Overview of Pancakeswap: How to Use the Platform

PancakeSwap is a popular decentralized token exchange platform on the BSC network. It is very similar in principle to Sushiswap and Uniswap. 

In this guide, we will explore the main features of this platform and also try to connect the Metamask wallet.

How to connect Metamask wallet to Pancakeswap

We previously described the registration and installation of the Metamask wallet in this guide. The connection process to Pancakeswap should not be difficult. Just go to the website https://pancakeswap.finance/ with the extension already installed in your browser and click the Connect button.

Connect button for Pancakeswap

After that, you will be prompted to select a wallet. Choose Metamask and confirm the authorization.

Authorization on the site

After that, you will need to enter the password that was specified during the wallet registration. We have authorized on the platform and can continue working.

Overview of main features

Let's look at the main features that this platform can provide us. Almost every action involving interaction with tokens will require a fee in some amount of BNB.

First, it is worth mentioning that in the lower left corner of the site we see the current rate of the CAKE token, links to Twitter and Telegram, as well as buttons for changing the language and style of the site (Day/Night).

Let's start - Home - The home page of PancakeSwap where we can see various statistics.

Exchange

(In the Trade tab) allows us to swap (exchange operation) one token for another. In this tab, under the swap window, there are also 3 points indicated:

  • Minimum received - shows how much you will receive if the price changes sharply negatively during the transaction.
  • Price impact - indicates the difference between the market price and the calculated price. In other words, if you conduct a very large transaction, the total number of coins received will be reduced.
  • Liquidity provider fee shows how much will be taken as a fee to pay liquidity providers and the PancakeSwap service itself.
Exchange for token swapping

Liquidity

(In the same Trade tab). Here we can add liquidity to a special liquidity pool - pools filled with user funds. By investing a pair of coins in equal proportions, we will receive LP (Liquidity Tokens). They allow us to earn a share of trading fees, reclaim our share, and participate in IFO (more on this below).

Adding liquidity

Clicking on “Add liquidity” opens a special window: 

Here we choose a pair of tokens in equal proportions that we give away, and in return, we receive LP.

Adding liquidity with selected tokens

Farms

Farming on pancakeswap allows us to stake our liquidity tokens to earn rewards. This was described above. Let's break down the values from the table:

  • APR shows how many percent per year we earn by staking tokens.
  • Liquidity shows how many tokens are invested in this “farm” in dollar equivalent at the moment.
  • Multiplier shows what reward the farm receives for each block. Each unit of the multiplier corresponds to 1 CAKE. For example, with a 40x Multiplier, 40 CAKE will be received per block.

Pools

In the pools section, we can stake Cake in special “Syrup” pools. By doing this, we will receive the pool currency. That is, if we invest in the DEGO Pool, we will receive DEGO; if in the CAKE pool, then we will receive CAKE 

First, you need to click Approve Cake - a balance check will occur. This will require some amount of BNB on the balance as a fee.

After the check, a “+” icon will appear, clicking on it will open the next window.

Now we have the opportunity to do the following:

  • Collect - We collect the “accumulated” tokens into our wallet.
  • Reinvest - The tokens that have “accumulated” we immediately add to the pool.
  • Unstake CAKE - We withdraw the staked tokens back.

Don't forget that all these actions incur a fee!

Lottery

This is the lottery section on Pancake. For 1 CAKE we can buy 1 ticket. The ticket has 4 digits; if 2, 3, or 4 digits match, you will receive a large reward from the pool amount. It is worth mentioning that after each lottery, 1/5 of all invested CAKE is burned.

Collectibles

This section displays all NFTs released by PancakeSwap.

Team Battle

A completely new section that, at the time of writing this guide on Pancake, had not yet been activated and did not show itself. To participate, a special NFT Profile is required, but more on that below.

Teams & Profile

This section has three subsections. Let's examine each of them in detail:

  • In Leaderboards, the leaders in certain areas will be displayed, but this is in the process of implementation.
  • In Task Center, you can check account statistics and achievements. 
  • In Your Profile, you can create a profile. It will allow us to participate in Team Battle and receive NFT drops from PancakeSwap. Currently, creating it requires 1.5 Cake and some amount of BNB. On this page, we choose an avatar (they differ only in appearance) and a team.

An example of a created profile:

Info

This section provides information on the state of affairs at PancakeSwap. However, it lags far behind current information, which indicates its uselessness.

IFO (Initial Future Offerings)

Initial Farm Offering. In this section, IFO projects are presented, whose coins we can purchase for liquidity tokens (LP). Since there are no current projects, let's look at a past one. 

Belt.fi with their token $BELT.

  • LP tokens committed - shows how many liquidity tokens have been invested
  • BELT to claim - shows how much $BELT we received at the end of the campaign.

As soon as the campaign starts, a button will be unlocked, clicking which we will enter the pool of those who want to exchange LP for BELT. After some time, the entire pool will be divided among participants. If you received nothing or have leftover LP, you will be able to get them back. 

Below is a description of the project, when the IFO will be launched, how many tokens will be available for sale, how much money the project creators want to raise, and how much CAKE will be burned. A little further down is a link leading to the page of the project participating in the IFO.

More

This section contains ways to contact the administration, vote on something, a link to GitHub, documents, a blog, and also purchase merchandise from PancakeSwap.

Prospects

The PancakeSwap service is dynamically developing. Its turnover is growing so rapidly that the administration is conducting CAKE burns in particularly large quantities.

In addition, PancakeSwap promises a bunch of different things: Team battles, achievements, a special store where you can buy something for achievement points, special tasks, leaderboards, etc. All this is aimed at attracting and subsequently engaging as many people as possible into its community, which in turn will draw the attention of major investors to PancakeSwap 

All of the above indicates that the project has great prospects.