# What is Premia?

To begin, we should make clear the distinctions between the different areas of "Premia", some of which may confuse new users.

#### <mark style="color:blue;">**The Premia Protocol**</mark>

A suite of upgradable smart contracts that together facilitates peer-to-peer market making and trading of options on ERC-20 tokens available on the Ethereum blockchain along with a settlement engine. This can be thought of as the “base” layer.

#### <mark style="color:blue;">**Premia Vault Depot**</mark>

A suite of in-house and third party smart contracts, composed *on top* of The Premia Protocol, that enables additional user functionality such as participation in automated strategies, leverage, and risk management on the Ethereum blockchain.

#### <mark style="color:blue;">**The Premia Interface**</mark>

A web interface that allows for easy interaction with the Premia protocol. The interface is only one of many ways one may interact with the Premia protocol.

#### <mark style="color:blue;">**Premia Governance**</mark>

A governance system for governing the Premia Protocol, enabled by staking PREMIA token and receiving vxPremia.