Get Started with Wasabi on Blast

One of the hotter apps in the Blast L2 scene right now is Wasabi, a leverage trading protocol for long-tail assets like memecoins and NFTs.

In other words, you can use Wasabi’s perpetual futures, which have no expiry, to long or short tokens that many other derivatives protocols don’t support. 

The idea? Trade culture, on leverage.

Of course, if you’re not a derivatives veteran, leverage should be handled with care. But whether you’re interested in just dabbling or diving head-on into perps, Wasabi is particularly interesting for a few reasons:

1. Slick UX — I’ve seen my fair share of derivatives protocols since DeFi Summer in 2020, and Wasabi is arguably one of the simplest to navigate
2. Wasabi SZN 2 — Using the project now ahead of the end of Wasabi Points Season 2 will make you eligible for an upcoming reward distribution, presumably the main Wasabi airdrop
3. Blast Gold — Blast is conducting its much-anticipated airdrop on June 26th, and Wasabi still has over 150k Gold to distribute to its users between now and then; remember, 50% of the Blast airdrop goes to Gold holders

The primary ways to use Wasabi are 1) by providing liquidity to Wasabi Vaults or 2) by trading Wasabi Perps. Let’s briefly walk through the basics of each of these offerings below. 

Depositing Into Wasabi Vaults

Wasabi Vaults allow users to provide liquidity and earn rewards. Here’s how you can get started:

• Choose a Vault: Select from a range of vaults that support different Blast-centric assets. The most popular choices are the WETH and USDB Vaults, which are currently yielding 3.56% and 16.01% APR respectively. 
• Deposit assets: Use the provided interface to deposit your desired amount of tokens into the vault. These assets will then be used to facilitate perps trades on the platform.
• Earn rewards: Earn a share of the trading fees and potentially other incentives like Wasabi Points or Blast Gold for the service of providing liquidity over time. 

Trading Wasabi Perps

Wasabi Perps allow you to take leveraged positions on a variety of Blast tokens. Here’s a quick guide:

• Select a pair: Choose the token pair you want to trade.
• Set leverage: Use the provided interface to decide on the size of your position in ETH and the level of leverage you want to use. Remember, higher leverage means higher risk.
• Enter a position: Go long (bet on the price going up) or short (bet on the price going down) on your chosen pair by pressing the “Open Position” button and completing the ensuing transaction with your wallet.
• Manage your trade: Monitor your position over time and close it with a transaction once it has risen or fallen enough for your taste. 

If you do try these perps, be sure to watch out for the liquidation price, which will automatically close your position if it’s reached. The liquidation price is shown in Wasabi’s “Active Positions” dashboard, so you can try to frontrun it to recoup some of your ETH if your position is sliding into the red and you want to abort.  

Zooming Out

If you’re new to leverage trading, start with a small position to get a feel for how Wasabi works, and only play with money you can afford to lose. Also, keep an eye on the latest updates from Wasabi and Blast to stay on top of any further announcements around rewards in the coming weeks! Lastly, if you’re on the outside looking in and need to bridge funds into Blast, I recommend Relay’s fast bridge or Swaps feature for being user-friendly.