# Protocol Basics

Evolve is implemented as a set of smart contracts on Cronos Mainnet. These smart contracts enable non-custodial, permissionless markets for decentralized lending and leveraged yield farming. Inspired by such groundbreaking projects as Aave, Compound, Impermax, Uniswap, and Tarot, Evolve enables an entirely new DeFi experience.

The core and periphery contracts are **forked from Impermax / Tarot** and deployed on the Cronos Mainnet. These contracts are permissionless, non-upgradeable, and designed to operate with minimal governance.

The core contracts of the Evolve Protocol consist of the Factory and Deployers for each [lending pool](https://evolutionecosystem.gitbook.io/evolve/evolve-protocol/lending-pools). Anyone can create a lending pool via the Factory, and all lending pools are isolated. If a borrower ends up getting liquidated in one lending pool, other lending pools are not affected.&#x20;

The periphery contracts of the Evolve Protocol are designed to allow users to interact with the core contracts. These periphery contracts enable specific functions such as depositing LP tokens, supplying individual tokens to a lending pool, and creating a leveraged position.
