The ultimate beginner’s guide to DeFi on smartBCH

Crypto Basics, Guides /

Smart Bitcoin Cash (smartBCH) network is one of the over 80 existing smart contract platforms, according to DeFiLlama.

It is an enhanced Ethereum-compatible Bitcoin Cash (BCH) sidechain with some interesting features such as:

  • A 5 second block time.
  • An average transaction fee of $0.03.
  • 1 billion gas per 15 seconds.
  • Tendermint consensus mechanisms.
  • Validators elected by BCH stakers and PoW miners.
  • Parallel transaction execution.
  • Reordered transactions to prevent front-running, etc.

smartBCH is one of the fastest-growing smart contract platforms with several new and promising projects offering high APR farming opportunities to take advantage of.

In this post, I would be sharing with you:

  • how to set up your wallet for smartBCH.
  • some of the most promising projects on the smartBCH network.
  • a step-by-step guide to moving funds in and out of the smartBCH ecosystem.

…and much more.

So without much ado, let’s take a look at yield farming on one of the fast-growing smart chains right now.

Getting started with smartBCH: DYOR

First, I suggest you get to know some of the projects currently building on smartBCH.

And the two best places to start from are:

  • marketcap.cash: price and market data tracking site where you can find all the currently listed tokens and their prices, marketcap, volume, etc. It’s similar to CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko but they track only smartBCH projects market data.
  • helpme.cash: a directory of projects currently building on smartBCH.

With that out of the way, proceed to set up your wallet to interact with dApps on the smartBCH network.

I am currently using the Brave Wallet (Metamask) on PC, and imToken and Metamask on mobile to access smarkBCH dApps.

Without much ado, let’s proceed and configure your wallets for smartBCH.

How to configure your wallets for smartBCH

You can use your existing Ethereum or BSC wallet on the smartBCH network by adding a custom network as shown below.

1. How to configure your Brave or Metamask Wallet for smartBCH (PC users)

First, login to your Brave or Metamask wallet, click on Networks, and then select “Custom RPC” from the drop-down list, as shown below.

Then a form will open for you to fill in the network parameters as shown below.

smartBCH custom RPC settings to use in setting up your wallets

2. How to configure your Metamask mobile wallet for smartBCH

Open your Metamask mobile wallet app on your phone. If you don’t have it, go to their website and download the real HERE.

Click on the hamburger icon in the top-left of your wallet screen to access the available options.

From the menu, select Settings

On the next screen, select Network

Then click Add Network to add your custom network settings for smartBCH

The network setting is the same as what we used in the Brave Wallet example above.

Once done, just click the Add button, and you’re done.

You can now use your Metamask mobile wallet to interact with any smartBCH dApp using the app’s in-built browser.

2. How to configure your imToken mobile wallet for smartBCH

imToken is one of my favourite crypto mobile wallets because of its many cool features.

Here’s how to configure your imToken wallet for smartBCH.

First login to your wallet app. If you don’t have imToken, download the real one from HERE.

From the top centre, click the displayed network name to open the Network switch menu.

From the next screen, click the gear button at the top-right corner to open the network settings.

Then click the plus (+) sign at the top-right corner of your screen to open the custom network settings options.

There are two ways to add a new custom network to your imToken wallet.

The first is automatic and the second is the same as entering the network settings manually as we have done in the previous two examples.

if you click the second, Customize option you will be required to fill in the RPC settings as we did with Metamask above.

So let’s go with the AddingQuickly option as it’s simple and fast.

They have this EVM box that seems to have the settings for all EVM-compatible smart contract platforms.

Just type smartBCH in the search and click the Add button to add the smartBCH to your network.

I have already added it to mine, that’s why you see Current Network where I circled red.

For you, it will be “Add”. Click it, and the smartBCH network settings will be automatically added to the list of networks you can use with your wallet.

Some interesting projects on the smartBCH network.

According to marketcap.cash there are currently about 60 different projects on smartBCH.

Of course, there are some that are not listed on the site yet as of the time of writing this line, so let’s just say under 100 projects.

And below are some of the ones I personally follow closely.

Of course, the list is certainly not exhaustive, so I suggest you do your own research and see which projects interest you the most.

Some of my favourite projects on smartBCH so far

1. CryptoSorted (CST).

CryptoSorted (CST) is our own project and native token on the smartBCH network.

CST is the utility, community reward, and governance token of CryptoSorted, a community-based crypto media publications project which rewards its holders with a weekly BCH airdrop. 

You can buy CST on Benswap.

2. Tropical Finance (DAIQUIRI).

Tropical Finance is one of the newest DEXs on smartBCH with a focus on yield farming and NFTs.

Their NFT marketplace is set to go live any moment from now.

Moreso, they have some of the best farms and pools with juicy APRs. Though this is normal for a new farming project looking to attract investors and farmers.

I’m currently farming in their DAIQUIRI single staking pool and enjoying the yields so far.

Aside from their lucrative APRs, these guys rock in many ways.

Their social engagement and communication with the community are excellent.

Plus they seem to have a sizeable number of experienced and committed team members.

3. BenSwap

BenSwap is the first decentralized exchange (DEX) on smartBCH.

It is the UniSwap and PancakeSwap of smartBCH with over 50% share of the total value locked (TVL) on the network, according to DeFiLlama.

4. MistSwap

MistSwap is the fastest-growing DEX on smartBCH right now and is poised to displace BenSwap very soon if it continues growing at this current rate.

They are more than just a DEX though. They’re also building their crypto lending and borrowing platform and other products.

5. BCHPad

BCHPad is the first and currently only launchpad on smartBCH.

We even did the CryptoSorted (CST) presale on the platform which made me realise that the dev is not exactly who he appears to be. He’s arrogant and mischievous.

Yes, we had an issue with him regarding our presale and he has lost all the trust I previously had in him.

Though I still think the project is great and has potentials, especially being the first launchpad project on a new chain. Plus their limited token supply was an attraction for me.

But it would take time for me to regain the trust I previously had in him before we did our presale on the platform.

The next set of projects I am looking forward to investing in on smartBCH is crypto lending and borrowing platforms and yield optimizers.

As I said previously, there are a lot more promising projects than the five I mentioned above.

This wasn’t intended to be an exhaustive list but to give you an overview of who and what’s building on smartBCH right now.

How to move funds in and out of the smartBCH ecosystem

In order to move funds in and out of your wallet on any chain, you need to use an exchange or a bridge that supports that chain.

on smartBCH, the top two most popular ways to move funds in and out of your wallet is using CoinFlex (an exchange) and hop.cash (a bridge).

Furthermore, similar to how you require ETH to pay for transaction fees on Ethereum, and BNB to pay for fees on BSC, you need BCH in your wallet to pay for fees on the smartBCH network.

So you will be depositing into and withdrawing from your wallet using BCH.

However, you cannot use the BCH coin directly on smartBCH.

You have to convert it to the smartBCH compatible SEP20 BCH using either CoinFlex exchange or hop.cash bridge.

How to deposit and withdraw from your smartBCH wallet using CoinFlex

I have been using CoinFlex to deposit into and withdraw from my smartBCH wallet since I started using the network in early October 2021. And it’s been very efficient.

Furthermore, they don’t charge you any fee to transfer SEP20 BCH  from the exchange to your smartBCH wallet, so that’s a plus.

However, CoinFlex is a centralized exchange as such requires KYC. But don’t worry their Level 1 verification does not require you to submit any of your personal details.

But you will have a maximum lifetime withdrawal limit of $10,000.

Whenever all your withdrawals clock $10,000 you will need to complete Level 2 KYC which requires your basic info such as full name; date of birth; nationality; ID type, number, and expiry date.

This will upgrade your withdrawal limit to $10,000 daily.

To exceed that you will be required to upload your KYC documents in Level 3 KYC.

Ok, so that’s that.

If you want to use CoinFlex as your smartBCH bridge, then proceed to create a free account on the exchange.

Signup on CoinFlex

You can create a CoinFlex account using your email address and a password, or simply by connecting your metamask or Brave wallet to the exchange.

Whichever registration method you choose, the signup process is very simple and straightforward.

Deposit BCH coin on CoinFlex

So with that out of the way, click on Wallet & Order from the main menu and select Deposit from the drop-down list to make your first deposit.

Send any amount of  BCH you wish to fund your account with to the wallet address shown and wait for confirmation.

It takes a few minutes for the BCH to drop.

Withdraw SEP20 BCH to your smartBCH wallet

Once your deposit has been confirmed, you can now withdraw the smartBCH-compatible (SEP20) BCH to your wallet.

In about a minute, the SEP20 BCH will appear in your smartBCH wallet.

Now you can start buying your favourite tokens on smartBCH, starting with CST on BenSwap of course :).

The reverse is true for withdrawal.

To withdraw, send SEP20 BCH from your smartBCH wallet to CoinFlex and withdraw it as normal BCH or trade it for any other coin or token you like on the exchange.

You can equally deposit any SEP20 token to CoinFlex as long as it’s listed there, and trade it for a coin you wish to withdraw to an external wallet.

PS: CoinFlex is best used on PC. The mobile experience is terrible.

How to deposit and withdraw BCH from your smartBCH wallet using hop.cash

Hop.Cash is a cross-chain bridge that supports BCH to smartBCH conversion and vice versa.

To use it to deposit BCP to your smartBCH wallet, all you have to do is connect your wallet to the site and select the BCH -> smartBCH option.

You will be presented with BCH CashAddress and Legacy Address for you to deposit regular BCH coins.

Once your deposit is detected, the smartBCH wallet you connected to the site will be credited automatically.

Tow withdraw BCH from smartBCH to the mainchain, select the smartBCH -> BCH option.

Then enter the recipient address on the mainchain and the BCH amount you wish to withdraw.

You will be prompted to approve the transaction, and once done, the mainchain BCH address you provided will be credited accordingly.

Other bridges you can also consider using to move funds in and out of the smartBCH network, prompt.cash, bchcc.cash, tokenbridge.cash (smartBCH to Ethereum), etc.

Conclusion

smartBCH is a fast-growing chain with lots of opportunities to make serious gains if you invest in the right projects, especially for the long term.

Investing in smartBCH projects right now is like getting in on BSC in late 2020 and early 2021.

There’s massive room for growth, especially when you consider that the total value locked (TVL) on the entire smartBCH network is currently under $50 million.

You want to get in early on the right projects on the chain and ride the wave up as the network grows and gains an increased userbase.

What projects are you most excited about on smartBCH right now? Join our community and share your thoughts with us.

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