🏛️ Context

The problems of Centralized Exchanges (CEX)

Centralized exchanges (CEX) always lack transparency in their operations. Users have limited visibility into the inner workings of the exchange, including the order-matching process.

CEX often requires users to provide personal information, including identity verification. This compromises users' privacy as their information is stored and potentially shared with third parties.

The most important thing is that CEX has full control over users' funds. Two notable instances are the FTX incident and the Mt. Gox collapse:

1. FTX

FTX was a leading cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt in November 2022, amid allegations that its owners had embezzled and misused customer funds. It was discovered that customer funds went to accounts controlled by Alameda Research -- a cryptocurrency trading firm headquartered in Hong Kong -- instead of FTX.

2. Mt. Gox

Mt. Gox was once the largest Bitcoin exchange globally, handling a significant portion of Bitcoin transactions.

This company had suffered a massive security breach, resulting in the theft of approximately 850,000 Bitcoins belonging to its customers.

This incident led to substantial financial losses and severely damaged the trust in centralized exchanges at that time.

These problems associated with centralized exchanges have fueled the rise of decentralized exchanges (DEX), which aim to address these issues by leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts.

DeFi UX problems

DeFi (Decentralized Finance) has gained significant attention for its transparent, non-custodial, and permissionless features. However, one area where DeFi currently faces challenges is user experience (UX).

DeFi protocols often involve multiple steps and interactions with different smart contracts. This multiplication of risks arises when users engage with different protocols for various purposes such as swapping tokens, providing liquidity, participating in options trading, or engaging in yield farming.

The decentralization of DeFi means that users often need to interact with different platforms or dApps to perform specific actions. This fragmented experience requires users to spend significant time and effort searching for and navigating different places to swap, leading to a cumbersome and inefficient user experience.

Interoperability between different blockchain networks is crucial for seamless asset transfers and accessing a wider range of DeFi opportunities. However, bridging assets across different chains can be complex and time-consuming. Users may need to utilize separate bridging solutions or participate in multiple chains, adding an additional layer of complexity to their user experience.

In conclusion, the UX of DeFi platforms has been a common point of criticism. The complexity and technical nature of DeFi protocols can present challenges for mainstream users, potentially hindering mass adoption.

LineHub Solution

With LineHub, we want to bridge the gap between transparency and trust offered by DeFi and the user-friendly experience desired by users.

LineHub aims to revolutionize the DeFi landscape by creating a unified platform on Linea that brings together a comprehensive range of services from various sectors.

By collaborating with industry leaders, LineHub seeks to provide users with a streamlined and user-friendly interface, offering a one-stop solution for all their DeFi needs.