What is Akropolis?

Image Source: Akropolis’ Website

Akropolis is a blockchain framework that allows developers to build and launch decentralized finance services and products for users. The project focuses on developing Apps that offer saving, lending, investment, and other financial services without the need for centralized parties or intermediaries.

Akropolis was built on the Ethereum blockchain, which allows it to integrate existing EVM-compatible tools and protocols needed for DeFi development. The Akropolis ecosystem, which is undergoing development, consists of Vortex, Yearn Vaults, AKRO staking, and Vortex Auto. It also uses its native token, AKRO, to conduct governance and community activities in the ecosystem.

This article will explore the Akropolis ecosystem and what prospective users need to know to utilize the Akropolis infrastructure fully.

History of the Akropolis Project

The Akropolis project started as a distributed savings and pensions fund, a solution to the impending “pension deficit apocalypse” due to such factors as corruption and a lack of transparency, which would inevitably result in the collapse of state pension fund systems.

The idea was finally launched in 2018 by co-founders Ana Andrianova and Kate Kurbanova. In 2019, the Akropolis team held an initial coin offering in which the team raised $2.4 million, exchanging AKRO for ETH.

One year later, in August 2020, the Akropolis project shifted its focus from pension funds to the broader DeFi space. Seeing the potential and demand for its services, the project rebranded into akropolisOS, a framework that allowed developers to build and launch DeFi applications and products.

The rebrand gained attention due to its user-friendly interface, yield-aggregation focus, and decentralized governance model. Subsequently, the project launched the Vortex, Vortex Auto, and yVault features. It also launched two applications that grew in popularity, Sparta and Delphi.

Sparta is a lending and borrowing protocol that allows users to take out loans with low collateral requirements and, at the same time, earn interest by providing liquidity, while Delphi is a yield farming aggregator that allows users to access various DeFi opportunities across different platforms, optimizing their returns.

That same year, in November 2020, Akropolis was attacked, which led to the loss of $2 million worth of DAI. The attack was executed by exploiting the flawed way Akropolis handled the deposit logic in its smart contract. This led to many tokens being minted in the pool without validating the supporting assets. Thus, they were minted without the backing of valuable assets.

In response, Akropolis tracked down the wallets responsible for the hack and communicated with major crypto exchanges to freeze the funds and limit the hacker’s ability to cash out the funds.

Subsequently, the Akropolis development team integrated the Torus wallet, implemented a compensation plan, updated the governance snapshot feature, upgraded the yEarn vault to V3, and made the ADEL to AKRO vested rewards swap available.

How Does It Work? Yield Aggregation, Autonomous Finance Organizations, Developer Tools and Governance

Yield Aggregation

Image Source: Akropolis’ Website

Yield aggregation is the process of automating and optimizing the yield returns from numerous DeFi projects and protocols, allowing users to earn passively from the crypto assets they invest in the yield aggregation pool.

The yield aggregation protocol on Akropolis comprises smart contracts that automatically move user funds between lending platforms such as Aave, Compound, Curve, and others to maximize the return on user investments.

By investing in various projects, the risk exposure of users is minimized, and the strategy also generates a passive stream of income for users without the added inconvenience of direct interaction, monitoring, or management of the various investments.

The yield aggregation feature powers the Vortex and Yearn vault features of the Akropolis ecosystem. Vortex automates the process of investing and rebalancing the users’ portfolios to maximize returns.

Autonomous Finance Organization (AFO)

Autonomous finance organizations are decentralized financial organizations that are owned and governed by the members of their community. They are usually structured as smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.

The AFOs in the Akropolis ecosystem are more specialized decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that are focused on financial products and services, and they have several advantages over the traditional finance structure.

Firstly, all the transactions conducted in the Akropolis project are recorded on the blockchain, providing the needed transparency that traditional finance systems lack and allowing users to see how their funds are utilized.

AFOs are also more efficient due to their automation feature, which allows them to automate lending and borrowing tasks. The structure is easily accessible without limitations such as geographic locations or national borders.

Developer Tools

The Akropolis project provides various tools for developers to build and launch dApps on the platform. The tools include Akropolis SDK, Akropoli CLI, Akropoli documentation, and Akropoli community.

The Akropolis SDK is a set of libraries and tools developers can use. The SDK allows developers to interact with the Akropolis smart contracts, manage user accounts, and develop user interfaces.

The Akropolis CLI is a command-line tool used to deploy dApps. The documentation tool provides developers with all the information they need to build and launch on the platform, and the Akropolis community is a vibrant and supportive community of developers and users.

Governance

Image Source: Akropolis’ Website

The Akropolis governance infrastructure is made up of three components. The Akropolis Protocol, the network, and the external modules.

As a decentralized project used to launch other decentralized projects, the governance infrastructure on Akropolis is designed as a multi-jurisdictional platform that is modular, flexible, and upgradable.

The Akropol protocol is the platform’s core layer that defines the rules and logic for creating and managing AFOs. The protocol allows the project to be compatible with other DeFi protocols, enabling interoperability.

The Akropolis network provides a user interface and tools for end users and DAOs. The network component allows the verification of user identity and reputation, and it provides analytics for the platform. The External Modules include various integrations with external entities, such as custodians, asset managers, regulators, etc.

The AKRO token and AKRO staking feature power governance in Akropolis. The external modules provide additional functionalities, allowing the verification of user assets, managing compliance, and verification of on-chain data.

Features of The Akropolis Ecosystem: Vortex, Yearn Vaults, AKRO Staking and Vortex Auto

Vortex

Image Source: Akropolis’ Website

Vortex is designed as an on-chain basis trading strategy that is focused on generating long-term, sustainable, and rewarding yields for Akropolis users regardless of the volatility of the crypto market.

Basis trading is an arbitrage strategy that takes advantage of the difference between a digital asset’s current and future value. The Vortex feature buys or sells an asset in one market while simultaneously buying or selling a related instrument in another market to profit from the difference in price between the two markets.

Since the crypto market is focused on long trades, participants of the market purchase assets, believing the asset price would rise. Other participants would instead take a short position, predicting the price would decrease.

Conversely, Vortex is designed to be market-neutral by removing the directional price risk from the short position while maintaining the funding rate advantage of short trades. This allows Vortex users to benefit from the market and generate income regardless of whether the price goes up or down.

Yearn Vaults

Image Source: Akropolis’ Website

Yearn vaults or yVaults are designed similarly to savings accounts for crypto assets. The vaults are capital pools that accept deposits and reroute them through existing projects to seek the highest yields available in the DeFi space.

Yearn vaults allow users to socialize gas fees, automate yield generation, and rebalance their assets, automatically shifting available capital to opportunities that arise without understanding complicated investing strategies and DeFi protocols.

The vaults in the Akropolis platform allow users to track the passive incomes and profit generated by utilizing the Zapper.fi portfolio tracker. The profits are usually made available when the harvest() function is called, which happens on a fluctuating basis.

AKRO Staking

The AKRO staking feature on the Akropolis platform allows users to stake their AKRO tokens to earn rewards. To stake their assets, users must select a validator pool and stake to that pool to assist the validator in securing the project.

In addition to earning rewards, the AKRO staking feature gives users governance rights, allowing them to vote on proposals and changes to be effected on the project.

Vortex Auto

The Vortex Auto feature is undergoing development, designed to allow users to provide liquidity passively with a high capital efficiency.

Vortex Auto will use the Acropolis ecosystem infrastructure to automate the process of providing liquidity to multiple different DeFi protocols.

What is the AKRO Token?

The AKRO token is the native token for the Akropolis platform. The token has a total supply of 5 billion, with 4.3 billion currently in circulation, accounting for 87.6% of the total supply. In 2019, 8% of the AKRP token supply was allocated to Huobi Prime Offering, 9.5% to the team and advisors, 46% to the foundation reserve, 22.5% set aside for the token sale, and 14% set aside for marketing and incentivizing the community.

As of October 2023, over 81% of AKRO holders are whales; that is, they hold more than 1% of the total supply. Notably, 84.35% of addresses have held the AKRO token for over a year, and 13.42% have held it for less than a year but more than a month. The remaining 2.23% are traders who have held the token for less than a month.

Although AKRO is an ERC-20 token (running on the Ethereum blockchain), the team has plans to integrate it with the Polkadot ecosystem. The token has multiple functionalities for users of the Akropolis platform, from saving to growing wealth passively.

It can be used for such purposes as staking to earn rewards from fees and yields generated by the protocol, for governance to participate in voting for proposals and parameters, and for incentives to encourage users to provide liquidity or participate in bug bounties and other activities in the ecosystem.

Is AKRO Token a Good Investment?

The AKRO token is the native token of an ecosystem focused on finance tools and services for generating yield and managing risk. Participants of the AKRO ecosystem would also receive passive income streams from yield aggregation to staking.

The tools and features offered by the Akropolis ecosystem are well positioned in the DeFi space, which is still relatively new, and the project has much growth potential. Akropolis is well-positioned to benefit from this growth.

The decentralized AKRO token also gives holders governance rights, allowing them to make decisions that improve their value in the long run, guaranteeing its long-term sustainability.

How Can You Own AKRO?

To own AKRO tokens and become a part of the Akropolis ecosystem, users can follow a simple process:

Setup a Wallet

One way to own AKRO tokens is through a crypto exchange. The first step is to create a Gate.io account, complete the KYC process, and add funds to the account.

Utilize the AKRO Tokens

Once a user has acquired AKRO tokens, they can stake them or provide liquidity in a yield-aggregating Akropolis pool.

Explore the Ecosystem

By acquiring AKRO tokens, users can explore the wide range of functionalities the Akropolis ecosystem offers, from the Vortex feature to the Yearn vaults.

Take action on Akropolis

Users can sign up and purchase or trade AKRO tokens here.