Synthetix (SNX) Founder Announces New Project To Compete With Centralized Exchanges

The founder of Ethereum (ETH)-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Synthetix (SNX) has announced the launch of a new project that he says aims to compete with centralized exchanges (CEXs).

In a new blog post, Kain Warwick explains why he wants to launch an exchange when the Synthetix ecosystem already has Kwenta, a DEX that aims to provide zero-slippage trading for crypto, forex or commodities synthetic perpetual futures.

Synthetix has been using Ethereum layer-2 Optimism (OP), but Warwick says that more value capture could be accomplished by building an exchange that users can access without needing to directly navigate through blockchain and DeFi.

“I’m sure you’re asking, ‘Why the f**k do we need another front end, we already have [Kwenta]?’ I believe it is time to compete directly with CEXs. But that means making some compromises. The infrastructure is ready. It is time to transition to user acquisition mode.

Despite being dragged over broken glass for years while waiting for it, I still love Optimism. But Optimism is still an isolated island, far removed from the [Ethereum] mainland. Not everyone is ready to embark on a seven-day voyage to reach this island, no matter how stunning the beaches may be. Do we wait for these lazy people to come to their senses? I tried that. It didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped.”

The DeFi veteran proposes “Infinex”, the potential name for a Synthetix-powered centralized exchange that users can access with simply a username, email and password.

“The trader signs up with a username, password, and email – that’s all that is required.

Username and password you say?

To maximize the user experience, Infinex generates a new public-private key pair for each user and stores it client-side in the browser. However, this key cannot withdraw funds. It’s only used to sign trades sent to the Account Relayer on Optimism…

When the trader clicks deposit, a unique deposit address is generated for them. They can send USDT, USDC, or sUSD to this deposit address. These funds are swept into the margin pool, controlled via governance.”

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