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Liquidity Providers

What does it mean to provide liquidity?

Providing liquidity on THORChain creates an opportunity for holders of stagnant assets (e.g. BTC, ETH, BNB) to earn a return or yield on their asset. Traditionally, with a CEX or 0x style exchange, trades require an order book of bids/asks (buys/sells) at a specific price, because if an investor wants to trade one asset for another, you need a buyer and a seller. Decentralised exchanges like UniSwap and THORChain utilise liquidity pools to provide more fluid access to trades. Liquidity pools are the way decentralised exchanges maintain a reservoir of assets, enabling buyers and sellers to exchange assets on demand. Liquidity Providers are therefore those network participants who deposit their assets into liquidity pools in exchange for a share of the trading fees generated by the trading of buyers and sellers.

What assets can you swap and provide liquidity for?

  • Current Chains — BTC, ETH, LTC, BNB, BCH, Cosmos, AVAX
  • Tokens such as: ERC-20 (USDT and SUSHI), BEP2 (BUSD and BTCB).
  • See full list at https://viewblock.io/thorchain/pools or https://thorchain.net/#/pools

Can I stake RUNE?

Not quite. “Providing liquidity” in THORChain is not the same thing as staking because even if you provide only 1 asset (asymmetrically add), THORChain will automatically be separated into 2 equal parts: 50% Assets and 50% Rune. You will always have exposure to both assets.

Is there a lockup period if I provide Liquidity?

There is no minimum or maximum time or amount. Join and leave whenever you wish. There is however a required confirmation time before THORChain credits you with liquidity when adding or swapping to protect against Reorgs. Wait time is based on:
  • Total Asset amount (in a specific block of a specific blockchain)
  • Per block reward of the chain
  • Block time Required confirmations = Total Asset Amount (in a specific block of a specific blockchain) divided by the chain's per block reward Then that is multiplied by block time to get the approx "wait time". See Confirmation-Counting.
Regarding ILP, Liquidity Providers will receive 100% IL protection after they have been in the pool for 100 days, getting 1% ILP coverage for each day in the pool - but the liquidity can be withdrawn at any time.

Will I have Impermanent Loss Protection if I provide liquidity in THORChain?

No. Liquidity Providers will receive 100% IL protection has ended on THORChain in preference for Savers.

Asymmetrical / Symmetrical FAQs

Can I withdraw LP symmetrically after depositing an asset asymmetrically?

No. You cannot withdraw symmetrically. You can withdraw only asymmetrically for LP you deposited asymmetrically.

I entered asymmetrically but received less than anticipated.

Yes, because when you pool asymmetrically your asset is swapped into 50% rune and 50% asset. When swapping you are subject to slippage and fees. There are 2 types charged on asymmetrical deposits/withdrawals:
  1. 1.
    The on-chain deposit transaction fee (inbound tx)
  2. 2.
    The liquidity fee as a function of slip
Upon withdrawal, there will also be a transaction fee (outbound tx)
Are there slippage fees for symmetrical deposits?
No, there is only the deposit transaction fee.

What ways can I withdraw my asymmetrical deposit?

If you deposit asymmetrically you can ONLY withdraw asymmetrically.

What ways can I withdraw my symmetrical deposit?

You can withdraw your symmetrical deposit both asymmetrically and symmetrically.
Will all ERC20 and BEP2 assets be supported and listed on THORChain by default?
No. Only short tail assets with high MarketCap, good velocity and economic activity would have chances to win liquidity competition to get listed. Then the community will vote.
➜ See Governance.