RWA-focused development Plume launched on mainnet this month and its Portal site offers a hub for RWA-based DeFi opportunities. The app includes bridge and token swap functions, staking facilities, and a range of strategies to passively earn yield on deposited tokens while also picking up rewards in the form of points that will lead to future airdrop eligibility.
RWAs are an area of crypto with a lot of attention, huge potential to expand, and which intersect closely with DeFi. To earn yield using DeFi strategies on an RWA-centered platform, the Portal site from Plume is a must-check option, as besides offering some great returns, it’s very cleanly packaged and user-friendly.
What Is Plume?
An EVM-compatible network built specifically for RWAs, Plume launched its mainnet this month and aims to enable the use of institutional-grade, tokenized and composable real-world assets within DeFi, an integration it calls RWAfi.
Its market cap is at around $200 million, and there are more than 200 protocols within its ecosystem, with a TVL of $55.82 million.
The network’s hub of RWAfi activity is called Portal and from here, functions, strategies, documentation and useful links can be accessed, creating an easily-navigable and relatively uncomplicated access point.
The ecosystem utilizes three different native assets:
- Plume token (PLUME). This is the governance and gas token of the network, and it can be staked (more on that below).
- Plume USD (pUSD). This is Plume’s stablecoin, it’s backed 1:1 by USDC, for which it acts as a wrapper, and it can be minted on Portal by depositing USDC or USDT.
- Plume ETH (pETH). This is an ETH LST, and it can be acquired by staking WETH on Portal.
Also, a Season 2 airdrop campaign is currently active, meaning you can earn Plume points for your activity on the network, which will lead to airdrop eligibility.
Before we move on to functions and strategies, be aware of the risks inherent when you use DeFi protocols, which can include smart contract vulnerabilities, frontend attacks, stablecoin de-pegs, and systemic risks across crypto and DeFi. Also, please check Plume’s documents for more detail on audits and security.
Portal Functions
To get started, visit the app and connect an EVM-compatible wallet such as MetaMask. You’ll notice straight away that the whole platform looks more like a regular Web2 site than a DeFi app, which reflects the way RWAs crossover between TradFi and crypto, and maybe gives an indication as to how future DeFi products might look if they gain more mainstream adoption.
Having connected a wallet, you can then click on Bridge in the side navigation panel or main interface, and then move some assets across to Plume, selecting the origin network and asset, and for the asset you’re buying select Plume as the chain, and you’ll need to buy at least a small amount of the PLUME token for gas.
When you have assets in your wallet on the Plume chain, you can also click on the Swap function, and from there you can swap between Plume-based tokens. You’ll also find another couple of DEX options–Rooster and Ambient–linked to from there.
Staking Plume
The easiest way to generate passive rewards on Portal is by staking PLUME. To do this, click on Stake and you can then deposit PLUME for a 5% APY return. However, note here…
