Top Things You Should Know About Kyber Network (KNC)

Hey guys, I’m back with another comprehensive Q&A piece, this time for the popular crypto exchange protocol – Kyber Network (KNC).
Kyber Network is an on-chain liquidity protocol that enables decentralized token swaps between Ethereum (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), and other ERC-20 tokens. The protocol can be easily integrated into any decentralized application to facilitate instant and secure token exchange.  
The following piece is similar to my latest articles on Theta (THETA), DigiByte (DGB), and 0x (ZRX), so if you haven’t already seen those, be sure to check them out as well. 
Hope you enjoy!
The list of Q&A is kind of long so first comes the list of questions that I have prepared the answers to:

1. What is Kyber Network?
2. Who and When Created the Kyber Network?
3. What is Kyber Swap?
4. What is Kyber’s KNC Token Used for?
5. How is Kyber Network different from other DEX Protocols?
6. What Are Kyber’s Reserves?
7. Does Kyber Network have an Explorer?
8. What are some Use Cases of the Kyber Network?
9. Who Uses Kyber Network?
10. Where to store Kyber Network?
11. Where to Buy & Sell Kyber Network KNC?

1. What is Kyber Network?

Kyber Network website homepage

Kyber Network is a decentralized on-chain liquidity DEX protocol that facilitates instant, secure, trustless, and seamless token swaps, anywhere, and anytime. The protocol connects the fragmented tokenized world by enabling platforms, vendors, wallets, DEXes, and dapps to instantly, securely, and seamlessly transact with one another and exchange value. 
Kyber’s protocol enables developers to build all sorts of financial dapps including instant token swap services, ERC-20 payment gateways, exchanges, and trading integrations, decentralized finance (DeFi) dapps, and more.

How Kyber Network Works

Important Kyber Network Features

• Platform Agnostic
• Instant Settlement and No Transaction Uncertainty
• Ease of Integration

Platform Agnostic
Any application or protocol can be powered by Kyber’s on-chain liquidity network, without limiting innovation and ecosystem diversity. For instance, Kyber Network can act as a decentralized bridge between a proof of work (POW) network and a delegated proof of stake (DPOS) network. An example of this is the Waterloo project which bi-directionally connects Ethereum and EOS. 
Instant Settlement and No Transaction Uncertainty
Kyber makes real-world commerce and decentralized financial products feasible by enabling trustless, secure, and instant inter-token transactions with no settlement risk. This feature is critical for many use cases in the real-world.
Ease of Integration
Kyber’s on-chain liquidity protocol can be easily integrated directly into different applications. It’s developer-friendly, highly compatible with other systems, and has no interaction with off-chain components.

2. Who and When Created the Kyber Network?

Kyber Network Founders, Victor Tran (left) and Loi Luu (right) 

Kyber Network was founded in 2017 by Loi Luu and Victor Tran and is headquartered out of Singapore. 
Loi Luu, the co-founder, and CEO of Kyber is experienced in the field of blockchain technology as he holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the National University of Singapore, where he worked on public blockchain infrastructures for decentralization, scalability, and security. 
During his work at NUS, Luu became impressed with how fundamentally different and revolutionary blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies were. In particular, Luu was fascinated with the idea that cryptocurrencies could enable an entire global technological and economic system that didn’t rely on any centralized trusted third parties. 
This idea is what led Luu to dedicate his life to the cryptocurrency industry and ultimately led him to creating Kyber Network.
On another note, Luu was selected in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Asia, and Top 10 Innovators under 35 for the Asia Pacific by MIT Technology Reviews.
Victor Tran, co-founder, and CTO of Kyber is an experienced programmer who’s been involved in the cryptocurrency industry since early 2016. In addition to co-founding Kyber, Tran co-founded and is a lead engineer on the cryptocurrency open source project SmartPool.
Joining Luu and Tran in their work on Kyber is a dedicated core team and many contributors distributed around the world.

Kyber Network Team & Contributors  

Kyber Network Launch and Issuance:

(Source)

Kyber Network launched its project and native cryptocurrency, KNC, in an initial coin offering (ICO) on September 15, 2017. The team raised around $52 million from both the public and private token sales between August and September 2017. 
The total supply of Kyber is 210,861,131 KNC and the circulating supply as of May 20, 2020 is 180,028,289 KNC.
See the KNC token distribution below:

• 33.55% (180,028,289 KNC) to the Private Sale & Early Investors
• 26.7% (57,568,314 KNC) to the Public Sale
• 19.47% (41,982,255 KNC) to the Team, Advisors, and Early Investors
• 19.47% (42,580,754 KNC) to the Kyber Network Reserve Fund
• 0.81% airdropped

3. What is Kyber Swap?

Kyber Swap website homepage

Kyber Swap is a fast, simple, and secure token swap platform that features competitive exchange rates on over 70 tokens. It’s one of the most popular Ethereum dapps to swap ERC20 tokens such as WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin), ETH, DAI, TUSD, and more.
The Kyber Swap platform can be accessed through your web browser or via the Kyber Swap mobile app for Android. 
To exchange tokens on Kyber Swap, simply connect your own Ethereum wallet and address which can be connected through a variety of options including MetaMask, Ledger, Trezor, Torus, Coinbase Wallet, Wallet Connect, Key Store, or Private Key.
Once connected, Kyber Swap enables you to seamlessly, instantly, and securely:

• Swap (exchange) ETH and ERC-20 tokens
• Transfer ETH and ERC-20 tokens
• Set non-custodial limit orders for exchanging ETH and ERC-20 tokens
• Buy ETH with fiat currency
• Redeem KyberSwap gift cards

4. What is Kyber’s KNC Token Used for?

(Source)

Kyber Network Crystal (KNC) is the native ERC-20 token of the Kyber Network. It plays an integral role in Kyber’s on-chain liquidity protocol by connecting different participants in the Kyber Network ecosystem. 
KNC facilitates the smooth operation of Kyber’s decentralized liquidity network by connecting Kyber Reserves (liquidity providers) with the different entities that leverage Kyber’s on-chain liquidity network (dapps, wallets, exchanges, end-users), and is also used to pay for network fees.

KNC Uses

• Kyber Reserves (Liquidity Contributors)
• Dapps/Wallets/Vendors (Entities that leverage Kyber’s liquidity network)
• Network Fees (protocol transaction fees)

Kyber Reserves
In order to become a Kyber Network liquidity provider and earn protocol fees paid out in KNC, the 3rd party token reserves are required to purchase KNC to pay for their operation in the network.
Dapps/Wallets/Vendors
Entities that plug into Kyber’s liquidity network earn a commission in KNC for every transaction they facilitate using Kyber’s on-chain liquidity protocol. For instance, a dapp or wallet that integrates with Kyber’s APIs will receive referral fees paid out in KNC for spreading Kyber Network adoption. 
Network Fees
Each transaction in Kyber Network has a fee that is paid for in KNC and a portion of these fees are burned, taken out of the Kyber Network circulation forever. 

5. How is Kyber Network different from other DEX Protocols?

0x and Loopring logos

Kyber Network is different from most other DEX protocols, such as 0x and Loopring, in that it provides users with quick and easy token swaps. 
To provide an analogy: 
Imagine you had $300 in your wallet and you just landed in Germany and want to exchange that into EUR currency. 
You wouldn't go to a Forex exchange, place your bids on the USD/EUR market, wait for your orders to fill, and then wait a day to withdraw your EUR, right? 
Instead, you'd go to the closest currency exchange and exchange USD for EUR in under 5 minutes. 
That's exactly what Kyber does for crypto.
It's your go-to currency exchange store on the corner for easy swaps between any ERC-20 tokens, while protocols like 0x and Loopring are the engines that powers more advanced trading markets. 
That said, Kyber Network has carved out its own niche among DEX protocols and currently dominates the quick, easy, and secure token exchange market. 

6. What Are Kyber’s Reserves?

Kyber Reserves contribute liquidity to the Kyber protocol. Kyber Reserves have an open architecture that allows anyone to contribute their idle token assets to Kyber’s decentralized central liquidity pool and earn from the spread in every transaction. 
Reserves contributing liquidity include:

• Market Makers
• Token Projects
• Liquidity Pools (decentralized funds)
• Token Holders

The tokens contributed by Kyber Reserves provide liquidity to the entire Kyber Network. Any platform, wallet, exchange, dapp, service, etc. that taps into the Kyber Network has access to these tokens.

Contribute to Kyber Reserves and Earn from the Spread

There are currently 3 ways that anyone can contribute liquidity to Kyber:

• Create your own Kyber Reserve (requires technical skill)
• Opt for a predefined reserve (such as Kyber’s Automated Price Reserve)
• Loan your tokens to an existing reserve (to Kyber or a professional market maker)

7. Does Kyber Network have an Explorer?

Kyber Tracker block explorer

Yes, Kyber Network has its own explorer called Kyber Tracker.
Kyber Tracker is a sophisticated block explorer that allows anyone to track various sorts of information on the Kyber Network such as:

• Network volume
• Total trades/Latest trades/Trade history
• Top tokens/All tokens/Trading pairs
• Kyber Reserves 
• Collected fees/Burnt Fees

Kyber Stats from Kyber Tracker (May 20, 2020):

• KNC Price: $0.6340 USD
• Burnt Fees: 4,867,368.97 KNC
• Collected Fees: 6,753,959.64 KNC
• 24 hr Volume: $2,428,856.29 USD

8. What are some Use Cases of the Kyber Network?

Kyber Network opens up a whole new world of inter-token use cases for:

• Dapps - DeFi, Gaming, Decentralized Exchanges (DEXes) 
• Vendors - e-Commerce Platforms, Payment Providers 
• Wallets - Crypto Wallets (MyEtherWallet, imToken, Enjin Wallet) 

Dapps

(Source)

Decentralized applications (dapps) can easily integrate Kyber’s on-chain liquidity protocol to improve its functionality and enhance the user experience by facilitating fast, convenient, and trustless token conversion and transfer services.
Financial Dapps (DeFi applications) can integrate Kyber to allow for the means to rebalance a user’s portfolio or liquidate their tokens instantly. 
Gaming dapps that integrate Kyber can enable users to buy NFT collectibles with any token of their choice, directly within the dapp.
Decentralized exchanges (DEXes) integrating Kyber can provide better liquidity of tokens without holding different token inventories. 
Dapps commonly integrate Kyber’s protocol through their own smart contracts and Web3. 
Vendors

(Source)

Vendors integrating Kyber are able to accept payments in multiple tokens, yet receive payment in their preferred token. The token swap is seamless and is completed all within a single transaction. This not only improves a platform’s functionality, but it also enhances user experience. 
Vendors commonly integrate Kyber’s protocol through Kyber’s widgets and plugins. 
Wallets

(Source)

Wallets integrated with Kyber’s protocol allow users to perform embedded token swaps without having to transfer their funds out of their wallets. Popular wallets such as MyEtherWallet, imToken, and Enjin Wallet already use Kyber’s protocol for embedded token swaps.
Wallets commonly integrate Kyber’s protocol through Web3 and RESTful API.

9. Who Uses Kyber Network?

Kyber Network has nearly 100 integrations with different dapps, wallets, exchanges, and services. See below, some of the most popular Kyber integrations:
Wallets

• MyEtherWallet (MEW)
• imToken
• Enjin Wallet
• Coinbase Wallet
• Status

Decentralized NFT and Ecommerce Payments

• Decentraland
• EDCON
• Axie Infinity
• WisePass
• Daonomic

Exchanges and Trading Integrations

• Kyber Swap
• Uniswap
• Oasis
• DutchX

Decentralized Finance

• Melonport
• ETHLend
• bZx
• Set
• Fulcrum

10. Where to store Kyber Network?

Kyber Network (KNC) is a popular ERC-20 token residing on top of the Ethereum blockchain and is therefore supported by a wide selection of reputable cryptocurrency wallets. You can store KNC in any wallet that has ERC-20 token support. 

Popular Kyber Network (KNC) Crypto Wallets:

• Ledger Nano S (hardware)
• MyEtherWallet [MEW] (online)
• MetaMask (browser extension)
• Enjin Wallet (mobile)
• imToken (mobile)

Apart from the above-listed wallets, Kyber Network (KNC) token holders have a wide variety of other reputable ERC-20 cryptocurrency wallets to choose from. However, when choosing a wallet to store KNC, keep an eye out for the following features:

• KNC compatibility - ERC-20 token support
• User control of private keys - not your keys, not your coins
• Active developer community - up-to-date maintenance
• Back up & security features - pin codes, seed phrase
• Good reviews - highly recommended 

11. Where to Buy & Sell Kyber Network KNC?

The most popular way to buy, sell, or trade Kyber Network is through cryptocurrency exchanges.
 In most cases, you will have to fund your account with fiat, buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, and then use BTC or ETH to buy Kyber Network (symbol KNC).

• Binance - BTC, ETH
• Coinbase Pro - BTC, USD
• Huobi Global - BTC, ETH
• OKEx - BTC, USDT
• KuCoin - BTC, ETH

For those who already own ETH, you should go ahead and try to buy KNC directly at Kyber Swap.
In addition to the exchanges listed above, Kyber Network (KNC) is also traded on a wide array of other exchanges and platforms that enable people to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies.
Hope you enjoyed that read, Let me know if I have missed something in the comments.
Cryptocurrency Blockchain DeFi Kyber Network (KNC) DEX Protocol

✍️ Originally Posted: Publish0x