Reflexer.finance tutorial for beginners: how to get started
Tutorial: How to create an account and a safe on Kovan testnet.
RAI: the non pegged stable asset ETH backed.
“RAI is an ETH backed, non pegged stable asset whose monetary policy is managed by an on-chain, autonomous controller.”, as defined by Stefan Ionescu, CEO of Reflexer Labs, in the Medium article: RAI is Live.
Since the launch on 17/Feb, it movemented a lot of money and it is a new concept in DeFi — Decentralized Finance. My goal in this tutorial is teach you how to start in this world.
I strongly recommend doing your first experiments on testnet, because it is an environment where you can make mistakes without fear of losing money.
Also on mainnet the minimum to start is 800 RAIs, and in order not to take a high risk you will need at least about $ 5000 in ETH. In fact the minimum is less, but I am talking about having a low risk.
So practice a bit on testnet, understand the dynamics of the market and then go to the mainnet :)
RAI is published on Kovan testnet.
Requirements
- Metamask or another web wallet
- At least 3 kETH (Kovan Ethers)
Metamask
I have a small guide about Metamask. It is a work in progress.
Kovan Ethers
At least 3 kETH (Kovan Ethers)
You have some options to get it in kovan testnet faucet
The app
Go to the Reflexer’s app on Kovan testnet
https://app-kovan.reflexer.finance/
Connect wallet
Click the button Connect Wallet at the top right corner.
Remember that we are using the web wallet Metamask in this tutorial, so select Metamask on the popup window.
Probably you need to click confirm on some windows in Metamask in order to authorize the connection with the app.
Then you can see a part of your wallet address at the top right corner.
What is an account?
An account is a smart contract wallet. You can hear about it as a proxy contract, DSProxy or a proxy wallet too.
Specifically, it is a smart contract which belongs solely to you and is tied to your account.
This proxy will then hold your ETH / RAI provided in the Reflexer app.
Why do you need it? A proxy wallet enables bundling multiple actions within one single transaction. When using a standard Ethereum account this isn’t possible, you’re limited to interacting with only one smart contract per transaction.
If you already have a MakerDAO or Balancer proxy you do not need to create an account because you already have a proxy wallet linked to your account.
Create an account
Click the Create Account button
Confirm the transaction on Metamask.
First you have the message Transaction Submitted.
When it confirmed on Metamask, you will see the message “Creating an account done” in right top corner.
Create a Safe
A Safe is a kind of vault where you will deposit ETH and mint RAI.
So SAFE users are those who generate RAI with their ETH.
The next step is create a safe.
Click the Create a safe button.
On mainnet, the minimum to mint / borrow is 800 RAI, but in Kovan it is 500 RAI, so let’s mint 500 RAI!
I will deposit 3 ETH and borrow 500 RAI, like the image below:
Click on Review transaction
Take a look in all details and click on Confirm transaction
It will open a Metamask popup window, click Confirm over there too.
When confirmed on Metamask, you will see your SAFE!
Manage your Safe
Click on Manage Safe to see details and manage your Safe Account.
I will talk more about Deposit and Borrow and Repay & Withdraw in a future article.
Reflexer on Uniswap
You can use RAI on Uniswap.
Go to app.uniswap.org
The RAI address in Kovan is
0x76b06a2f6df6f0514e7bec52a9afb3f603b477cd
In a future article, I will talk more about Uniswap and show you how to swap RAI for ETH, DAI and others.
Statistics
There are a web page with some statistics:
https://stats-kovan.reflexer.finance/
Final message
My goal is to teach the first steps to understand and use RAI. I did not go deeply in this article because I intend to do others and explain more actions and more concepts.
To learn more on your own:
I hope this tutorial has been helpful and I appreciate your comments.
Share it if you like it :)
