The problem INDX solves

Why INDX - Problems it solves

INDX: Bringing ETFs On-Chain with CTFs

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) revolutionized traditional finance by offering diversification, lower costs, and simplicity. INDX takes this concept further by creating Crypto Traded Funds (CTFs) on the Base Network—providing the same benefits but in a trustless, borderless, and fully on-chain environment.

Market Exposure Made Simple

INDX lets you trade across diverse market segments—from blue-chip cryptocurrencies to specialized categories like memes, AI, and DeFi. With thousands of tokens available on-chain, the possibilities for index composition are virtually unlimited.

Powerful Technology, Simple Experience

Behind INDX's intuitive interface lies a sophisticated network of smart contracts that connect your trades to the deepest liquidity pools across Base. These contracts handle all complex routing and calculations, allowing you to seamlessly trade between indexes with a single click.

Trading with ETH

INDX uses Ethereum (ETH) as its core trading currency. With just ETH in your wallet, you can explore all available indexes and execute trades instantly. Each time you enter an index, the underlying smart contract purchases the actual tokens that make up that index—meaning every position is fully collateralized. If you prefer, you can even claim the underlying tokens directly rather than converting back to ETH.

True On-Chain Trading

All transactions on INDX occur directly between you and the smart contract framework, with no intermediaries required. This structure leverages the security of Base Network while maintaining full non-custodial control through your personal wallet, putting you in complete control of your trading journey.

Problem solving:

INDX bridges the gap between traditional finance and DeFi by offering intuitive index-based trading for crypto assets. Built for everyone from first-time users to institutions, INDX leverages the battle-tested ETF concept that millions already trust in traditional markets.

Our platform features single-click deposit and withdrawal functionality with Ethereum, eliminating the complexity typically associated with DeFi applications. Users can invest in their chosen indices with just one click, without navigating multiple transactions or complex interfaces. This streamlined process works seamlessly with popular wallets, making portfolio diversification as simple as traditional banking—but with all the benefits of decentralized finance.

Whether you're a beginner looking to simply trade BTC-ETH, or an experienced trader seeking exposure to diversified baskets like BTC-ETH-SUI-SOL, Grayscale Trust indices, or Coinbase Index funds, INDX provides a seamless solution. Our roadmap includes expanding into traditional finance assets, creating unprecedented on-chain opportunities for portfolio diversification.

• Simplified diversification: Gain exposure to multiple assets through a single transaction
• Reduced volatility: Balance your portfolio risk while maintaining growth potential
• Lower gas costs: Save on transaction fees compared to manually rebalancing multiple positions
• Collateralized: Every purchase into an index secures the tokenized asset and its held in custody via immutable smart contracts.
• RWA: Linking traditional finance with cryptocurrency assets is possible with indexes

INDX doesn't just make crypto trading more accessible—it makes it more profitable by leveraging index-based strategies that have proven successful for decades in traditional markets.

Recent WOW Factors

• Added 20 token index feature
• Added support for RWA Backed from https://backed.fi/ linking the first crypto-tradfi on-chain indexes
• Added 2 hop adapter to reach USDC pools with ETH > USDC > Target and reverse to extend to stablecoin liquidity pairs but still using ETH as input and output.
• Profile page with transaction history for users and collective position performance

Future goals

• Continue to develop INDX platform along Base and Coinbase supported through incubation with Base / Coinbase Ventures to bring the industry first index trading platform to defi on Base!
• Linking the world of RWA / Tradfi with the world of cryptocurrency
• Continue liquidity extension to more pairs
• Filters / search / create indexes
• Connect FIAT to INDX via Coinbase onramp, removing barriers to entry for new users who are non-crypto native (this can also be done with wallet integrations)
• Expand index capacity
• Add more advanced order types like limit orders for index trading
• Wallet integrations
• Improve API speed and response times
• AI partnerships to explore automated position management through native language
• INDX Futures
• Introduce user story telling
• Search and advanced filtering
• MiniApp for Farcaster
• Improve mobile UX

Challenges we ran into

Building INDX: Overcoming Technical Challenges

The Core Challenge: Complex Multi-Token Transactions

The most notable obstacle we encountered building INDX was the index.sol contract zapIn (deposit) and zapOut (withdrawal) transactions. These two transactions operate the core of the index, swapping ETH into various groups of tokens and in reverse, from tokens to ETH. When these transactions take place they MUST result in the best outcome for the user, this means robust LP, best price and low slippage/fees for each token in the zapIn/zapOut (up to 20).

These types of transactions are complex and require a number of steps to execute. A lot of late nights attempting to overcome these obstacles took place however we managed to build a solution - it was amazing to see the contracts synergize and birth this new defi primitive.

Evolution of Our Liquidity Solution

To ensure a zapIn or zapOut occurs via the most ideal pathway, we originally relied on a single swap aggregator contract that would locate liquidity for each transaction. This was an incomplete solution as the swap aggregator would often locate pools with low liquidity resulting in slippage impacts, failed trades and ultimately lost funds, many hours of iterations took place finally resulting in a new framework.

Improved User Protection

We also added graceful fallback in the index contract so that if any zapIn trades fail on any particular token, then the ETH allocated for said swap would be allocated to WETH (WETH is included in every index). Users will not lose funds for any failed zapIn (deposit).

Expanding Platform Capabilities

Once we overcame the liquidity pathways the door was opened for INDX to access any pool on Base. This also means that we can build custom pathways in the future for any popular Base tokens or RWA.

Backend Infrastructure Challenges

We also had challenges with complex API infrastructure for trading histories, portfolio, signals and analysis which we managed to build within the Based Batches window. It was like building an exchange in two weeks 😅

Authentication Integration Pivot

Our initial plan was to use OnchainKit, however we had challenges with style conflicts. Even after reaching out on Discord and applying suggestions from the community and moderators some style conflicts remained. While we could probably work around those more concerning was an issue where the connected state was not maintained between pages, especially on mobile. This was investigated but ultimately we made a last minute change to use another service to manage wallet authentication.