What is Elixir?

Elixir (ELX) is a modular decentralized liquidity network that integrates liquidity from DeFi protocols and optimizes the trading environment to address issues such as fragmented liquidity, high slippage, and wide spreads in traditional decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Its core utilizes a modular architecture and Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism, allowing users to provide liquidity directly to order books in a high-throughput network, thereby building deep markets.

Currently, Elixir has formed native integrations with over 30 DEXs, covering multiple mainstream blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana. Its network block generation speed is consistently under 1 second, with over 20,000 validator nodes deployed globally and a total locked value (TVL) exceeding $300 million.

Gate.io Now Supports $ELX Spot Trading

Why is Elixir Needed?

Elixir was born out of the urgent need to address liquidity fragmentation and efficiency bottlenecks in the current decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. As the multi-chain landscape of blockchain deepens, assets are dispersed across different networks, leading to high costs and complex paths for cross-chain transactions, forcing users to rely on riskier bridging protocols. Meanwhile, traditional DEXs are limited by single-chain liquidity, resulting in high slippage and significant trading delays, especially for long-tail assets, which hinders on-chain development.

Elixir constructs a decentralized liquidity network that aggregates liquidity from over 30 protocol order books, forming a unified deep pool that significantly reduces trading costs and optimizes execution efficiency. Its modular architecture supports cross-chain interoperability, providing seamless liquidity support for multi-chain assets. Additionally, for traditional financial participants, Elixir has launched deUSD (Decentralized USD), a fully collateralized and yield-generating synthetic dollar, breaking down the barriers between traditional finance and DeFi. deUSD is over-collateralized by real-world assets (RWA), providing compliant entry points for institutional users, and can lower stablecoin interest rates through government bond yield arbitrage and on-chain lending, attracting potential traditional capital worth billions.

Elixir Network Architecture

Elixir’s network architecture is divided into off-chain and on-chain systems:

• Off-Chain System

Distributed data sources capture order books, prices, and other market information from multiple exchanges in real-time. A data aggregator cleans and standardizes this multi-source data, combining it into a deterministic data framework.
Validators then receive the data and are responsible for verifying its accuracy. The validator network operates through Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), where each validator node must stake ELX tokens to gain validation rights and reach consensus on data validity through a 2/3 majority vote.
Relay nodes perform multi-signature verification on encrypted order proposals, ensuring that transaction instructions comply with preset rules before securely signing and distributing them to the target exchanges.

• On-Chain System

Audit nodes, data aggregators, and relay nodes receive off-chain data packets and order proposals, automatically verifying transaction logic and compliance through smart contracts before submitting them to the controller. The controller contract serves as the core module, managing staking, delegation, rewards, penalties, and reductions, and can activate a 2/3 consensus within the active validator set in case of disputes, allowing for the reduction of malicious validators.

Elixir’s network architecture, through the collaboration of off-chain and on-chain designs, balances the need for efficient processing and secure verification. Its core components have clear divisions of labor and well-defined processes, with the validator network achieving decentralization and consensus through the DPoS mechanism, relay infrastructure ensuring data and transaction integrity and immutability, while audit nodes and controllers provide additional security guarantees and reward/penalty systems.

deUSD

deUSD is a core component of the Elixir ecosystem. It is a fully collateralized, yield-generating synthetic dollar, formed by a combination of stETH (delta-neutral collateral position created by shorting ETH of equivalent value) and MakerDAO’s USDS T-Bill protocol, resulting in a stable and yield-generating synthetic dollar.

Compared to other forms of synthetic stable assets, deUSD has several advantages, including:

1. Decentralized Permission: Elixir Network supports decentralized minting and redemption through verifiable proofs of execution and open-source code, eliminating the need for typical centralized intermediaries. The network will allow anyone to permissionlessly mint or redeem deUSD directly on-chain, further enhancing its decentralized nature.
2. Risk Control: Through the Elixir Network, deUSD can mitigate basis risk in negative funding rate environments by dynamically adjusting collateral support, enhancing system resilience and stability, and avoiding death spirals caused by insufficient collateral, similar to the LUNA/UST incident in 2022.
3. Ecosystem Core: deUSD will become the preferred collateral within the Elixir ecosystem, with six top decentralized order book exchanges (DEXs) accepting it as collateral, thereby enhancing its utility and liquidity.

Elixir has announced partnerships with several traditional financial firms managing over $10 trillion in assets, making deUSD a native channel for these tokenized funds to enter DeFi. This provides a pathway for institutional-grade physical asset holders to enter the DeFi space for the first time without altering their existing asset risk profiles.

Funding Background

• March 2024: Elixir announced the completion of an $8 million Series B funding round, co-led by Mysten Labs and Maelstrom, with participation from Manifold, Arthur Hayes, Amber Group, GSR, Flowdesk, and others.
• October 2023: Elixir announced the completion of a $7.5 million Series A funding round, led by Hack VC, with participation from NGC Ventures, AngelList Ventures, Bloccelerate, and others.
• January 2023: Elixir announced the completion of a $2.1 million seed funding round, with participation from FalconX, Commonwealth, OP Crypto, ChapterOne, and BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, among others.

Elixir Tokenomics

Token Utility

ELX is the native utility and governance token of the Elixir ecosystem:

1. Staking: Holders can stake $ELX to participate in the DPoS consensus mechanism, supporting validators in running the network and ensuring transaction data transparency and network security.
2. Governance: $ELX holders can participate in DAO governance, deciding on protocol upgrades, economic parameter adjustments, and ecological fund management.
3. Liquidity Incentives: $ELX is used for liquidity incentives in order book DEXs, enhancing trading depth and reducing reliance on centralized market makers.

Token Distribution

The official tokenomics information has not yet disclosed the total token supply, but the project has currently deployed 1 billion tokens, with an initial circulation ratio of 16.5%. The token supply distribution is as follows:

• Community: 41%
• DAO Foundation: 22%
• Liquidity: 3%
• Investors: 15%
• Core Contributors: 19%