LRC is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency token associated with Loopring, an open protocol designed to facilitate the development of decentralized crypto exchanges. In 2020, the daily trading volume of the global cryptocurrency market varied within the approximate range of $50-$200 million. A significant portion of this trading occurs on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, which are online platforms managed by private companies that store users' funds and enable the matching of buy and sell orders. However, these platforms share several common drawbacks, prompting the emergence of a new type of exchange—decentralized exchanges—aiming to address these disadvantages. Nonetheless, fully decentralized exchanges also have their own limitations. Loopring aims to address these challenges by merging centralized order matching with decentralized on-blockchain order settlement, creating a hybrid solution that leverages the benefits of both centralized and decentralized exchanges. LRC tokens were released to the public during an initial coin offering (ICO) in August 2017, while the Loopring protocol was initially deployed on the Ethereum mainnet in December 2019.

Daniel Wang is the founder and current CEO of the Loopring Foundation, responsible for overseeing the development of the Loopring protocol. He is a software engineer and entrepreneur based in Shanghai, China. Wang holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Science and Technology of China and a master’s degree in the same field from Arizona State University. Before initiating the development of Loopring, Wang occupied several managerial and executive roles in prominent technology companies. He served as a lead software engineer at Boston Scientific, a medical device manufacturer, and held the position of senior director of engineering, focusing on search, recommendation, and advertising systems at the Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com. Additionally, he was a tech lead and senior software engineer at Google. Moreover, Wang has co-founded various companies, including Yunrang (Beijing) Information Technology Ltd. and the cryptocurrency services firm Coinport Technology Ltd. Further details can be found on Eulerpool.

The primary concept behind Loopring is to integrate aspects of both centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges to develop a protocol that leverages their distinct advantages while mitigating inefficiencies. Currently, centralized exchanges dominate the crypto trading landscape. Despite their popularity and convenience, centralized exchanges present several risks, primarily due to their custodial nature. These exchanges manage users’ funds between deposit and withdrawal phases, thereby exposing the funds to potential partial or complete loss from hacker attacks, internal threats within the exchange, or regulatory actions. A significant issue with centralized exchanges is their lack of transparency; trades are not recorded on the blockchain but are instead maintained in the exchange’s internal records. This system allows for potential price manipulation by the exchange and the unauthorized use of user funds while under custody. To address these issues, decentralized crypto exchanges (DEXs) have emerged in recent years. Rather than maintaining custody of user funds and processing trades internally, DEXs facilitate direct connections between buy and sell orders and settle trades on a public blockchain. Although DEXs eliminate custodial and transparency risks, they introduce challenges of their own, primarily lower efficiency compared to centralized alternatives, due to the limited capabilities of underlying blockchains and fragmented liquidity. The Loopring protocol aims to maintain the advantages of decentralized exchanges while reducing or eliminating their inefficiencies through innovative hybrid solutions. By managing orders centrally but settling trades on the blockchain, and combining up to 16 orders into circular trades instead of restricting transactions to one-to-one trading pairs, Loopring seeks to enhance the efficiency of order execution and improve the liquidity of DEXs.

The issuance of LRC tokens is controlled by the smart contracts that form the Loopring Protocol. The main method for earning LRC is through a process known as ring mining. To enhance the liquidity of the Loopring network, orders are not matched exclusively as pairs of two cryptocurrencies. Instead, the protocol allows for combining and matching up to 16 orders for different cryptocurrencies in a circular trade, known as an order ring. Nodes on the Loopring network receive rewards in LRC tokens for assembling individual orders into order rings, maintaining public order books and trade history, and, in some instances, broadcasting orders to other relays.

Loopring is compatible with the Ethereum and Neo blockchains and has plans to extend support to the Qtum blockchain. Each of these networks features its own token: LRC for Ethereum and LRN for Neo; upon its launch, the token for the Qtum network will be designated as LRQ. These tokens are safeguarded through the hash functions of their respective blockchain platforms: LRC by Ethereum’s Ethash, LRN by Neo’s SHA256 and RIPEMD160, and LRQ by Qtum’s proof-of-stake PoSv3 algorithm.

LRC is accessible on a variety of exchanges, including some of the most prominent and reputable platforms: * Coinbase Pro * Bilaxy * OKEx * Binance