Enhancing Performance and Attracting Investment in Decentralized Financial Platform

About Company

In banking and finance, loans typically either demand a big collateral as evidence of valuable assets or properties from borrowers, and are specially hard for individuals compared to corporations. 

Nevertheless, our client has taken a groundbreaking approach. They've used Ethereum’s smart contracts without the common disadvantages of crypto loans (high collateral, short-termed loans) while also avoiding the bureaucracy of traditional loans (slow, require evidence of valuable assets or properties from borrowers). 


In simple terms, they combined the good parts of each form of loan, and, empowered by smart contracts, they can provide loans faster, more secure and advantageous for individuals.

They looked for an experienced team to enhance and create new features for the application's front end, allowing their in-house team to focus exclusively on improving the smart contracts, which serve as the backbone of the application.

Client vision and key challenges

Our client had to embark on a series of incremental milestones to achieve their objective of enabling global lending. These critical steps included:

• Full Protocol Implementation: they needed to comprehensively implement their Ethereum-based protocol, automating aspects of the lending process that were previously manual.
• Decentralized Participation: they aimed to facilitate borrower and lender participation within the protocol without any direct involvement from their staff, ensuring a truly decentralized ecosystem.
• Application Performance Enhancement: they recognized the importance of optimizing their application's performance to deliver a seamless and efficient user experience.
• Boosting Lender Engagement: To guarantee the protocol's sustainability and bolster liquidity for borrowers, they had to introduce additional incentives to attract lenders and encourage capital investment.

Vinta tackled the last two objectives, allowing their in-house team to focus on the initial two. This division presented challenges as we dealt with a decentralized application directly connected to the blockchain rather than the traditional front-end and back-end setup.

Technical solutions

In 2021, amidst the Web3 community's efforts to establish consistent architecture and standards, Vinta began this project. This period of defining libraries, frameworks, and standards necessitated thorough research and benchmarking. Our aim was to keep up with this changing environment while continuing to develop new features and enhance our client's platform performance.

Throughout this process, 2 significant technical challenges demanded our attention:

Interacting with Ethereum smart contracts

Smart contracts are key to Web3 systems, acting like business rules in blockchain infrastructure and balancing various aspects. These contracts are crucial for the frontend to manage interactions transparently with user wallet integration and approval requests. 

However, updating these contracts can be costly and complex, involving widespread consensus across the blockchain and intricate recalculations within the platform. Recognizing the risks of miscommunication and reworks due to the complexity of handoffs between teams, we initiated weekly meetings with the internal team to ensure alignment on the frontend's use of contracts. This strategy proved vital in streamlining development and minimizing rework throughout the project.

Frontend requests to the blockchain

We faced an efficiency issue in the web component of our application due to the complexity of accessing data on the blockchain. This challenge was particularly acute for a dApp requiring extensive data processing. Our solution was to integrate with The Graph protocol, a decentralized system for indexing and querying blockchain data. By using GraphQL-based APIs and customizing subgraphs, we could access and process crucial information, which was pivotal for introducing a rewards feature and enhancing platform efficiency.

To tailor The Graph to our client's needs, we analyzed request times and pinpointed delays in the blockchain-frontend connection. We identified delays that The Graph could reduce or eliminate. We then presented our findings to our client, highlighting the protocol's potential to improve connections with digital wallets and decentralized applications, which they highly valued.

Project achievements

Our collaboration with this client led to substantial advancements in their decentralized financial platform. Key achievements include:

• Technical Breakthroughs: Implementing The Graph protocol significantly streamlined blockchain data processing and Ethereum smart contract interactions. This leap in technology enhanced efficiency and set new performance standards in the DeFi space.
• Improved User Experience: Optimizing the frontend for faster blockchain interactions led to a more responsive and user-friendly platform. This directly increased user engagement and satisfaction.
• Business Growth and Investor Interest: The upgraded platform performance and usability helped attract new users and investors, positioning the client as a leader in the Ethereum-based financial ecosystem.
• Effective Collaboration and Risk Management: Regular coordination with the client's internal team ensured alignment and reduced misunderstandings, leading to a more accurate and efficient project outcome.

Ultimately, we successfully managed the delicate balance of conducting research, benchmarking, development, and optimizing the platform's performance. 

Our deliverables supported the client to expand their user base and satisfaction, while encouraging increased spending within the system, aiding our client in revolutionizing the way global lending operates.