Sei: Everything to Know

By  Beluga Research August 10, 2023

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Summary

  • Sei is a blockchain that aims to become the preferred platform for decentralized exchange (DEX) in the fields of DeFi, NFTs and gaming
  • It calls itself the "decentralized NASDAQ" due to its emphasis on providing a CeFi trading experience using DeFi tools
  • It has a native token, SEI, used to pay transaction fees and secure the network
  • Sei is still under development, but it has the potential to revolutionize the way users trade cryptocurrencies

Overview

Sei is a blockchain that aims to become the preferred platform for decentralized exchange (DEX) in the fields of DeFi, NFTs and gaming. Sei is built with the Cosmos SDK. This allows it to be interoperable and compatible with other blockchains and languages. Sei uses a unique consensus mechanism called proof-of-order (PoO).

Sei also supports non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming. It has a native token called SEI, used for governance, fees, rewards and liquidity. Sei has significantly advanced its fundamental network architecture. This includes the Twin Turbo Consensus process, which focuses on speed.

This method yields a lower bound time to the finality of 500 ms, which is ten times quicker than blockchains like Solana. Furthermore, Sei has a native order-matching engine embedded into the chain, allowing exchange apps built on top of it to grow efficiently. SEI network has a fixed supply of 10 billion SEI tokens.

A Brief History

Sei network was founded by Jeffrey Feng and Jayendra Jog, who have experience in companies like AirBnb and Goldman Sachs. On August 13, 2022, Sei had raised $5 million in the project's initial funding round. Sei is designed to address the limitations of existing DeFi protocols.

Sei raised $30 million in its two strategic fundraising rounds in April 2023 from investors. These investors include Multicoin Capital, Jump Capital and CMS Holdings. The funds were used to expand the team, develop the technology and grow the ecosystem. Since then, it has seen rapid growth, with over $1 billion in total value locked (TVL).

Sei raised another $40 million in its ecosystem fund in July 2023 from partners such as Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and OKEx. On August 1, 2023, Sei became the 36th project on Binance Launchpool. Users could stake BNB, BUSD or DOT tokens to earn SEI..

What is Sei?

Sei is an open-source blockchain designed for trading. It optimizes every layer of the stack to provide infrastructure for various types of trading apps. Sei claims to be the industry's fastest blockchain, enabled by Twin-Turbo Consensus. This novel consensus mechanism combines Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-History (PoH) to achieve high throughput, low latency, and low fees. This consensus allows the Sei network to achieve a lower bound of 300ms and an upper bound of 20,000 OPS (operations per second) that are being processed.

Sei offers support for smart contracts, cross-chain interoperability, decentralized governance and privacy features. These capabilities enable a wide range of use cases and applications on the platform. Sei aims to solve significant challenges facing the current blockchain industry. These includes scalability, interoperability, usability and security. Sei also has its native token, SEI, used for various purposes on the platform. Sei asserts itself as the "decentralized NASDAQ," prioritizing seamless and secure trading for users and developers.

Sei is fully open-source and has been audited by leading security firms. It has over 100 ecosystem partners and over 1 million active users. Sei provides a native order-matching engine. To combat front running, Sei enables order batching.

Getting Started

  • Install a Keplr wallet. The first step is to install a Keplr wallet. Keplr is a web3 wallet that supports the Cosmos ecosystem, including the Sei network.
  • Add the Sei to Keplr wallet. Once a user has installed Keplr, they must add the Sei network to the wallet.
  • Get Sei tokens. Users can buy Sei tokens on several exchanges, including Binance, KuCoin and Gate.io. Once user has bought some Sei tokens, the user can transfer them to Keplr wallet.
  • Start using the Sei network. Users have to add Keplr wallet to Sei to start using it. Several dapps and services are available on the Sei network.

Unique Aspects

  1. Speed. Sei Network is one of the fastest blockchain networks in the world. It has a transaction finality of 500 ms and the ability to process 20,000 orders per second. This makes it ideal for high-frequency trading and other applications that require lightning-fast speeds.
  2. Scalability. Sei Network is designed to be highly scalable and handle many transactions without sacrificing performance. This makes it a good choice for applications that need to be able to handle a lot of traffic, such as exchanges and DeFi platforms.
  3. Security. Sei Network uses a unique consensus mechanism called Twin Turbo Consensus, designed to be secure and efficient. This consensus mechanism makes it difficult for attackers to disrupt the network or censor transactions.
  4. Efficiency. Sei Network is very efficient in terms of energy consumption. This is because it does not use a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, which is very energy-intensive.

Advantages

  • Interoperability. Sei is built with the Cosmos SDK, which allows it to interoperate with other blockchains in the Cosmos ecosystem. It also supports multiple programming languages. This makes it easy for developers to migrate or create new applications on the Sei.
  • User experience. Sei is optimized for trading apps of all types, such as DEXs, NFTs and gaming. It aims to provide users with a seamless and fast trading experience, with many features.
  • Trading Optimization. Sei is specialized for trading, optimizing every layer of the stack to offer infrastructure for trading apps of all types. Sei aims to provide a centralized finance (CeFi) trading experience with DeFi tools. Sei also supports NFTs and GameFi, creating new opportunities for traders and developers.
  • Cross-chain compatibility. Sei is designed to be cross-chain compatible. It can communicate with other blockchain networks, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. This makes it possible to build applications that span multiple blockchain networks.
  • Transparent. Sei is a transparent blockchain network, meaning all transactions are recorded on the public ledger. This makes it easy to track and audit transactions and helps prevent fraud and abuse.

Disadvantages

  • Adoption. Sei is designed to become the preferred chain for DEXs in DeFi, NFTs, and games However, it faces intense competition from other established and emerging platforms that offer similar features and services. Sei may need to attract more developers and users to its platform by offering incentives, innovation and marketing
  • Vulnerability to frontrunning attacks. Sei employs a Frequent Batch Auctioning mechanism for executing market orders. However, this approach exposes it to the risk of frontrunning attacks. A bot can monitor the network for significant market orders. It buys tokens ahead of execution, thereby raising the price.
  • Untested security model. Sei is still under development, and its security model has yet to be thoroughly tested. This means there is a risk of exploited vulnerabilities, which could lead to user losses.
  • Speed and performance. Blockchain, in general, is slower than traditional databases. Sei claims to be the fastest blockchain in existence, but it still has to deal with the trade-off between scalability, security and decentralization.
  • Regulation and compliance. Blockchain technology faces many legal and regulatory challenges. Sei aims to become the preferred chain for decentralized exchanges, often subject to scrutiny and regulation by authorities.