SundaeSwap, the much anticipated DEX finally launched at 21:45 on Thurs 20th Jan 2022. In this article, I show how to use the DEX and discuss the outcome…
DEXs or decentralised exchanges are a vital part of a blockchain’s ecosystem they allow for users to swap tokens and carry out transactions without the interference of middlemen, or so goes the theory anyway. SundaeSwap is cited as the answer to those prayers, the golden child of the Cardano ecosystem. Heavily marketed and just a bit more good looking than the whippersnapper MuesliSwap (the first Cardano DEX), SundaeSwap promises plenty. But is it all swagger and good looks with little substance?
I loaded up my Nami wallet and went about using the SundaeSwap protocol to find out first-hand if the DEX lived up to expectations.
I intended to create a liquidity pool for our Cardano native token, Pop Up World Token (PUW). The liquidity pool would allow users to swap ADA for the Pop UP World Token.
SundaeSwap homepage.
Firstly, I navigated to the SundaeSwap homepage https://www.sundaeswap.finance/ , be sure to use this exact URL as there are a number of scams with similar URLs attempting to grab your valuable ADA.
The interface appeared slick, especially in dark mode, so thumbs up there. Next, I attempted to connect my Nami wallet to the DEX, this is easily achieved by clicking on Connect Wallet in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Nami Wallet.
SundaeSwap currently works with two wallet providers, Nami and ccvault.io my choice, Nami. The wallet connected flawlessly, so far so good. Next, I attempted to add ‘collateral’.
Set Collateral.
Collateral is a small amount of ADA set aside to allow you to interact with smart contracts, typically, 5 ADA. I signed the transaction and clicked enter. The transaction failed. I tried again, The transaction failed again.
After multiple attempts and a ‘mem pool error’, I still could not add collateral to the Nami wallet to carry out any transactions! After nearly an hour of trying, I finally managed to get a ‘Transaction Successful’ message. Great. The congestion on the network appeared to be causing serious issues with transactions. This congestion was anticipated by SundaeSwap prior to the launch but the experience although not the fault of the DEX, was not great.
Liquidity pool creation.
So, with collateral all set. I went about adding some liquidity by creating a liquidity pool. The idea is; you create a pool consisting of two assets, in my case Pop Up World Token (PUW) and ADA. Users can then swap tokens via the resultant pool. Liquidity pool providers are rewarded with LP (Liquidity Pool) tokens and a percentage of the pool.
In order to create your pool just enter the desired amounts of your paired assets and select a fee. The process is very straightforward. I pressed enter and waited for the transaction to submit. Unfortunately, I was disappointed, transaction error after transaction error, UGH. After numerous attempts, the transactions continued to fail. I could see on Twitter that many others were having similar issues with transaction fails. Some, however, were having successful transactions using the ccvault.io wallet. I decided to change the plan and download the ccvault browser extension and hope for the best.
Ccvault.io wallet.
On first look the ccvault wallet appears stark and functional, but who cares as long as it works. The process to transfer ADA across to the newly created wallet was slow and painful as transactions were taking forever to process due to the aforementioned congestion, no fault of the wallet itself. Once loaded with ADA, I proceeded to add collateral. Just click the cog next to your wallet name on the left and you will be presented with a list of options including collateral. Enable the slider and select ‘Set Collateral’, 5 ADA, which will be set aside for your smart contract transactions. The transaction took a while to complete but was successful, with no errors.
Next, on the ccvault.io wallet, you need to ensure you enable the ‘DApp’ setting. This allows the wallet to connect to DApps like the SundaeSwap DEX. Ensure you have downloded the browser extension version as the web app version does not have the DApp connector
Create the pool.
With my wallet fully enabled I headed back to the SundaeSwap site to create a liquidity pool. Signed the transaction and waited. This time the transaction proceeded to be created.
After a wait of around five to ten minutes the pool was created, success! A quick search for ‘popupworld’ on the homepage brought up the results.
Conclusions.
So, does the SundaeSwap DEX live up to expectations? The answer has to be yes. The Sundae team warned of congestion issues and unfortunately, they were correct. The network congestion makes for a pretty slow and gruelling experience for most. I can understand the frustration of many online who have voiced their opinions on their failed and slow transactions. Hopefully, as the initial hype dies down congestion will reduce and the user experience will be better. Also, planned upgrades on the Cardano network should improve things significantly.
Your choice of wallet could severely impact your ability to transact effectively, I would definitely suggest ccvault.io over Nami for the time being anyway. All in all the SundaeSwap DEX has a great interface, works as it should but is hampered by the network, hopefully, users are not put off by the initial experience and continue to use the platform once the mayhem has died down. MuesliSwap finally has some competition!
Feel free to pick up some Pop Up World (PUW) Tokens on SundaeSwap https://exchange.sundaeswap.finance/#/
or go to https://www.popupworld.co.uk/popupworldtoken
My name is Graham Jules, founder of Pop Up World. and Pop Up World Token
Pop Up World aims to help entrepreneurs and start-ups ‘reach for the stars’ via its digital ecosystem.
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