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Blockchain and DeFi · Digital asset trading

A DEX on Arbitrum and zkSync Era, built as Moonbase Alpha's technology partner

Moonbase Alpha is a decentralized exchange with a token locker, on Arbitrum and zkSync Era. We built it as its technology partner, with our CEO as its CTO. We delivered the exchange, farms, the locker, TradingView charts and launchpad contracts that were deployed and tested.

Client
Moonbase Alpha (we were its technology partner)
Chains
Arbitrum One, zkSync Era
Stack
Solidity, Hardhat, Next.js, wagmi, The Graph, Subsquid, NestJS, TradingView charts
Team
7 engineers plus PM, QA and design
Timeline
49 weeks; the exchange launched in week 22
Status
Delivered 2023
The Moonbase Alpha landing page, now branded moonbaseX: the Launch Base process in five illustrated steps, from a project's application and raise details to a token holder vote, a multisig check with a liquidity lock, and the raise itself.
Launch Base, the launchpad flow, on the Moonbase Alpha site. We built the launchpad contracts, deployed and tested. Live site, Oct 2026
DEX transactions
42,569
Measured on-chain, Arbitrum, Oct 2026
Trading pairs
12
Exchange factory on Arbitrum, Oct 2026
Token locks
9
Locker contract on Arbitrum, Oct 2026

The challenge

Moonbase Alpha needed an exchange on Arbitrum and zkSync Era, with farms, and a locker so projects could show their tokens and liquidity were locked.

zkSync Era runs contracts differently from other EVM chains, so the exchange contracts had to be ported before they could deploy there.

Our approach

A proven exchange core

We started from the Uniswap V2 contracts and the PancakeSwap interface, ported them to zkSync Era and deployed on both chains.

A locker with vesting

Projects lock tokens or liquidity until a set date. The locker adds a Merkle vesting tool and runs its own indexer.

Charts from the exchange's own data

TradingView charts were fed from the exchange's own subgraph through a datafeed server we built.

What we built

  • Exchange contracts and the trading interface on Arbitrum and zkSync Era.
  • Farms and LP migration.
  • A token and LP locker with Merkle vesting.
  • Launchpad contracts, an admin panel and a backend, deployed and tested.
  • TradingView charts with a custom datafeed, and analytics subgraphs.

How it fits together

  1. People

    • Traders and liquidity providers
    • The Moonbase teamAdmin panel

  2. Apps

    • Next.js trading appwagmi wallets and TradingView charts
    • Admin panel and NestJS backendLaunchpad

  3. Indexing

    • The Graph and SubsquidAnalytics subgraphs and the chart datafeed

  4. Contracts

    • Exchange contractsArbitrum One and zkSync Era
    • Farms and LP migration
    • Token and LP lockerMerkle vesting
    • Launchpad contractsDeployed and tested
How the Moonbase Alpha exchange fits together

Services behind this work

Security and quality

  • The locker has run on Arbitrum since June 2023 with its source verified.
  • Every pool, swap and lock was indexed in subgraphs, so the stats pages read on-chain data.

Outcome

The exchange has processed 42,569 transactions across 12 trading pairs on Arbitrum.

We delivered the build in 2023, and the exchange is still live.

Proof

Have an agent, protocol or product to ship?

Send a short brief and we'll reply with times for a 30-minute scoping call.

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