We have put together a demo video of Reloanr, accessible at this link. The dApp, now on Kovan Testnet, can be accessed at app.reloanr.com. This blog contains detailed instructions and some additional information about this proof-of-concept dApp. Let us know what you think in the comments section, or write to anand@lendroid.com.
You’re excited about Reloanr and want to play with it right away; but you’re not a dev, you don’t really know your way around testnet and you went to app.reloanr.com, chances are you saw this -
If your first thought is “WTF! Why should this be this complicated anyway?” then please take a deep breath. We got you covered. Here are some things it’ll help to remember -
- ReloanR is fairly simple and intuitive
- It exists in an easily accessible test environment called Kovan (on mainnet soon)
- Kovan is like a simulator. You have test versions of cryptocurrencies like ETH, Dai and LST which you can use to play with Reloanr.
- Setting it all up is a one-time thing. Think of it as putting together a simple lego set. Not rocket science, but takes a few minutes.
About Reloanr
Those who’ve been with us for a while will remember that we first floated the concept around ETH Buenos Aires last year. Primarily, Reloanr began as an effective secondary market for DAI. It now works with DAI, WETH, DGD, and USDC.
Those who have digital assets can typically only hold on to the token. With Reloanr, they get to add a layer of utility to these digital assets and earn some interest off of them. And for those who don’t have the digital assets offered on the dApp, this becomes an alternative means of getting them.
The larger picture is that Reloanr is potentially a secondary market to a vast range of tokens. It is also the first proof of concept dApp of the protocol, and also serves as a launchpad for lending-based dApps. Adding alternative tokens as either collateral or as loan tokens is a fairly simple procedure, if a dApp so chose to do it.
There are four key players on Reloanr. You can play one or all of the roles on the protocol, depending on your dApps!
- Relayer: A familiar term in the decentralized trading ecosystem. The Relayer provides a smooth, off-chain interface to the instrument of your choice. In the case of Reloanr, Lendroid itself is the relayer, as the first use case.
- Lender: The source of liquidity, the guy we need to lend his digital assets. His interests are protected on the protocol, and so is the interest on his loan!
- Borrower: All ye that seek credit shall find it at Reloanr. Presumably. For borrowers, this is a secondary source for the stable-coin at a competitive interest rates set by the lender. The mechanics of borrowing are more or less the same — define terms, create loan contract, execute — with added layers of authenticating the loan and monitoring its health.
- Introducing the Wrangler: The Wrangler is an exclusive Lendroid concept. He is an off chain actor incentivized to authorise the loan terms, to monitor loan health and trigger liquidation if it comes to that.
If you’ve got Metamask and know how to use it, skip to the next chapter to explore Reloanr and know how you can help make it even better.
If not, here’s a quick but comprehensive guide to everything you need to get kicking on the protocol.
Chapter 1: Ingredients
First, you need Metamask on your browser. We found a nifty little manual in the WeTrust blog page. No affiliation. It was just neat and simple to use. Here it is, with some edits -
Installing Metamask
Step 1. Go to the Metamask website.
Step 2. Click “Get Chrome Extension” to install Metamask.
Step 3. Click “Add to Chrome” in the upper right.
Step 4. Click “Add Extension” to complete the installation.
You will know Metamask has been installed when you see the fox logo on the upper right hand corner of your browser.
Using Metamask
One of the first tasks you will want to do on Metamask is to install a wallet (or “vault” as Metamask calls it) to hold your cryptocurrencies. To do this, follow the instructions below.
Step 1. Click on the Metamask logo in the upper right hand corner of your Google chrome browser.
Step 2. Read and agree to the terms and conditions.
Step 3. Enter a password and click “Create” to create your wallet.
Step 4. You will see a set of 12 “seed words” for your wallet. Click “Save Seed Words as File” and copy the “MetaMask Seed Words” file that is downloaded to a safe place. You will need it to access your vault.
Step 5. Click “I’ve Copied It Somewhere Safe” once your seed words file has been secured. You’ll be taken into your Metamask wallet!
You have created an account on the main network.
You are now in the Ethereum mainnet network. To start experimenting with Metamask, you can switch to one of the testnet networks by clicking “Main Network” in the left hand corner of the wallet pop up screen, and selecting one of the testnets. In this case, choose the Kovan Test Network.
You can select different networks to connect to.
Second, you need testnet tokens in your Metamask. While you need ETH, DAI and LST, getting testnet tokens of all of those might be a bit of a process. We suggest you kick off with Kovan ETH.
Here’s how you can go about it -
Getting Kovan ETH
There are many sources from which to get Kovan ETH, including:
- This method requires you to log in with your Github account. You then must paste your ETH address in the input box and request the funds.
Gitter Method: https://gitter.im/kovan-testnet/faucet
- This method also requires you to log in with your GitHub or an existing Gitter account. To receive Kovan ETH through this method, join this Gitter Channel (which you also need to cover gas costs for use of the dApps): https://gitter.im/kovan-testnet/faucet. Once you join the Gitter Channel, post your ETH address from MetaMask to the main chat. The Kovan faucet will then populate your wallet with the test funds. This could take a couple minutes or a couple of hours, as it is done manually by the channel’s admin.
Getting your testnet tokens — LST, DAI and more
The easiest way to get LST is via a near-zero interest loan on Reloanr itself!
With some Testnet ETH, you’re ready to go! Let’s jump into Reloanr post haste.
Chapter 2: Using Reloanr
You can access Reloanr on Testnet via this link, right away — app.reloanr.com
Once you log into Metamask, you’ll see this -
Let’s take in that first view. Apart from the pleasant, purple interface, you’ve got a quick view of your vital balances needed to start transacting on Reloanr. Your ETH Address, your balances in WETH, LST, Dai, and if you click on the alternatively coloured DAI, you can view your balances in the other tokens that the dApp supports.
Next, you’ll need to wrap and unwrap some ETH to set allowances and loan collateral. Simple process. Check out the screen below -
Set your allowances next. Why? Well, when you set an allowance, you give conditional access to your wallet — in Dai, USDC, LST and WETH, to the smart contract. This way, the lender and the borrower need not be online at the same time. This non-intrusive token allowance mechanism (which prompts you to ‘unlock’ your tokens) protects your order from changes in value of the loan, or the value of your tokens.
We’re now ready to create an order. Let’s assume you’re a lender today. Here’s your console, and the various elements that go into setting up your lend order.
Let’s go ahead and create a quick Lend order. You simply fill in all the relevant fields and click ‘order’. The fees for relayer, rollover and closure are inactive in this version. They will be activated in the subsequent editions.
Do note that When the lender creates a lend order or fills a border order, he MUST have some LST as monitoring fee for the Wrangler.
Moving on to the Borrower’s console. The elements must seem familiar to you here too. You can simply snap up an existing order, or create a borrow order yourself.
Key in the currency of your collateral first — say, DAI in this case. Specify your desired loan amount, interest rate, loan period and an expiry period (for the order, not the loan). Do set aside some LST for the Wrangler, who will monitor your loan health.
When you click on ‘Order’, the Wrangler pitches in. He checks if the loan terms are kosher, and prompts a confirmation from you. This is the point where the loan goes ‘on-chain’. Up until this point, this is an off-chain process. This design is what keeps the whole process of loan creation relatively quick and light. In comparable lending platforms, the fields a borrower or lender fills in at one time are sequential, and each field is committed on-chain. Lots of gas, lots of time.
Once the order is created, it appears in the order book. As we discussed earlier, filling an existing order is your alternative to creating an order yourself.
You can view your own borrow and lend positions under the order book. If you’ll notice in Figure 12, there’s a bit more detail to each of your positions. The loan period, and importantly, the loan health. If it falls below a certain percentage, you have the option to top up your collateral! And if you’re a lender, and the loans health dips dangerously or there’s a default, the position is liquidated.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you navigate Reloanr. We hope you like this proof of concept dApp. In subsequent weeks we will make this available on mainnet, and also share instructions and tools on how to launch this on your own.