Tendies Exchange Announcement
February 25, 2021


First, who am I:

My name is Evan Mays. I'm a software engineer who's been experimenting on Ethereum for the past few months as a hobby. You can find me on Twitter @evanon0ping, the UMA Discord server, or any place u prefer (LinkedIn, Clubhouse, Yellowpages, etc.).


Tendies Exchange, a product built on UMA, is launching! The first offering is CAR, Compound Annualized Rate Futures. At the end of each month, CAR settles to the 30-Day average Compound borrowing rate. For the first time ever, you can speculate on demand for using Compound.

For those of you new to CAR and UMA, I'd like to answer a few questions.

Starting with, what is CAR?


CAR is a synthetic interest rate futures token.

Each CAR token is named after the month it expires. For example, CAR-USDC-MAR21 expires on March 28, 2021.

Once the CAR token expires, it becomes redeemable for the average interest rate during the past 28 days.

For CAR-USDC-MAR21, that is the average interest rate of borrowing USDC on Compound. If the average annualized interest rate over those 28 days is 7% APY, the CAR token can be redeemed for $7 USDC.

You might be wondering what kind of guarantee you have that the CAR will be worth what I say.


The CAR token is backed by collateral. Using UMA, token sponsors deposit collateral to mint CAR tokens. These sponsors can then sell the CAR tokens for others to buy.

UMA's audited EMP contracts (and the surrounding liquidation system) ensure that each CAR token is adequately backed by collateral.


How to get CAR tokens

Either mint them with collateral or buy them on Uniswap.

The tendies.exchange interface has minting built-in. You'll also find a link there for trading with the Uniswap pool.

I like to borrow USDC on Compound

You're probably annoyed by variable interest rates. To hedge against an increasing interest rate, buy CAR tokens. This protects against the average interest rate being greater than what you expected!

I like to lend USDC on Compound

You're probably annoyed by variable interest rates. By minting CAR tokens, selling them on the market, repurchasing them at expiration, then redeeming them to unlock your collateral, you can make money if the average interest rate is less than you expected!

Do you have liquidity mining?

Yes, liquidity mining rewards are earned by minting CAR tokens, then providing liquidity on the Uniswap pool. These rewards are paid in UMA tokens. The source of these funds is the UMA developer mining program. The first $100,000 worth of liquidity providers in the pool can keep their full share of the UMA developer mining rewards. I estimate this APY is north of 100%.

Liquidity miners late to the game will also earn rewards, just not as much.


In conclusion, this stuff is all really complicated. There are thousands of people on the UMA discord. Come ask questions.