Binance Eyes Uniswap’s Lunch With Launch of Centralized ‘Swaps’ Platform

Exchange giant Binance is hoping to capitalize further on the DeFi boom with a new centralized trading platform that makes it a rival of the likes of Uniswap.

• Binance said Friday users would be able to provide liquidity and make trades, or "swaps," initially with three trading pairs from their exchange accounts.
• Called Binance Liquid Swap, the platform is in effect an automated market maker (AMM) exchange where smart contract-based liquidity pools set spot prices and facilitate swaps.
• In AMM exchanges, users become liquidity providers by depositing digital assets into the pools, receiving in return interest and a cut of transaction fees.
• This is the same model used by Uniswap and SushiSwap – two decentralized exchanges (DEXs) now at the center of the white-hot decentralized finance space.
• In a blog post, Binance said Liquid Swap is the first AMM platform to be launched on top of a centralized exchange.
• When asked if Binance was moving into direct competition with the likes of Uniswap and SushiSwap, a company spokesperson told CoinDesk that Liquid Swap was aimed at an audience more at home on centralized exchanges.
• "The crypto industry is still in its early stages, and there is still a barrier of entry for decentralized products," they said.
• With the new platform, Binance aims to offer users "a more secure and seamless product while allowing them to earn as on decentralized AMM pools," according to the spokesperson.
• The three initial trading pairs will be USDT/BUSD, BUSD/DAI, and USDT/DAI.
• Binance first ventured into DeFi with its decentralized exchange in April 2019, built on top of its native Binance Chain.

See also: Blockchain Bites: How SushiSwap Drove Uniswap to DeFi’s Top Spot