The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has experienced explosive growth in 2020, reshaping how users interact with financial services through blockchain technology. While much of the spotlight has been on projects from North America and Europe, a wave of innovative DeFi teams from Taiwan has emerged as key contributors to this global movement. In this article, we spotlight two standout Taiwanese projects—Perpetual Protocol and Furucombo—that are not only making waves locally but gaining international recognition.
The Rise of DeFi in 2020
This year marked the true breakout of DeFi, with key milestones including:
- Total Value Locked (TVL) soaring from $600 million to over $13 billion
- The rise of yield farming and liquidity mining
- Increased focus on smart contract security due to flash loan exploits
- YFI’s meteoric price surge surpassing Bitcoin in market attention
- ETH rebounding from $100 to over $700
- The long-awaited launch of Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0
These achievements were made possible by developers, researchers, and users worldwide—including strong contributions from Taiwan’s tech-savvy blockchain community.
Perpetual Protocol: Decentralized Derivatives Trading
👉 Discover how next-gen DeFi platforms are redefining derivatives trading
One of the most promising Taiwanese-built DeFi projects is Perpetual Protocol, a decentralized platform for trading perpetual futures contracts. Founded by serial entrepreneur Yiwen Feng, the project launched its mainnet in late 2020, offering leveraged trading up to 10x on popular pairs like BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, and YFI/USDC.
How It Works: The vAMM Innovation
Perpetual Protocol stands out with its use of virtual Automated Market Maker (vAMM) technology. Unlike traditional AMMs that require liquidity providers to deposit assets into pools (x * y = k), vAMM operates without holding actual funds. Instead, real collateral is stored in a secure smart contract vault, while the vAMM handles price discovery and trading mechanics.
This design eliminates impermanent loss for traders and allows users to trade directly against each other—effectively making every trader a liquidity provider. It’s a breakthrough in efficiency and capital utilization.
Chainlink Integration and Funding Rates
To ensure accurate pricing, Perpetual Protocol integrates with Chainlink oracles, which feed real-time market data into the system every hour. This data determines the funding rate—a periodic payment exchanged between long and short positions to keep contract prices aligned with the underlying asset.
PERP Token and Governance
The platform’s native token, PERP, serves dual purposes:
- Governance: Holders can vote on protocol upgrades and parameter changes.
- Staking Rewards: Users who stake PERP earn a share of trading fees and receive regular staking incentives every seven days.
In a recent move to boost engagement, Perpetual Protocol hosted a week-long trading competition with a prize pool of approximately 30,000 PERP tokens, attracting global traders despite restrictions in certain regions like the U.S. and Taiwan.
Furucombo: Building DeFi Strategies Like Lego
Another pioneering project from Taiwan is Furucombo, developed by blockchain company DINNGO. Launched in March 2020, Furucombo is a visual DeFi aggregation platform that simplifies complex multi-step transactions.
Drag-and-Drop DeFi Automation
Imagine building financial strategies like snapping together Lego blocks. That’s exactly what Furucombo enables. Users can drag “Cubes” representing actions from different protocols—such as borrowing from Aave, swapping on Uniswap, or supplying to Compound—and chain them into a single atomic transaction.
This approach dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for non-developers who want to execute advanced strategies like flash loans, arbitrage, or collateral swaps—all within one click.
Key Achievements
Since launch, Furucombo has achieved impressive metrics:
- Over $170 million in total transaction volume
- More than 7,800 active users
- Integration with 11 major DeFi protocols accounting for over 90% of the ecosystem’s TVL
- Over 800 unique strategy combinations created by users
- The only UI in the market that supports flash loan execution natively
While Furucombo doesn’t generate profit opportunities for users, it empowers them to act on their own strategies efficiently and safely.
Furucombo V2: What’s Next?
The team recently unveiled plans for Furucombo V2, which includes:
- Expanding support to more DeFi protocols across multiple chains
- Solving cross-chain asset fragmentation issues
- Launching a crowdfunding-based DeFi strategy system
- Introducing the COMBO governance token
COMBO will play a central role in the platform’s future. With 52% allocated to community development, token holders will gain access to:
- Protocol fee rebates
- Revenue sharing once trading fees are introduced
- Governance rights over platform upgrades
👉 Explore platforms that simplify complex DeFi interactions
Other Notable Taiwanese DeFi Projects
Beyond Perpetual Protocol and Furucombo, Taiwan is home to several other impactful DeFi initiatives:
- Hakka Finance: Known for launching BlackHoleSwap, an innovative AMM with deflationary mechanics.
- Cream Finance: A lending protocol that partnered with Yearn.finance to offer yield optimization.
- Hammer Finance: A yield aggregator that reinvests Balancer mining rewards automatically, saving users gas fees and enabling compounding returns.
These projects highlight Taiwan’s growing influence in the global DeFi landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is DeFi?
A: Decentralized Finance (DeFi) refers to financial applications built on blockchain networks that operate without intermediaries. These include lending, borrowing, trading, and yield farming platforms.
Q: Why are Taiwanese teams significant in DeFi?
A: Taiwan has a strong foundation in semiconductor engineering and software development. This technical expertise translates well into blockchain innovation, allowing local teams to build secure, scalable DeFi solutions.
Q: Can I participate in Perpetual Protocol if I’m in Taiwan?
A: Currently, Perpetual Protocol restricts access for users in Taiwan and the U.S. due to regulatory considerations.
Q: Is Furucombo safe to use?
A: Yes. Furucombo executes transactions directly on-chain without holding user funds. All actions are permissionless and transparent on Ethereum.
Q: What are flash loans?
A: Flash loans allow users to borrow funds without collateral—as long as the loan is repaid within the same transaction. They’re commonly used for arbitrage, collateral swapping, and protocol attacks.
Q: Will more Taiwanese DeFi projects emerge?
A: Absolutely. With growing developer interest and supportive communities, Taiwan is poised to become a hub for next-generation DeFi innovation.
Final Thoughts
Taiwan’s contribution to the 2020 DeFi boom is undeniable. From cutting-edge derivatives trading with Perpetual Protocol to intuitive strategy-building tools like Furucombo, these projects exemplify how regional talent can have a global impact.
As the ecosystem evolves, expect more innovations from this dynamic community—driving accessibility, efficiency, and decentralization across the financial world.