Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has rapidly risen to prominence in 2021 as high transaction costs and congestion on the Ethereum (ETH) network led smaller-size investors to search for cheaper alternatives.
One of the top choices to earn a yield on the BSC is Venus (XVS), an algorithmic money market and synthetic stablecoin protocol that provides a lending and borrowing solution for the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of Venus catapulted 3,000% in the first two months of the year, going from a low of $3.20 on Jan. 1 to an all-time high of $103 on Feb. 19 before correcting to $35 on March 25. At the time of writing, XVS price is trading for $98.
Traders seek stable yield with less risk
When comparing different protocols across blockchain networks, the top competitor for Venus on the Ethereum network is Maker (MKR) and its DAI stablecoin. Aside from being able to deposit collateral to earn a yield, users can also borrow against their collateral by minting the VAI stablecoin, a synthetic BEP-20 token that is pegged to the value of one U.S. dollar.
Users who prefer to hold a significant portion of their portfolio in a stablecoin can purchase VAI and deposit it in the Venus vault to earn a 19.91% yield at the time of writing.
Those wishing to get more involved in the community can purchase the XVS token, which is the governance token for the Venus protocol and enables token holders to vote on changes to the ecosystem, such as adding new collateral types or organizing product improvements.
The list of tokens supported by the protocol continues to expand, with many of the top tokens already available for users to earn a yield. Currently supported coins include Ethereum, Binance Coin (BNB), Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink (LINK), Polkadot (DOT), XRP and Cardano (ADA).
Yields offered by the protocol are on average between 4% and 10%, with earnings paid out in the same form as the collateral staked. While the amount earned on Venus is lower than on many of the yield farming options, users do not need to worry about impermanent losses or the value of the protocol token falling and erasing their gains.
Data from Defistation shows that Venus is currently the top-ranked DeFi platform on the BSC by total value locked, with $7.8 billion in collateral currently deposited on the protocol.
When compared to DeFi platforms across all blockchain networks, Venus ranks eighth behind its main Ethereum competitor Curve, which currently has $6.47 billion in TVL.
The flow of institutional and retail investors into the cryptocurrency ecosystem has picked up in 2021 and this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Despite this week's Berlin upgrade to the Ethereum network, fees are still high and this leaves the door open to competing chains and protocols looking to expand their userbase.
Venus is well-positioned to see further growth as people increasingly flee the legacy financial system in search of higher yields and effortless capital mobility.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.