# Introduction

Athena is a decentralized, non-custodial liquidity protocol that allows users to participate either as liquidity providers or cover seekers. Liquidity providers supply funds to the market to earn passive income, while cover seekers can subscribe to insurance services.

This documentation outlines the core principles of the protocol and explains how to engage with it. We invite you to join the Athena community—our team and fellow members are excited to support you in building on top of Athena.

<figure><img src="https://3863230093-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F0mKcKgKLEWonEmIM0cM0%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ae50d536226a66416ca3a31a87e9edf3bc046bd2%2Fathena_overview.png?alt=media" alt="athena protocol feature overview"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

The protocol is implemented as a set of smart contracts on top of the Arbitrum blockchain. Smart contracts guarantee safety and do not require a middleman.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://doc.athenains.io/readme.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.