Calling All Writers: Learn What The Ethereum Writing Contest Is All About

In this AMA, we discuss the ongoing #ethereum writing contestand the main topics for the HackerNoon writer community: whether you're exploring Ethereum's leadership in decentralization, scalability, and security, analyzing Layer 2 solutions, or examining how decentralized finance impacts governance and individual freedoms, we want to hear your insights.

See the writing prompts here and share your story to win $1,000!

Linda is an evangelist for DeGate and trustless money. She connects DeFi with real people, understanding their psyches, motivations, and aspirations, with a mission to make DeFi accessible and relatable.

This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, Linda, Asher Umerie, David Smooke and Jose Hernandez occurred in slogging's official #amas channel, and has been edited for readability.

Hi Linda! Thank you for joining us!
Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your journey through Web3? How did you start?

Hi everyone! thanks Mónica Freitas for hosting the AMA. My journey into web3 is a self-conversion from web2. I worked in the internet business for 10+ years and I struggled with several problems I saw but no solutions seem to exist. you had to accept the world works this way. When I got to know about blockchain, there I found the potential solutions. That’s how I got into Web3.

Thanks for sharing your journey Linda! It's inspiring to hear how blockchain provided the solutions you were seeking. Given your experience in both web2 and web3, what challenges do you see in transitioning from traditional systems to trustless systems like Ethereum L2? How do you think DeFi platforms, such as DeGate, can further bridge the gap for those making the switch

I think major challenges are the lack of understanding of how decentralized networks work and the current limitations of blockchains - fees, speed, throughput, and the lack of mass adoption applications in web3.

Ethereum with its L2s are leading the advancement to become a global decentralized financial infrastructure layer. In terms of gas fees, it is decreased significantly thanks to EIP4844 and multiple L2s. Check the gas fees on Ethereum L1 now, 1.3 Gwei.

https://degate.com/ is an application-specific rollup on Ethereum, the app is an Order Book DEX. The best is it gives you the security and trustlessness of Ethereum and also the CEX-like experience - fast, low fee, and the possibility to deploy traditional trading strategies on a dex.

Hi Linda thank you for joining us today!

You mentioned a “lack of understanding” as a challenge in transitioning from traditional systems to trustless systems.

Given your experience, can you elaborate on specific areas where users struggle the most? For example, do they find it difficult to understand:

Further, how does DeGate address these educational gaps for transitioning users?

Asher Umerie
In terms of user barrier in entering defi, I find their main challenges are:

Self-custody means great responsibility. You need to take charge of your funds’ safety and there is no customer support to turn to if you do something wrong. Some people find too much responsibility to handle.

Security risk. There are numerous incidents in defi that caused huge losses for users. Some people think funds in defi are vulnerable to getting hacked or stolen. Plus, the “evil” practice from the project team - rugpull, ponzi, etc. The dangers are the hackers, scammers, and the team.

For the security, DeGate has done a lot. It has the maximum level of trustless (https://l2beat.com/scaling/projects/degate3) - meaning no one can touch user funds, and users can ALWAYS withdraw their funds in whatever situation, even in extreme situations when all operators are down. This is realised by Exodus mode (https://docs.degate.com/v/product_en/concepts/exodus-mode)


In terms of user experience, we find any CEX user knows how to use DeGate without much instruction. The UI of DeGate DEX is so much like a CEX, that users find familiarity in it. Also, familiarity lowers barriers to entry.

Thanks for sharing Linda

Building on this: how does DeGate manage to balance user-friendliness with maintaining complete decentralization and trustlessness?

User-friendly is manifested in simple UI, low fee, smooth and instant trading experience. These are possible because of the ZK rollup. The Ethereum fee model consists of two main components: data and computation. By utilizing ZK proofs, DeGate significantly reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored on the Ethereum mainnet. Additionally, the computation costs are also optimized through efficient zk technology, enabling faster trade execution.

DeGate enables orders and transactions to be completed off-chain (on L2), and only sends packaged information on-chain for zero-knowledge proof, which is different from traditional DEXs where every order and transaction is initiated and completed on-chain. This saves a lot of gas fees, and does not depend on the confirmation time of the L1 blockchain network.

Data availability of DeGate is on Ethereum L1. ZK proofs are then submitted on-chain for verification and data availability.

Hey Linda! Thanks for taking some time here. "Grid Strategy" is very prominent in the top navigation of your app. Why do think Grid is the prominent strategy for training? Did putting it in the top navigation drive more success for your customers?

David Smooke DeGate is the first one to bring a decentralized grid strategy to the market. It is an easy spot trading strategy to buy low and sell high. Conceptually similar to liquidity providing in AMM dex. It is one of the automatic trading strategies that we want to bring to the DEX space.

Hey Linda! What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions people still have regarding Defi?

Jose Hernandez, I’d say the perceived danger of defi - scam, hack, great responsibility of self-custody.

Completely agree Linda. What do you think are the most effective strategies for educating people about the benefits and workings of web3, especially in terms of how Ethereum L2s function?

You also mentioned the significant decrease in gas fees due to EIP4844 and L2s. How do you see this impacting the overall ecosystem in the long term, especially for new projects and developers entering the space? Linda

Mónica Freitas, about education, I think some task platforms (for not-so-tech people) and research portals like L2Beat (for people who have crypto knowledge) are doing a great job in educating people about L2s.

I think the decrease of gas is fundamental in making Ethereum scalable. Compared to other chains, Ethereum’s (only) disadvantage is higher fees. L2s are here to solve this problem. Though with lower fees ETH becomes inflationary, we need to build and attract more apps and users into the ecosystem to generate more transactions. I think when ETH becomes deflationary again, we will be in a very different place than now, with a very edge advantage.

Interesting Linda, what role do you think L2s will play in maintaining Ethereum's competitiveness against other chains? How do you see the ecosystem evolving if Ethereum becomes deflationary?

Also, how does DeGate differentiate itself from other DEXs in the market? Are there any upcoming features or partnerships that you're particularly excited about? Linda

Mónica Freitas L2s help the scaling. In fact, we’ve seen some L1s becoming an Ethereum L2. Naturally, an ecosystem with more users, liquidity, and activities will flourish and attract more devs and apps to join. That’s the network effect.

Everyone (ETH holders) will be happy when Ethereum becomes deflationary again lol

DeGate’s uniqueness is the order book model on dex, you can think of it as on-chain Binance. The exchange model has always been order book, since history till today in traditional finance. Order book suits more trader’s needs. AMM model is a workaround when Ethereum was not scalable enough. Now the technology is mature, we move order book trading on chain.

DeGate supports multi-chain assets, currently through wormhole, and will expand the support for more chains’ assets. This excites me very much. Token availability is not limited to erc20. This multi-chain feature will make it more like an on-chain Binance

in terms of which L1 is leading in the decentralized infrastructure for the financial layer, Ethereum has shown evident signs of winning: highly decentralized and robust network, most liquidity, most financial dapps, and most wallets. With the flourishing of L2s, the ecosystem is more user-friendly and lowers the barrier for users to enter.

Linda, on the Degate roadmap, it says phase 5 (coming in 2025) will focus on hyper scalability. What does this mean for users?

Jose Hernandez, the hyper scalability refers to the implementation of eip4844, and an upgraded version of DeGate.

Linda, You mentioned DeGate’s support for multi-chain assets through wormholes. Are there any specific target chains on your radar for near-future integrations? And how do you plan to keep things secure when bridging assets between different networks?

Asher Umerie, very soon we will announce cross-chain deposit/withdrawal, an exciting feature that many users requested, especially those who don’t want to pass the Ethereum mainnet. In terms of assets support, our aim is to expand to as many chains as the feasibility allows. The mechanism for supporting these assets will also be published.

Awesome, Linda! That leads me to my next question: why has DeGate decided to host a writing contest about Ethereum? Why do you think it's a good time to have people discuss this topic?

Mónica Freitas, for the reason I mentioned above, signs showing the Ethereum ecosystem is here to stay for long and sustainable reasons and causes. After we decided to host the writing contest, ETH ETF was approved. Another positive sign 😀

What kind of submissions are you hoping for? Are there any specific topics you're particularly interested in reading?

Any submissions that relate to our contest’s description are welcome! From tech, economics, and social perspectives to address the topic.

Good advice, Linda! What advice would you give to participants to help them succeed in this contest? Are there any common pitfalls that participants should avoid when writing their submissions?

Mónica Freitas, we are open to any type of submissions - just show authenticity, originality, and human-writing works!

Finally, what would be the main takeaway you would like people to get from this AMA and your contest?

We’d like that through this contest, participants can understand and explore more about Ethereum and the L2s, and of course, know about DeGate!

That’s a wrap for this AMA!

Thank you Linda for your time, thoughtful answers and attention to detail. We’re excited to follow your journey from here on out and see what you do next!

To all the writers on HackerNoon, make sure to leverage the valuable insights shared during this conversation when crafting your entries for the #decentralize-ai writing contest.

We can’t wait to read what you come up with!