Synthetix is a decentralized liquidity provisioning protocol built on Ethereum and Optimistic Ethereum (a layer two scaling solution built on Ethereum). Synthetic assets, and associated products, are collateralized by stakers via Synthetix Network Token (SNX), which when locked in a staking contract enables the issuance of synthetic assets (synths). This pooled collateral model allows users to perform conversions between synths directly with the smart contract, avoiding the need for counterparties. This mechanism solves the liquidity and slippage issues experienced by DEXs.

Synthetix liquidity powers a range of derivatives and on-chain financial instruments. You can learn more about the two types of synthetic assets that protocols will integrate to create on-chain derivatives.

The Synthetix Protocol does not operate any user-facing front-ends, which allow users to trade. Instead, it serves as a backend liquidity provisioning tool to support user-facing DeFi applications. There is a growing number of protocols that utilize this capital and generate trading fees for stakers. See the "Built on Synthetix" section to learn more.