Interview with Yubo Ruan: decoding Parallel’s vision for defi on layer-2

Parallel is an all-in-one decentralized finance (defi) platform built as a layer-2 solution aiming to democratize access. The project offers a suite of offerings including staking, lending, and trading, enhanced by partnerships, with a focus on ease of use through features like artificial intelligence (AI) interaction. 

In this interview, we discuss the specifics of Parallel’s capabilities, roadmap, and philosophy as it pertains to growth in web3.

What is the overarching vision and mission of the Parallel project in a nutshell? 

Parallel’s vision is that 1 billion will use decentralized finance (defi) in 10 years. We want to build a product and services to make it happen. In nutshell, Parallel is an all- in-one defi focused layer-2 with built-in applications such as staking, lending and trading. 

How does the Parallel super app add value to users through its yield farming options?

We wrap the yield on the base chain and we put all trading and lending activities on our layer-2. We are able to improve the capital efficiency by providing opportunities for people to do trading on top of their yield position. 

What are the key benefits of the ape staking feature on Parallel?

The biggest benefit of using parallel apestaking is that we are able to reduce the need for auto-compound apestaking rewards. It would be 10-20% more than if you were not to do auto compounding. Besides, many BAYC holders don’t hold any apecoin which is required for apestaking. We are able to provide apecoin pairing with them. 

Parallel has a number of high level partnerships. Could you speak about how these partnerships fit into your growth vision?

We partner with Chainlink for floor price oracle and we also partner with Delegate cash to provide user’s with non-fungible token (NFT) delegation experience for gaming. 

What trends do you see in the blockchain/AI market that Parallel can capitalize on? 

We can capitalize on AI trend where users can use prompt interaction with defi protocols. 

How crucial is zkVM technology to the performance of Parallel apps?

zkVM can help us with verifying the validity of the computation. For example, we are using RiskZero zkVM infra to prove the correctness of our off-chain order book matching engine. 

Security is a key consideration for any crypto platform. How robust are Parallel measures to secure user funds? 

We had done over nine audits from the biggest auditors. We also added a timelock contract to our product where we can prevent malicious hacking.  

ChatGPT has caught the imagination of the entire tech sector; how does Parallel’s vision fit into an AI-centric world?

We made a demo that shows we can use ChatGPT to allow users to interact with defi with a text prompt. 

Why build on Polkadot?

Polkadot is has massive value but is lack of good defi ecosystem and therefore we want to build one on polkadot

How does Parallel navigate the constantly shifting blockchain and defi regulation landscape?

We are transitioning to a more decentralized and DAO based protocol. 

How does Parallel optimize digital asset management for a defi enthusiast? 

Parallel manages crypto assets based on users’ preferences and risk profile. If they prefer higher risk, we will put it into higher risk yield borrowers and so forth

What do you look for in hiring new team members of the platform? Are there core values the leadership team works towards?

We are looking to hire two senior backend dev, a senior BD, social media and content manager. We value strong work ethic, transparency and innovative open minded person

What is the future of web3 adoption and influence on finance?

Web3 could eventually eat the whole financial world where blockchain becomes one of the infra to power the future of financial services

What is the draw for developers to create on the Parallel platform?

We have $150m in total value locked (TVL) and 40,000 on-chain users. Our ecosystem is active for new developers 

Are there exciting developments on the pipeline you would want to hint at to the world? 

We are going to build out a defi focused layer-2 soon.