It’s been a minute since we last filled you in on our grand plans for Dango, so without further ado, let’s run it back.

Dango 101

Let’s start by addressing the obvious, what the f*ck is Dango? In layman’s terms, we’re here to build the best one-stop shop DeFi is yet to see; a place where you can trade, earn, and do anything onchain that your heart desires from the comfort of one UI, one chain, and one unified account system. We believe that crypto natives prize convenience and opportunity above all else, and we’re on a mission to provide both in abundance in a way that no one has done before…

One app, infinite capabilities

Without getting too technical, let’s look at some of the pain points Dango addresses. DeFi in its current state is fragmented with too few apps spread across too many chains, like remote islands separated by great swathes of ocean. Rather than connecting them together with thousands of individual bridges, we believe in creating one universal island for everyone, the Dango Portal. In this single UI you’ll onboard, manage your accounts, deposit or withdraw assets, and interact with every app on the Dango chain.

Unmatched convenience

Picture the end game of convenience stores, open 24/7, aisle after aisle as far as the eye can see filled with everything you could ever need, and more. This is how the Dango Portal should feel, one central hub with dozens of apps that just makes your life easier. We hate moving assets between different chains and flicking between different tabs as much as the next person, but thankfully with Dango you’ll never have to again.

The first few apps on Dango will be built by us, but eventually we’ll open our doors and invite everyone to build on Dango chain. This is where our handy Spotlight search bar will come into play, so that Dango users can quickly discover new and popular apps. We believe composability will forever be the greatest edge that DeFi wields over CeFi, and we can’t wait to see what other builders can bring to the Dango table!

UX that won’t make you self harm

Another unspoken truth is that the average user experience in DeFi is still horrific. It’s not without coincidence that ~80% of crypto trading volume still sits on CEXs as opposed to DEXs; they’re faster, have stronger customer support, better on-ramps, and liquidity deep enough for even the greatest of whales. DeFi is in desperate need of a venue that can go toe to toe on UI/UX with these movers and shakers of the CeFi world, and that’s just what we intend to do. ‘But how?’, I hear you ask.

Firstly, we’re simplifying the onboarding process to a point where even your grandma could do it (I’m not joking). When signing up, instead of generating a seed phrase, you’ll choose a username, such as @larry, just as you’d do when signing up for Twitter or Instagram. Forget about the hassle and headache of setting up a wallet and topping it up with gas, the future of DeFi is key-less and gas-less.

Turning traders into winners

The innovation doesn’t stop there. We’re also pioneering a cross-collateralized, unified account system in DeFi. Let’s say you’re bullish on Bitcoin as an example, and you go to bed with a 20x leveraged long perps position open. If the price moves quickly and violently to the downside overnight, there’s a good chance you’re waking up to a rude liquidation notice. With Dango, however, your spot exposure can act as collateral for your perps position, potentially preventing you from reaching that dreaded liquidation threshold long enough for Bitcoin to recover and for you to be in profit again. Pretty neat, wouldn’t you agree?

But we know perps aren’t for everyone, and that’s why we’re also trailblazing a first-of-its-kind onchain margin account, so you can still leverage up but without getting shaken down by expensive funding rates. How does it work in practice? As an example, anyone can deposit $100 BTC into their margin account, borrow $200 of USDC, and swap that USDC to BTC. That’s 3x leverage achieved without having to visit any third party money markets or manually loop (because let’s be real, who has time for that?). Whatever your risk profile, Dango has something for everyone.

The ultimate liquidity flywheel

Lastly, but not least, we’re walking a different path to most other trading venues by implementing frequent batch auctions (FBAs) to prevent front running and stimulate the ultimate liquidity fly wheel. Rather than settling everyone’s orders continuously in real-time, orders are instead bundled together every 0.2-0.5 seconds and settled in a uniform price auction, meaning everyone gets filled at the same price.

Not only does this prevent sandwich attacks, but it’s favourable for market makers as they no longer have to compete over a few milliseconds latency. By having more market makers Dango can provide deeper liquidity, thus attracting more traders, which is conducive to more trading volume, which will ultimately attract even more market makers, and so the cycle repeats. It’s no wonder ~10% of all equity trading volume in Europe already takes place on exchanges that use FBAs (see Cboe as an example) since its introduction in academia less than 10 years ago, and we believe it’s only a matter of time before DeFi follows suit.

Believe it or not we’ve still only scratched the surface of what we’re building at Dango, but I hope this article has given you a glimpse into the scale of our ambitions and what we’re striving to achieve. If you’ve enjoyed this content, we’d love for you to join our Discord, follow us on X, and support us on our journey as we continue our mission to build the one app for everything DeFi.