Case Study: Venus Protocol

Venus Protocol is the leading lending protocol by TVL on the ZKsync Era chain. Created in 2020, Venus is a money market that enables decentralized loans and credit systems across six different chains. In addition to allowing users to lend and borrow assets, Venus offers complementary services such as vaults for their governance token, XVS.

The Burden of Gas Fees

A common challenge in the adoption of decentralized applications is gas fees, which can pose a barrier to smooth and accessible use. For Venus users, these gas fees add complexity not only in terms of costs but also in terms of user experience, potentially deterring newcomers and complicating interaction with the protocol.

The Integration of Zyfi's Paymaster

Zyfi offers a paymaster service, allowing Venus to sponsor gas fees for all on-chain actions of its users. Through the ZKsync stack and native account abstraction, Zyfi simplifies the user experience by making all the following actions on Venus entirely gas-free:

• Approval — All approvals are gasless

• Supply — Lend in any pool for free

• Withdraw — Withdraw from pools anytime for free

• Borrow — Borrow from any pool for free

• Repay — Repay loans in any pool for free

• XVS Vault — Deposit/withdraw in the XVS Vault for free

With Zyfi's paymaster, all on-chain actions on Venus through ZKsync are now gas-free, creating a seamless and optimized user experience. Users can approve transactions, lend assets, withdraw funds, borrow or repay loans, and interact with the XVS Vault without any gas fees.

From a user perspective, Zyfi completely eliminates the gas fee barrier, offering a simplified and seamless experience.

UX/UI Implementation

Here’s how the UX/UI implementation process worked:

1. Choose Sponsorship Type — All on-chain actions are made free for users.

2. API Integration — Venus integrated Zyfi’s API into their front end in about one day, enabling gas-free actions like lending, borrowing, and XVS Vault activities.

3. UI Adjustment — A “FREE” box was added to the ZKsync network interface to notify users that all on-chain actions are gas-free.

And that’s it! 🎉

In total, Venus needed only 1 development day to integrate the entire product into their front end, providing an exceptional on-chain experience for users.

Results

Since the Zyfi integration, Venus has attracted numerous users, sponsoring around 400 transactions per day as of October 30th, 2024, which is significant for a lending protocol.

Conclusion

The integration of Zyfi’s paymaster underscores the evolution of interfaces and user experience in on-chain applications. Thanks to this solution, Venus offers a frictionless experience, allowing users to focus entirely on using the protocol without concerns over transaction fees.