Ethereum has transitioned from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism into proof-of-stake, which requires users to put ETH as collateral to secure the network. In doing so, ETH stakers earn staking rewards. However, self-staking has a few barriers to entry, such as a minimum deposit of 32 ETH, which equates to over $100,000 at the time of writing.
Additionally, solo stakers will need to learn how to set up a validator, purchase hardware that meets staking requirements, and maintain their node with zero downtime.
By abstracting these difficulties away for the user, liquid staking services allow anyone to deposit ETH and earn staking rewards from their capital.
Liquid staking is a service provided by both DeFi protocols and centralized exchanges alike. By aggregating user deposits into a staking pool, liquid staking platforms help users meet the 32 ETH threshold.
Liquid staking protocols also provide a validator service, keeping up with the required hardware and software requirements. Users simply pay a percentage of their rewards for the service and keep the rest of the yield.
For many, the benefits of liquid staking outweigh traditional staking.
The main differentiator between how liquid staking works and a simple staking service is the issuance of liquid staking tokens (LSTs). When a user deposits their ETH, they receive a token that represents their staked asset, allowing them to use it in decentralized finance (DeFi) or other platforms. Since the token is transferable, users can sell or buy it on the secondary market, hence the term “liquid”.
Here is a breakdown of the most popular liquid staking options below.
Lido liquid staking is the most popular option by far, with over 60% of LST market share and over $30B of TVL. The liquid staking protocol issues the stETH token to depositors, which is well integrated into a number of DeFi protocols, such as EigenLayer, Aave, and Uniswap.
When Ethereum first introduced proof-of-stake, many were concerned by the inability to withdraw staked ETH. Lido addressed this pain point by incentivizing a stETH/ETH liquidity pool with LDO, allowing it to trade close to 1:1 with ETH. With the elevated APY, many users began to stake with Lido and provide liquidity.
The deep liquidity base attracted more stakers who became assured of liquidity, and also allowed DeFi applications to integrate stETH into lending markets and yield derivative products. Aave, for example, could onboard stETH as collateral only after they were confident they could liquidate it if it was at risk of defaulting.
By increasing utility for stETH, Lido further cemented its position as the market leader for LSTs.
Rocket Pool is a unique competitor in the LST landscape, prioritizing security for users and the health of the Ethereum network over maximum returns. Instead of controlling the validator set, Rocket Pool allows anyone to become a validator for depositors’ staked ETH. By requiring them to post ETH and RPL as collateral, Rocket Pool ensures these validators are financially aligned with the success of the protocol and depositors.
Though validators have to be compensated for the increased requirements, Rocket Pool’s stakers are willing to receive lower staking yields in exchange for a more robust security model and increased decentralization for Ethereum.
Frax, a stablecoin DeFi protocol, is one of the latest participants to join the LST vertical. Its frxETH token acts as a stablecoin to maintain a 1:1 value with ETH, while its sfrxETH is a yield-bearing LST.
By utilizing its ecosystem of products, Frax was able to quickly bootstrap its staked ETH TVL to over $800M, becoming a leading protocol in the space. Due to its large vlCVX position, Frax was able to incentivize frxETH LP yields on Curve, thus attracting frxETH minters.
With its own lending market, Frax’s LSTs were integrated into Fraxlend, where users can deposit Frax LSTs as collateral to borrow FRAX, a USD stablecoin. Furthermore, Frax has its own native bridging contracts and allow Frax tokens to be bridged onto other chains.
With staking yield compressing as more stakers enter the market, Origin Ether attempts to address decreasing ETH yield with additional streams of income. On top of ETH staking yield, OETH holders earn from several streams of rewards.
OETH yield is enhanced through its integration with ssv.network, which boosts staking APYs by offering SSV token incentives. Additionally, its AMO strategy enables highly capital efficient liquidity mining on Curve and Convex, further boosting yield for holders.
The decision to stake ETH depends on each users’ personal risk tolerance and goals. Certain users may prefer holding plain ETH in their hardware wallet, minimizing any counterparty risk or potential mistakes they make. Others may choose to self-stake to support the network, while others simply go for the highest returns.
If you prefer to passively earn ETH yields via an aggregator which has proven strategies and tier-1 audits, look no further than OETH. All strategies can be monitored directly on-chain, and currently boasts a trailing 30-day APY above 7.5%. Head over to OETH.com to read more.
Yield generating stablecoins offer a unique way for investors to earn passive income while maintaining the stability of their investments. Unlike other digital assets, stablecoins maintain a stable value, often pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar.
But how do stablecoins work when it comes to yield generation? Stablecoins take advantage of different strategies to generate returns for holders. Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols offer a wealth of opportunities for such investors. For example, DeFi protocols allow stablecoin holders to lend or provide liquidity to various platforms in exchange for interest or rewards. These novel financial services unlock a wealth of opportunity for stablecoin investors.
If you want to jump straight to the answer: Origin Dollar (OUSD) generates yield as the protocol deploys underlying stablecoins to DeFi platforms like Morpho and Sky. The yield generated from interest and protocol rewards is pooled and converted to stablecoins to produce OUSD-denominated yield.
Let’s dive into why yield generating stablecoins are uniquely positioned to offer attractive returns while minimizing the volatility typically associated with cryptocurrencies. We’ll start by explaining how they work in the first place.
Picture this: you have a regular piggy bank at home. Every time you drop a coin into it, that coin magically grows into more coins overnight—without you doing anything at all. That’s basically how yield generating stablecoins like OUSD can feel. You put in your stablecoins, and then, quietly in the background, they earn interest for you. It’s kind of like a savings account at a bank, except you don’t have to deal with account managers, opening hours, or locking up your funds.
Now, you might be thinking, “This sounds too good to be true.” And sure, there can be risks, just like there are risks when you keep money at a bank or invest in the stock market. Smart contract exploits, sudden drops in the crypto market, and other unexpected issues can pop up.
But the reason people love stablecoins that earn yield is they offer you a chance to grow your money without having to chain yourself to more unpredictable assets like regular cryptocurrencies. Because stablecoins are meant to keep a steady value, you’re not playing the guessing game of when prices might swing up or down. Instead, you get the benefit of a stable value combined with the potential to earn extra.
One of the coolest things is how these stablecoins do all the work behind the scenes. Once you’ve got them in your digital wallet, many protocols like OUSD will automatically generate yield from different lending and liquidity opportunities. As borrowers pay interest or DeFi users pay trading fees, that money flows back into your wallet, boosting your balance over time. It’s a bit like planting seeds in a garden—you water them, let the sun do its thing, and watch them grow.
Of course, nothing in crypto is 100% guaranteed. But if you’re looking for a way to dip your toes into earning yield without the wild ups and downs of more volatile tokens, yield generating stablecoins can be a solid choice. They’re simple, they’re stable, and they can help your money work harder for you. Best of all, you can pull your funds out anytime you need, which is a nice perk compared to many traditional savings vehicles.
With Origin Dollar (OUSD), users are empowered to earn outsized stablecoin yield with unparalleled flexibility.
OUSD is fully collateralized by crypto’s most widely used stables – Tether (USDT), USDC, and Sky USD (USDS, formerly DAI). As these crypto assets do not accrue interest on their own, OUSD provides an ideal platform for holders to put their idle funds to work.
Since launching in late 2020, OUSD has delivered the highest risk-adjusted stablecoin yields in the stablecoin market. The protocol allocates reserves to blue-chip DeFi protocols in order to generate this yield.
OUSD’s unique appeal lies in its seamless usability. Earning yield in DeFi generally requires lock-ups, forcing users to manually stake and un-stake their holdings to earn rewards.
With OUSD, however, users don’t need to surrender their capital or pay gas fees to compound their yield.
Users can mint OUSD by depositing USDT, USDC, or USDS via the Origin dapp. Once minted, holders are free to use OUSD as they would any other stablecoin. At the same time, yield generated by underlying reserves is distributed automatically to holders’ wallets.
This means that users can benefit from some of the best stablecoin yields in the space while retaining full control and price stability over their capital.
Now here’s the more technical answers to how stablecoins work. Yield bearing stablecoins earn yield by depositing underlying reserves to DeFi platforms via automated strategies.
Lending protocols are commonly used for yield generation. A stablecoin holder can deposit their funds into a lending platform, where borrowers can borrow these stablecoins by providing collateral. The interest paid by borrowers is then distributed among the stablecoin holders, allowing them to earn a yield on their investment.
Liquidity provision is another popular route for passive returns. In this approach, stablecoin holders can provide liquidity to decentralized exchanges (DEXs) by depositing their stablecoins and another cryptocurrency into a liquidity pool. By doing so, they earn a portion of the trading fees generated by the DEX.
Stablecoin yield farming denotes the use of multiple DeFi mechanisms or revenue streams to generate yield.
OUSD utilizes established protocols in order to generate yield for holders. The platform’s strategies and smart contracts have been rigorously audited to ensure their security.
Part of the way Origin Dollar earns its yield is by allocating underlying collateral to premier lending protocols Morpho and Sky. These funds are lent out to borrowers in order to earn interest.
Additionally, the protocol earns trading fees via Curve and Convex. OUSD achieves this by supplying liquidity to the Curve OUSD-3CRV pool. This pool pairs OUSD with USDT, USDC, and DAI, allowing users to swap between OUSD and underlying reserves. By providing liquidity in the form of all four tokens, Origin is able to earn additional yield for holders.
OUSD affirms a strong commitment to full transparency. All protocol allocations, interest rates, and capital flows can be tracked via the platform’s dedicated analytics page.
Farming with stablecoins in DeFi arguably offers one of the safest ways to earn passive returns in crypto for both retail and institutional investors. With a current trailing 7-day APY of 3.9%, OUSD offers some of the highest risk-adjusted stablecoin interest on-chain.
While centralized exchanges (CEXs) also offer stablecoin staking with high yield, using such services can be incredibly inefficient. Users need to surrender control of their funds with hard lockups, making it difficult to stay agile in a volatile space. Further, users have no say or line of light into how their funds are being managed while staked on a centralized platform.
In contrast, using a DeFi protocol like Origin Dollar allows users to maximize their yield while retaining control of their funds. Given that users provide stablecoin liquidity in DeFi, anyone can participate in market making activities to earn rewards.
Origin has also launched Origin Ether to generate yield on Ethereum via liquid staking. OETH builds on OUSD’s battle-tested codebase, offering another secure and transparent platform for yield generation.
Like OUSD, OETH delivers outsized yield with no lockups required. OETH maintains a peg to ETH, allowing users to retain full control of their capital. It’s important to note that ETH is a volatile asset and sees regular price fluctuations. However, OETH’s broad utility means that users can liquidate their capital whenever necessary.
Both protocols illustrate the vast opportunities for passive returns in DeFi.
As with any investment, using yield generating stablecoins carries risks. It's crucial for investors to conduct thorough research and due diligence before participating in DeFi activities. That being said, OUSD’s remarkable design and unparalleled usability offer users a seamless platform to earn returns on idle stablecoins.
Click here to get started with OUSD.
Or stack ETH faster with OETH.
How Do Yield Generating Stablecoins Earn Interest?
Yield generating stablecoins like OUSD earn interest by deploying underlying fiat collateral into DeFi protocols that pay returns through lending and liquidity provision. Unlike algorithmic stablecoins, OUSD is backed by a reserve asset and earns passive yield without needing to move funds into a traditional bank account.
What Makes Origin Dollar (OUSD) Different From Other Stablecoins?
OUSD stands out from other types of stablecoins because it auto-compounds yield directly to holders without lockups or staking, while remaining fully backed by stablecoins issued by trusted stablecoin issuers. It’s designed to generate real yield while maintaining price stability—something many stablecoins aim for but few achieve efficiently.
Is Earning Yield on Stablecoins Through DeFi Safer Than Using Centralized Exchanges?
Earning yield on stablecoins through DeFi offers better transparency and control compared to centralized platforms, which often lack visibility into how your funds are managed and rely on central banks for trust. While DeFi isn't risk-free, it reduces reliance on third parties and helps mitigate issues like de-pegging and poor asset custody.
What Are the Risks and Benefits of Using Yield Bearing Stablecoins in DeFi?
The main benefit is earning competitive yield without sacrificing control, especially in protocols like OUSD that track every market cap fluctuation and allocation. However, risks include smart contract vulnerabilities and exposure to unstable stablecoin issuers, so it's essential to understand the backing and mechanics behind the stablecoin you choose.
Every month, the Origin team publishes an update to our token holders and the broader community. We hope you enjoy our July 2023 edition.
Welcome back to another token holder update! Since June, Origin has made new partnerships, saw an influx of deposits to OETH, and added key features to its product suite. We’re thrilled to dive into the details, but before we do, here’s a breakdown of what to expect in this month’s update:
Without further ado, let’s dive into Origin’s products, tokenomics, and community initiatives, highlighting what’s new in July.
Bankless and Binance caught on to OGV. Origin DeFi’s new attention drives deposits to OETH.
Origin DeFi continued its aggressive growth last month, growing its total value locked by over 57% in the first 30 days of July. On July 30th, OETH withdrew funds from its DeFi strategies in reaction to the Curve Pool Reentrancy Exploit bug that ultimately drained funds from the CRV/ETH, alETH/ETH, msETH/ETH, and pETH/ETH pools. The OETH/ETH pool on Curve was not susceptible to these vulnerabilities.
All funds are safe, and OETH remains 100% backed by ETH and LSTs. Withdrawing funds from all DeFi strategies caused all protocol-owned OETH in Origin’s AMO to be burned, temporarily dropping aggregate TVL until funds are redeployed into the strategy.
Thanks to OETH, Origin DeFi briefly reclaimed $100 million in TVL for the first time since March 2022. We anticipate reaching a 9-figure TVL again once Origin Ether fully redeploys funds into its DeFi strategies.
Origin Ether received several large mints in July. These deposits can be attributed to increased media attention, organic growth, ecosystem integrations, and new deposits from liquid staking token holders. Firstly, OETH attracted new eyes from being featured in a Binance Research report that highlighted OETH’s growth. The Bankless list of most promising new liquid staking protocols featured OETH as well, bringing even more users to Origin DeFi.
Also helping TVL growth, many liquid staking token holders swapped for OETH in July. With Origin Ether offering a yield around 2x that of LSTs, it’s clear that many liquid stakers are seeking higher yields via OETH. An aggregate of 3,000+ rETH was sent to the Origin Ether vault in July, along with multiple stETH and frxETH deposits.
In order to maintain APYs, OGV stakers voted to reallocate rETH collateral. A recent proposal passed to swap 50% of Origin Ether’s rETH position to fund our Convex AMO strategy, which accounted for over $4 million in collateral. The swap boosted OETH yield by an estimated 38 basis points, while retaining a diversified position across our three supported LSTs.
Origin Ether’s algorithmic market operations (AMO) strategy is the most lucrative and heavily-allocated strategy within OETH’s yield suite. The strategy permits the protocol to pre-mint OETH into the Convex AMO strategy alongside a proportional amount of ETH. If withdrawn from the pool, pre-minted OETH is burned to ensure that each OETH in circulation is backed 100% by ETH and LSTs.
In turn, the AMO earns fees incredibly efficiently when paired with Origin’s CRV and CVX holdings. The strategy also deepens liquidity, and helps OETH maintain its ETH peg, even under strenuous market conditions.
Origin DeFi integrated into dozens of dapps last month, making OTokens more accessible than ever. The Safe (FKA Gnosis Safe) app has integrated with OETH, enabling multisig wallets to accrue yield on both OUSD and OETH. OUSD, OGV, and OGN are now available on Atani, an exchange aggregation platform offering deep liquidity and low fees. Origin Ether is now listed on several new DEXs, aggregators, and cross-chain AMMs, such as Interport Finance, CoW Swap, LunarCrush, and Maverick Protocol.
For a full list of OETH integrations, check out the OETH ecosystem page.
Security is a top priority at Origin Protocol. We’ve made this clear with our 10+ audits from leading security firms and by enforcing strict guidelines for upgrading our protocols. As such, we’re proud to have earned AAA security ratings for both OUSD and OETH! Cer.Live is a leading provider of DeFi security ratings, and just 12 other protocols have earned a AAA rating thus far.
The 0N1 community rewards competition has ended. The next chapter of Origin Story starts soon.
Rewards have been claimed! The 0N1 community rewards trading competition closed on July 8th at 12 AM PT. For all participants who were eager to claim their hard-earned OGN rewards, we opened the claim window on July 16th at 12 AM PT, which remained accessible until July 30th at 12 AM PT. Keep a close eye on 0N1 Force’s announcement channels for details regarding the availability of the 0N1-specific prizes, which include 0N1 Force NFTs, custom collectibles, and a trip to comic-con!
In an effort to amplify Origin Story’s mission and commitment to creators, our co-founder, Matthew Liu, joined forces with 0N1 Force in co-hosting a special Twitter space on July 5th. The event saw an ensemble of guest creators from esteemed NFT projects and Origin Story partners such as SupDucks, POGs, Cereal Club, San Sound, and Chubbiverse.
Beyond the 0N1 rewards campaign, the Origin Story team is heads-down working on exciting new utility that we believe will drive mass adoption of NFTs. Stay tuned, because we’ll be making an announcement regarding a new product for Origin Story in the very near future.
Check out the latest yield opportunities, staking updates, and tokenomics data for Origin’s tokens.
Season 3 of OGN staking ended on July 7th, 2023, ushering in the opportunity to claim ETH rewards from July 6th at 8 PM UTC. A grand total of 66.7 million OGN was staked, embodying 13% of OGN’s circulating supply, underlining our token holders' trust in the protocol.
Season 4 has now been launched and will run until November 3rd, 2023. With the lock-up period scheduled to begin October 4th, 2023, any OGN staked before this date will continue to earn points until the end of the season. In a promising start to the new season, over 68.1 million OGN has already been staked, reflecting the unwavering commitment from our token holders.
Recently, OGN saw a dramatic increase in trading volume in both spot and perpetuals on the weekend of July 23. Volatility has been high, but it’s clear that there is more community attention on Origin of late. We’ve seen commensurate increased activity in our community channels (e.g. Discord, Telegram, Twitter). We’re excited to welcome new participants to the Origin ecosystem and are even more excited to unveil new product launches and partnerships to further invigorate the community in the weeks and months to come.
Also last month, Binance enabled a new yield feature for OGN holders. Currently, holders who use the Binance Earn feature can earn yields between 2.9% and 18% APY. Huobi also added a new feature for OGN in July, adding OGN into its USDT-margined perpetual futures, marking yet another milestone in our market expansion journey.
OGV incentives is a key aspect of Origin DeFi’s growth. Currently, OGV-ETH liquidity providers can earn up to 71% tAPR on Curve, making it an attractive option for OGV holders looking to earn yield on their tokens. Moreover, liquidity providers depositing to the OETH-ETH Curve pool can earn over 19.5% tAPR, taking little impermanent loss thanks to Origin Ether’s tight peg to ETH.
As shown on Origin Ether’s Proof of Yield dashboard, the OGV DAO has accumulated over 1 ETH in fees per day. Extrapolated out over a monthly basis, that’s over $50,000 per month accruing to OGV stakers. Adding in the revenue earned from Origin Dollar, the OGV is growing at the quickest rate it has all year.
Right now, the OGV DAO accumulates CRV and CVX to its treasury to further boost OETH yield. These tokens are owned by OGV stakers, and anyone with 10,000 or more tokens can submit a proposal to update how treasury funds are used.
As Origin DeFi’s TVL grows, so do the fees generated by the OGV DAO. With over 80% of OGV staked, most tokens are currently locked out of circulation. Moreover, veOGV holders receive hefty staking rewards, earning upwards of 50% variable APY on their tokens.
Bonjour, Ethereans! Check out what the community and core teams were up to in July.
Last month, the Origin team had the opportunity to attend ethCC and surrounding events. The events were energetic, and we were able to meet many of our partners and investors while on the ground. Our senior engineer and security expert Daniel Von Fange presented at The DeFi Security Summit, while Origin DeFi’s Andra Nicolau spoke at Polygon Guild London days earlier.
As a reminder, Origin is hiring! We’re looking for top-notch talent to help build Origin Protocol, including community managers for Korea and China. If you’re interested in joining some of the brightest minds in web3, join our Discord to get in touch!
On the community front, Origin launched new community programs to reward and engage our most loyal community members. Origin Points launched in the last week of July, enabling Discord members to claim points for their activity on Twitter, Discord, and Telegram. Points can be redeemed for Origin Swag, and special roles are awarded to the highest-ranking community members. Alongside Origin Points, we’ve launched new campaigns on Zealy and Galxe, allowing members to earn OGN and OETH for helping to spread the word about Origin Protocol.
Thanks for taking the time to read July’s token holder update! Stay tuned to our Discord for real-time announcements; we can’t wait to share what’s in store for August. In the meantime, here are some of our favorite articles from July, in case you missed them!
As a public, permissionless protocol, Origin has always placed a strong emphasis on transparency and accessibility.
Last year’s serial CeFi catastrophes have underpinned the importance of being able to monitor cash flows and yield in DeFi. We affirm that this data should be readily available to anyone who needs it, at any given time.
Our brand new Proof of Yield dashboard offers users more insight to the OETH ecosystem than ever before. While it’s always been possible to calculate yield on-chain, the new dashboard vastly simplifies this process. Anyone can now access and monitor OETH’s live mechanics, regardless of technical knowledge.
The new dashboard can be accessed by visiting oeth.com/proof-of-yield. You’ll be greeted by a daily breakdown of Origin Ether’s yield generation. Selecting the proof of yield button presents in-depth insights for each day.
The proof of yield page displays the total yield distributed on a specific day, the net APY, the value of the total OETH vault, and fees generated by the protocol. Fees generated by the protocol are sent to the Origin DeFi DAO, controlled by OGV stakers. OGV stakers decide how to manage this treasury, often purchasing flywheel tokens or conducting OGV buybacks to increase staking yield.
The yield boost multiplier is also visible on the proof of yield page. This tool provides insights into one of the many ways that OETH is able to generate such high APYs. While all OETH generates yield, yield is only distributed to the rebasing supply. This is the supply of OETH held by users in EOAs.
In other words, yield generated by the total supply is channeled to real users. OETH held in smart contracts does not rebase by default, so this yield is sent to everyone else.
In the example shown above, OETH total supply is divided by the rebasing supply to calculate the total yield delivered to holders’ wallets. In this calculation, the total OETH supply is 1.64x larger than the rebasing supply, thus yielding a 1.64x boost.
Given that OETH generated 5.17% raw APY on the day in question, the distributed APY is thus 8.64% (1.64x larger).
We’ve proudly built out OETH with groundbreaking mechanics to deliver the highest risk-adjusted liquid staking yields in DeFi. This new portal leaves no room for guesswork – users can easily monitor how their funds are being used, as should always be the case.
Ready to enter the OETH ecosystem? You can mint OETH via the native dApp: app.oeth.com
Origin Protocol has always been about creating a fair and rewarding ecosystem for all participants, and we're excited to introduce our newest initiative that does just that. We're launching a new community rewards program, Origin Points, designed to give back to our dedicated community members who actively participate in our ecosystem.
Origin Points is now live on Carma! Sign up today to claim the points you’ve already earned.
Origin Points can be earned through a variety of activities within the Origin Protocol ecosystem. These activities include engaging within our community channels, holding on-chain assets such as OGN, OGV, OUSD, and OETH, holding partner assets, and helping to expand Origin into new countries. Each of these activities will generate Origin Points that you can accumulate.
Interacting with Origin’s Twitter accounts, Telegrams, and Discord channels will earn you points on Carma. Those who’ve been historically active will earn retrospective points – users will get these points as soon as they sign up for Carma and will be immediately able to use these points towards incentives.
This is our way of thanking you for your engagement and involvement. The more active you are within the ecosystem, the more Origin Points you can earn. Every action counts!
The Origin Points program works on a points-based system.
You can earn points by mentioning Origin on Twitter, liking and sharing Tweets, participating in conversations in our social channels, holding assets of our partners as well as holding events and much much more.
It's important to note that while users may earn points from different activities, withdrawal of participation or assets might result in forfeiture of all points accrued. We want to encourage long-term involvement and dedication to the Origin community.
As users gain points, they will be awarded new roles in Discord. These roles identify you as a valued member of our community, and they may grant special privileges within our Discord Server and beyond as Origin Points develops. Users can also use their points on Origin’s merch store, allowing you to pick up free swag, including t-shirts, stickers, tank tops, and more.
We believe in giving back to our community, and the Origin Points program is designed with this in mind. We're excited to provide an additional way for our community members to benefit from their engagement and dedication to the Origin ecosystem.
Our goal with Origin Points is to further incentivize participation in the Origin Protocol ecosystem, driving more value to our community members. Whether you're a seasoned crypto veteran or a newcomer to the space, we believe this program offers an exciting opportunity to get involved and earn rewards.
At present, rewards within our ecosystem are derived from various sources, including fees generated by our platforms, accrued in various assets like OGN and ETH. As we continue to grow and evolve, we're always exploring new ways to drive value back to our community.
We're thrilled about the launch of the Origin Points program and can't wait to see the positive impact it will have on our community. As always, there's a lot more in the pipeline that we can't wait to share. So stay tuned, and thank you for your continued support and involvement in the Origin Protocol community.
By combining liquid staking and DeFi yield, Origin Ether has disrupted the ETH liquid staking landscape. OETH utilizes reserves of ETH and staked ETH to offer users outsized returns on ETH staking.
The protocol has garnered over 39,000 ETH in TVL since launching in May, making it one of the largest ETH yield aggregators in the space.
Even with rapid scaling, OETH has maintained far higher yield than its underlying LSTs. The protocol currently generates a 30-day trailing APY above 4% thanks to its groundbreaking mechanics.
Specifically, the OETH Algorithmic Market Operations (AMO) strategy forms a key component of Origin Ether’s yield generation.
Popularized by Frax Finance, AMO strategies are used in DeFi to bolster capital efficiency and keep trading pools balanced. Both of Origin’s OTokens leverage an AMO strategy, first implemented to OUSD in 2022.
Liquid staking protocols face key challenges when it comes to maintaining their ETH peg and managing underlying collateral ratios. AMO strategies address these issues by managing token operations at the smart contract level.
AMOs serve to stabilize pegs and optimize yield by deepening liquidity pools via protocol-owned liquidity.
As a result, platforms that integrate AMO strategies are more resilient in the face of broader market forces, and users can swap on AMO pools with less slippage.
In-N-Out famously makes every burger to order. McDonalds, on the other hand, prepares a bunch of burgers in advance because they know hungry customers will be coming and they want to be able to serve them quickly and efficiently.
Either way, no burgers get eaten until they are paid for by the customers. Before Origin launched the AMO, the OUSD vault acted like In-N-Out, where OUSD was only minted when requested and paid for by an end user.
With the addition of the AMO, the protocol now pre-mints some OUSD and OETH, putting it up for sale on Curve. Since the liquidity is owned by the protocol, the OTokens become 100% backed the moment someone swaps their tokens in the pool. The AMO is extremely efficient, helping the protocol maintain pegs and earn up to 2x the rewards on the same amount of capital.
The OETH AMO focuses on Curve’s OETH-ETH liquidity pool. For OETH to maintain a 1:1 ETH peg, the Curve pool must remain balanced at all times. Having an imbalance on either side can affect the peg’s stability. Note, even if the Curve pool becomes imbalanced, users can still redeem OETH for an equivalent amount of ETH through direct redemptions.
The OETH AMO ensures that new deposits to Curve are distributed proportionally in OETH and ETH when deployed to the pool. This ensures the OETH maintains its peg while Origin Ether carries out liquidity provision (LP) activities.
Through a strict set of rules, the protocol can mint OETH to the Curve liquidity pool. The amount of OETH that the protocol can mint is limited based on the amount of ETH deposited to the pool. If a user swaps for OETH, the ETH deposited is used to collateralize the OETH put into circulation.
OETH held by the AMO is deployed to balance the Curve pool. When the strategy removes ETH liquidity from the pool, a proportional amount of OETH is burned. For example, if the Curve pool contains 60% OETH and 40% ETH, a 4 ETH withdrawal from the protocol would burn 6 OETH.
While this may seem counterintuitive, using protocol-owned liquidity helps to ensure that OETH remains 100% collateralized at all times. The AMO is able to maximize capital efficiency without diluting the OETH supply as this extra OETH never truly enters circulation until additional ETH enters the pool.
Origin's algorithmic market operations strategy allows for 2x capital efficiency within the OETH-ETH Curve pool. The protocol pre-mints OETH to deposit alongside ETH in the pool. This OETH is either backed when leaving the pool (from ETH swaps) or burned when the corresponding ETH is withdrawn from the pool (written in the smart contracts).
Liquidity is provided to the OETH-ETH pool via Convex to bolster rewards. This means that OETH earns staking rewards in CRV and token rewards in CVX for liquidity provision. Origin Ether collects and sells these rewards. Resulting yield is then added to the vault and distributed to users in the form of OETH.
Thanks to the AMO, the OETH protocol controls the majority of ETH and OETH in the Curve liquidity pool. While the protocol-owned Origin Ether is reflected in the token’s total value locked, it only enters circulation if a user deposits ETH to swap for OETH.
AMO strategies have been successfully battle-tested in DeFi. Frax’s implementation has demonstrated the efficacy of AMO strategies at scale since its launch in January 2021. Additionally, Origin Dollar (OUSD) has utilized an AMO successfully since 2022.
The AMO strategies used by OUSD and OETH have undergone comprehensive testing without any vulnerabilities being detected. Both protocols prioritize robust security and have been rigorously audited to ensure their safety.
The emergence of AMOs has empowered DeFi protocols to run more efficiently while strengthening price stability. These strategies are key to Origin DeFi’s ability to offer outsized yields with seamless usability.
Stack ETH faster with Origin Ether: app.oeth.com
Stack USD faster with Origin Dollar: app.ousd.com
Every month, the Origin team publishes an update to our token holders and the broader community.
We hope you enjoy our June 2023 edition.
Origin Ether ranks top 3 in LST-Fi, and Origin Story launches its campaign with 0N1 Force.
Welcome to June’s token holder update. Origin’s monthly updates cover new collaborations, upgrades, and tokenomics data for Origin Story and Origin DeFi. This month, Origin DeFi expanded its ecosystem with dozens of integrations, helping OETH grow its TVL by over $25 million. Origin Story saw several marketplace updates this month, and the team launched a joint rewards campaign with 0N1 Force.
In case you’re strapped for time, here’s a birds-eye view of some of Origin’s most impressive achievements that are covered in June’s token holder update:
With the rapid growth of OETH, Origin DeFi now has over $73M in TVL!
Origin Ether is in the spotlight of LST-Fi, attracting attention from DAOs, DeFi investors, and CT influencers. Mochi and DeFi Dad showed OETH love on Twitter, while Popcorn DAO and Auxo passed proposals to purchase hundreds of OETH for their treasuries. Aided by its integrations with Lido, Rocket Pool, and Frax, Origin Ether has accrued over $50M in total value locked.
Origin Ether grew its TVL by ~18,000+ ETH in June, qualifying it as the 2nd largest LST-Fi yield aggregator, behind only yearn.finance. Origin DeFi’s aggregate total value locked (OUSD + OETH) now sits above $73 million, growing at an average pace of $1 million every 2 days in June.
As a reminder, OGV stakers reap the benefits of both of Origin’s OTokens. This month, the OGV DAO used Origin Dollar’s revenue to conduct an OGV buyback for stakers. Acquired through the open market, the OGV DAO used these treasury funds to purchase OGV. The newly purchased tokens were dispersed to OGV stakers in the form of extra yield.
Also this month, Origin DeFi released its first iteration of Proof of Yield. Proof of Yield takes on-chain data and makes it digestible for anyone, giving a birds-eye view of all pertinent information. Origin Ether’s Proof of Yield dashboard displays protocol revenue, fee generation, APYs, and a historical yield boost multiplier. Broken down by day, anyone can view how much OETH yield is generated, where it goes, and fees generated for the OGV DAO.
New strategies for Origin Ether launched in June. The Frax ETH upgrade allows strategists to deposit ETH and WETH into frxETH, then stake for sfrxETH to earn liquid staking yield. Thanks to the upgrade, less ETH will sit idle in the Origin Ether Vault, enabling higher yield for OETH holders.
Morpho, a preferred strategy for Origin Dollar, has been added to OETH this month. Morpho facilitates peer-to-peer lending on top of Aave, and it marks the 2nd DeFi strategy to be added to Origin Ether. Next up, Origin DeFi aims to add Balancer strategies, leveraging LSTs for liquidity in Balancer’s ecosystem.
Origin Ether is integrated with dozens of DeFi dapps, making it accessible within DEXs, yield farms, wallets, and analytics pages. Metamask, 1inch, Uniswap, Curve, yearn.finance, and dozens of others have joined OETH’s ecosystem – you can find the whole list on Origin Ether’s ecosystem page.
Creators are using Origin Story for bespoke trading campaigns; 0N1 Force launches 0N1 0R1G1NS.
Origin Story kicked off the month of June with an exciting campaign on 0N1 Force’s official marketplace. Origin’s community rewards platform launched with 0N1 Force, providing a platform for the 0N1 community to reap new benefits issued by both 0N1 Force and Origin Story. Traders on the 0N1 Force marketplace are slated to win IRL prizes, 0N1 Force NFTs, allowlist spots, and OGN by participating in the competition.
The 0N1 0R1G1NS campaign ends on July 8th at 12 am PT. There’s still time to climb the leaderboard, and everyone who participates earns prizes from the rewards pool. The 0N1 Force competition marks the first iteration of Origin Story’s community rewards platform, helping connect creators and their communities like never before.
Meanwhile, Origin Story upgraded its marketplaces with a slew of updates in June. Story’s marketplaces added support for collection-wide and per-trait offers, fostering better liquidity for sellers and more optionality for bidders. Story’s marketplaces also added a feature enabling users to honor full royalties even on aggregated listings that didn’t initially include royalties. While this is an optional setting, it provides a way for loyal community members to support creators, and encourages creators to continue providing value to their community.
For you high-rollers out there, Origin Story also added a new floor sweep feature in June. The feature allows users to purchase a set number of NFTs on the floor, streamlining the buying process for those looking to purchase multiple NFTs.
Check out the latest yield opportunities, staking updates, and tokenomics data for Origin’s tokens.
Last month, The Securities and Exchange Commission targeted Coinbase and Binance with allegations of selling unregistered securities. In response, the altcoin market bled while Bitcoin and ether remained relatively flat. More recently, Bitcoin and Ethereum have appreciated over 10%, marking June as a month of growth for the crypto markets.
The price of OGN fell around 6% in June, in line with the broader altcoin market. Impressively, OGV has more than doubled in price since February, holding its value through the month of June. Token prices aside, let’s dive deeper into the tokenomics of Origin’s tokens.
Season 3 OGN staking was locked on June 7th. Over 66.7 million OGN was staked during season 3, accounting for about 13% of OGN’s circulating supply. As of writing, Season 3’s reward pool consists of 559,000 OGN and 16.07 ETH. Rewards from this season will be eligible to claim on July 6th, 8 pm UTC. Pre-staking is open for season 4, and in order to reap the most rewards from the season, stakers can pre-stake their tokens from now until season 4 commences.
Last week, OGV stakers received new governance rights over Origin Ether. Before the hand-off, the protocol was operated by a multi-sig wallet. Now in the control of stakers, the OGV DAO can vote on collateral allocations, new yield strategies, and how to best utilize the OGV DAO treasury.
OGV staking continues to lock the majority of tokens in circulation with over 80% of OGV staked. Stakers earn up to 29% variable APY on their staked tokens, adjusted based on the amount of time staked. Many stakers have chosen the maximum 4-year lock up period, granting them the most governance rights from their tokens.
As a reminder, OGV holders can earn boosted rewards via the OGV-ETH and OETH-ETH Curve pools. Thanks to boosted CRV emissions, OGV-ETH LP’ers can earn up to 76% tAPR, while OETH-ETH liquidity providers can earn up to 14.6%.
Origin Ether’s 30-day trailing APY is over 8%. This is substantially higher than Lido’s 3.8% APY, Rocket Pool’s 3.1% APY, and Frax’s 5.2% APY. With a total value locked over $50 million, Origin Ether has scaled successfully as investors deposit more ether and LSTs into the vault. Currently, Frax and Rocket Pool make up the majority of LST collateral, accounting for over 20% of OETH’s backing. Most of OETH’s collateral is currently being utilized in Origin’s AMO strategy, using ETH and OETH to provide liquidity on Curve.
Thanks to Origin Ether’s widespread integration, users have various options to earn yield on OETH. Harvest Finance launched an LP farm for OETH-ETH liquidity providers, earning users nearly 9% APY. Beefy Finance and yearn.finance also support Origin Ether pools, offering 9.2% and 14.2% APYs, respectively.
Origin Dollar’s 30-day trailing APY currently sits around 4.5%. The majority of OUSD collateral is currently held in USDT, followed by USDC, then DAI. The OUSD Morpho strategy remains the leading yield source for Origin Dollar with over $19M allocated to the protocol. The benefits of the Morpho strategy are 2-fold: OUSD achieves higher APYs through peer-to-peer matching, while OGV stakers accumulate MORPHO tokens ahead of the token being distributed via airdrop. The OGV DAO is among the largest holders of Morpho, accumulating more than 2% of tokens distributed via rewards.
Thanks for taking the time to read through June’s update, and remember to come back at the beginning of August for July’s token holder update. In the meantime, you can check out further reading on some recent developments below:
That’s all for June! Stay tuned to our Twitter for real-time updates, and be sure to join our Discord if you haven’t already.
Editor's note – this article was written in January 2024, before the proposal to simplify and strengthen OETH. Origin Ether now operates as a true LST.
Origin Ether has seen tremendous growth since launching in May. The protocol is now the 2nd largest LST yield aggregator on Ethereum, only surpassed by yearn.finance.
Over its first month in prod, OETH has generated impressive statistics:
Many holders of stETH, rETH, and frxETH have deposited their tokens to mint OETH over the past month. That being said, the majority of OETH’s collateral is currently held in ETH. This collateral is harnessed by the protocol’s Curve AMO strategy, using these funds to provide liquidity to the OETH-ETH Curve pool.
At present, ~40% of OETH collateral is currently held in liquid staking tokens (LSTs). These comprise Lido’s stETH, Rocketpool’s rETH, and Frax’s frxETH.
Considering the LSTs held by Origin Ether, rETH boasts the highest allocation at 18.3%, with over 2,740 rETH deposited. More than 2,400 frxETH has been deposited to the protocol, accounting for nearly 16.5% of collateral. The first four weeks saw traders deposit more than 770 stETH.
OETH targets 2x the yield on Lido staked ETH. The protocol is delivering on this goal with a 30-day trailing APY of ~10%, outpacing raw LSTs with far higher yield for users. OETH utilizes OUSD’s yield disbursement design. Yield is compounded directly to holders’ wallets, with no staking or gas fees required in order to claim rewards.
OETH yield is generated through liquid staking tokens stETH, rETH, and sfrxETH. Yield is elevated through Origin’s AMO strategy, utilizing protocol-owned liquidity on the Curve ETH-OETH pool to accrue rewards and trading fees.
Origin Ether uses 95% of Origin Dollar’s codebase, which has been audited over a dozen times and has seen hundreds of millions of dollars flow through it. Even though the code remains similar, OETH received its own audit from OpenZeppelin, a leading provider of security audits for web3 applications.
Origin DeFi Governance (OGV) acts as the governance token for the Origin DeFi ecosystem, serving both OETH and OUSD. At present, OGV has live incentives on Curve’s OGV-ETH pool, which increase yield for liquidity providers by over 40%.
OGV offers best-in-class governance via its vote-escrowed design. Holders who stake their OGV are granted voting and economic power in the form of veOGV, proportional to the amount staked and duration.
OGV also acts as a value-accrual token for stakers, with veOGV holders earning protocol fees from both OETH and OUSD. The OGV DAO accumulates flywheel tokens, earns a significant allocation MORPHO distributions, and conducts buybacks in the form of OGV. veOGV stakers can vote on treasury management, optimizing funds for maximum returns for holders.
Despite only being live for a month, OETH’s performance evidences the protocol’s strength as a liquid staking yield aggregator. OETH’s carefully tailored strategies continue to maintain outsized APYs even as the platform scales rapidly. These unique mechanics allow users to enjoy sizable yield on a robust and secure platform.
With more strategies and innovations in the works, Origin Ether is primed to continue its rapid expansion.
We'd like to thank our early adopters that have driven OETH to become a top-3 LST aggregator. The LSTFi sector is truly at a tipping point, and we're thrilled to be making an impact during such a critical time in Ethereum's history. If you're interest in our mission, we invite you to swap to OETH, and Stack ETH faster.
Origin is building the next generation of Web3 products, with laser focus on seamless product design. Our team of investors, advisors, and employees have helped build companies such as YouTube, PayPal, Google, and Y Combinator. With such an impressive team, our Inside Origin series gives us a chance to spread the word about the people who are involved in Origin’s mission.
If you are reading about Origin for the first time, here are some notable facts about our world-class team:
In this edition, we are covering 3LAU, acclaimed electronic dance music producer, DJ, Web3 founder, and advisor to Origin. Leveraging 3LAU’s on-the-ground insights in the music industry, we are able to create and refine products that captivate the masses, enabling us to help onboard the next billion users to Web3.
Born in New York in 1991, 3LAU grew up with a musical upbringing, learning to play the piano and guitar during his formative years. In adulthood, 3LAU’s EDM and mixes rapidly found traction, leading to performances at renowned festivals such as Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival. 3LAU has also toured with the likes of Tiesto and Steve Aoki, and boasts official collaborations with Ariana Grande, Rihanna and Katy Perry.
3LAU’s successful music career has resulted in experiences that has made him a staunch believer in Web3. Presently, the majority of royalties and revenue in the music industry end up with labels that possess the copyrights, and other intermediaries. Numerous artists like Kanye West have spoken out against major labels, believing that artists are exploited through unfair contracts and terms posed by these companies.
In response to these challenges, 3LAU co-founded Royal.io, a Web3 platform that allows artists to retain a larger share of their copyrights while giving fans the ability to co-own them. This new approach to distribution fosters strong connections between fans, while optimizing earnings for artists.
With investment rounds totalling $16M and $55M each, Royal has received funding from leaders in the space, such as a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, The Chainsmokers, Nas, Logic and Kygo.
Both Origin and 3LAU are aligned with the vision and ethos of Web3 and the creator economy. By providing users and creators with the tools to seize opportunities that were traditionally actionable only by large corporations and predatory middlemen, Origin democratizes the conventional rent-seeking model.
3LAU not only serves as an advisor and investor in Origin Story’s product, but is one of its most successful users of the platform. Through an online auction featuring 33 NFTs based on his Ultraviolet album, 3LAU made a record-shattering $11.68M in sales.
The auction not only demonstrates the potential for creators to thrive within Web3, but it also validates what Origin Story has built. By harnessing Story’s customizable and unique auction mechanics, 3LAU was able to set unprecedented records in the music NFT space.
We are thrilled to have 3LAU’s involvement as an advisor and power user of Origin products, helping us to continuously refine and enhance our offerings. By leveraging his experiences and active participation in the music industry and Web3, 3LAU’s guidance is invaluable as we pioneer in this nascent industry.
Backed by our exceptional team and network of advisors, we confidently push the forefront in this intersection of Web3 and the music industry together with 3LAU.
