Frax Defi Coin Review: Frax is the World’s First Fractional-algorithmic Stablecoin

About Frax Defi

The Frax Defi Protocol is the first fractional-algorithmic stablecoin system. Frax is open-source, permissionless, and entirely on-chain – currently implemented on Ethereum (with possible cross chain implementations in the future). The end goal of the Frax protocol is to provide a highly scalable, decentralized, algorithmic money in place of fixed-supply digital assets like BTC. The protocol incorporates the following concepts:

Fractional-Algorithmic – Frax is a unique stablecoin with parts of its supply backed by collateral and parts of the supply algorithmic. The ratio of collateralized and algorithmic depends on the market’s pricing of the FRAX stablecoin. If FRAX is trading at above $1, the protocol decreases the collateral ratio. If FRAX is trading at under $1, the protocol increases the collateral ratio.

Decentralized & Governance-minimized – Community governed and emphasizing a highly autonomous, algorithmic approach with no active management. Fully on-chain oracles – Frax v1 uses Uniswap (ETH, USDT, USDC time-weighted average prices) and Chainlink (USD price) oracles.

Two Tokens – Frax Defi Coin is the stablecoin targeting a tight band around $1/coin. Frax Shares (FXS) is the governance token which accrues fees, seigniorage revenue, and excess collateral value.

Before Frax, stable coins were divided into three different categories: fiat collateralized, overcollateralized with cryptocurrency, and algorithmic with no collateral. Frax is the first kind of decentralized stable coin to classify itself as fractional-algorithmic ushering in the 4th and most unique category.

Frax Defi Finance Facts

What Makes Frax Unique?

The Frax Protocol is a community driven and unique design stablecoin. Over 60% of the supply of FXS is issued over a number of years to liquidity providers and yield farmers. It is an entirely decentralized protocol with governance onchain. It is also the first and only stablecoin to incorporate the fractional-algorithmic hybrid design at the time of its launch in November 2020.

Frax is a new paradigm in stablecoin design. It brings together familiar concepts into a never before seen protocol:

Fractional-Algorithmic –

Frax is the first and only stablecoin with parts of its supply backed by collateral and parts of the supply algorithmic. This means FRAX is the first stablecoin to have part of its supply floating/unbacked. The stablecoin (FRAX) is named after the “fractional-algorithmic” stability mechanism. The ratio of collateralized and algorithmic depends on the market’s pricing of the FRAX stablecoin. If FRAX is trading at above $1, the protocol decreases the collateral ratio. If FRAX is trading at under $1, the protocol increases the collateral ratio.

Decentralized & Governance-minimized –

Community governed and emphasizing a highly autonomous, algorithmic approach with no active management.

Fully on-chain oracles –

Frax v1 uses Uniswap (ETH, USDT, USDC time-weighted average prices) and Chainlink (USD price) oracles.

Two Tokens –

FRAX is the stablecoin targeting a tight band around $1/coin. Frax Shares (FXS) is the governance token which accrues fees, seigniorage revenue, and excess collateral value.

Crypto Native CPI –

Frax’s end vision is to build the first crypto native version of the CPI called the Frax Price Index (FPI) governed by FXS holders (and other protocol tokens). FRAX is currently pegged to USD but aspires to become the first decentralized, permissionless native unit of account which holds standard of living stable.

How Many FRAX and FXS Coins Are There in Circulation?

The supply of the FRAX stablecoin is dynamic and always changing to keep the price at $1 due to its fractional-algorithmic monetary policy. The supply of the Frax Shares (FXS) tokens are hard capped to 100 million tokens at genesis with no inflation schedule in the protocol. The FXS token is the governance token which accrues all value of new minted FRAX, fees, and excess collateral. FXS is an investment and governance asset while FRAX is the currency token.

FRAX Lending

This controller mints FRAX into money markets such as Compound or CREAM to allow anyone to borrow FRAX by paying interest instead of the base minting mechanism. FRAX minted into money markets don’t enter circulation unless they are overcollateralized by a borrower through the money market so this AMO does not lower the direct collateral ratio (CR). This controller allows the protocol to directly lend FRAX and earn interest from borrowers through existing money markets. Effectively, this AMO is MakerDAO’s entire protocol in a single market operations contract. The cash flow from lending can be used to buy back and burn FXS (similar to how MakerDAO burns MKR from stability fees). Essentially the Lending AMO creates a new avenue to get FRAX into circulation by paying an interest rate set by the money market.

Who Are the Founders of the Frax Protocol?

The Frax Protocol is the brainchild of American software developer Sam Kazemian who came up with the first idea of a fractional-algorithmic stablecoin in 2019.

The founding team of Frax engineers includes Travis Moore and Jason Huan. Sam Kazemian originally devised the idea when he noticed that stablecoins were growing rapidly but none had any mixture of algorithmic monetary policy and collateralization. Projects that had purely algorithmic monetary policy had failed or shut down without any significant traction. Frax was designed as an answer to measure the market’s confidence in a partly algorithmic and partly collateralized stablecoin.

Where Can I Buy or Obtain FRAX and FXS?

FRAX, the stablecoin, is available on many major exchanges and DeFi platforms like Uniswap and DEXes. The Frax Shares (FXS) tokens are also available and as liquid as the stablecoin. Investors looking to purchase upside and governance rights to the world’s first fractional-algorithmic stablecoin should buy Frax Shares (FXS). Users who want stability by using the world’s only fractional-algorithmic stablecoin should purchase FRAX.