What is BENQI (QI)?
BENQI is decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity market and staking protocol. The project runs on Avalanche network. The BENQI protocol consists of two main products: BENQI Liquidity Market (BLM) and BENQI Liquidity Staking (BLS). QI is the native token powering the BENQI protocol. You can view the QI price on the live chart above.
BLM is a lending and borrowing protocol. Users can effortlessly lend, borrow, and earn interest with their digital tokens. The product allows liquidity providers to earn yield and borrowers to get loans in an over-collateralized manner. On the other hand, BLS is a liquidity staking solution that enables users to utilize the platform’s yield-bearing asset. The protocol tokenizes AVAX to enable its use within DeFi applications without lock-ups or tedious cross-chain transfers.
BLS allows users to stake AVAX and receive sAVAX, a yield-bearing asset that earns yield accrued from Avalanche validator rewards. Users can transfer, trade, or use sAVAX within DeFi applications such as lending and borrowing protocols, automated market makers (AMMs), and yield aggregators. BLS users can also stake AVAX on the EVM-compatible Avalanche C-Chain without having to stake on the Avalanche P-Chain, lock up AVAX on a validator node, or meet the minimum staking threshold.
BLM operates using smart contracts, eliminating human intermediaries. Smart contracts calculate yield algorithmically based on the supply against demand. Additionally, liquidity provider rewards are also calculated algorithmically. Those who liquidate borrowers’ assets also earn a reward fee as per the parameters set in the contracts.
What is QI Token?
QI is a governance and utility token of the BENQI protocol. BENQI coin holders have the right to vote to determine the future of the project. They can propose and vote on security upgrades, additional protocol developments, and other parameters. QI also supports staking, where users can stake it in BLS to receive veQI. veQI is a unique utility token that enables additional AVA staking delegations to high-performing Avalanche validators.
BENQI crypto is also listed on popular exchanges. You can buy and sell the token at different prices to make a profit. BENQI price varies, just as other cryptocurrency assets, creating an investment opportunity. The above live chart shows you an up-to-date QI price, which is helpful when deciding to buy.
Who Founded BENQI?
JD Gagnon, Hannu Kuusi, and Alexander Shul are the co-founders of Rome Blockchain Labs Inc, which is responsible for the development of BENQI. It is an incubator and software development company that specializes in DeFi.
JD Ganon has wealth of knowledge in finance and accounting. Previously, Gagnon had created the Velox algorithmic trading platform. He also founded Scotch & Ramen Media, inc. Gagnon also served as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Etherlabs, Inc. Hannu Kuusi is an experienced developer, with experience in building institutional-grade infrastructure for FinTech and military applications.
Tokenomics of QI
BENQI has a fixed supply of 7.2 billion QI tokens. Most of the tokens are to be distributed through liquidity mining by 2024. The maximum supply model prevents the mining of extra tokens, which may lead to inflation. Inflation can lower the QI price, affecting the sustainability of the BENQI platform. The token distribution is designed to ensure the healthy engagement of the protocol. Token allocation is as follows:
- Liquidity Mining – 50%
- Sale – 25%
- Treasury – 14%
- Team – 10%
- Exchange Liquidity – 1%
