Section One: Meet MES Protocol
Paul, GetBlock: Can you explain the key features and functionalities of the MES Protocol?
Sharon, MES Protocol: MES Protocol is a DEX designed to facilitate liquidity movement across rollups settling on Ethereum. With MES, users can trade assets between the rollups on a decentralized exchange with orderbook functionality — the whole experience made smooth and seamless for the end-user. Our key features are:
Alternatives in place: MES Protocol takes a shot at catching up with CEX-level experience by giving users the opportunity to trade any pair, stablecoins included. Additionally, users have a choice to either operate on a single chain or go cross-chain.
The cross-rollup trading is our defining feature: By engaging in cross-chain trading, MES users take advantage of the deeper liquidity of combined rollups.
Swap and bridge at one go: The MES Convert allows near-instant swaps with a built-in bridge between the rollups, with traders having to give no second thought to the background process.
Permissionless withdrawals: All the MES Protocol users enjoy withdrawing funds to any of the available rollups on demand.
The project went mainnet in April this year with zkSync Era, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Ethereum mainnets supported. However, MES Protocol is set to keep expanding the list of available chains by the end of the year.
P.: What are the main benefits of using the MES Protocol for liquidity providers and traders in a cross-rollup environment?
S.: Our core driver is to offer a one-stop shop for both traders and liquidity providers and allow them to forget about chains.
Traders: Are welcome to trade and withdraw to a rollup of choice without having to go through third-party bridges.
LPs: Are only required to deposit once to get their liquidity sprinkled everywhere and collect fee income from across the chains.
In essence, MES Protocol acts as an aggregator for both the demand and supply parties. By doing this, we can offer better rates for traders and higher returns for liquidity providers.
P.: Are there any specific requirements or considerations developers should keep in mind when connecting MES Protocol?
S.: Connecting to MES Protocol is a mere straightforward process. To tune single-chain swaps and cross-chain bridging with the protocol, DApp developers would need one single API call. It is to be noted that the API endpoint will be made available anytime soon.
Likewise, MES helps new rollups to easily bridge to other chains without going through L1, followed by a setting up process that takes less than 30 minutes. For developers, MES could be an ideal source of cross-chain liquidity for their new rollup.
Upon setting up, users are advised to keep track of the ETH balance on each chain and the trading account (the Vault).
P.: Security is a critical aspect in the world of DeFi. How does the MES Protocol address security concerns and protect users' funds and transactions?
S.: First and foremost, we believe that it’s crucial to build on the right and safe Layer 1, which is why we choose to go with Ethereum. Secondly, we have implemented appropriate security measures on the protocol level:
Validium model and Merkel tree structure: for optimizing data storage.
Permissionless Withdrawals: to ensure the safety of user funds.
Escape Hatch mechanism and FBA Model: to prevent MEV attacks.
Section Two: Prospects and barriers
P.: Can you share any notable partnerships or collaborations that the MES Protocol has established to date? How do these partnerships contribute to the growth and adoption of the protocol?
S.: Before going mainnet, MES protocol heavily focused on building and growing the community.
All the collaborations we have done so far are on the marketing side. In particular, we started the Meet Our Neighbours campaign, where we introduced fellow projects in the ecosystem like Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync Era to our community. Joint Twitter spaces and AMAs came to be beneficial for building connections while learning about other projects and sharing our vision.
Now that we have some connections built, we’ll be aiming for deeper partnerships, giveaways, and trading competitions. And of course, the ultimate partnership will be in the form of integrations.
P.: As the CBDO of MES Protocol, what do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges in the realm of cross-rollup orderbook DEXs, and how is MES positioned to address them?
S.: Despite the rapid growth of the sphere, most DeFi protocols are focused on operating on a single network, which creates liquidity shortfalls and limits opportunities. MES Protocol intends to meet the increasing demand for cross-chain interoperability by addressing the following aspects:
Expanded user base: On MES Protocol, users can operate between different chains and rollups and have access to a variety of protocols while protocols gain from a larger number of users.
Increased liquidity: Liquidity aggregated at one platform is essential for an efficient market. It will also result in reduced spread and better rates for participants.
Road to full Decentralization: Enabling cross-rollup interoperability leaves less chance of a single point of failure.
With more than one chain involved, scalability is also a challenge since cross-rollup integrations require more computational resources, this is why we use the Validium model to reduce the amount of on-chain data.
P.: What sets the MES Protocol apart from other cross-rollup solutions in the market? What are the unique features or advantages that make it a compelling choice for users and projects?
S.: Most existing cross-chain DEXs stick to the AMM model and resort to Aggregators for the liquidity (e.g. SolSwap, OpenOcean, Squid).
AMM vs Orderbook
While the AMM model is easier and considered to be more gas-efficient, we intentionally choose to implement the Orderbooks mechanism for a set of reasons. First off, upgrades specific to L2s keep making transacting on rollups faster and cheaper. Additionally, the Orderbook model (successfully utilized in traditional finances) offers our users more trading strategies in addition to showing no price slippage on larger orders as opposed to AMM-based DEXs.
Aggregator vs Liquidity pool
Aggregator as the liquidity source is a popular choice among AMM DEXs, as it’s readily available to be leveraged. However, the major advantage of liquidity pools is that they do not rely on any third party. By adopting the liquidity pool model, we bring more control and increased token utility to MES Protocol users.
P.: Are there any plans to launch a token for MES Protocol? If yes, could you tell us about the expected benefits for the protocol and its users?
S.: We will consider issuing a protocol token in the future, for it plays a vital role in creating a sustainable and balanced economic system in the long term. Yet, tokenomics is a big deal and should be thoroughly planned. This is why we’re not rushing it, as we have to think of how to best link the token’s value to the platform utility for sustainable growth and organic demand.
Section Three: Community goals
P.: In GetBlock, we value our users as part of our extended family. We have noticed that the MES Protocol has cultivated a friendly and warm community. Could you please share a bit about the approach or policies you have in place to foster a positive and inclusive environment for your users?
S.: For us, the key to fostering a positive and inclusive environment lies in transparency. We regularly communicate plans and updates to our supporters. Most of our followers are contributors to the L2 and roll-ups ecosystem. Therefore, at MES protocol, we are making efforts to calibrate things upon the community feedback and try to stay as responsive to questions and requests as possible.
Ultimately, if you're building something solid community would absolutely see the value and appreciate the effort.
Section Four: MES Protocol plans for 2023, a firsthand look
P.: Looking ahead, what are the plans and roadmap for the MES Protocol? Are there any upcoming developments or features that the community can look forward to?
S.: We’re sticking to our original roadmap rolled out at the beginning of the year. There are currently a couple of things cooking behind the scenes:
Integrating more rollups: Starting with Linea and Polygon zkEVW. If more rollups go mainnet before the end of the year, you can expect us to embrace them as well.
Enhancing Liquidity Pools.
Adding more features: such as Customizable Wallets, Permissionless Listing, and Derivatives Market among others.
Open sourcing API and the backend.
For the good of Decentralization: Launching the DAC (Data Availability Committee).
More collaborations and co-hosted events!
P.: And the last one: What contributions can your organization make to advance Web3 development and integrate it seamlessly into our daily lives?
S.: From my personal experience, we’re still a far cry from mass adoption. Hence, everyone’s minor effort matters in pushing Web3 forward to a future that we all want to see. For us, it comes down to learning, keeping up with tech innovations in the space on top of educating and sharing with the community.
On another level, the two major obstacles to mass adoption are security and UX. Towards this end, we’re striving to build a platform that is as easy to use as a bank account but without having to trust the bank. This may sound far ahead but I’m confident that it comes sooner than expected.
P.: Thank you very much for coming and discussing these inspiring topics with us, Sharon. We’re excited to see what comes next for the MES Protocol!
S.: Likewise! Thank you, everyone, for tuning in!
