What Is Balancer and Its $BAL Token?

Balancer can be defined as an automated maker for the market that lowers cost difference between two or more cryptocurrencies. The service acts as an external party, supplying mobility to securities being traded. It also employs the Smart Order Routing (SOR) technique, which is why several platforms for investing and trading use it to determine fair trade costs and rates.

The service uses a collection of computed pseudocodes to balance the market for the subscribers, but this balance can be regulated based on each person’s discretion on their platform. The service only charges a fee for the management of each platform from the users but does not charge percentages on trades made.

The online service was launched at the end of the third quarter of 2019 by Fernando Martinelli and Mike McDonald, with the sole aim of creating a decentralized, trusted future; a goal that has been met to a certain level within its one year of startup. The firm raised an initial offering of $3million, with its net worth increased to $16 million after the first 8 months, and its current net value estimated around 50 million dollars.

Balancer Pools

These are where BALs, the service’s major tokens are stored; this is where all funds used in trading activities are obtained from. Other than that, it ensures the easy flow of trades and other proceedings, ensuring fluidity for all traders. There are two major subdivisions of Balancer pools regulated by smart contracts, namely:

Controlled Pools

Also known as private pools, a pool can be described as controlled when it is in a predetermined state, allowing the initiator to allocate the tokens and weights. This form is usually used by individuals with similar interests working with heavy quantities but do not want external traders involved.

Finalized Pools

Also regarded as shared pools, finalized pools are available to the general public, allowing for all traders to make use of and make profits. Unlike the former, it does not allow for adjustments, having a permanent system of operations.

Aside from the aforementioned two, there are also smaller, but more direct pools one can make use of; like LPBs (Liquidity Bootstrapping Pools), which enable the customers to release tokens alongside developing fluidity, and stablecoins which are susceptible to only temporary losses.

The great quality of Balancer pools is that they are not restricted to any form of a ratio. The pools can be any of the several cryptocurrencies available on the online platform, in whatever percentage division the creator decides.

Some of the Major Features of Pools

No temporary loss – within pools, there can be a diverse number of altcoins contained within, users will however begin to record a decline in profits if the trends of the selected cryptocurrencies begin to move in opposite directions. However, given that their values with respect to one another are most definitely going to remain the same, the trader is expected to realize profits.

Low fees – given that the realization of gains is assured, creators of private pools enjoy the most, setting up pools for others but incurring none of the risks. Which is why they enjoy the luxury of demanding small fees from several traders across multiple pools.

The most common form of building a pool is simple – a basic combination of cryptocurrencies in percentages. Although this is less profitable than the compound approach, it poses a smaller risk so it is generally for people with low-risk tolerance.

The compound approach is not as straightforward. Instead of simply creating a pool using cryptocurrencies, it entails borrowing from another lending service and then using the lent altcoins to create the pool.

Unfortunately, the creator is at more risk, given that if the market value trends do not begin to move in the same profit-driven direction immediately, he or she begins to suffer loss, and still have to worry about paying off the interests gathering on the borrowed securities. There are some currencies that trends over time have shown that they generally move in the same direction. They are perfect for this endeavor.

The major Balancer Pools available on the service now offer up to 30% returns on investments (ROI) to all investors contained within.

About $BAL Token

$Bal token is the service’s home currency. Although it did not exist at the start of the firm, it was introduced in early 2020, with the firm dealing majorly in Ethereum then. It is a form of altcoin, and in a bid to improve the frequency of its usage and subsequently strengthen overall value, the service began distributing free 145,000 $Bal tokens per week to users on the service; meaning that the firm distributes an estimated total of 7.5 million tokens per annum.

An altcoin is a general classification used for all forms of cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. Most of them are created using the same idea that bitcoin was developed on; with each one aiming to surpass their predecessor’s greatness. There are a couple of ways through which altcoins can be categorized: stablecoins, security, regular, & utility tokens, and Mining-based. It is however possible that a currency can exist in more than one category.

There are almost 100 million of $Bal currency available, with one-fourth already allocated to owners and major staff of the service, the disbursement option would take roughly 9 years to be fully exhausted, which is why the firm made the rest available for the taking through the following processes.

Like most of the other available altcoins, $Bal token can be acquired through mining. Although not having an economic value, it has a monetary value of around $25, taking a minor decline in recent weeks. The process is quite simple, the subscribers on the platform trade in their assets on the platform at the high value, and get the difference in value back as gains in the form of $Bal. This is the major way to earn via the service.

A second option is to develop a personalized pool, short term or long term, depending on the creator’s discretion, and charge fees off traders looking to make use of your pool. The fees are however required by the service to be small, and in return, the service pays the accumulated fees as tokens.

How to Use the Balancer Exchange

Unlike several other online services, this platform does not require several tedious tasks of confirming personal identity after some time. Being a decentralized network, it ensures that information privacy is safeguarded at all costs, with proper encryption of sensitive data. All that is required to begin using the service is an online wallet. The service does not just deal in its native currency, but also several others; trading in up to 20 different altcoins.

To make use of the service is relatively easy, it can be done through 5 basic steps:

• Visit the Balancer Website
• Click on “Connect a Wallet”
• Choose a preferred Wallet
• The Wallet chosen will then ask you to choose the preferred account for the service
• Once chosen, the process is complete, and trading, as well as swapping, can efficiently begin.

Risks Associated with Using Balancer

Being a decentralized network that trades with assets that give quite high returns means that it has a major likelihood of failing. Being a relatively new concept, it also means that there are associated risks that experts are yet to fully figure out. This is why on the online platform, the service reminds the users that they are implementing steps to ensure that they do not lose their money, but also warns that the service is new so users should not invest a whole, not into the system.

Besides this fact, it is pivotal to remember that interest is never assured on trades; so while the math and general trend dictate that the values of items within the pool are expected to remain constant, a case of major divergence could lead to the loss of a lot or even all of the initial investment.

 Conclusion

The service is well on its way to becoming a major platform for automated trading as well as a moderator for trading fees for several cryptocurrencies. It is the first platform on the market to allow for the development of several pools with its unique structure – allowing for simple and complex approaches. The system it has created disallows the charging of bulky fees and rewards as such.

The main target for the future is to completely edge out other competitors in not only becoming the top traders of Ethereum but also promote the native currency. The recent lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic did not do much in affecting the state of the currency, slowing the rate of growth just a little. The tremendous progress it has made over the one year of its startup has been truly immense and commendable, with its ranking amongst the powerhouses of decentralized finance (DeFi) expected to rise to the third position.