In the Project Spotlight series, we interview interesting projects developing on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Previously, we shared interviews with many projects, including MOBOX, Kalata Protocol, Tranchess, Argon, and My DeFi Pet. Today, we invited ApeSwap under the Spotlight. They’re building a decentralized exchange and farming platform with a variety of DeFi products and services. ApeSwap is also one of the winning projects from #MVBII.

Spotlight on ApeSwap

IMPORTANT: Please note the following content does not constitute an endorsement or approval of any of the products or services of the project, organization, or individual.

So what is ApeSwap about? Can you explain your platform to those unfamiliar with it?

ApeSwap is a leading decentralized exchange & farming platform focused on offering a premier yield generation & trading experience. Users are incentivized to pool liquidity on ApeSwap through yield farming to earn the native currency, $BANANA. Additionally, apes can earn $BANANA to stake and earn other tokens and unlock exclusive features.

Our overarching mission is to become a world-class decentralized exchange that alters the trajectory of finance in a more transparent and fair manner.

What are the main advantages of ApeSwap compared to competitors?

1. Filling a Gap/Need: Our primary competitors tend to be “exclusive” to top projects due to their size, relation to BSC and the fact that they were the first movers in the space, but there are still hundreds of other projects that are top tier and need a place to land. Those projects are looking for promising decentralized exchanges to become listed, and that is where we come in!
2. Community is our Core: We focus heavily on creating a welcoming environment for all to join, and we place a huge emphasis on our community. Crypto can be somewhat lonely if you do not have friends in the space, so having a strong community to “hang out with” while you are online and trading, researching, etc., is incredibly important for us to foster. We have one of the most robust communities in crypto from various social scores online – and with the recent creation of our founder Twitter Channels and redesign of our Reddit page, we want our entire team to be as accessible as possible! (Twitter Spaces, ApeTV, Telegram, and Discord are all included).
3. Trading > Gamification: Our focus is to provide a premier trading experience over gamification. We see a lot of competitors that are focusing on a gamified experience. ApeSwap is focusing on providing the infrastructure we see in a centralized environment, in a decentralized fashion. You can see that in the product decisions we are making, like getting charts integrated into our exchange. We will be one of the first DEX’s to have charting. We are also getting leveraged trading and limit orders soon.
4. Decentralize the DEXs: If you have only one DEX on a single chain, you are no longer decentralized. Plain and simple, a centralized DEX does not embrace the true ethos of crypto. A centralized DEX is not truly a DEX. ApeSwap is a true DEX on BSC, one that is not tied to a centralized entity.

What led to the creation of ApeSwap? When was the idea born?

ApeSwap was founded by a group of crypto-obsessed individuals with deep experience in crypto trading, farming, and working with different crypto projects. After participating in the DeFi ecosystem for some time, we felt we could launch a fairer, transparent, and community-driven decentralized exchange. The project was quickly titled “ApeSwap” – built for DeFi apes by DeFi apes.

Can you introduce us to the brains behind ApeSwap? Tell us something about your team.

Our core team comprises 20 talented individuals with deep expertise in all key business functions, from development to marketing to community management. While the starting members of ApeSwap knew each other beforehand, the extended team has been built primarily from community members evolving into team members.

Additionally, we have a wonderfully extensive set of 50+ community administrators and managers covering the globe in over 15 languages.

How do you protect your users? Is security your priority one?

The security of our users and their funds is of the utmost importance to ApeSwap. We have several core principles, which we abide by to ensure we operate in the most secure manner possible.

Here’s a summary:

• Move Slow, Don’t Break Anything — When it comes to innovating from a smart contract perspective, we’re intentionally slow to move. We would much prefer to take our time on getting a new feature out rather than putting our users at risk.
• Move Fast Where There is Low Risk — When it comes to innovating on the business development side of things, we want to move as fast as possible. Low-risk updates like new farms, pools, and UI features are where we drive most of our innovation and change.
• Audit First, then Deploy — Before we launch anything of importance or that could impose a substantial risk to our users, we make sure to get it cleared through an audit. For example, before the launch of Golden Banana, we had BSC GEMZ perform an in-depth audit on our contract code.
• Incentivize Bug Bounties — Currently, we have a bug bounty program that pays up to $100,000 in rewards for critical bugs. This is done in collaboration with Immunefi.

ApeSwap has been audited 3 times and addressed all concerns that the auditors have brought to our attention. You can see the full details in our documentation here: https://apeswap.gitbook.io/apeswap-finance/security/audits.

There are a few blockchains that could work with ApeSwap. Why did you decide to build on BSC?

1. Best EVM Infrastructure – In terms of the smoothest EVM UX, lowest fees, and most reliable chain, BSC tends to thread the needle quite well.
2. CEX Support – Having Binance supporting BSC is crucial to ensure adoption, significant token pegs, and cross-chain mobility.
3. Origin of Innovation – As we’ve seen more recently, BSC allows for true innovation on the application layer (which used to only happen on ETH). Instead of worrying about gas optimizations and base layer enhancements, brainpower can be used towards building better DeFi protocols.
4. Community – Working with the 80+ partners we’ve found on BSC has been a true blessing. We’ve been able to create a community in the truest sense, where BSC feels like home!

Can you share some details about your roadmap? Anything we should be looking forward to?

We are focusing on three core areas going forward:

1. DEX & Yield Farm Enhancements
2. Building a Top-Tier Ecosystem
3. Maintain a Community-First Environment

The graphic below sums it all up quite nicely!

Where should I start if I want to get on ApeSwap?

We’ve tried to make our user experience as intuitive as possible, so ApeSwap.Finance itself tends to be the best starting point!

For those who need a little extra detail, our documentation has in-depth guides on how to use all the primary functionalities of ApeSwap! Find it here.