.

Thorn Lending

As a stableswap operating on the Curve model, our lending protocol creates a stable token (potentially $usdTHORN) for use within the platform. Users can deposit tokens like ETH, USDC, or USDT to mine THORN tokens, which can then serve as collateral in our lending pool.

Additionally, we’re integrating AI Wallet to enable users to custom token recipes and seamless cross-chain swaps to Sapphire, enhancing users’ ability to effectively utilize their tokens within the protocol.

Thorn DAO

We will develop a two-level DAO model based on the Compile protocol on Ethereum:

Community Voting: Users holding THORN tokens can vote on DAO applications. Their influence on project decisions is determined by a reputation score, which is calculated based on the amount of THORN tokens they hold.
Security Board: A security board consisting of five members (CEO, CTO, two project advisors, and one network foundation representative) can make quick decisions through voting to handle emergencies.

Conclusion

Curve Finance is a DeFi giant running on Ethereum, dominating the market in terms of TVL. By using an AMM, it enables swapping stablecoins with low slippage which could benefit daily traders. Curve has inspired us to create and develop Thorn on Sapphire. We believe that thanks to Curve’s technology and support from Oasis, Thorn has a huge potential to grow in the DeFi storm.

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Thorn Protocol is the pioneering Stableswap platform that offers private trading and cross-chain utility, all empowered by our AI Wallet.

Our core objective is to make the trading of stablecoins and volatile assets more cost-effective and seamless while ensuring the principles of transparency and decentralization.

📍 Thorn’s Official Channels: