On this joyful day, my guest is Christian Mülder — CEO and Co-Founder of CrowdSwap. His professional career started as a software developer for many well-known companies in German-speaking countries. After some time, he changed to the professional field as a software architect, where he dealt with many innovative ideas in the field of microservice technologies as well as big data management systems. In 2008 the opportunity arose to start his own business with Next Level Integration, which developed software for the energy industry. Since then, Christian has been a multi-business owner, building companies in various industries. Energy, Finance and now DeFi with CrowdSwap. The combination of Finance and software didn't allow for any other field. Christian brings 20 years of IT experience and 15 years in C positions.
Chris: Hello there! Thanks for taking the time with me. Let's get right to it! Crowdswap enables users to find the best opportunities in crypto space — how do you made it possible?
Christian: CrowdSwap finds the best price in the DeFi universe and offers the option to perceive them from the different blockchains with different assets. At the best prices, of course. At CrowdSwap, we believe in a multichain environment where the different blockchains will take a back seat to each other, and the project and opportunities will be the real target of investors. And we want to implement this vision in the best possible way.
To do this, we use an algorithm in best-price routing that scans all liquidity pools in the DeFi space. It's a complicated meshed graph that offers real-time, fast results on the best options. Coupled with basic functionalities, such as Atomic Cross-chain Transfers, it is becoming easier for users to perceive good opportunities in the DeFi Space.
And we're not stopping at coins and tokens, either. Opportunities, such as Yield Farming, Staking, Lending and Borrowing, are also part of our portfolio, which we will significantly expand in the coming months.
In addition, we will implement further services on the current basis, which always aims to simplify DeFi processes significantly.
Chris: Tell our readers about the inception of the business. How the idea came around?
Christian: The idea for the project came around when Ethereum fees were exorbitantly high, and we prototyped the first ideas to reduce them. However, during research, it struck us that the much bigger problem is that many people don't have access to or interest in DeFi at all. What's the reason for this? Well, there are certainly a few reasons for this. The most important one for CrowdSwap is the complexity of the DeFi sector. In the last two years, more and more blockchains have joined the stage. There are numerous projects (tokens) offering different DeFi products on each. Composability in DeFi leaves a giant puzzle that not everyone who didn't experience the beginnings can cope with.
Beginners in DeFi have many questions and are not satisfied with the answers. "Why do I need to know all this technical stuff?" All I want to do is invest in this yield farm. And we are on the same boat, "Yes, that's right!". Today, you don't ask yourself how exactly the injection pump works when driving a car. Do you?
Chris: Why DeFi?
Christian: We believe in the DeFi sector and love decentralization. "Not your keys, not your money!". We blindly subscribe to that and see significant advantages in being responsible for your capital. That is why we have chosen the DeFi sector.
In addition, this area offers great potential for change in which we want to participate. We have intentionally addressed the issue of user experience. Easy onboarding will open the door for newcomers to DeFi. Without simplification in DeFi, mass adoption will not happen. The success of DeFi in the next few years will depend heavily on mutlichain, security/trust and usability.
DeFi currently feels like driving a vehicle from 1860. CrowdSwap helps to put your DeFi journeys on modern transportation.
Chris: Sweet! And what are some unique features of your app?
Christian: There are many features in CrowdSwap to mention. Starting with the best-price routing and the cross-chain functionality, which we see as our core services, there is already a lot of innovation, as I reported at the beginning.
However, the whole thing becomes unique when these two features are used in an automated and optimized way in our fast-lane transactions (multiple DeFi transactions combined). Here is an example:
I want to make a yield farm investment on Polygon CROWD/USDT. However, I have my capital on a different blockchain (BSC). So now I need to do the following steps:
1. Search for a cross-chain solution that can transfer from BSC to Polygon (fast, cheap and secure).
2. Perform cross-chain transfer (BNB - MATIC)
3. My transferred MATIC must now be swapped into CROWD and USDT in equal parts. So looking for the best deal in Polygon for swaps from MATIC to CROWD and MATIC to USDT on all DEXes.
4. Perform swaps
5. The CROWD and USDT can now be added to the liquidity pool on Quickswap.
6. The LP token can be staked in the yield farm.
With CrowdSwap I select the CROWD Mining opportunity, then I still have to specify which asset I want to use (also from other blockchains!) and then GO! One transaction, one app, DeFi made easy.
Chris: What is CCLP?
Christian: CCLP stands for Cross-chain liquidity protocol and is our basis for cross-chain functionality. We will continue to expand this area in the future, but for the moment, we are delighted with what we have achieved. On the way to a multichain environment, cross-chain solutions are needed that are easy to use and secure. Especially in the recent past, many bridges have been hacked, and there is a cry for better solutions where liquidity is not directly available on these bridges.
Chris: One of the questions I reаlly wanna ask is: what are some main mistakes you have made along your journey but learned from them abundantly?
Christian: We learn something new every day. There is so much you can dive deeper into. There is no one big mistake. There are rather many small mistakes that make us better and better every day. So I hope that we can still learn from many mistakes. And very important, of course. Don´t repeat your mistakes.
Experiences that we can pass on are certainly that in the crypto environment, you must check what you are getting into thoroughly. Many scammers are on the way, some of whom also pose as CrowdSwap Team or even impersonate me. I can only say it for CrowdSwap, but this should be true for any decent project. CrowdSwap`s team members will never DM you!
Chris: What are your milestones for 2023?
Christian: Some of the milestones are:
- Improving the features that are already live for better usability
- adding more chains, DEXes and opportunities
- Develop CrowdSwap into a DAO
Chris: Thanks! Anything else you would like to mention? Where can we follow your updates?
Christian: First of all, thank you for the interview. And check out CrowdSwap yourself and give feedback in our socials.
Discord: https://discord.gg/ugZa8Q5nmb
Telegram: https://t.me/crowdswap
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrowdSwap_App
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