DeFi aggregator is a platform that brings together transaction information from different DeFi protocols into one place. It provides users with better liquidity and trading prices on a single platform by aggregating trading information from DEXs, lending protocols, liquidity pools, etc., and helps them improve trading efficiency. According to different functions, DeFi aggregators can be roughly divided into four categories: DEX aggregators, income aggregators, asset management aggregators and information aggregators.

DEX Aggregator

DEX Aggregator can be seen as a DEX browser that provides users with multiple prices and liquidity. It provides users with trading pairs, order books and execution prices from different blockchains on a single platform by combining data from multiple DEXs (including execution prices, trading fees, etc.). DEX aggregators are built on powerful algorithms that provide users with better execution prices, trading fees, liquidity, and returns. However, due to the relatively complex algorithms they use, the transaction fees of DEX aggregators are often higher than those of general DEXs.

The main features of DEX aggregators are as follows:

For larger transactions, DEX aggregators can often help users save transaction costs. Because large transactions are prone to higher price slippage, DEX aggregators can help users connect to optimal liquidity pools to solve the high slippage problem caused by insufficient liquidity.

The liquidity depth of some long-tail small-cap assets on a single DEX is insufficient. Therefore, the liquidity of multiple platforms can be aggregated through the DEX aggregator to obtain better execution prices.

The original DEX aggregator was created by Sergej Kunz and Anton Bukov at the 2019 ETHNewYork Hackathon, currently one of the most famous DEX aggregators, 1inch.

1inch is a DEX aggregator that can aggregate transaction data from multiple DEXs such as Uniswap, Kyber, Curve, etc. into a unified platform. Through 1inch, traders can obtain the best liquidity and execution prices across multiple DEXs. For example, 1inch has integrated more than 30 liquidity sources on Binance. Users do not need to access these DEXs separately, but can choose the trading pair with the lowest fees and the best execution price for trading on the platform through 1inch.

Income aggregator

A revenue aggregator is an automated DeFi protocol based on smart contracts, often also called a "revenue optimizer" or "revenue compounder". It was created for liquidity mining, which can automate the process of liquidity mining and generate compound interest through repeated staking.

Liquidity mining is a DeFi investment strategy. It helps users obtain higher investment returns by investing their pledged assets in a variety of DeFi income products and services.

For more information about liquidity mining, please refer to the "What is Yield Farming/Liquidity Mining?" section.

The main features of the income aggregator are as follows:

1. The income aggregator automatically executes the pledge steps through smart contracts to realize the compound interest function. It helps users simplify the investment process.
2. The income aggregator aggregates the return on investment of multiple DeFi income products and provides users with the best income solutions on a single platform. At the same time, it also provides users with customizable investment strategies.

Currently, the revenue aggregator with the largest locked-up volume in the market is Yearn Finance, created by Andre Cronje. It is also one of the first revenue aggregators to launch (July 2020). Yearn’s main product is income strategy products (Vaults). It uses automated execution code to execute investment strategies to maximize user returns. Users can deposit stablecoins, ETH and other crypto assets into Vaults to earn passive income.

For more information about Yearn Finance, see the "What is yearn.finance (YFI)?" section.

Asset Management Aggregator

Asset Management Aggregator is essentially a DeFi asset management platform. It helps users monitor and manage all their DeFi assets on a unified platform while making one-stop investments.

The main features of the asset management aggregator are as follows:

1. Users can monitor all their assets and liabilities in real time through the Dashboard on the asset management aggregator.
2. The asset management aggregator brings together investment opportunities across a variety of DeFi protocols. Can help users reduce search costs.

Main asset management aggregators include Zerion, Debank, Zapper, etc. They cover investment opportunities on a variety of DeFi platforms such as DEX (Uniswap) and lending protocols (Compound).

Information aggregator

The information aggregator collects information from various channels. Users can use information aggregator platforms to discover, find and analyze the information they want to know. The information in the information aggregator may cover a variety of fields, including finance, real estate, academic directions, etc. For example, one of the most commonly used financial information aggregators is Bloomberg.

For the Crypto field, information aggregators are one of the necessary means for investors to understand this field. TokenInsight is essentially a Crypto information aggregator. It brings together various Crypto related information. Investors can track currency-related information such as price and transaction volume, project mechanism, ecology and other project-related information, industry news information, and multi-dimensional project rating information on TokenInsight.