Yield farming on Pancake Swap is a Piece of Cake. 

So yes! You are probably rolling your eyes right now. Or you are trying to stay on your guard. I mean, Is anything that is profitable within the Decentralised Finance ecosystem really a walk in the park? You probably don’t think it will be as easy as that title makes it look. Well, you are right. Yield farming requires some effort on your part. You need to do your own research and look into the features of any yield farm before you start to invest your funds. But, before we get into the process of farming on Pancake Swap, and earning interest on your staked assets, we need to really understand what yield farming is.

What is Yield Farming?

Of course, you won’t be doing some back-breaking farm work or getting plants to grow with Yield farming. Yield farming allows you as an investor to stake your coins by depositing them into a lending protocol through decentralized apps, popularly known as dApps. On these same dApps, other asset speculators and investors can borrow these coins for trading, investing and other speculatory actions that they believe will fetch them some profits. When these coins are returned by the borrowers or the dApps mechanism, you, as the investor receives interest or rewards as predetermined by the lending protocol you use.

Important Yield Farming Terms to Know

Liquidity Pool:  A liquidity pool is a crowdsourced pool of cryptocurrencies that facilitate the trading of assets on a decentralized exchange. 

LP Tokens: These are the tokens you receive when you contribute cryptocurrencies to the liquidity pool. 

Farm: A farm allows you to earn rewards by staking your LP tokens.

Stake: This is the process of actually committing your LP tokens to a farm

APR: Yield farmers (like you!) calculate their expected returns in terms of APR which is short for Annual Percentage Rate.

Harvest: This is the process of withdrawing your accumulated rewards after a period of staking your LP tokens. 

Yield Farming on PancakeSwap.

PancakeSwap is a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) that is built on the BNB chain. PancakeSwap boasts of a unique ecosystem of diverse products that provides its users with opportunities to earn and interact with the world of Decentralized Finance. Liquidity Pools, Swapping and Yield Farming are a few of the numerous Defi products that PancakeSwap presents to its users. A look at other features of the PancakeSwap ecosystem such as an NFT profile system, Syrup Pools, Automated Market Maker, and an Initial Farm Offering (IFO) makes it clear that PancakeSwap was built to provide users with the much-needed platform to put their cryptocurrencies to good use and expand their earnings.  Since you are here, this is a good time to learn about how you can start expanding your earnings by yield farming on Pancake swap.

Step-by-Step Guide to staking assets in a Yield Farm on Pancake Swap

So you are ready to begin farming some yields? Let’s go: 

Visit PancakeSwap. 

Visit https://pancakeswap.finance/ . Be careful and ensure that you are on the correct site. You do not want to be a victim of phishing attacks. Your window should look like the image below. Click on the connect wallet button to connect your wallet.

Connect Wallet. 

You have many options when it comes to the choice of a wallet and this is mostly based on your preference. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll be using Trust Wallet. So Choose Trust Wallet. Trust Wallet works like an extension for Desktops and Laptops, but you can always install the app on mobile. Proceed to fund your wallet and your funds will be available for use on PancakeSwap as long as you have connected it.  Here is a full guide on how you can connect your trust wallet to dApps like PancakeSwap on PC. 

N.B: You will need to give Trust wallet permission to do a lot of things. This is to ensure the security of your funds, so don't feel irritated.

Swap your funds. 

Not everyone will need to do this, but that depends on the funds available in your Trust Wallet. You will need BNB to complete transactions on the BNB chain, during the process of Farming. This makes it necessary for you to swap some of your cryptocurrency for the ones you do not have. In this example, I have some BUSD, which I swapped for BNB. In the process below:

Of course, you will need to give Trust Wallet permission to complete this swap. So if your transaction ever fails, check your trust wallet to see if you have given the necessary permission. 

Visit the Farm.

To do this hover on the Earn button beside the Trade button. You should see a drop-down menu with the Farm or Pool option. Click on the Farm button. Your window should look like the image below: 

Choose your preferred Farm.

 As you can see from the image above, there are many farms where you can stake your LP tokens for rewards. There is a “Sort By”  filter that allows you to search for farms based on their APR, multiplier, total reward earned, and popularity. For the purpose of this guide, I will select the CAKE-BNB farm. Click on your preferred farm and more details pop out below it. Click on the “Get CAKE-BNB LP” link to get your LP tokens. 

Get your LP tokens. 

As we previously discussed, before you can get LP tokens, you must supply liquidity to a liquidity pool that allows PancakeSwap to facilitate trades between two cryptocurrencies. In this case, you will need to supply both BNB and CAKE to a liquidity pool. This process is illustrated in the image below. Ensure your wallet is connected and click on “Add Liquidity”, and follow the process. 

N.B: In the images above. Notice, how some of my BNB is automatically converted into CAKE to ensure that I can supply the liquidity pool, even though I had no CAKE. You can always get the cryptocurrency you want to supply manually, but if you don’t, the Liquidity pool will do some conversions to make the process easier and faster. 

Once you successfully provide liquidity, the amount of LP tokens you have received pops out at the bottom of the page. You can now proceed to stake your LP tokens in the farm you provided liquidity for. 

Stake your LP tokens.

Now you need to stake your received LP tokens in the CAKE-BNB farm, to generate CAKE rewards. To stake your cake tokens follow the process depicted in the images below:

 

7a. Enable

7b. Stake LP.

7c. Confirm Staking.

    

Congratulations! You have successfully staked your LP tokens! Now farm those yields to the moon! 

You might decide to increase or reduce the amount of LP tokens you have staked in a Farm. To do this simply click on the farm and details should pop out beneath it. 

 

Select the “+” sign to increase your total LP tokens staked, or click the “-” sign to reduce the amount of LP tokens staked. The process is very similar to the process of adding liquidity so it should be relatively easy.

Harvesting your Farm Yields.

After Staking your LP tokens for a while, You might decide to withdraw your CAKE rewards. In yield farming, this process is known as Harvesting. To harvest your token,  click on the Harvest button in the image below, and provide the necessary permissions in your wallet. The CAKE rewards will be transferred to your wallet and you can do as you please with them. 

 

Conclusion.

So, there you have it. Yield Farming is one of the most popular innovations that are driven by the Blockchain. The idea of a future where decentralized finance is the order of the financial world would be mostly impossible if Liquidity pools cannot find a sustainable working model. It is therefore important that you get in on all the fun, and get your coins or in this case, LP tokens to do the work for you. While excitement runs high, do not throw caution to the wind. Before staking your tokens on a farm, make sure you look into features such as the APR, total liquidity, Multiplier etc. These will give you a good understanding of the risk and opportunity costs of your farming. Always DYOR  and do not FOMO into any farm. There you have it! Farm those yields to the moon!

So it begins…

So, You believe in the power of the blockchain. And by power, I do not speak of the hype that comes with everything that is even remotely connected with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. By power, I mean the possibility that Blockchain technology will continue to revolutionize the way people interact with current financial systems. That more innovative, and groundbreaking utility will be found for the Blockchain outside of the current financial application it currently has. And that brings us back to you. Because you are a true believer, you have that “Under the Apple tree, Isaac Newton” moment, and you have a great idea for another Blockchain application that will take the Web3 community and the world by storm. With your Crypto idea well formed, you have a number of options. You could try to get some of your friends to come work on your idea and you all bootstrap till you become the next “Nick Woodman”. Or you could try to attract investors to invest in your Blockchain project.

Now I cannot tell you much about the first option since I have not particularly had “on-field” experience with that. Attracting investors for your Blockchain project, whether it be a regular Crypto, Defi or GameFi project is a different matter entirely. There is no single path to attracting investors to your project. Might be surprising, but what if there are organized entities whose existence is centred around helping projects like yours source necessary funds, and significantly push marketing and advertisement, even while building a sustainable community? Well, don’t be surprised. These organizations are called Incubators and we’ll be exploring how they can help your project succeed, and the drawbacks that they might present.

Incubators like they incubate?

Of course, they incubate. But they do not deal with babies that might need to stay in a glass, or a crib for a while. They deal with new ideas that might require some kind of support in their early days. You see in reality, an idea is just an idea. I do not believe there is any such thing as a “million-dollar idea”. Without the necessary funding, professional and dedicated team, successful marketing, technical know-how and a whole lot of grit, your idea will always remain an “idea”. Bootstrapping is an option, but that road gets quiet, and when it rains, it pours. Deciding to join an incubator program does not make your idea any less important or great, it just means that you are opening yourself to a stream of support that you might not get if you tried to do it all alone.

Annually, thousands of Crypto Projects make their entry onto the Blockchain stage, each one aiming for that famed success and having an Incubator, such as Bluezilla, Binance Labs, GBV Capital, MAGIC Funds, Defi labs etc., in your corner can be the competitive edge that you have over other projects. Incubators have teams that are dedicated to different aspects of a project ranging from fundraising to product development, marketing, business strategy and community development, and legal consultation. For a more concise understanding, these services provided by Incubators will be categorized into Fundraising, Product Development, Marketing, and Legal Consultation.

Fundraising.

In its early days, your crypto project will need a whole lot of funds to get things started. From physical infrastructure like office space to the entire budget for marketing, you will need sizable funds, to begin with. Let’s not forget that while your product might not have reached profitability just yet, you still need to pay team members. So, at this point, you are really just spending a lot of money to create your minimum viable product. Incubators can provide the funds that you require to kick-start things. An example to buttress this point is Binance Labs which provides selected projects in their incubator program with a seed fund of up to $10 million dollars, to begin with. This is only a seed investment that could increase as the project continues to grow. This is just an example of how much funds Incubators are willing to put into your project.

Product Development.

Whether you are trying to set up a new Blockchain and token, you are building the next big Defi protocol, or you are developing a next-level GameFi project, your project development trajectory is of the utmost importance to the success of your project. From development to beta-testing, to launch, and even marketing campaigns, you need all the advice you can get on best practices to improve the chances of success. Incubators (Crypto Incubators to be exact) are best suited to providing this kind of advice because oftentimes, the incubator teams have a working and profitable product within the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency space, and can draw from that experience to provide you with the necessary technical and non-technical advice that you might need. These Incubators also have experience with projects like yours so you can rest assured that you are in good hands.

Marketing.

In the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency industry, you should be almost the same level of effort into your product and marketing. While this might sound counterintuitive to some, it should be treated almost like an unshakeable law. You do not want to spend all your time working hard on making your Blockchain product the best in the market, only to fail because no one has ever heard of your product, or your competition is investing in marketing more than you are. Incubators have experience with what you are trying to achieve and know the right influencer networks you might need to work with, Digital Marketing tactics to employ and the offline, conventional methodologies to use. Incubators also contribute to community building as part of Marketing. This provides you with a conduit that can help share your latest updates and important news with a larger audience, even while providing a congregation of people who not only believe in your project but are also invested in it.

Legal Consultation.

Many within the Blockchain space are of the opinion that the industry is still in its infancy, and this is plausible considering the current position with Crypto regulations in the world. For the most part, many countries are still developing their regulatory frameworks for Crypto and all things Blockchain related. To avoid a situation where you violate some of these regulatory guidelines and incur unnecessary penalties or even a complete ban, your project needs to work closely with legal professionals within your region of operations. Incubators have notable experience with the legal side of the business and have the appropriate contacts to help you hire the best legal professionals who can help your startup navigate sometimes turbulent seas of regulation.

So Incubators have no Downsides?

Oh, Of course, Incubators are not all sunshine with no rainy days (Forgive me, I had to do that). The thing is I do not think these factors should be called downsides. I think they are just factors you need to be aware of before you decide to join an incubator. First, you need to know that Incubators often have some significant equity in any startup or project that they invest in. This equity could be so significant that it gives the incubator considerable control over the startup and its operations. This means that you might not have all the control you wish to have and decision-making might be much slower. In all of these, you need to be aware of how much these incubators are putting into your project and that might allow you to see the bigger picture when things get a little uncomfortable.

In Conclusion.

So yes, that was quite a ride. Even I think I have read enough about Incubators to last a week! If you’ve got that Blockchain, Crypto or better still Web3 startup that you will like to bring to life, you must evaluate your situation. Determine what option best suits your startup. Are you gonna bootstrap or are getting incubated? It’s all up to you. After all, the Blockchain is your playground. So Play.