Serum

Serum is a decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol built on the Solana blockchain. Launched in August 2020, Serum aims to provide fast, low-cost trading of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Unlike traditional automated market maker (AMM) based DEXes, Serum features an on-chain central limit order book, allowing users to trade with order types similar to centralized exchanges. The protocol leverages Solana's high-performance capabilities, enabling it to process transactions quickly and at low cost. Serum's architecture is designed to be open-source and composable, allowing other projects to build on top of its liquidity and order book infrastructure.

Serum's native token is SRM, which is used for governance, fee discounts, and staking. The protocol implements a buy-and-burn mechanism where a portion of trading fees are used to purchase and burn SRM tokens. As of May 2024, SRM is trading at around USD 0.04791, significantly down from its all-time high of USD 13.72 reached in September 2021. The total supply of SRM is capped at 10 billion tokens, with about 263 million currently in circulation.

In November 2022, Serum faced significant challenges following the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, as the upgrade authority for the protocol was held by FTX. This led to the creation of a community-driven fork to keep the project alive. Despite these setbacks, development efforts continue to focus on expanding Serum's ecosystem and improving its functionality.