Welcome down the DeFi Rabbit Hole 🐇 🕳️
Are you looking to supply your assets for the Compound Quest? Well, you're in the right place.
The goal of this tutorial is simple:
Make sure you understand the essentials to safely and securely supply assets and earn interest on the Compound protocol.
What you will need for this quest:
- A web3 Wallet, such as Metamask
- Some ETH to pay for gas fees
- Any other erc-20 tokens you might want to lend This tutorial assumes you understand how to use a web3 wallet and how to approve transactions + pay gas fees. If not, follow this guide to set up Metamask.
Alright, let’s dive in!
Compound 101
Compound is a decentralized lending protocol on the Ethereum blockchain.
They are the third largest DeFi asset, at the time of writing, with around $9 billion in total value locked (TVL).
Impressively, Compound is widely considered to be the catalyst for DeFi Summer 2020 when they distributed the COMP token to users in June 2020.
Think of Compound like a high-yield savings account but without any middleman and automated through Ethereum smart contracts. You can lend and borrow through the platform, but this tutorial will only cover lending.
How to Lend and Earn Interest on Compound
Step 1: Go to app.compound.finance and connect your web3 Wallet.
First, go to the Compound application and connect your preferred wallet. Metamask is the most widely-used option.
Step 2: Enable the asset you want to supply as collateral
Click the Enable button next to the asset. You will need to pay a one-time gas fee to enable the asset. Once you enable an asset, you can officially supply collateral for that asset to earn interest.
Stablecoins like DAI and USDC provide the highest interest rates. However, I used ETH in this test example, so if you’re looking for the highest returns, you should consider supplying a stablecoin.
Important reminder: make sure you have enough ETH to cover gas fees.
Step 3: Supply your asset and start earning interest.
To supply collateral, click on the desired asset and type the amount of coins you want to supply. You will see a Supply APY (in your asset) and a Distribution APY (in COMP/year).
To confirm, click Supply, pay the necessary gas fees, and start earning interest on your assets. Too easy.
Congrats, you will now earn interest on every Ethereum block (~15 seconds)! You can withdraw funds at any time.
As an added incentive, the $COMP tokens, which are distributed to all Compound lenders, will allow you to vote and participate in Compound's governance.
That’s all you need!
Now that you can lend on Compound, you’re well on your way to becoming a DeFi expert.
For a more technical overview, read the Compound protocol documentation. And for a deeper dive, read this article or watch this 10-minute video.
Lastly, if you have any questions, jump into the Rabbit Hole Discord!