Today, we continue exploring projects in the Pancake DeFi ecosystem. The project we’re discussing today is also an AMM DEX trading platform. It isn’t exactly a Bitcoin Layer 2; rather, it is a cross-chain DeFi platform called Maya Protocol. Currently, its market capitalization stands at $84 million. Over the past year, it has shown remarkable growth, nearly 1000 times, from its lowest point of $0.001 to $1.

According to DefiLlama, the current Total Value Locked (TVL) is $48 million, while their official website shows $22.8 million. Currently, they have 120 BTC, 975 ETH, and 3.7 million RUNE.

Introduction

Introduction

Maya Protocol is a decentralized cross-chain protocol built on top of Thorchain. Launched last March, it is a friendly fork of Thorchain and is supported by the Thorchain community. Maya Protocol differs significantly from Thorchain in its cross-chain AMM mechanism, with the following key distinctions:

1. Friendly Fork and Enhancement: As a friendly fork of Thorchain, Maya Protocol aims to enhance rather than replace Thorchain. It provides backup support and resilience for decentralized infrastructure, similar to how dual engines in an aircraft increase reliability.
2. Unique Design for Capital Efficiency and Security: Maya introduces several unique designs for capital efficiency, security, and value capture, such as liquidity nodes, a dual-token mechanism, and impermanent loss protection.
3. Support for Additional Blockchains: Maya plans to support more blockchains, such as Arbitrum, Cardano, and the smart contract chain Aztec, contributing to the expansion of the entire cross-chain ecosystem.
4. Collaborative Function Integration: Through collaboration, both platforms have achieved some functional integrations, such as one-click cross-platform aggregated trading and streaming swaps, allowing users to operate seamlessly between the two platforms.

Product Introduction

Maya Protocol comprises the ecosystems of MAYAChain and AZTECChain.

MAYAChain (Live)

Currently, in the app version, MAYAChain includes:

• Automated Market Maker (AMM): Similar to Uniswap but utilizes cross-chain liquidity.
• Security: Achieved through the Tendermint consensus engine, Cosmos-SDK state machine, and GG20 threshold signature scheme (TSS), without relying on asset wrapping or bridging.

AZTECChain (In Development)

• Smart Contract Chain: Combines MAYAChain’s cross-chain liquidity with the economic capabilities of smart contracts.
• Flexibility: Supports algorithmic stablecoins, derivatives, order book trading, and more.

Three Pillars of MAYAChain

1. Enhanced Security: Through functional, procedural, and economic security measures.
2. Increased Liquidity: By enhancing total value locked and improving user experience.
3. Boosted Trading Volume: Through improved user experience in trading and wallet integration.

Innovations of MAYAChain

• One-Way State Anchoring: Allows synchronization of state from external chains.
• State Machine: Coordinates asset swap logic and delegates outbound transactions.
• TSS Protocol: Enables distributed threshold key signing.
• Validator Selection: Limits staking validator selection to maintain decentralization.
• Validator Rotation: Occurs every 5 days to prevent validator stagnation and enhance network performance.
• Asynchronous Network Upgrades: Validators upgrade protocol versions independently.
• Bifrost Protocol: Manages connections to multiple blockchains.
• Incentive Pendulum: Provides rewards to maintain network security.
• Continuous Liquidity Pools: Offer single-sided liquidity to prevent price attacks.
• Swap Queue: Orders swaps based on price impact to prevent attacks.
• Liquidity Synthesis: Facilitates fast, low-cost swaps and supports single-sided deposits.
• Derivative Asset Collateralization: Allows for tier-1 lending without interest, liquidation, or expiration.

MAYANodes

MAYANodes protect MAYAChain. Initially numbering 100, they can expand to over 250. Anyone with the necessary funds can join the network anonymously and securely, without needing permission. MAYAChain ensures censorship resistance, prevents capture, and combats centralization through a high rotation rate. Each MAYANode consists of multiple independent servers, running full nodes for all linked chains.

Token economy

The Maya Protocol ecosystem uses three different tokens:

$CACAO (Live):

Main Token: Total supply of 100 million.

Distribution: 90% through liquidity auctions, 10% for impermanent loss protection.

Uses: Node operations, liquidity pools, and earning transaction fees.

Value Determination: Based on Total Value Locked (TVL).

Functions: Payment for all transactions on Maya and Aztec chains, and settlement in MAYAChain pools.

$MAYA (Live):

Revenue Sharing Token: 10% of exchange and transaction fees on MAYAChain are distributed daily to $MAYA holders in the form of $CACAO rewards.

No Liquidity Pool: Primarily used for value capture and ecosystem participation.

$AZTEC (In Development):

Revenue Sharing Token: 10% of transaction fees on the Aztec chain are distributed to $AZTEC holders.

All $CACAO is distributed through fair liquidity auctions. The team has not allocated any $CACAO to itself, choosing instead to distribute $MAYA and $AZTEC to align the team’s interests with the success of the Maya Protocol.

Current TVL and Market Capitalization

The TVL stands at $48 million, while the market capitalization has already surpassed $80 million. According to the typical DeFi project ratio of TVL to market cap being roughly 1:1, the current TVL may seem insufficient compared to the market cap. This discrepancy highlights potential areas for growth in the protocol’s liquidity.

Project Summary

Maya Protocol is a cross-chain DeFi platform built as a friendly fork of Thorchain. While it does introduce some innovative features, such as impermanent loss protection and a dual-token mechanism, it remains relatively ordinary compared to other projects.

Thorchain, or RUNE, is a leading player in the cross-chain interoperability space, and while Maya Protocol aims to enhance Thorchain’s capabilities, it still struggles to make a significant mark on its own. Despite experiencing a remarkable 1000x increase in token value from its lowest point, the Total Value Locked (TVL) has not kept pace. The TVL peaked at around $80 million but has recently dropped to $48 million, raising concerns about the sustainability of the token’s value without corresponding liquidity growth.

In comparison to other DeFi projects within the Bitcoin ecosystem, many of which suffer from extremely low TVL or stagnant token values, Maya Protocol stands out as a relatively better-performing project. However, the disparity between its market capitalization and TVL suggests potential volatility in the token’s value. A more stable and higher TVL could improve its prospects.

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