SushiSwap (SUSHI) is a decentralized exchange (or DEX) built on the Ethereum network. Originally forked from Uniswap, SushiSwap leverages smart contracts in order to provide liquidity pools that allow users to directly trade crypto assets — with no intermediary. Users can also become liquidity pool providers, supplying an equal value pair of two cryptocurrencies in order to receive rewards whenever anyone utilizes that pool. It is a decentralized finance (or DeFi) protocol.
Users of Ethereum-based apps like SushiSwap have to pay transaction fees (also called gas) that can vary widely in price and can make it costly to use the network. DEXs have a range of risks, so do your research. For example, bugs in smart contracts can be exploited. And, since anyone can create a token, watch for “rug pulls” of unvetted tokens. “Rug pulls” occur when developers and/or bad actors create and list tokens on a decentralized exchange, request that unsuspecting investors swap their ETH or other asset for the new token, only to liquidate the token after accruing a certain level of investments. This liquidation drives down the value of the token to 0.
You can use Sushiswap to trade one cryptocurrency for another directly — it can’t be used to trade fiat for crypto or vice versa. It uses the Automated Market Maker model pioneered by Uniswap.
To add liquidity, users send equal-value amounts of two cryptocurrencies to SushiSwap. In exchange, they receive Liquidity Provider (or LP) tokens and begin receiving rewards. Users can deposit their newly created LP tokens into yield farms to earn further APY rewards. This creates extra incentive for users to continue to be part of the liquidity pool over time.
You can buy SushiSwap through an exchange like Coinbase, in addition to using decentralized exchanges like Sushishwap itself (or Uniswap, a competing decentralized exchange).
Released: August 2020
