# Lithos Overview Lithos is a **3,3 DEX** built on the Plasma blockchain. It is designed to serve as the central liquidity layer for Plasma, providing traders, liquidity providers, and governance participants with a sustainable platform that grows alongside the ecosystem. Unlike traditional DEXs that rely heavily on short-term liquidity incentives, Lithos is structured around the **ve(3,3) model**, which prioritizes long-term alignment between all participants. This means: * Traders gain access to deep liquidity and low-slippage swaps. * Liquidity providers earn both trading fees and emissions, creating consistent yield opportunities. * veLITH holders shape the direction of the protocol, deciding how liquidity incentives are distributed. * New projects can bootstrap liquidity and community trust through the Foundry Launchpad. Lithos functions as Plasma’s liquidity engine, integrating trading, governance, and ecosystem expansion into a unified system. Plasma mainnet contract addresses are listed in [Developer Documentation → Deployed Contracts](https://docs.lithos.to/developer-documentation/deployed-contracts). ### Official Links * [Website](https://lithos.to/) * [GitHub](https://github.com/LithosDex) * [X (Twitter)](https://x.com/lithos_to) * [Discord](https://discord.gg/lithos) * [Telegram](https://t.me/lithos_official) ### Core Products #### Lithos DEX The DEX is the foundation of the platform. Built on ve(3,3) mechanics, it ensures liquidity is both deep and sustainable. * **Swaps with Minimal Slippage:** Traders can exchange assets across stable and volatile pools with optimized routing that reduces price impact. * **Liquidity Provisioning:** LPs deposit assets into pools and earn yield from both trading fees and veLITH-directed emissions. * **Transparent Analytics:** All liquidity, fees, and rewards are trackable through the dashboard, giving participants clear insight into their positions. * **Governance Integration:** Unlike traditional DEXs, emissions are not dictated by the core team but by veLITH holders, aligning liquidity flow with community incentives. #### Foundry Launchpad The Foundry Launchpad acts as the entry point for new projects building on Plasma. It lowers the barrier to entry by offering both technical and liquidity support. * **Liquidity Bootstrapping:** Projects can instantly access the Lithos DEX to establish liquid trading pairs. * **Governance Whitelisting:** Projects can seek gauge approval, allowing them to direct emissions toward their pools, creating deeper liquidity. * **Community Access:** Foundry projects benefit from integration into Lithos governance and the Plasma ecosystem. * **Ecosystem Resources:** APIs, SDKs, and direct support make it easier for teams to integrate without building infrastructure from scratch. *** ### Protocol Design
Lithos combines several mechanisms to build a liquidity system that can last through market cycles: * **ve(3,3) Incentives:** * Locking LITH generates veLITH, which represents voting power. * veLITH holders control emissions, deciding which pools receive rewards each week. * The system rewards long-term commitment through extended lock periods, giving participants more influence and higher returns. * Emissions flow to where the community sees value, not where a central team dictates. * **Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL):** * A share of revenue is reinvested to create permanent base liquidity. * This reduces dependency on short-term LPs who might otherwise leave after rewards dry up. * POL ensures there is always liquidity for core trading pairs, supporting price stability. * **Ignition Program:** * Revenue from trading fees and protocol positions is used to buy back LITH on the open market. * These tokens are redistributed to veLITH holders, creating a feedback loop of rewards. * Ignition not only incentivizes governance participation but also applies deflationary pressure on the token supply. * Learn more about the [Ignition Program cycle, tiers, and boosts](https://docs.lithos.to/tokenomics/ignition-program). * **Multi-AMM Pools:** * **Stable Pools:** Optimized for correlated assets (e.g., USDC/USDT), offering minimal slippage. * **Volatile Pools:** For uncorrelated assets, allowing price discovery while still generating fees. * **Concentrated Liquidity Pools:** LPs can choose tighter ranges for higher efficiency, maximizing capital use. * **Multiple Fee Tiers:** Pools can be configured with fees appropriate to their risk level, ensuring flexibility across asset classes. *** ### Governance Governance is the foundation of Lithos, giving token holders direct influence over how the protocol develops. **Locking Mechanism**\ Users lock LITH to mint veLITH. Longer lock durations grant greater voting power, discouraging short-term speculation while rewarding participants who commit to the protocol. **Gauge Voting**\ veLITH holders guide emissions through weekly gauge voting. By deciding which liquidity pools receive incentives, the community ensures that rewards remain aligned with real trading demand. **Reward System**\ Voters are rewarded not only with emissions but also with bribes from external partners and a share of protocol revenue. Diverse reward flows give participants stronger reasons to stay engaged in governance and liquidity provision. **Community-Led Decisions**\ Because veLITH holders control the flow of emissions, the ecosystem grows in the directions most valued by the community. This prevents centralized manipulation and distributes decision-making power across active stakeholders. *** ### Plasma Advantages Building on the Plasma blockchain gives Lithos a set of unique benefits that strengthen its role as a 3,3 DEX. **Gas-Free USDT Transfers**\ Plasma provides native support for USDT transfers without gas fees. Traders can move stablecoins at no extra cost, making swaps more efficient and cost-effective. **Stablecoin-Optimized Infrastructure**\ With more than $2B in stablecoin liquidity already active, Plasma is purpose-built for stablecoin-driven markets. This foundation makes it an ideal environment for deep, reliable liquidity pools. **High Performance**\ PlasmaBFT consensus delivers over 1,500 transactions per second. This capacity enables low-latency swaps and supports the trading volumes needed by both retail and professional users. **DeFi Integration**\ Lithos is directly connected to more than 100 ecosystem partners, including Aave, Ethena, and Fluid. This level of integration expands utility and ensures immediate interoperability with the wider DeFi landscape. **Security Anchored to Bitcoin**\ Plasma’s security model anchors to Bitcoin, providing resilience against network attacks. Backing from Tether, Bitfinex, and Framework Ventures further reinforces confidence in the chain’s long-term reliability. *** ### Revenue Model The revenue framework of Lithos is built for sustainability and long-term value capture. Each stream reinforces liquidity depth, governance participation, and token demand. **Trading Fees** * Every swap executed on the DEX generates a fee. * Fees are shared between liquidity providers, veLITH holders, and the protocol treasury. * As trading activity grows, participants benefit from higher and more consistent rewards. **veNFT Holdings** * The foundation maintains long-term veLITH locks to remain an active stakeholder. * veNFT positions allow the foundation to earn protocol rewards without controlling emissions directly. * This structure aligns the foundation with community incentives while avoiding centralization. **Ignition Program** * A share of protocol revenue funds the Ignition Program. * Revenue is used to purchase LITH from the open market, reducing circulating supply. * Bought-back tokens are redistributed to veLITH holders, rewarding governance participants and driving sustained demand for LITH.