Case Study #2

Today’s spotlight is on @PythNetwork.

Here's what their game plan looks like: 🧵

Express Relay, run by PYTH, is like eBay for dApps.

They deploy a contract, forfeit permissionlessness, and give Express Relay exclusive rights to do liquidations.
But that's not all.

dApps also have to report opportunities.

Like a seller on eBay, they need to say, "Hey, here's a liquidation."
Then, the auction system kicks in, and the searchers can bid on it.

Pros?

A healthy network of searchers, it's Oracle agnostic, and chain agnostic. It doesn't care where you run on, as long as they can execute on the opportunity.
Think Wintermute, Caladan - big players are already in the game.
And because it's Oracle and chain agnostic, it's flexible and versatile.

But there are cons.

The biggest?
There's no integrated backup.
If Express Relay goes down, you're left high and dry.
If you don't report a liquidation, you're in trouble.

So, you're left with this big question:

How do I protect myself if Express Relay goes down?
PYTH suggests making it conditional, like leaving it open to everyone after a minute.
But that's on you to implement.

Another downside?

Auctions can only happen on what the dApp reports.
If you don't report a liquidation, there are no buyers.
So, the performance of big searchers like Wintermute and Caladan is contingent on you.

In comparison to other solutions, Express Relay asks more of you.

You have to think about the fallback.
You have to report every opportunity.

But in return, you get access to a healthy network of searchers.

In conclusion, Express Relay is like eBay for dApps - centralized, versatile, but reliant on you for reporting opportunities and implementing fallbacks.

Quite the trade-off?

Stay tuned for the next case, @API3DAO.