LlamaCorp：From Infrastructure to Trading Aggregators, The Most Authoritative Database in the Crypto Space

The Legendary Beginnings of DeFiLlama

DeFiLlama was initially founded by Charlie and later led by 0xngmi to widespread success in the market. DeFiLlama stood out among many information websites because it included a vast amount of information and presented it in a way that was easy for anyone to understand and engage with.

To this day, DeFiLlama continues to provide data free of charge to everyone and keeps launching new initiatives such as a news aggregator website, Chainlist, and free RPC resources.

The Cornerstone and Pioneer of the Industry, LlamaCorp

With the success and expanding scope of DeFiLlama, the founders and the team realized they could further develop their business to offer more diversified solutions and services. This led to the creation of LlamaCorp, which is aimed at building a broader ecosystem and solutions platform. DeFiLlama, as the precursor and pioneer, laid the foundation for the establishment and development of LlamaCorp.

Core Team Members of LlamaCorp

0xngmi: Co-founder of LlamaCorp and a major shareholder of DeFiLlama, he has driven and maintained the DeFiLlama project and its team and continues to be involved in planning new projects for LlamaCorp. His contributions are indispensable to the success of DeFiLlama today.

Charlie: One of the co-founders of LlamaCorp, DeFiLlama, and LlamaFolio, who also participated in DLNews. He possesses extensive expertise in the DeFi sector and has made significant contributions to blockchain development, being a core team member of Curve.

BEN: Co-founder of LlamaCorp, also involved in LlamaFolio, LlamaNodes, and DLNews, among other projects.

In addition to these three, there are many other members in LlamaCorp, including some who are anonymous, and some who continue to improve the user experience for WEB3 users.

Llamacorp’s Business Units

1. DeFiLlama: On-chain database
2. LlamaNodes: Fast and secure RPC provider
3. LlamaFolio: Multi-chain asset management and wallet tracking tool
4. DLNews: Professional, original cryptocurrency and financial industry news website
5. LlamaPay: Timed transfers and GAS-saving cryptocurrency payment solution
6. ChainList: Multi-chain aggregator of EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) RPC lists

DeFiLlama

DeFiLlama is a database aggregating data from dozens of public blockchains and hundreds of thousands of protocols. It offers a categorization feature that allows users to view thousands of data entries from different perspectives and tags, assisting them in making decisions when participating in DeFi. Finding the most suitable protocol among hundreds can be challenging, especially since each has slightly different rules. DeFiLlama helps you quickly filter the right protocols and find Alpha, becoming your best assistant in the Web3 domain.

As an on-chain protocol, the most credible data is the TVL (Total Value Locked), which is important because these protocols need to be attractive enough to persuade investors to deposit their funds. The greater the amount of money involved, the more appealing the protocol becomes in certain respects, for example, Uniswap, Aave, Curve, and EigenLayer mentioned in the previous issue, whether it’s for safety, stable yields, or even potential airdrop opportunities.

Moreover, by examining daily and weekly data changes, you can assess users’ trust level in the credit (funds) stored in a project. If a protocol offers potential token issuance opportunities, it could also see a significant increase in funds quickly. For instance, after Zerolend (zero) announced a potential airdrop opportunity, its TVL increased from 3 million to 34 million within a month.

The data provided by DeFiLlama includes:

1. DeFi and major blockchain data
2. On-chain yields
3. Token unlocking
4. On-chain liquidation prices
5. Exchange reserves
6. Project financing information
7. Stablecoin supply

DeFiLlama also offers several different services:

• LlamaSwap
  • This platform, known as the “Aggregator of Aggregators,” helps you find the best swap routes among major aggregators, ensuring you get the best prices. It’s well-known that using aggregators instead of directly interacting with decentralized exchanges (Dex) like Uniswap or Curve is preferable primarily because the direct use of a Dex often involves higher transaction fees and costs, and only allows price checking at one exchange at a time.
  • With an aggregator, you can compare prices across several Dexes simultaneously, helping you find the best exchange method and reduce intermediary costs. The unique feature of LlamaSwap is its ability to aggregate the aggregators themselves, allowing you to choose the most suitable option from hundreds of Dexes.

• Borrow Aggregator
  • This service quickly finds matching collateral and the currency you wish to borrow across major lending protocols, providing lending rates to help you make informed decisions.
  • The Borrow Aggregator stands out by allowing you to compare the best lending rates across different blockchains.

• Correlations Matrix

This tool calculates the correlations between different cryptocurrencies to help you create a more suitable asset allocation for your portfolio.

• Fees
  • Evaluating the viability and success of a company often comes down to whether it is profitable or solves a specific problem. DeFiLlama enables you to filter and scrutinize projects, giving a clearer view of which protocols are more profitable and which might be operating at a loss yet exhibit unusual price volatility, helping you avoid potential risks.

LlamaNodes

1. Provides fast, secure blockchain access: LlamaNodes offers public and advanced RPC with industry-leading features, supports cryptocurrency payments, and does not require a contract.
2. Offers industry-leading features: LlamaNodes features dynamic load balancing and intelligent caching to optimize speed, powerful monitoring tools to predict usage, reduce costs, and ensure no important details are missed with a comprehensive monitoring dashboard.
3. Supports multiple blockchains: LlamaNodes adds new chains every month, supporting all cross-chain needs, whether mainnet, testnet, devnet, full data, or archival data, catering to user requirements.
4. Supports archival data: It provides a blockchain time machine, facilitating the search and review of specific data, transaction records, or statuses from past blockchain events, helping users understand the blockchain’s development over time and conditions at specific points.
5. Offers flexible and diversified infrastructure: The geographically diverse infrastructure means your DApp is more resistant to censorship and centralized downtimes.

LlamaFolio

A multi-chain asset management tool that efficiently manages multiple wallets, chains, and assets for cryptocurrency users. With LlamaFolio, you can properly manage and simultaneously oversee your cryptocurrency assets across various blockchains, as well as track the projects you are involved in. This is particularly crucial for Web3 users who are constantly seeking the latest projects and Alpha, as it allows them to view not only which assets they possess but also data such as Debts and Claimable tokens, providing a quick overview of the address’s debt situation and how many reward tokens can be claimed. However, the current functionality for binding multiple wallets for a comprehensive query is not yet perfected, and there is anticipation for the DL team to enhance this and deliver a better user experience.

• Calendar
  A standout feature is the integration of governance functions for Web3 users. In the Web3 world, token staking grants governance rights, allowing users to vote on future protocol enhancement proposals, which can influence whether they are adopted—a feature not previously seen in wallet management tools. Additionally, you can use the calendar system to add reminders to your schedule, helping you remember to cast your votes within the specified time frame.

• History

Enables viewing the activity status of an address. This may be useful for evaluating the activity levels on chains like Berachain or ZKS Era, ensuring you remain active enough to potentially receive a higher share of future airdrop rewards.

DLNwes

A comprehensive platform for cryptocurrency and financial technology news. The main content includes:

1. News reports and real-time updates in DeFi and the cryptocurrency market.
2. Commentary, insights, and expert analyses from industry specialists and analysts.
3. ‘Pro’ articles for paid subscribers, offering more in-depth content.
4. Comprehensive news on industry personnel moves, cultural trends, and regulatory policies.

Not only does it have a well-rounded editorial team, but it also maintains open communication channels for reader interaction. By providing cutting-edge information, professional perspectives, and a quality user experience, DLNews aims to deliver the most authentic, up-to-date, and original content, aspiring to be a one-stop, high-quality content platform in the cryptocurrency sector.

LlamaPay

LlamaPay is a decentralized protocol designed to address challenges faced by DeFi payments, such as slow transaction speeds, high fees, complex interfaces, and a lack of interoperability. It aims to facilitate continuous, automated payments. LlamaPay allows anyone to create, send, and receive payments over a distributed duration instead of one-time payments. The protocol also enables anyone to develop tethering plans, utilizing smart contracts to automate and secure the payment process.

Through these tethering plans, users can define payment modes, frequencies, and durations, setting up smart contracts to automate this process. This eliminates the need for users to repeatedly send payments manually, thereby enhancing the convenience and efficiency of the payment process. The setup of tethering plans can also be flexibly adjusted to suit different payment scenarios.

LlamaPay is well-known for simplifying the process of paying employee salaries, significantly reducing GAS fees, and automating salary payments, freeing employers from the need to send the same transaction every month. Their services have been endorsed by many within the crypto community, including protocols like Curve, Convex, and Fantom.

Chainlist

Chainlist was initially launched by AC, the founder of Yearn and advisor to Fantom, who decided to retire from the space, leading to the discontinuation of the service. DeFiLlama then took over, providing the service that allows users to quickly find specific blockchains and add them to their wallets without manually entering and searching for details.

In addition to offering many tools, the DL team has received significant attention. One of the co-founders, 0xngmi, is notably renowned in the Web3 community for his principled stance and ideas. He and another co-founder, Charlie, had disputes over whether to issue a token, leading to a hard fork by 0xngmi who launched llama.fi. 0xngmi’s decision not to issue a token was to protect investors and received positive feedback, while Charlie, concerned about funding the operations out of his pocket, faced online harassment. Eventually, the two reconciled and returned to operate DL together.

Beyond the hard fork incident, 0xngmi also launched Llamalend, a service offering NFT collateral loans, enhancing asset liquidity for NFT holders without selling their NFTs.

More recently, he introduced SmolRefuel, a tool that automatically converts tokens into Gas Fee tokens without needing a Gas Fee, aiding users who lack Gas Fee tokens to perform token exchanges without additional costs.

Conclusion

In the world of Web3, LlamaCorp and DeFiLlama are not just companies but the heart of the community, providing valuable resources to everyone. Under the leadership of 0xngmi and Charlie, these teams have proven to thrive even in fierce competition by staying true to principles and focusing on serving the community.

As LlamaCorp and DeFiLlama continue to grow, they are shaping the future of DeFi. This is not merely a display of performance but a tribute to progress, the spirit of innovation, and the power of community. Every innovative step they take lights the way forward for us all.