4 min readMar 30, 2021

ShadowX and its Advantages

ShadowX and its advantages

The last article described the core principles behind our choice of using BTC as the anchor to issue synthetic assets on ShadowX. This continuation tells what advantages ChainX has in the development and iterative improvement of ShadowX, and why these advantages are particularly important in the development of decentralized derivatives.

Cross-chain technology advantages

With recent events such as the transaction volume of the synthetic asset project Mirror surpassing Synthetix several times in a short period of time, it is not difficult to see that the market has high hopes for Mirror based on the dual-chain operation model of Terra and Ethereum. In the process of designing ShadowX, we also believe that the development of DeFi derivatives will evolve in the direction of “multi-chain integration”, which is determined by the complexity, professionalism and customization characteristics of mature derivatives. From a performance point of view, each specific derivative will have different requirements for the attributes of the underlying chain, and will make a choice in the impossible triangle; from a product point of view, due to the extremely fine classification and customization of mature derivatives, In the future, the mutual invocation and combination of derivatives in different ecosystems will become rigid demands. Just like many investment portfolios in today’s society, it may be a combination of various countries such as US stocks, A-shares, Hong Kong stocks, futures, options, and even Bitcoin ETFs. All of these will push decentralized derivatives to a multi-chain integration. From this point of view, the accumulation of cross-chain technology for derivatives projects is particularly important.

As far as ChainX is concerned, ChainX is the first batch of online projects in the Polkadot ecology. From the very beginning, it was established that it will focus on the development of cross-chain technology. As early as 2019, the Bitcoin cross-chain was realized through integrating light nodes in the cross-chain, and it has been running stably for 2 years. In addition, ChainX’s BTC cross-chain solution 2.0 will soon enter the testing phase, and the cross-chain process will be further upgraded to deepen the practice of code as trust. In the future, the accumulation of every step of ChainX’s cross-chain technology will also lay a solid foundation for ShadowX’s iteration.

Substrate experience advantage

Almost every day, we can hear the news of a certain DEFI project upgrading V2 and V3. Generally, the iteration of Ethereum DEFI is accompanied by complex contract changes and permission changes, so it often takes several months. If it is not done at the beginning of the contract creation, a good upgrade preset means that even the contract address needs to be changed, and the token migration can be completed by mapping or initiating a migration transaction. During this period, whether it takes too much time or the transfer of tokens, it will invisibly cause harm to the consensus. The Substrate framework used in the Polkadot ecology, due to its non-sensing runtime upgrade function, happens to be able to minimize the damage caused by frequent iterations.

The initial establishment of ChainX was based on the Substrate framework. With the iteration of Substrate 1.0 and the upgrade of 2.0, the team has a deep accumulation in the understanding and application of Substrate. Due to the unique experience and advantages, the team will be able to maximize the non-sensitivity upgrades and other advantages brought by the Substrate framework in the construction and update of ShadowX.

The advantages of deep plowing and multi-ecological

ShadowX wants to set foot in a highly customized derivative world. In the future, building an excellent derivative portfolio will most likely be formed from a combination of multiple projects and ecosystems. This combination not only needs a unilateral realization of cross-chain technology but also a sufficiently rich ecosystem with sufficient visibility and technical compatibility. The Polkadot ecology where ChainX is located is precisely such an all-encompassing ecology. With the gradual advancement of Kusama and Polkadot slot auctions, the ecology of Polkadot will also become prominent. In addition to the Polkadot ecology, ChainX has gradually deepened collaboration with the well-known AI privacy public chain Platon, and has launched cooperation development on bridge projects such as Platdot.

About ChainX

ChainX, the earliest launched project in Polkadot’s ecosystem, is committed to the research and application of Bitcoin layer 2 expansion, digital asset gateway and Polkadot second-layer relay chain, to realize cross-chain asset exchange, leading the new direction of Bitcoin Cross-DeFi.