<p>Stablecoins have risen from obscurity to claim a place as one of crypto’s most important sectors. This type of cryptocurrency denotes any token pegged to a cash equivalent.&nbsp;</p><p>Stablecoins can represent a wide range of assets, from fiat currency to precious metals like gold. However, the market is largely dominated by stablecoins pegged to the US Dollar. This is due to its positioning as the global reserve currency used by central banks.</p><p>The global stablecoin sector now boasts a market capitalization&nbsp;<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/">in excess of $130B</a>. This meteoric growth can be attributed to the unique, diverse utility offered by these tokens.</p><h2>Types of Stablecoins</h2><p>There are a number of designs that stablecoins can use to maintain their dollar peg.</p><p>Fully collateralized stablecoins denote projects that are 1-to-1 backed by reserve assets. While these assets can vary, they generally comprise USD dollars or Dollar-equivalents, like bonds.</p><p>This means that in theory, holders can mint or redeem their stables in exchange for USD at any point in time.&nbsp;</p><p>While this structure is secure, it can be highly centralized and prone to an attack on their single point of failure. Algorithmic stablecoins emerged to create native decentralized alternatives. These are meant to maintain a dollar peg exclusively through coded supply and demand. At present, attempts to create algo stablecoins have largely failed, draining tremendous value from the space.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8W4aASZKSmIMezu9B9WfY3vtaEAePxuGBEp0h8QnuA9SEh1I1kM06rFkQi0A7sx_5AIWge026mMFpU20PRCKACDDQa9qyvLRnReZ1txxEINHHDut33hurIrAkLxObM-7Lj5HIAvncZQ_B-r2VswZQIY" alt="Four types of stablecoins as discussed above
"><figcaption>Types of stablecoins (CBinsights)</figcaption></figure><h2>Common Stablecoin Use Cases</h2><p>Stablecoins have enjoyed significant adoption due to their broad use cases.</p><h3>Capital Protection</h3><p>The crypto space has become infamous for its highly volatile markets. In contrast to other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins should maintain a set value by design. This means that investors can use stablecoins to protect their capital against directional volatility.&nbsp;</p><h3>Borderless Transacting</h3><p>Beyond offering investors a place to store their capital, stables have carved out a niche as a popular medium of exchange. While traditional banks take multiple days to execute cross-border transactions, stablecoins offer a mechanism to transfer the same value rapidly. This is particularly important in the context of an increasingly globalized world.&nbsp;</p><h3>Connecting Web3 and the World</h3><p>Achieving mass adoption for cryptocurrency is a complex undertaking. Stablecoins play a crucial role by acting as the on and off-ramp for many investors in the space. These rails garner billions of dollars in daily volume as people move their capital.&nbsp;</p><p>Stablecoins also function as a vital measure of value. In addition to BTC and ETH, stablecoins are commonly used in trading pairs on centralized exchanges.</p><h3>Yield Generation</h3><p>Some may argue that the DeFi space would be vastly different without stablecoins. Dollar-pegged stables have formed the lifeblood of on-chain yield generation since 2020’s DeFi summer. Stablecoins are a staple of all aspects of DeFi, from lending to liquidity provision.&nbsp;</p><h2>What Makes A Stablecoin Popular?</h2><p>Stablecoins need to earn the&nbsp;trust&nbsp;of the market in order to become popular. Following the fall of Terra Luna and other algorithmic stablecoins, participants place an increased emphasis on transparency.&nbsp;</p><p>Primarily, investors need to see that a stablecoin is fully collateralized – backed 100% by a basket of reserves. The strength of this backing, and additional utility offered by a stablecoin, all contribute to its overall usage and popularity.</p><h2>USDT</h2><p>Tether (USDT) is the longest standing and most prominent stablecoin at present. The fiat backed stablecoin launched in 2014, and is the result of joint efforts from startup Realcoin and crypto exchange Bitfinex.&nbsp;</p><p>Tether uses a combination of cash, investments, secured loans, and US Treasury bonds as reserves. The company issues&nbsp;<a href="https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports">quarterly reports</a> on its current reserves.&nbsp;</p><p>Redeeming USDT for cash is not a straightforward process. Users may only redeem values &gt;100K USDT, and still need to pay additional fees in the process.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>USDT has become a popular choice in countries wracked by spiraling inflation, and is commonly used to crowdfund disaster relief efforts.</p><p>USDT remains the largest stablecoin by market cap, with a current valuation of over $79B.&nbsp;</p><h2>USDC</h2><p>USD Coin (USDC) has emerged as Tether’s most significant competitor in recent years. USDC is issued by US-based blockchain firm Circle. The protocol uses a mix of US Treasury bonds and cash as reserves.&nbsp;</p><p>Circle publishes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centre.io/usdc-transparency">monthly attestations</a> detailing their reserves in a bid to bolster transparency.&nbsp;</p><p>USDC is the top stablecoin in DeFi, enjoying extensive use in peer-to-peer payments and investment strategies.&nbsp;</p><h2>DAI</h2><p>MakerDAO’s DAI is the most popular decentralized stablecoin to date. Unlike USDC and USDT, DAI maintains its dollar peg with a basket of crypto and traditional asset reserves. Rather than being algorithmic, DAI is over collateralized. The protocol is mainly backed by USDC and ETH, giving it a current collateralization of 179%.&nbsp;</p><p>While the protocol was initially backed exclusively by ETH, USDC was incorporated to bolster price stability.&nbsp;</p><p>The crypto-backed stablecoin has enjoyed consistent adoption since launching in 2017.</p><h2>OUSD</h2><p>Origin Dollar (OUSD) is a novel stablecoin with unique capabilities. OUSD has been developed to make stablecoin investing more seamless and encourage mass adoption.</p><p>OUSD is fully collateralized by reserves of USDT, USDC, and DAI. These reserves are put to work in carefully tailored DeFi strategies to generate yield for holders.</p><p>Importantly, OUSD removes the pain points from traditional staking by removing the need to lock up capital. OUSD holders are free to use their tokens as per usual, with yield being directly distributed to holders’ wallets.&nbsp;</p><p>In contrast to issuers like Circle and Tether, Origin has made OUSD entirely transparent on-chain. All of OUSD’s smart contracts are open source, allowing anyone to monitor the code and propose upgrades. Users can monitor all of OUSD’s key metrics by visiting the protocol’s&nbsp;<a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/">analytics portal</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Additionally, OUSD’s governance is decentralized. Holders of the ecosystem’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ousd.com/ogv-dashboard">governance token</a>, OGV, can propose and vote on protocol decisions. OUSD’s strategies are determined via a weekly governance vote.</p><p>At present, OUSD offers the best risk-adjusted stablecoin yields in DeFi. The rewards and ease of use offered by OUSD make it a prime candidate for further disruption.&nbsp;</p><h2>Choosing the Right Stablecoin</h2><p>There’s a wealth of options to choose from when it comes to stablecoin investing. Beyond the projects mentioned above, there are many other competitors, including Liquity Dollar (LUSD) and new stablecoins being issued by Aave and Curve.</p><p>On a high level, it’s important to investigate the strength of a project’s reserves. At present, it’s a good idea to use fully collateralized stables. Given their track record, algorithmic stablecoins should be treated with the utmost caution.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s also good to keep in mind that you can easily switch between stablecoins depending on your needs. USDC and USDT may provide good places to store capital. However, you could also opt to earn interest on these idle funds by placing them in a protocol like OUSD.</p><p>This sector is renowned for its flexibility, and there are endless ways to harness its full potential. With stablecoins only set to grow in coming years, understanding what the space offers can give you a valuable edge.&nbsp;</p>

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Top Stablecoins: Which Stablecoins Are the Most Common?

<p><i>We’re thrilled to announce that OGV holders can now earn up to 45%+ APY on Origin Dollar Governance tokens through Curve for a limited time.&nbsp;</i></p><p>Since its founding in 2021, Origin Dollar has used Curve as a main liquidity pool for OUSD. In an effort to increase the liquidity of OGV, Curve has added the OGV-ETH Pool to the Gauge Controller, allowing for boosted CRV rewards for liquidity providers.&nbsp;</p><p>Below you can find answers on how to stake your OGV tokens for maximum rewards. Both Curve and Convex can be used with OGV and the ETH-OGV LP tokens in order to earn maximum rewards. If you have any further questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the team in our&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/ogn">Discord</a>.&nbsp;</p><h2>FAQs: ETH-OGV Staking Rewards on Curve</h2><h3>How can I LP my OGV on Curve?&nbsp;</h3><p>First, you’ll need to have a wallet funded with OGV and ETH. Then visit&nbsp;<a href="http://curve.finance">Curve</a>, where you can search for the OGV-ETH pool. Select the pool, then choose how much liquidity to provide. You can choose to balance your deposit to provide equal amounts of OGV and ETH, or you can deposit different amounts.&nbsp;</p><p>Once you’ve selected the amount of liquidity to provide on Curve, you’ll need to sign to messages with your Ethereum wallet. The first will be to approve Curve to withdraw your OGV and ETH, and the second will be to deposit your tokens into the liquidity pool. Congratulations, you’re now an OGV-ETH liquidity provider!&nbsp;</p><h3>What types of rewards are earned on Curve?&nbsp;</h3><p>There are three types of rewards offered on Curve: vAPY, tAPR, and Boosted Rewards. vAPY is the variable percentage yield that liquidity providers earn from trading fees––LP’ers earn 50% of the trading fees on Curve. tAPR includes boosted CRV emissions that are decided on in weekly votes. tAPR is significantly boosted for OGV-ETH liquidity providers for a limited time, offering over 18+% tAPR at peak times. Boosted Rewards allow you to earn up to 2.5x tAPR by locking CRV and veCRV, enabling stakers to earn an eye-watering 45%+ tAPR.&nbsp;</p><h3>How can I stake my LP Tokens on Convex?</h3><p>In order to use Convex, you’ll need to convert your Curve LP tokens to Convex LP tokens, which can be converted back at any time. Then, you’ll be able to stake Convex LP tokens in the Convex rewards contracts. Once deposited, you’ll be able to earn rewards from both Curve and Convex at the same time.&nbsp;</p><h3>Where do my rewards accrue?</h3><p>Curve’s vAPR accrues directly to the Curve pool. CRV and CVX rewards from staking LP tokens on Convex Finance can be claimed from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.convexfinance.com/claim">claim page</a> on the Convex Finance app.</p><h3>What is the current rewards APY for ETH-OGV on Curve?&nbsp;</h3><p>Including the increased CRV emissions for the ETH-OGV pool, the total rewards rate is a variable 45% APY at the time of writing. However, rewards can be boosted up to 2.5x for those that lock up CRV and veCRV tokens on Curve.</p><h3>Why Are OGV Yields Boosted on Curve and Convex?&nbsp;</h3><p>OGV rewards are boosted through extra CRV rewards on the ETH-OGV liquidity pool. Rewards are boosted to encourage more liquidity for OGV on Curve, as well as increase interest around Origin Dollar’s governance token.&nbsp;</p><h3>Are Curve and Convex Safe?&nbsp;</h3><p>Curve and Convex are regarded as some of the safest protocols on Ethereum’s blockchain. The protocols have billions of dollars in value secured by their smart contracts, acting as a bounty for any malicious actors to try to exploit. Being that no major security concerns or exploits have occurred on Curve and Convex, most investors regard these protocols as safe.&nbsp;</p><h2>About Origin Dollar Governance (OGV)</h2><p>Origin Dollar Governance is the value accrual and governance token for Origin Dollar and any future yield-bearing products made by Origin Protocol. OGV holders vote on new yield-bearing strategies, weekly allocations, and upgrades for Origin Dollar (OUSD). To buy OGV, swap ETH for OGV in our&nbsp;<a href="https://curve.fi/#/ethereum/swap">Curve Finance liquidity pool.</a></p>

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Heads Up, DeFi Nerds! Earn 45% APY on ETH-OGV Pool on Curve Finance for a Limited Time

<p>Tether (USDT) is a fiat currency stablecoin issued by Tether Ltd. USDT is pegged to the US dollar, reserved by cash, short term deposits, corporate bonds, secured loans, and other investments. Tether publishes quarterly reserves reports to show all USDT tokens are backed by its equivalent value.&nbsp;</p><p>As one of the earliest stablecoins, USDT achieved popularity by acting as a stable store of value for traders escaping crypto market volatility, and for users in countries with hyperinflation or tight capital controls. Its utility has also led to integrations on crypto exchanges and DeFi, allowing users to earn interest staking USDT.</p><h2>How to Stake USDT</h2><p>Crypto staking as a term is used liberally and can have a variety of meanings. Though the term initially referred to putting your crypto assets at “stake” to verify network transactions and earn staking rewards, heavy marketing from crypto platforms colloquialized it to mean earning interest on crypto assets.</p><p>Investors earn interest on Tether by engaging in financial activity like lending, market making, or even trading. Crypto platforms offering staking rewards would engage in these activities on behalf of depositors, pocketing the difference in yield. This led to questionable business practices, such as lending to non-creditworthy borrowers for higher yields or trading with users’ funds. This has been exposed in the insolvencies of centralized platforms that occurred throughout 2022.</p><p>The loss of trust in centralized crypto platforms has turned users towards DeFi, which offers transparent and safer yields. Beginners can follow the information below to learn how to use and stake USDT in DeFi.</p><h2>Add USDT to Metamask Wallet</h2><p>To use USDT, users would have to set up a Web3 wallet. It is generally recommended to use Metamask, coupled with a Ledger hardware wallet if storing more than $1,000 worth of tokens.&nbsp;</p><p>Adding USDT to Metamask can be done by going to “assets”, scrolling down to click “import tokens”, adding “custom token”, and filling in USDT’s&nbsp;<a href="https://etherscan.io/token/0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7">contract address</a>. USDT is now added to your Metamask wallet, and its balance will be shown beside its token symbol if any was received on the address.</p><h2>Where to Stake USDT</h2><p>There are numerous places to stake USDT. You can do so on different networks like Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain, using applications like Aave or Compound. Since anyone can create a blockchain and smart contract application, the options are essentially infinite. However, Ethereum and certain applications built on it are regarded as the safest DeFi platforms to earn interest on USDT. These platforms include Aave, Compound, Convex, and Curve.&nbsp;</p><h2>USDT Staking Rates</h2><h3>Aave and Compound - 1.64% to 2.06%</h3><p>Aave and Compound are smart contract applications that allow users to lend and borrow digital assets. Borrowers would post collateral onto these platforms, giving them a line of credit to borrow other assets at a variable interest rate.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h3>Curve and Convex: 1% to 2%</h3><p>Curve is a decentralized exchange allowing traders to buy and sell assets on the platform. Liquidity providers can stake capital with Curve, allowing it to quote prices for traders. Stakers would then receive yield from trading fees and CRV rewards. Convex is a protocol built on top of Curve, helping users optimize their CRV rewards.</p><h3>Origin Dollar: 5%</h3><p>Origin Dollar (OUSD) utilizes strategies built on top of these aforementioned DeFi platforms, but it has averaged a variable 5% APY on stablecoins. By creating proprietary market making strategies on top of Curve and Convex and utilizing peer-to-peer loans built on top of Aave and Compound, OUSD maintains yields over the DeFi market average.&nbsp;</p><h2>Best USDT Staking</h2><p>The myriad of Web3 applications with varying interest rates and risks that allow you to earn yield on your assets, such as double digit APYs on algorithmic stablecoins. Each individual has their personal risk tolerance and goals, which means there is no universal strategy for everyone. That said, OUSD is highly recommended for users who prefer to earn passive income while taking on lesser amounts of risk.</p><h2>How to Earn Interest with OUSD</h2><p>To earn interest with OUSD, users simply hold it in their Web3 wallets to receive daily interest accruals directly. Simply obtain OUSD via exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or directly via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>, no staking or lock ups required.&nbsp;</p>

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Earn Interest on USDT Staking

<p>Stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) have become mainstays in Web3. Stablecoins are used to efficiently make global remittances and payments, supplement crypto trading, and yield farm in DeFi. Due to their stability and backing, these stablecoins have achieved serious adoption in Web3, allowing them to become stable internet money.&nbsp;</p><p>The nature of these stablecoins, however, is centralized and prone to government censorship. The SEC lawsuit against Paxos for the issuance of BUSD has made users realize the importance of having a stable store of value that is not easily censored. One such invention would be Dai, a crypto-native stablecoin built by open-source project MakerDAO, founded by Rune Christensen.</p><h2>What is Dai?</h2><p>Dai is a decentralized crypto-collateralized stablecoin created on the Ethereum blockchain. To mint Dai tokens, users must first deposit collateral such as ETH or WBTC onto the Maker protocol. The smart contract will then calculate the value of the collateral posted and allow the user to mint a percentage of that value in Dai. The contract essentially lends Dai to the user, charging a variable interest rate set by voters of the protocol.&nbsp;</p><p>The protocol ensures that it stays solvent by liquidating collateral if it goes under a certain loan-to-value threshold. For example, a user would deposit $1500 worth of ETH to mint 1000 DAI when the contract requires a loan-to-value ratio up to 80%. If the collateral value drops to $1250, the protocol would start liquidating the ETH for Dai, giving the user back any leftover ETH and charging a liquidation fee.&nbsp;</p><p>The smart contract’s liquidation system and code security have been proven to be robust, weathering the crypto market’s infamous volatility and adversarial environment.</p><h2>Where to Stake Dai</h2><p>MakerDAO provides a Dai savings vault that allows holders to earn yield from interest paid by borrowers. Introduced as a mechanic to stabilize Dai’s peg against USD, the protocol increases interest rates when Dai is under $1 to encourage users to buy Dai, and it decreases interest rates when demand for Dai is too high.&nbsp;</p><p>Since Dai is an ERC-20 token, it can be used on numerous different protocols built on Ethereum and Ethereum Virtual Machine blockchains like Avalanche and Polygon. There are limitless strategies and protocols that offer yields on crypto assets, giving users the freedom to customize their portfolio according to their goals and risk profiles.&nbsp;</p><p>High yield strategies are generally recommended for more advanced Web3 investors, as they are generally associated with elevated risks. The majority of capital is currently deployed on Ethereum, on DeFi blue-chips that are regarded as the safest platforms to earn interest on digital assets. Some of these blue-chips include Aave, Compound, Convex, and Curve.</p><h2>Dai Staking Rates</h2><h3>Dai Savings Vault - 1%</h3><p>As explained before, the savings vault is a smart contract that distributes yield to Dai stakers earning interest from borrowers. MakerDAO has currently set the savings rate to 1%, but has historically ranged between 0.25% to 8%.&nbsp;</p><h3>Aave and Compound - 1.51% to 1.69%</h3><p>Aave and Compound are DeFi lending markets that allow users to lend and borrow digital assets without fixed terms. Similar to Maker, borrowers on these platforms would have to post collateral before borrowing other assets. The interest rate received on stablecoins and other assets is determined algorithmically, mainly based on the ratio of borrowed vs lent capital in the liquidity pool.&nbsp;</p><h3>Curve and Convex - 1% to 2%</h3><p>Curve is a decentralized crypto exchange that facilitates trading of digital assets. Investors can stake capital on Curve, allowing it to use its market making algorithm to quote prices for traders. Whenever a trade occurs, Curve charges a fee which is split between stakers and the protocol. Stakers also receive CRV rewards from Curve.&nbsp;</p><p>Convex is another application built on top of Curve that helps stakers optimize their CRV rewards.</p><h3>Origin Dollar - 4.75%</h3><p>Origin Dollar (OUSD) is a yield-bearing stablecoin protocol that utilizes Compound, Curve, Aave, and Convex to historically earn 4.75% APY on its stablecoin reserves. OUSD greatly enhances yield for holders by using its proprietary strategies built on top of the DeFi blue-chips listed above, allowing them to earn market-beating yields in TradFi and DeFi.</p><h2>Best Dai Staking</h2><p>Retail and beginner Web3 investors may be attracted by centralized platforms that allow you to stake your crypto for double digit yields. Though Celsius and Voyager have shown these platforms may potentially end up insolvent, certain individuals with high risk tolerance may find them useful. Risk-averse investors should ponder how these platforms generate such yield, when many stocks and equities fail to achieve such performance.</p><p>For such investors, OUSD is highly recommended due to its transparency, market-neutral strategies, and competitive interest rates. OUSD’s stablecoin reserves and strategies can be actively monitored 24/7, as the protocol is built on Ethereum. Unlike platforms which may take advantage of their opacity to defraud users, OUSD is built with radical transparency and the users’ wellbeing in mind.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD holders can enjoy passive income while the protocol actively rebalances and creates new strategies to ensure yields stay competitive and safe.</p><h2>How to Earn Interest with OUSD</h2><p>To start earning interest with OUSD, users simply hold it in their Web3 wallets to directly receive daily interest accruals. Simply obtain OUSD via exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or directly via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>, no staking or lock ups required.&nbsp;</p>

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Earn Interest on Dai Staking

<p>The veToken model was pioneered by Curve Finance, allowing people to lock their CRV tokens in exchange for governance power and economic incentives. Users have the option to lock tokens anywhere from 1 week to 4 years, with increased voting power the longer tokens are locked.&nbsp;</p><p>This mechanism has allowed the protocol to transfer voting and economic power to the people who are long-term invested in the protocol, chasing away short-term profit maximalists, potential governance exploiters, and mercenary capital. The model became incredibly popular, copied by Balancer, Frax, dYdX, and other DeFi protocols.&nbsp;</p><p>What’s not commonly done by these protocols, however, is improving on the veToken contracts instead of simply copy and pasting them for their own use. With the launch of OUSD’s governance token, Origin has taken the opportunity to improve veToken contracts for better user experience and less technical complexity, benefitting the entire DeFi space with its open-source code.</p><h2>Reducing Code Complexity and Gas Costs</h2><p>Firstly, Origin rewrote the veToken contract in Solidity instead of Vyper, allowing for easier integration for DeFi protocols and Origin Protocol itself. Then, Origin focused on making the contract itself less code heavy and more gas efficient. This meant fundamentally changing how stakers’ voting power was calculated.</p><p>The original veToken contract implemented linear voting power decay, preventing governance attacks from stakers that could exit their position soon. Though it was an innovative mechanism, it required lots of on-chain calculations and writes, resulting in increased gas costs.&nbsp;</p><p>Whenever voting power is required in a calculation, contracts on Curve have to calculate each staker’s voting power based on each individual’s linear decay at a certain checkpoint, taking into consideration each decay’s past, current, and future slopes. By changing the model to exponential decay, Origin could simply express each individual’s staking power as a flat percentage, eliminating the need for complex on-chain calculations, resulting in lower gas fees.</p><p>Furthermore, Origin changed decay to dilution, increasing tokens of new stakers instead of reducing existing stakers’ tokens. This allowed the number of votes for existing stakers to remain the same, but still reduce their overall weight in governance, making it compatible with Snapshot voting.</p><p>Essentially, Origin made veToken calculations simpler and less code intensive, reducing gas costs by 20% to 51%, and allowing easier integrations into other DeFi applications.</p><h2>Voter Delegation, Multiple Locks, and Built In Rewards</h2><p>Origin also made improvements to voter delegations, flexibility of locks, and rewards distribution.&nbsp;</p><p>Enabling veOGV holders to transfer voting power allows them to delegate to trusted persons in the Origin ecosystem, encouraging higher governance participation. Stakers will also have the option of delegating to a hot wallet, increasing convenience while maintaining security.&nbsp;</p><p>veOGV holders can also opt to have multiple locks of differing periods in the same wallet, unlike Curve’s model which required all locks be the same duration. And instead of separating the rewards contract, Origin simply built in rewards distribution to the staking contract.</p><h2>Quirks and Trade-Offs</h2><p>Due to the exponential decay, veOGV stakers will be left with residual voting power even after their lock up ends. Stakers will also receive exponentially more units of veOGV than their amount staked, and users voting power will not be reduced until someone else stakes.&nbsp;</p><h2>OGV Staking</h2><p>As mentioned before, OGV has adopted the veToken model, allowing users to stake OGV in exchange for veOGV. These stakers receive performance fees from OUSD yield strategies, generating a variable 31.33% APY for stakers. With the optimized veToken contract, OGV has attracted a high staking participation rate, locking 78.51% of all circulating supply.&nbsp;</p><h2>OGV and OUSD</h2><p>By building next-generation models of stablecoins and veTokens, Origin has innovated and pushed forward the frontiers of DeFi. OUSD allows anyone with an internet connection and a computer to access high-yielding passive income strategies, while veOGV’s open-source code allows other DeFi protocols to utilize a battle-tested gas optimized version of the veToken model.</p><p>Join the world-class ecosystem by&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ousd.com/">acquiring</a> OUSD or&nbsp;<a href="https://governance.ousd.com/stake">staking</a> OGV today.</p>

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Josh Fraser Presents at ETHDenver: Rethinking the veToken model

<p>Stablecoins have become a popular medium for earning yield, offering a variety of strategies that can be tailored to the different risk profiles of individual investors. High interest rate opportunities are abundant, with the appropriate risks attached, while safer strategies usually yield less exciting numbers.&nbsp;</p><p>The diverse number of stablecoins and strategies actually puts retail users into decision paralysis, as it is hard to filter strategies that would fit their risk profiles. On the other hand, sophisticated investors are able to take advantage of the information asymmetry in stablecoin strategies to earn higher risk-adjusted returns.&nbsp;To help you, we have outlined how certain strategies generate their yield and the best stablecoin interest rates below.</p><h2>Earn Interest on Stablecoins</h2><p>To generate yield, stablecoins can be used in lending, market making, options selling, or even trading. Due to the volatile nature of discretionary trading strategies and options selling, many investors prefer not to invest in them despite offering high yields.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, Ribbon Finance is a popular options protocol, helping USDC depositors sell put options on ETH to earn options premiums. If the ETH price goes below the put option’s strike price, Ribbon depositors would have to pay the option buyers the difference in ETH price, incurring a loss.&nbsp;</p><p>Many stablecoin investors prefer generating yield through lending or market making, as they are not as exposed to speculative risks. However, the creditworthiness of lenders and the nature of market making is important. As recently exposed, Gemini Earn stablecoin stakers were lending to counterparties that went insolvent. Though they offered stablecoin yields of up to 8% APY, users may end up losing money instead.&nbsp;</p><p>As such, investors now prefer to use transparent DeFi applications that help earn interest by offering overcollateralized loans to borrowers, or stablecoin market making. Though these strategies offer less than the 8-12% offered by centralized lending platforms and crypto exchanges, they come with much lower risks.&nbsp;</p><h2>Highest Stablecoin Interest</h2><p>The highest stablecoin interest rates are currently provided by options selling protocols and centralized crypto lending platforms. Ribbon Finance currently projects up to 24.08% in USDC APY for their options selling vault, while centralized platforms like Nexo have programs that lets you earn up to 12% interest in Nexo tokens and stablecoin yield.&nbsp;</p><p>If users would like to avoid the risks that come with these strategies, they can opt to use DeFi protocols instead.</p><h2>Aave Interest Rates</h2><p>Aave is a decentralized lending and borrowing platform for crypto assets, allowing borrowers to provide assets as collateral to receive a line of credit. If someone needs extra capital, but does not want to sell their assets like ETH or BTC, they can deposit them into Aave and borrow popular stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and Tether (USDT).&nbsp;</p><p>Stablecoin lending yields around 0.4 to 2.7% APY on Aave, depending on the borrowing demand on the respective stablecoin.&nbsp;</p><h2>Uniswap Interest Rates</h2><p>Uniswap is a decentralized exchange that allows users to market make for digital assets, setting bid and ask prices on the ETH-USDC pair for other users to trade, for example. Though Uniswap is flexible, there may be too many sophisticated market participants competing to generate yield on it, leaving less money for more novice users. There is no base interest rate on Uniswap, as it depends on the individual strategy used.</p><h2>Curve Interest Rates</h2><p>Most users prefer to use another decentralized exchange called Curve. Since Curve allows users to use their algorithm for market making, it is simple enough for most investors to use. Curve’s algorithm is especially useful for stable-asset pairs, like USDC and USDT, or ETH and stETH. Curve yields approximately 1% for providing liquidity on the USDC, USDT, and DAI trading pool.</p><h2>Best Stablecoin Interest Rates</h2><p>The above list of protocols and interest rates are just a few of the many. Other protocols like Compound, Convex, Balancer, and Yearn also enable users to deposit stablecoins to earn yield. The open and permissionless nature of Web3 has led to a plethora of financial applications users can opt to use. Each protocol and strategy has different yields and risk, allowing users to customize their own stablecoin yield portfolio.</p><p>If you are looking for the best risk-adjusted stablecoin interest rates that avoids high risk strategies, you may opt to hold OUSD, which currently yields around 4% to 5% APY for users.</p><h2>What is OUSD?</h2><p>OUSD is a yield-generating stablecoin redeemable for other stablecoins such as USDC and DAI. OUSD utilizes its OGV governance token to analyze and integrate potential DeFi strategies, allowing the protocol to deploy its stablecoin collateral&nbsp; to earn yield. The protocol has active rebalancing between strategies, ensuring the highest yield possible is maintained at all times.&nbsp;</p><p>The proprietary strategies created by OUSD’s engineers are not only secure, but have highly competitive yields while all strategies remain transparent on Ethereum’s blockchain. Certain strategies can only be executed by OUSD, but others can be copied. The fact is, Ethereum network costs may be too high for many users, and they would prefer to use OUSD and avoid such fees.</p><h2>How do I Earn Yield on OUSD?</h2><p>OUSD does not require staking or lock-ups and can be simply held in a crypto wallet. Yield generated by OUSD will be sent directly to users’ wallets, like a personal crypto savings account. With OUSD’s radical transparency, users are confident holding it to generate passive income.</p><h2>Is Earning Interest on Stablecoins Worth It?</h2><p>Using stablecoins can help users generate more yield than the traditional interest accounts available to them. Users from certain countries may suffer from hyperinflationary fiat currencies and use stablecoins to store value and generate yield.&nbsp;</p><p>With OUSD’s high yields and security, it is definitely worth it to earn interest on stablecoins.</p><h2>How Do I Buy OUSD?</h2><p>OUSD can be purchased through the OUSD.com or through centralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>. Users must hold OUSD in a crypto wallet to receive yield. If storing more than $1000 worth of crypto, it is generally recommended to use a hardware wallet like a Ledger.</p>

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Stablecoin Interest Rates and Strategies

<p>In the wake of Terra's UST implosion, the legislative and regulatory environments around the world have begun to closely scrutinize digital assets and stablecoins. Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters was rumored to push for a new bill to regulate stablecoins in the middle of 2022, but has not made any concrete actions to date. So what does the current regulatory landscape look like for stablecoins?</p><h2>Are Stablecoins Regulated?</h2><p>Due to the lack of clear regulatory frameworks on digital currencies, most stablecoins and stablecoin issuers remain unregulated. A notable exception would be Paxos which is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services who ensures issued stablecoins are backed 1:1 with cash and cash equivalents. Though Canada has already made it clear that only stablecoins backed by cash and cash equivalents are legally compliant, there is a lack of clarity in the United States and global landscape.</p><h2>Stablecoin Regulation in the U.S</h2><p>Senator Toomey of the Senate Banking Committee has recently proposed a stablecoin bill that would allow regulated entities to issue stablecoin payments if they are fully backed by high quality liquid assets. These firms would maintain transparency via disclosure requirements and attestations by registered accounting firms, ensuring users are protected against potential fraud and deception.</p><p>The bill would authorize the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a new federal license designed for stablecoin issuers, and ensure the Federal Reserve would not be able to stop this legislation.&nbsp;</p><h2>SEC Stablecoin Regulation</h2><p>The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission has the goal of maintaining the integrity of the financial system by enforcing transparency, anti money laundering, and preventing fraud. Federal securities law regulates the distribution, trading, and brokering of securities, to ensure consumers are well protected. However, this protection is not always beneficial to consumers.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, the SEC has enacted a law where investors have to be accredited to access private equity, private placements, hedge funds, and venture capital. Individuals who do not meet the SEC’s requirement of an accredited investor would not have access to these markets, losing lucrative and diversified investment opportunities.&nbsp;</p><p>Recently, the SEC has filed a lawsuit over BUSD, alleging that the stablecoin may be a security. It is not clear why they would do so, as the stablecoin itself does not promise to make any profits for the user.</p><p>Stablecoin issuers such as Paxos and Coinbase regard the action as overreach by the SEC and are determined to battle the lawsuit in court.</p><h2>The Future of Stablecoins</h2><p>If the SEC is successful in deeming stablecoins as securities, it would stifle innovation and opportunities for people in the United States. Though SEC regulation would prevent consumers from investing in unstable products like UST, users would also lose access to a stable store of value in crypto markets, instant global remittances, and yield opportunities in the DeFi space.&nbsp;</p><p>Senator Toomey’s stablecoin bill would strike a balance of consumer protection while keeping opportunities open to users. Instead of attacking and shutting down stablecoin issuers, the bill would ensure issuers have practices in place to ensure solvency, and give consumers priority in the event of insolvency.&nbsp;</p><h2>Safe Stablecoin Opportunities</h2><p>The underlying reason for investor losses in digital assets is the lack of understanding of token mechanics and how yield is generated. If users knew Terra’s UST was fundamentally unstable, and Celsius and Voyager were lending to non-creditworthy borrowers, they may have never invested with them in the first place.&nbsp;</p><p>Since DeFi protocols have their code clearly displayed on the blockchain, their operations and way they earn yield is fully transparent, unlike their centralized counterparts. Applications such as Aave, Compound, Curve, Convex, and OUSD have all been operating smoothly without suffering from bad debt.</p><p>OUSD, for example, has its reserves and strategies completely displayed on-chain, allowing users to monitor its solvency and performance. Currently yielding around 4.9% APY for holders, OUSD demonstrates the importance of having access to stablecoins in the crypto market, providing users with lucrative investment opportunities.&nbsp;</p><h2>How to Earn Interest with OUSD</h2><p>To earn interest with OUSD, users simply hold it in their Web3 wallets to receive daily interest accruals directly. Simply obtain OUSD via exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or directly via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>. No staking or lock ups required.</p>

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Stablecoin Regulation - Investor Protection or Overreach?

<h2>What Is USD Coin (USDC)?</h2><p>USD Coin (USDC) is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin created by the Centre Consortium. Each USDC is pegged to the US dollar, fully reserved by cash and short-dated U.S. treasuries. Circle provides&nbsp;<a href="https://www.circle.com/en/usdc#transparency">monthly attestations</a> to show all USDC in circulation is backed by its equivalent value. USD Coin’s backing is held by financial institutions based in the U.S, including Blackrock and BNY Mellon.&nbsp;</p><p>By tokenizing dollars onto the blockchain, USDC becomes a digital currency that is composable with the internet. Global remittances become instantaneous, hedging against the volatility of cryptocurrencies is enabled while using blockchains, and Web2 commerce can integrate more smoothly into Web3. Yet, one of the most sought-after use cases is still earning interest on USDC through staking.</p><h2>How to Stake USDC</h2><p>Staking as a term is used liberally and can have a variety of meanings. Initially, the term referred to crypto assets that were staked to secure blockchain networks like Cardano and Ethereum. Stakers deposit their assets as collateral, verify the networks’ transactions, and get paid a reward for doing so. The term then began to be used interchangeably for earning interest on any crypto asset, like stablecoins or altcoins.&nbsp;</p><p>USDC staking can encompass different methods of earning yield, like lending and borrowing, market making, or locking with exchanges offering yield on USDC. However, depositing USDC on centralized exchanges poses some risks, as yield may not be generated sustainably, evident by the collapse of several platforms such as Celsius and Voyager.</p><p>The opaque nature of centralized platforms made users worry about the safety of their funds, turning them to DeFi which offers transparent and safer yields.</p><h2>Where to Stake USDC</h2><p>The first option for staking USDC is with the Centre Consortium itself, which can be done through&nbsp; Coinbase. This option has essentially no added risks, as users would be staking with the issuers of USDC themselves.&nbsp;</p><p>The other options besides centralized platforms would be on DeFi protocols. Due to the permissionless nature of Web3, anyone can create a smart contract application. This has led to innovations such as smart contract based lending applications, decentralized exchanges, algorithmic market making, yield aggregators, and more.&nbsp;</p><p>On the flipside, these smart contracts can also be programmed maliciously. Lending platforms could be built with backdoors, allowing the creator to drain digital assets deposited into their platforms. Even if they were not programmed maliciously, potential bugs and exploits could also allow external hackers to do the same.&nbsp;</p><p>Over time, protocols were battle-tested via live deployments demonstrating the resiliency of their algorithms and code. Holding billions of dollars worth of assets, bad actors were enticed to exploit or hack the protocol, but were unable to do so. These protocols became regarded as DeFi blue-chips, and include Curve, Aave, Convex, Uniswap, and Compound, which can be used to earn yield on USDC.</p><h2>USDC Staking Rates</h2><p>Though not everyone has access to Coinbase Earn, the USDC interest rate on it currently sits at 1.5% APR.&nbsp;</p><p>A list of DeFi USDC staking rates on respective platforms is expanded upon below, summarizing their attributes and methods of generating yield.</p><h3>Aave - 2.05%</h3><p>Aave is a lending and borrowing protocol launched in January 2020 on Ethereum. By issuing overcollateralized loans, the USDC lending rate currently hovers around 2.05%.&nbsp;</p><h3>Compound - 1.87%</h3><p>Compound is the original lending platform that piloted the current model. Though Aave has overtaken in popularity, Compound is still regarded as one of DeFi’s most resilient protocols, offering around 1.87% APR to USDC lenders. Users of the protocols also earn rewards in COMP tokens.</p><h3>Curve - 1%</h3><p>Curve is a decentralized exchange with an automated market maker. Users are able to provide liquidity on the protocol to earn trading fees and CRV rewards. However, stakers are unable to simply deposit USDC, as they would have to provide liquidity for trading pairs that consist of more than one asset, such as the USDC, DAI, and USDT pool, currently yielding around 1%.&nbsp;</p><h3>Convex - 2%</h3><p>Convex is a yield amplifier for Curve liquidity providers, boosting the CRV rewards paid out to liquidity providers, while giving CVX rewards on top. Providing liquidity on the USDC, DAI, and USDT pool yields approximately 2% on Convex.</p><h3>Origin Dollar - 4.75%</h3><p>Origin Dollar (OUSD) earns boosted yield while using the same battle-tested applications that earn between 1% to 2.5% APY on stablecoins. Origin Dollar is fully collateralized, doesn’t take on any leverages, and is completely liquid at all times. The APY boost comes from a large stake of OUSD that earns interest for users. OUSD held in smart contracts forgoes the interest earned, effectively boosting yields for real holders.</p><h2>Best USDC Staking</h2><p>We have established that DeFi staking is preferred over staking on centralized platforms due to its transparency and sustainability. On the other hand, DeFi yields are highly variable and can change over time. Stakers would have to spend time and transaction fees to switch protocols and optimize yields for themselves.</p><p>Instead of doing all that work, users can simply acquire OUSD, which helps users passively generate the best DeFi yields.</p><h2>OUSD</h2><p>OUSD is a yield-bearing stablecoin that actively rebalances between DeFi strategies to earn the highest yields. These proprietary strategies are built on top of DeFi protocols by the DAO’s engineers. Integrated protocols include Aave, Compound, Morpho, Curve, and Convex.</p><p>Due to the efficiency of OUSD’s strategies, holders have been enjoying yields between 4-5% APY. All of OUSD’s strategies and stablecoin reserves can be&nbsp;<a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/dashboards">viewed</a> on-chain, ensuring holders feel assets are safe.&nbsp;</p><p>Furthermore, OUSD does not require staking or lock ups, sending yield directly into users’ wallets. Like a high interest savings account, users remain completely liquid while earning the best risk-adjusted yields via DeFi.</p><h2>How to Buy OUSD</h2><p>OUSD can be bought through exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or directly via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>. A Web3 wallet is required to hold OUSD, and if storing more than $1000 worth of assets, it is generally recommended to use a hardware wallet like a Ledger.</p>

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Earn Interest on USDC Staking

<h2>What is Liquity USD (LUSD)?</h2><p>Stablecoins have quickly become one of Web3’s primitives, allowing for instantaneous transfers of tokens that act as a store of value and medium of exchange. There are many types of stablecoins, mainly classified by their difference in backing, which can include commodities, fiat currency, crypto assets, or even algorithms. However, most options are centralized and not censorship resistant, which has led to LUSD’s popularity among crypto natives.</p><h2>Crypto Collateralized Stablecoins</h2><p>To understand LUSD’s importance, we must first go back to the roots of crypto-backed stablecoins.&nbsp;</p><p>Though crypto assets like BTC and ETH were touted as a decentralized form of money, the reality is that they were too volatile to be used effectively as a medium of exchange and unit of account. Just using Tether (USDT) instead was an easy solution back then, but crypto natives created another solution in the form of Dai.</p><p>Dai is a crypto-collateralized stablecoin with a target value of 1 dollar, initially only accepting ETH as collateral. By depositing Ether into Maker, users could borrow a percentage of their collateral value in DAI. If ETH’s price goes down and the collateral value reaches below a certain threshold, the collateral will be liquidated for Dai.</p><p>This simple system allowed for the creation of a decentralized store of value and medium of exchange, an essential part of creating an alternate financial system resistant to manipulation. Yet, there were a few glaring issues.</p><h2>Algorithmic Stablecoins</h2><p>Due to its properties, the demand for Dai far outstripped the circulating supply, causing its price to consistently trade above a dollar. This was further exacerbated by the fact that borrowers had to buy back Dai to close their loans. Dai’s overall scalability and capital efficiency was also limited, as the supply of Dai could not exceed ETH’s market cap.</p><p>As a solution, Maker accepted the use of fiat collateralized stablecoins to mint DAI, bringing price closer to $1 and effectively killing Dai’s fully decentralized nature.</p><p>Crypto-natives were not happy with this, eventually creating experimental algorithmic backed stablecoins to tackle the stablecoin trilemma. Algo-stables like Basis Cash and Empty Set Dollar kept popping up in the crypto market, but eventually suffered from downward spirals due to the lack of fundamental value.&nbsp;</p><p>Out of this mania, two notable stablecoins were launched: Terra’s UST and Liquity’s LUSD.&nbsp;</p><h2>Terra USD (UST)</h2><p>The initial growth and adoption of UST led the general public to believe the holy grail of decentralized stablecoins was found. UST was infinitely more scalable than collateralized stablecoins, as buyers could just buy LUNA in order to mint UST. Since the network seemed to have significant activity from its dapps such as Chai, LUNA had “fundamental value” from transaction fees and UST activity.&nbsp;</p><p>Thus, the mechanic of redeeming 1 UST for $1 worth of LUNA seemed fine to most people, as there would be liquidity from LUNA buyers.&nbsp;</p><p>Unfortunately, participants were proven wrong; UST’s supply expanded too rapidly without accounting for liquidity. When a large amount of UST was redeemed, LUNA’s liquidity was not enough to support the dollar peg, causing panic. As more users ran from Terra, the fundamentals of the network also degraded, resulting in overwhelming sell pressure.&nbsp;</p><p>UST lost its peg permanently, and it is now regarded as one of crypto’s biggest failures.</p><h2>Liquity USD (LUSD)</h2><p>Instead of trying to solve the stablecoin trilemma and seek infinite scalability, the LUSD stablecoin focused on improving the DAI model by introducing different peg mechanisms and only accepting ETH as collateral. In order to combat the price premium caused by being backed solely with ether, LUSD introduced a bonding mechanism.&nbsp;</p><p>This mechanism uses LQTY token emissions to incentivize deposits to LUSD’s liquidity pool and increases protocol owned liquidity. By depositing LUSD into the pool, sell pressure is enacted and brings price stability closer to $1.</p><p>By combining algorithmic peg mechanisms and sound collateral in the form of ETH, LUSD is a successful version of a decentralized store of value and medium of exchange. Though it sacrifices scalability, users who value censorship resistance and stability have a great option via LUSD.&nbsp;</p><h2>Earning Interest on Stablecoins</h2><p>If you are here, you might be looking for stablecoins to earn yield with. Though LUSD is definitely one of the safest stablecoins you can use, it is only one part of the equation. Finding protocols with the best yields and security to use your stablecoins can be more difficult than finding safe stablecoins. This is where OUSD comes in.</p><p>OUSD is a yield-bearing stablecoin, backed with other safe stablecoins like USDC and Dai. With an in-house team of engineers with backgrounds from Google, Paypal, Meta, and YouTube, OUSD actively analyzes stablecoins and potential yield strategies that they can deploy stablecoins to. By conducting smart contract reviews, the engineers can ensure the protocols are safe and provide the best risk-adjusted returns for OUSD users.</p><p>To enjoy these benefits, users simply have to hold OUSD in their wallet, with no lock-ups required. Daily interest is sent directly to the user, with current APYs ranging between 4-5%. Users also have the option to actively monitor OUSD’s on-chain positions and reserves via the&nbsp;<a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/dashboards">analytics dashboard</a>. Unlike opaque centralized crypto lenders, OUSD’s radical transparency has made it a safe haven for investors looking for sustainable stablecoin yields.</p><h2>How to Buy OUSD</h2><p>OUSD can be obtained through exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or bought directly via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>. If users do not have a crypto wallet, they are required to set one up. If storing more than $1000 worth of tokens, it is generally recommended to use a hardware wallet like a Ledger.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

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What is Liquity USD (LUSD)?

<p>Origin Dollar recently announced its partnership with Archimedes Finance, a novel DeFi leverage engine that will soon launch on Ethereum’s mainnet.&nbsp;<a href="http://archimedesfi.com">Archimedes</a> will leverage Origin Dollar to earn enhanced yield&nbsp;starting on February 20th.</p><p>This means stablecoin holders will have easy access to leveraged OUSD yields via Archimedes Finance. These leveraged positions are represented by NFTs, and users can choose to take position sizes up to 10x their collateral deposit.&nbsp;</p><p>We’re excited to see other protocols build on top of Origin Dollar. Here’s how to use Archimedes Finance to gain leverage on OUSD, allowing borrowers to leverage their positions by up to 10x.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Does Archimedes Finance Work?</h2><p>Archimedes Finance offers sustainable top-of-the-market APY for Origin Dollar through its leverage engine. In order to get LPs the best yield, Archimedes auctions off liquidity to leverage takers. Notably, there is no interest rate on the loans provided. Instead, you’ll pay an upfront fee and a portion of the yield generated from the funds.</p><p>You’ll need to&nbsp;deposit stablecoins (USDC, USDT, or DAI) to archimedesfi.com to request leverage on the platform. Archimedes then swaps your stablecoins into OUSD, and users have the option to pay the origination fee in ARCH or with a portion of their collateral. In the coming months, OUSD holders will be able to leverage their current holdings directly.&nbsp;</p><p>As a reminder,&nbsp;the leverage pool on Archimedes is limited, so you may need to wait until new funding is added to Archimedes to take out leverage. If you seek to leverage your OUSD yields on Archimedes, be sure to do so shortly after the product launches. Archimedes' leverage engine&nbsp;will be available to use on February 20th, while the Curve liquidity pool opens on February 14th.&nbsp;</p><p>Once a position is opened, borrowers are issued NFTs representing their leveraged tokens. These can easily be traded on NFT marketplaces. By default, leveraged positions are open for 12 months. At maturity, users can unwind the position to claim their principal and interest through their NFT. Investors also have the option to unwind their position early or renew their position using ARCH tokens.&nbsp;</p><h2>3Crv-lvUSD Curve Pool Launches February 14th</h2><p>A week before Archimedes’ leverage engine launches, the 3CRV-lvUSD pool on Curve Finance opens for funding. The pool is used to provide leverage to Archimedes’ borrowers, and lenders can earn yield by depositing bluechip stablecoins (USDT, USDC, DAI) for liquidity.</p><p>Liquidity providers to the 3CRV/lvUSD pool earn a yield from ARCH token emissions fees from borrowers and other incentive tokens (CRV). As the pool gains more liquidity, Archimedes is able to make more leverage available to borrowers, and more fees are passed onto liquidity providers.&nbsp;</p><p>On the 14th users that want to participate in the liquidity pool side of Archimedes should visit Curve Finance and click on the pools section at the top of the navigation. Once in pools, they can search for the “lvUSD” pool.</p><p>Next, stakers will need to select “deposit and stake” in the 3CRV-lvUSD pool section. This function deposits their stablecoins into LPs (to earn trading fees) and stakes the LP to the Archimedes pool, which qualifies them to also earn ARCH and other incentive tokens (like CRV and borrower fees).</p><h2>How to Leverage OUSD via Archimedes</h2><p>Taking out leverage through Archimedes Finance is a fairly simple process for those familiar with DeFi. In order to do so, follow these steps:</p><ul><li>Have USDC, DAI, or USDT ready in your wallet</li><li>Visit the open position page on the Archimedes app</li><li>Choose the amount of collateral and approve via your wallet&nbsp;</li><li>Choose how to pay origination fees: with stablecoins or with ARCH&nbsp;</li><li>Deposit collateral into the smart contract&nbsp;</li><li>You will receive an NFT with your position info, used to redeem collateral and interest at the maturity date</li></ul><p>All information regarding your leveraged positions will be viewable on the Archimedes dashboard as well as within the NFT metadata. Like any other NFT, Archimedes’ leveraged stablecoin positions can be tradeable via popular NFT marketplaces.</p><h2>Origin Dollar x Archimedes Finance</h2><p>In traditional tokenized leverage markets, users face the large risk of market volatility. Thanks to Origin Dollar’s peg to USD, these risks are mitigated for leverage seekers on Archimedes Finance. Since Origin Dollar implements its own risk-averse yield strategies, Archimedes can leverage this yield much easier than integrating idle stablecoins like DAI, USDC, or USDT into its strategies.&nbsp;</p><p>This being said, Archimedes Finance has its own set of risks, and we encourage users to do their own research before using any DeFi product.</p><p>We’re thrilled to see Origin Dollar be utilized in new ways, especially when there are clear benefits for our token holders. The partnership will further the total value locked in Origin Dollar as new users take out leverage through Archimedes, and&nbsp;<a href="https://governance.ousd.com/">OGV holders</a> reap the benefits of increased protocol revenue from these new funds.&nbsp;</p>

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How to Leverage OUSD Yield on Archimedes Finance 

<h2>Introduction to DeFi</h2><p>Despite the advancements and widespread adoption of the internet, the financial system has yet to adapt to the speed of the information age. The process of opening bank accounts and making global remittances can take days, while credit checks and loan disbursements for individuals can take a few weeks.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Seeing the gap traditional finance has yet to fill, decentralized finance (DeFi) has emerged by combining the internet, cryptography, and smart contracts to build the foundation of Web3. Think of DeFi as a vending machine of financial services, an automated system that dispenses services based on your inputs.</p><p>Through DeFi protocols, making payments, remittances, trading, lending, borrowing, earning yield, etc, can all be done instantaneously by anyone with a computer or phone. Welcome to web3.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>What Is Compound Finance?</h2><p>The Compound protocol enables the lending and borrowing of crypto assets on the Ethereum blockchain. Users can deposit ERC-20 tokens into Compound’s liquidity pools to earn interest or use them as collateral to borrow other assets in Compound. Loans are overcollateralized and supported via a smart contract enabled liquidation system, ensuring liquidations are automated and lenders always stay whole.</p><p>If a Compound user deposits ETH and takes a USDC loan out, the user can borrow funds up to 83% of his ETH collateral value i.e. $8300 USDC for $10000 of ETH. If the total borrowed value reaches 90% of the ETH collateral value, the protocol will liquidate the ETH for the USDC owed. This can happen due to accumulated interest or negative ETH price movements.</p><h2>Risks of Using Compound Finance</h2><p>Compound Finance works through smart contracts, hence, any potential or malicious errors in its code can pose a risk to users.</p><p>That said, Compound has been operating since 2019 and has attracted more than $11 billion dollars worth of liquidity during the height of the bull market. The capital Compound holds in its smart contracts acts as a “bounty” for hackers to exploit the protocol if they are able to. Since its inception in 2019, there have been no exploits of the money market, demonstrating its resilience.</p><p>Due to active battle-testing and a lack of adverse events, the risks of using Compound are present but minimal.</p><h2>Compound Finance Interest Rates</h2><p>Compound’s variable lending rate currently hovers between 1% and 2.5% for stablecoins, elevated by the distribution of its native token, known as COMP token, to lenders and borrowers. During periods where there is higher demand for margin and leverage, these interest rates can reach the double digits. Since the market operates in cycles, it is inevitable that supply and demand will vary.</p><p>However, even during the current slump, these interest rates can be boosted by using OUSD, which also simplifies the staking and lending process for users.</p><h2>How are Compound and OUSD Related?</h2><p>OUSD is the first stablecoin that generates sustainable yield while staying in user wallets. Being backed 1:1 by other stablecoins, such as USDC and DAI, OUSD deploys them into risk-adjusted strategies curated by the protocol’s engineers. Compound is utilized in OUSD’s lending strategy, alongside other blue-chip DeFi protocols like Curve, Aave, and Convex.</p><p>OUSD constantly rebalances between its strategies to earn the highest yields, helping holders historically achieve between 4-5% yields, far above the DeFi blue-chip average.</p><h2>Benefits of OUSD</h2><p>By sending yield directly to holders, OUSD saves users gas fees while turning their wallet into a savings account. Important for users who want to earn yield safely, OUSD strategies are always market neutral, meaning that it does not engage in speculative positions that may result in large drawdowns.</p><p>In contrast to the uncertainties caused by the opacity of centralized lending platforms, OUSD is a smart contract application that is 100% transparent and auditable on-chain; users can always verify OUSD reserves.&nbsp;</p><p>Currently, OUSD is the safest and most convenient medium for beginners to earn passive income via stablecoins.</p><h2>Where to Buy OUSD&nbsp;</h2><p>OUSD can be acquired via the OUSD app on&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>, decentralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>, or crypto exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>. Users who do not have a crypto wallet should set one up to hold custody of their funds. Those that intend to hold more than $1000 worth of tokens are recommended to use a hardware wallet like Ledger.</p><h2>Compound Competitors In DeFi</h2><ul><li>Aave - A similar lending protocol that’s also integrated with OUSD. Aave supports more ERC20 assets than compound, but its yields can dip below 1% for certain stablecoins.&nbsp;</li><li>Morpho - A peer-to-peer lending protocol integrated with OUSD. Morpho helps utilize more funds than using a peer-to-pool model like Aave or Compound</li><li>Notional Finance - A fixed-term lending protocol. Compound allows lenders to withdraw assets at will, unless borrower utilization rate is too high. Conversely, Notional users must lock their funds for a predetermined period of time.&nbsp;</li></ul><h2>Is Using Compound Finance Safe?&nbsp;</h2><p>Risks are always present when engaging in financial activities, but they can be minimized. Due to Compound’s battle-tested record in the world’s most volatile market, it has proven that its liquidation system works robustly even during large price movements. The lack of exploits throughout the years makes it very likely that the protocol is simply unexploitable.&nbsp;</p><p>Considering these facts, it is hard to imagine using Compound Finance is unsafe.</p><p><br>&nbsp;</p>

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What Is Compound Finance? 

<h2>Convex Finance, Explained</h2><p>The decentralized finance (DeFi) stack has grown rapidly over the past few years, attracting over $47 billion in capital locked in smart contracts. This bustling alternative financial system has attracted a plethora of different people––users sending peer-to-peer payments, savers fleeing from their hyperinflationary currencies, NFT collectors, traders speculating on tokens, and investors earning yield on stablecoins.</p><p>The constantly evolving DeFi user base has led to evolving user profiles and needs. In response to those needs, developers have innovated and created new primitives, one of them being Convex Finance.</p><h2>How is Convex Finance and Curve Finance related?</h2><p>To understand what Convex is, readers must first understand Curve.</p><p>Curve is a decentralized exchange which uses automated market makers (AMMs) to quote asset prices for buyers and sellers. But before being able to quote prices, the AMMs’ liquidity pools must be capitalized by liquidity providers.&nbsp;</p><p>Let us say there is an ETH/USD trading pair on Curve. A liquidity provider (LP) would provide both ETH and USD, and receive ETHUSD Curve LP tokens to signify ownership of that portion of the liquidity pool. When a trader places a bid for ETH on the ETH/USD pair, Curve’s algorithm would sell ETH for a certain price based on how much is in the liquidity pool, the order size, previous trades, etc.&nbsp;</p><p>Trading fees are charged whenever a trade occurs and are paid out to liquidity providers and CRV stakers. Liquidity providers also receive CRV token rewards for providing liquidity on the Curve platform, which has a total valuation of $748 million. CRV commands such a valuation because locked CRV holders receive voting rights for the protocol, trading fees, and boosted CRV rewards when providing liquidity.</p><p>However, earning boosted rewards for being a CRV locker and liquidity provider had shown a clear dichotomy between the two parties; CRV lockers do not necessarily want to be liquidity providers, and vice versa. This unique situation has led to the creation of Convex.&nbsp;</p><h2>What is Convex Finance?</h2><p>By converting CRV to locked CRV and providing liquidity on behalf of the two parties, the Convex team has created a yield booster. The boosted CRV rewards Convex earns are shared between the CRV lockers and liquidity providers, with Convex taking a cut as a fee. Convex also locks the CRV it receives, becoming a CRV stakeholder.</p><p>The Convex (CVX) token can be locked for 16 weeks to earn yield from the protocol’s CRV and voting incentives.&nbsp;</p><h2>Convex Finance Risks</h2><p>Convex Finance’s risk can be broken down into two parts: the quality of their smart contracts acting as intermediaries for CRV lockers and liquidity providers, and the risks of Curve Finance itself.&nbsp;</p><p>Curve and Convex, deployed since January 2020 and May 2021 respectively, have been operating without any exploits or hacks. Both had attracted over $20 billion dollars of total value locked (TVL) at their peaks, which acted as a live bounty for hackers to exploit the protocol. The fact that there have been no exploits demonstrates the resilience of their smart contracts, proving they are safe.</p><h2>Convex Finance Interest Rates</h2><p>Interest rates for providing liquidity on A-tier stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and DAI currently hover around 1-3% in current market conditions, which is acceptable as they do not bear directional risks and allow users to earn yield on their USD while staying liquid.&nbsp;</p><h2>How are Convex and OUSD Related?</h2><p>Origin Dollar (OUSD) deploys stablecoins to blue-chip DeFi protocols such as Convex, earning yield for OUSD holders. Due to the variable nature of DeFi yields, OUSD rebalances assets between different strategies weekly, allowing it to&nbsp;<a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/apy">earn more yield</a> than using Convex, Aave, or Compound alone.&nbsp;</p><p>Since OUSD yield accrues directly to holders’ wallets daily, users do not have to pay extra transaction fees to redeem rewards. Holders with less capital stay fully liquid while enjoying compounding yields previously only enjoyed by whales. OUSD holders have been enjoying their passive income at a rate of 3-5% in current market conditions.</p><h2>Where to Buy OUSD&nbsp;</h2><p>Buying Origin Dollar can be done on the OUSD app on the Ethereum network, through Curve itself, or on cryptocurrency exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>. If you purchase through the OUSD app, you’ll be minting fresh OUSD with Dai, USDT, or USDC, whereas buying on a secondary market can be done through stablecoins, USD, or crypto.</p><h2>Convex Finance Competitors</h2><p>Convex is a pretty unique protocol, but their two closest competitors are:</p><ul><li>Yearn Finance - A general yield aggregator</li><li>Aura Finance - Focused on Balancer ecosystem instead of Curve</li></ul><p>While these competitors are attractive for many users, Convex and Curve have some of the most battle-tested DeFi pools with more liquidity than its competitors.&nbsp;</p><h2>Is Convex Finance Safe?&nbsp;</h2><p>Convex has quickly become one of the most popular applications in DeFi due to its attractive yields. Its lack of exploits in a live environment where code is law speaks for itself; we believe that Convex is one of the safest DeFi protocols.</p>

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What is Convex Finance? 

<h2>Introduction</h2><p>In crypto, every user or holder is their own bank. Though this means that users have total control and freedom over how they use their assets, they are also responsible for its security. Coupled with the fact that the general public does not have strong cyber hygiene, this results in a vulnerability that hackers are more than willing to exploit.&nbsp; We have seen this ring true, especially on NFT collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club. Even more sophisticated investors like Kevin Rose were successfully phished.&nbsp;</p><p>So how do users protect themselves, and what are some best practices when handling crypto?&nbsp;</p><h2>Using a Ledger or Other Hardware Wallet</h2><p>The first step to securing crypto assets is to use a hardware wallet instead of desktop or mobile wallet. Hardware wallets ensure that the ability to sign and approve transactions is fully isolated in a separate physical device, making it harder for a hacker to access potential victims’ crypto assets.</p><h2>How Does a Ledger Work?</h2><p>Before you sign a transaction, your private key is used to decrypt the transaction data encrypted by your public key. The private key is then used to sign and encrypt the transaction, which is verified by miners or validators by using your public key to decrypt it. These keys are generated by your seed phrase, which is stored offline on the Ledger.&nbsp;</p><p>Think of your private and public keys like two secret agents that made up their own communication code. Only they can encode and decode their messages to each other.&nbsp;</p><p>To further enhance the security of your seed phrase, Ledgers are protected by Secure Element Chips, which ensures the seed phrase cannot be physically compromised when stolen. Ledger’s software also ensures transactions are signed within the device itself, making it tamper-proof from any third-party applications.</p><h2>Can I Use My Ledger with OUSD?</h2><p>Yes. It is recommended that anyone holding significant amounts in OUSD use a Ledger or hardware wallet. Basic functions such as sending, receiving, and earning yield on OUSD are enabled in the native Ledger Live app.</p><p>If you would like to purchase OUSD via the&nbsp;<a href="http://app.ousd.com">OUSD application</a> or decentralized exchanges such as Curve and Uniswap, you would have to connect your Ledger to&nbsp;<a href="https://metamask.io/">Metamask</a> first.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/9mPbltT2yVEtP8NtdiKR3wZXSTSKsOZTiSOMXf5eYyKnEaFXrZVLIIMGNbveZtHhDZSprNoU5Sjm_oInYZaZlu4dCL1rbXrUAHEq6ANN7xFlsSVs1n0pe5glSbOUl5zQQT1GgI4s_2naY9JxEJbu32g"></figure><p>Please note that you do not key in your Ledger’s seed phrase into Metamask or any other sites. Your seed phrase should never be used outside of the Ledger.</p><h2>What Other Best Practices Are There?</h2><p>Securing your private keys through an isolated setup is the most crucial step. However, proper cyber hygiene should still be maintained at all times. Malware, third party applications, or even phishing websites may trick users into signing malicious transactions. Always check the website you are doing transactions on and avoid downloading untrusted files.&nbsp;</p><h2>FAQ</h2><p><strong>I am unable to see transactions on my Ledger when using Metamask&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Blind signing is usually required when interacting with smart contracts. Please enable it by following Ledger’s&nbsp;<a href="https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405481324433-Enable-blind-signing-in-the-Ethereum-ETH-app?support=true">tutorial</a>.</p><p><strong>Can I buy OUSD on a centralized exchange and send it to my wallet?</strong></p><p>Yes. OUSD is available on cryptocurrency exchanges&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>. You can withdraw OUSD to your wallet after purchasing it on those platforms.</p><p><strong>How does OUSD earn yield?</strong></p><p>OUSD earns yield by deploying stablecoins into strategies involving blue-chip DeFi protocols such as Aave, Compound, Curve, and Convex. These strategies are carefully and rigorously reviewed and audited by in-house engineers and external auditing firms. All strategies are market neutral, and do not take speculative or directional risks.</p>

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How to Use Ledger Hardware Wallet with Origin Dollar (OUSD)

<h2>Crypto Staking Taxes</h2><p>Staking crypto has become an increasingly popular way for individuals to earn rewards for holding certain cryptocurrencies. However, as with many other investments, staking also has tax implications that must be considered. In this article, we will explore the tax treatment of staking rewards, how to report staking income, and how to calculate capital gains tax on cashed-out staking rewards. Whether you're a seasoned staker or new to the game, understanding the tax implications of staking crypto is essential to making informed decisions about your investments.</p><h2>What Is Crypto Staking?</h2><p>Staking in the crypto world can be a complex or simple concept depending on how much one wants to understand. For many traders and investors, the main understanding is that it is a method to earn rewards for holding certain cryptocurrencies. However, having a basic knowledge of how and why it works can be beneficial, even if one's main goal is to earn rewards.</p><p>Proof of Work (PoW) is a mechanism used in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to validate transactions and create new blocks on the blockchain. It works by having miners solve complex mathematical puzzles, with the first miner to solve the puzzle being rewarded with the ability to add the next block to the blockchain. This process ensures the integrity of the blockchain by making it difficult and costly to add blocks, thus preventing malicious actors from altering the blockchain. Suppose you are familiar with how Bitcoin works. In that case, you may already be familiar with PoW, as it is the mechanism that enables transactions to be recorded and linked together on the blockchain.</p><p>However, PoW has several disadvantages, including high operational costs, heavy energy consumption, a large barrier to entry and limits to the blockchain's scalability. Enter Proof of Stake (PoS).</p><p>PoS is a consensus mechanism that enables network participants to earn rewards by holding and "staking" their cryptocurrency. In this process, validators are selected based on the size of their stake and the length of time they have held it to add the latest batch of transactions to the blockchain, similar to how mining works in a PoW mechanism. The more invested a participant is in the network, the higher the likelihood they will be selected as validators and rewarded. Staking helps secure the blockchain by incentivizing users to hold and use their cryptocurrency to validate transactions, creating new tokens in return.</p><p>PoS has many benefits over PoW, including reduced energy consumption, the potential for higher blockchain scalability and lower barriers to entry which can help improve decentralization.</p><h2>What Is DeFi Staking?</h2><p>The term ‘staking’ has also been adopted in the world of DeFi to include events that involve locking up tokens in return for rewards. DeFi staking, such as the staking option available to OGV holders on<a href="https://www.ousd.com/">&nbsp;Origin Protocol</a>, refers to locking coins or tokens in a DeFi protocol to earn rewards. The DeFi protocol may use the locked tokens for liquidity, lending, or revenue sharing to token holders. The tax implications for DeFi staking depend on the specific protocol and may include Capital Gains or Income Tax.</p><h2>Is Staking Crypto Taxable?</h2><p>In short, yes. Staking crypto and the associated staking rewards can be subject to tax in many jurisdictions worldwide.</p><p>Staking involves various transactions that affect how your crypto is taxed, depending on where you live. Generally, moving your coins or tokens to a staking pool, wallet, or third-party staking service is not considered a taxable event, similar to transferring crypto from one wallet to another. However, gas and transfer fees may have different tax implications. On the other hand, staking rewards may be subject to taxes upon receipt or when sold into fiat currency.</p><h2>Staking Rewards Tax</h2><p>The taxability of staking rewards varies depending on the country and how the tax office classifies staking. Sometimes, using a third-party service may also affect the tax treatment. Typically, staking rewards are considered income and are subject to Income Tax based on the fair market value at the time of receipt. Capital Gains Tax may also apply when disposing of the staked coins. The specific tax treatment of crypto staking rewards varies by country.</p><h2>Example Staking Scenario</h2><p>Staking Deposit:</p><p>On the 1st of February, you buy 1 million $OGV tokens for $5,000. A month later, on the 1st of March, you decide to participate in the governance of the Origin Protocol and earn a share of the protocol’s review. You decide to stake all your $OGV tokens on the Origin Protocol platform, now worth $6,000.</p><p>In some tax jurisdictions, this could as a disposal, resulting in a capital gain equal to the value of the tokens at the time of disposal minus the original cost of the tokens;</p><p>$6,000 - $5,000 = $1,000</p><p>It is important to check with your local tax authority whether this is treated as a taxable event. Any gas fees involved with the deposit transaction could be subject to other tax implications, which will not be covered here.</p><p>Staking Rewards:</p><p>After your tokens were staked, you began to receive token rewards. You regularly collected your staking rewards for the remainder of the financial year. You waited until the rewards were worth $100 before claiming, and you claimed 6 times. In jurisdictions that count staking rewards as income, this would equate to $600 of income needed to be declared.</p><p>Since claiming the rewards, you decided to hold onto the tokens, now worth $800. Before the end of the financial year, you decide to sell them. Many tax jurisdictions will treat this as a taxable capital gains event. The gain will be calculated by the value at the time of disposal minus the cost basis, which is equal to the value at the time the tokens were received, or in other words, the same as your declared income amount.</p><p>$800 - $600 = $200</p><p>In jurisdictions where this is a taxable event, $200 would need to be declared. Any gas fees involved with the rewards claiming or disposal transactions could be subject to other tax implications, which will not be covered here.</p><p>Staking Withdrawal:</p><p>For jurisdictions that treat the deposit as a disposal, withdrawing tokens from the staking pool could be classed similarly to a ‘buy’. Continuing the above example, you withdrew the staked tokens before the end of the year at a total value of $4,000. The cost basis of the tokens would now be $4,000.</p><p>Any gas fees involved with the withdrawal transaction could be subject to other tax implications, which will not be covered here. Again, it is important to check with your local tax authority how a deposit and withdrawal are treated for tax purposes.</p><h2>How do you Calculate your Staking Taxes?</h2><p>Tracking and tagging staking transactions can be easily done using crypto tax software such as<a href="https://cryptotaxcalculator.io/">&nbsp;CryptoTaxCalculator</a>, which offers automatic and manual tagging options for staking rewards. The software usually automatically recognises and tags staking transactions, making it convenient for those with numerous staking-related transactions. In the case of more complex staking transactions, you can manually tag them to ensure a precise tax report.</p>

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Tax Implications of Crypto Staking

<p>The genesis of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency was driven by developers who thought that central banks and governments held too much power over financial systems, expressed through the bailouts for banks during the Great Financial Crisis. Even though these banks took excessive risks to yield more money, the consequences of doing so were negated by central banks.&nbsp;</p><p>With its laws enforced only by code via blockchain technology, Bitcoin became an alternate currency that no central authority could control or manipulate. Anyone with an internet connection could access and use Bitcoin, using it as a store of value and medium of exchange. This technology was especially significant for people living in countries with hyperinflation, such as Venezuela and Argentina, as they could put their money into Bitcoin instead of their bank account with a rapidly depreciating currency.&nbsp;</p><p>The Ethereum blockchain took Bitcoin’s concept of cryptography and made it smart contract compatible. Instead of just having a decentralized currency, decentralized applications could be built to facilitate more complex financial transactions, hence decentralized finance (DeFi) was born.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>What Is Aave?</h2><p>The Aave protocol is a DeFi application that facilitates lending and borrowing on Ethereum. Users who deposit tokens such as ETH or USDC are able to earn interest from borrowers who are issued overcollateralized loans.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, a borrower that deposits ETH would like to get a loan in USDC. Aave only allows ETH collateral to borrow up to 82.5% of its value. If the borrower deposits 100 ETH worth $1,350 each, they can borrow up to $111,375.&nbsp;</p><p>The smart contract will automatically sell the ETH collateral if their USDC loan value reaches 85% of the collateral value, preventing potential insolvencies. For example, if ETH drops to $1310, Aave will sell enough ETH to ensure USDC lenders get paid back the full $111,375 plus interest owed.&nbsp;</p><h2>Risks of Using Aave</h2><p>The main risks of using Aave are potential smart contract bugs and potential inability to liquidate collateral to ensure loans stay overcollateralized.&nbsp;</p><p>In regards to that, Aave has been running successfully without exploits since deploying in January 2020, attracting more than $18 billion dollars worth of value at its peak. This value essentially acts as a live bounty for any hacker to exploit its smart contracts custodying it. The fact that it has not been hacked simply means the code works as intended.&nbsp;</p><p>To ensure the protocol is able to liquidate collateral before loans become bad debt, Aave imposes strict parameters on margin requirements.&nbsp;</p><h2>Aave Interest Rates</h2><p>Aave currently offers approximately 1% to 2.5% interest rates on stablecoins. During the bull market, these interest rates topped out over 10%, due to high demand for margin and leverage as prices were increasing.</p><p>However, these interest rates could be boosted further by using OUSD, while simplifying the process of staking more broadly.&nbsp;</p><h2>How are Aave and OUSD Related?</h2><p>OUSD is a yield-bearing stablecoin, backed 1:1 by other stablecoins USDT, USDC and DAI. OUSD deploys these stablecoins to a list of curated DeFi protocols to earn yield for its users, one of them being Aave. Because OUSD utilizes a number of DeFi protocols for other activities such as market making or peer-to-peer lending, OUSD is able to automatically rebalance holdings between strategies to earn the highest yields. Currently, OUSD has been yielding approximately 3-4% for its users.&nbsp;</p><p>The other protocols OUSD use besides Aave are&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Compound - another lending and borrowing protocol&nbsp;</li><li>Morpho - a peer-to-peer lending protocol</li><li>Curve - a decentralized exchange (DEX)</li><li>Convex - a yield booster for Curve</li></ul><h2>Benefits of OUSD</h2><p>Yield from OUSD is directly sent into the users’ wallets, similarly to how a savings account works. All strategies employed by OUSD are market neutral, meaning that there are no speculative positions that may result in large drawdowns. Since OUSD is a smart contract powered application, the protocol is 100% transparent and auditable 24/7 on the blockchain.&nbsp;</p><p>In contrast to the uncertainties regarding centralized exchanges and lending platforms, OUSD users can relax knowing that OUSD’s reserves can always be verified on chain.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD is currently the number one yield generating stablecoin in DeFi, helping beginners and experts alike make the best risk-adjusted yields on their stablecoins.</p><h2>Where to Buy OUSD&nbsp;</h2><p>OUSD can be bought directly through the OUSD app on&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>, through decentralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a>, or centralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>. If users do not have a crypto wallet, they are required to set one up to hold OUSD. Users who intend to store more than $1000 worth of tokens are generally recommended to use a hardware wallet like a Ledger.&nbsp;</p><h2>Aave Competitors In DeFi</h2><ul><li>Compound Finance - A similar lending and borrowing protocol. (Integrated with OUSD)<ul><li>Has stricter parameters for borrowing</li><li>Does not support as many assets as Aave&nbsp;</li></ul></li><li>Morpho - A peer-to-peer lending protocol (Integrated with OUSD)<ul><li>Lenders are matched peer to peer, instead of peer to pool in Aave</li></ul></li><li>Notional Finance - A fixed-term lending protocol<ul><li>Aave and Compound allow lenders to withdraw assets at will unless borrower utilization rate is too high&nbsp;<ul><li>Borrowers will usually repay in this case as Aave will charge excessive interest rates during this period</li></ul></li><li>Notional requires that lenders lock-in their deposits for a specified period of time</li></ul></li></ul><h2>Is Using Aave Safe?&nbsp;</h2><p>As addressed before, Aave has some risks in regards to smart contracts and collateral liquidity. However, given its robust performance in the most volatile market in the world, we believe Aave is among the safest protocols to use on Ethereum.&nbsp;</p>

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What Is Aave? 

<p>Decentralized finance was created as an alternate financial ecosystem that is less susceptible to manipulation, while being more accessible and transparent than traditional finance. Through DeFi summer in 2020, applications on Ethereum began to attract billions of dollars into their smart contracts, and users flooded the network to start earning yield on their digital assets.</p><p>Fast forward to 2022, and the recent bankruptcies of Celsius, FTX, and Voyager showed the need for self-custodial, transparent lending services that are powered by DeFi. These centralized firms were empowered by the fact that no one had a clear view on their financials, while their executives had free reign over customers’ assets.</p><p>Curve Finance serves as the backbone for many DeFi protocols, and the application itself has billions of dollars worth of digital assets locked in it. Alongside Aave, Compound, Yearn, Maker, and others, Curve attempts to recreate the financial system to be more transparent, accessible, and fair to all.&nbsp;</p><h2>What is Curve Finance?</h2><p>On regular cryptocurrency exchanges, there are usually buyers, sellers, and market makers rapidly placing buy and sell orders for tokens on an order book. However, the Ethereum network is unable to support this high-frequency type of trading activity without excessive transaction fees, as each network validator would have to record each transaction.&nbsp;</p><p>Hence, decentralized exchanges like Curve which code automated market makers (AMMs) into their smart contracts were born. Instead of having an order book, AMMs uses a mathematical algorithm to quote asset prices for buyers and sellers. But before buyers or sellers are able to trade on the exchange, external users must deploy capital onto the liquidity pool for the AMM to utilize. External users that provide capital for AMMs are addressed as liquidity providers.&nbsp;</p><p>Liquidity providers for Curve pools are able to earn yield via trading fees from buyers and sellers, and also earn Curve’s native token, CRV token. CRV’s is Curve DAO’s governance token, which allows CRV stakers to earn trading fees generated by the protocol, earn more CRV, and vote on governance proposals like raising trading fees.&nbsp;</p><p>Launched in January 2020, Curve has been wildly successful and popular for stablecoin trading,&nbsp;<a href="https://dune.com/mrblock_buidl/Curve.fi">generating</a> over $250 billion in cumulative trading volume and over $100m in trading fees since its launch.</p><h2>Curve Finance Risks</h2><p>The risks of using Curve changes depending on whether the user is a trader or liquidity provider. Traders bear little to no risk, as they only briefly interact with the protocol to exchange tokens. Liquidity providers deposit their capital for a longer period of time, and may be concerned with potential smart contract bugs that would allow a hacker to drain their capital.&nbsp;</p><p>Similar to Aave, Curve has been operating since January 2020 without any exploits or hacks. It had over $24 billion dollars of total value locked in the protocol at its peak, acting as a huge bounty for any hacker to exploit the protocol if it were possible.</p><h2>Curve Interest Rates</h2><p>Liquidity providers on Curve can earn yield varying from 0% to over 200%, as yields depend on trading activity and token incentives. The higher yields usually come from providing liquidity for small market cap coins, with increased directional risks for liquidity providers. These sorts of opportunities are usually more attractive to users involved in yield farming.&nbsp;</p><p>Interest earned for providing liquidity on safe stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and DAI usually hovers around 1-3% during current market conditions. These yields do not bear directional risks and are attractive for users who want to earn yield on USD while staying liquid.&nbsp;</p><h2>How are Curve and OUSD Related?</h2><p>OUSD has integrated a list of curated DeFi protocols to earn yields for its users, Curve being one of them. By having a variety of DeFi protocols that OUSD can deploy stablecoins to, OUSD has the ability to deploy capital to the strategies that earn the highest yields at that time. By doing so, OUSD has been yielding approximately 3-4% for holders.&nbsp;</p><p>Since yields are dynamic,&nbsp;<a href="http://app.ousd.com">OUSD can earn more yield</a> than lending on Curve, Aave, or Compound alone. It’s also ideal for holders dealing with less capital, as OUSD rewards accrue directly to your wallet daily. This means you will not have to pay prohibitive gas fees to harvest your rewards, and OUSD remains fully liquid while earning interest.</p><h2>Where to Buy OUSD&nbsp;</h2><p>OUSD can be bought directly on the OUSD app, through Curve itself, or on centralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>. If you purchase through the OUSD app, you’ll be minting fresh OUSD with Dai, USDT, or USDC, whereas buying on a secondary market can be done through stablecoins, USD, or crypto.</p><h2>Curve Finance Competitors</h2><p>Most of the differences between Curve’s biggest competitors stem from their pricing algorithms, and are known as:</p><ul><li>Uniswap V2</li><li>Uniswap V3</li><li>Balancer</li><li>Sushiswap</li><li>GMX</li></ul><h2>Is Curve Finance Safe?&nbsp;</h2><p>Curve is considered as one of the DeFi blue-chips due to its lack of exploits, age, and popularity of use. Given its smart contract performance in an adversarial environment where code is law, we believe that Curve is one of the safest protocols in crypto.</p>

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What is Curve Finance? 

<h2>Decentralized Finance</h2><p>One of the main selling points of digital assets is that they provide the ability for anyone with an internet connection to access financial services without centralized gatekeepers, hence the name decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi services, such as payments, lending, borrowing, savings, trading, and market making have captured tens of billions of dollars in active usage, with lending taking the lion’s share.&nbsp;</p><h2>What are Crypto Backed Loans in DeFi?</h2><p>The decentralized nature of crypto and DeFi loans means that by default, there is no entity that underwrites contracts, utilizes credit scores, or conducts credit checks towards borrowers. Under these conditions, unsecured or undercollateralized loans are simply untenable, as the risks of loan default is high, with little legal recourse.&nbsp;</p><p>DeFi lending platforms issue crypto backed loans, which requires borrowers to put up collateral, such as ETH, BTC, or other crypto assets. Loans are required to be overcollateralized, which means the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is always under 100%. The lending platform will usually require the LTV ratio to be within 40-80%, due to the volatile nature of crypto assets. If the LTV crosses a certain threshold, the platform will liquidate the collateral to make sure lenders remain whole.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, using ETH as collateral on AAVE can only borrow up to 82.5% of their position. If the user deposits one ETH worth $1,300, they can borrow up to $1072.5 USDC. AAVE will liquidate the ETH collateral if the LTV ratio reaches 86% of the ETH value. So if ETH drops to $1247, AAVE will sell the 1 ETH to cover the $1072.5 loan plus interest, take a liquidation fee, and return any leftover value to the borrower.&nbsp;</p><p>This robust liquidation system has allowed DeFi lending applications to flourish since inception 3 to 4 years ago, surviving the volatile and stressful nature of crypto markets. In a market with 50-90% drawdowns, DeFi has performed better than traditional banks that required bailouts during the Great Financial Crisis. As time passes, DeFi will slowly prove that it is more resilient and robust than traditional systems.&nbsp;</p><p>Note that there are platforms or entities that utilize crypto to issue unsecured or undercollateralized loans, but the level of adoption pales in comparison to secured loans, due to user aversion to elevated risks./</p><h2>How to Get a Crypto Loan</h2><p>DeFi lending platforms are essentially web applications coded with smart contracts. This means they are self-executing based on their programmed functions, accessible 24 hours a day. The most popular lending applications are&nbsp;<a href="https://app.aave.com/markets/">AAVE</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://app.compound.finance/markets?market=1_USDC_0xc3d688B66703497DAA19211EEdff47f25384cdc3">Compound</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://oasis.app/borrow">Maker</a>. A user wanting to obtain a loan would head on to the applications’ websites, connect their crypto wallet, allow the smart contract to receive funds from the wallet, deposit the funds, specify a loan amount and take it out.&nbsp;</p><h2>How to Earn Passive Income from Using Crypto In DeFi</h2><p>If you would like to benefit from the robust lending systems DeFi offers, you must deposit tokens onto the applications’ liquidity pools to start earning interest immediately. To do so, you’ll need an Ethereum wallet such as Metamask or Rainbow Wallet. You’ll also need to fund the wallet with crypto; the easiest way to do so is by sending cryptocurrency from a centralized exchange like Coinbase to your crypto wallet.&nbsp;</p><p>Once funded, visit the protocol’s website and enter the dApp. From there, you can choose which pool to deposit funds to and begin earning interest. Most DeFi pools offer variable APYs, so it’s important to keep track of the yield these staking pools offer.&nbsp;</p><p>Protocols such as AAVE and Compound offer 1-2% yields on USD, due to their blue-chip status and non-fixed deposit nature. Another application,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.notional.finance/lend/USDC">Notional Finance</a>, allows users to earn interest rates between 2-4%, depending on how long their loan term is.</p><p>Newer lending applications may offer higher rates by allowing lenders to earn rewards, paid in the platform's governance tokens. This tactic is known as yield farming, but it is not recommended to beginners due to the risks involved. It is generally recommended that newcomers stick to market tested DeFi applications, as these apps are more battle-tested and their risks are easier to estimate.&nbsp;</p><h2>Earn DeFi Yield Through OUSD</h2><p>If new users would still like to earn higher DeFi yields passively, knowing that due diligence and risk analysis is required, they can utilize yield aggregators such as OUSD.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://ousd.com/earn-info">OUSD</a> is a yield-generating stablecoin, backed 1:1 by other stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, and DAI. OUSD generates yield by deploying these stablecoins into DeFi yield strategies curated by the protocols’ engineers. OUSD conducts risk analysis, audits strategies, and rebalances stablecoin allocations for OUSD holders, ensuring that they get the best yields on a risk-adjusted basis.&nbsp;</p><p>All strategies employed are market neutral, meaning that OUSD does not take on any speculative positions that may result in large drawdowns. Since OUSD only utilizes DeFi strategies, OUSD is 100% transparent and auditable 24/7 through the blockchain. In light of recent uncertainties in regards to centralized exchanges and lending platforms, OUSD holders can be sure the protocol is fully solvent and operational.&nbsp;</p><p>As always, users simply hold OUSD in their wallets with no staking or lock-ups required. Yield generated is automatically sent directly to holders’ wallets, saving users transaction fees from withdrawals or claiming rewards. OUSD is currently the number one yield generating stablecoin in DeFi, helping users make the best risk-adjusted passive income with their stablecoins.&nbsp;</p><h2>How to Buy OUSD</h2><p>You can buy Origin Dollar (OUSD) through decentralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a> or centralized platforms such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or buy directly on the OUSD app via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>. In order to buy OUSD through the app or a decentralized exchange, you’ll need a crypto wallet. For maximum security, it’s recommended to keep inactive funds on a hardware wallet.</p><h2>What Are Crypto Flash Loans?</h2><p>Flash loans are uncollateralized loans whereby a user borrows and returns funds in the same transaction. Flash loans are usually utilized when a user wants to unwind or create a leveraged position. For example, if a user owes $8000 USDC from a $10000 ETH position, and does not have $8000 USDC somewhere else, he would have to slowly withdraw the ETH and sell it back for USDC to repay the loan.&nbsp;</p><p>Since the loan is required to be overcollateralized, the user cannot withdraw all $10000 worth of ETH at once to repay the loan. Flash loans allow the user to repay the USDC, sell the ETH, and return the flash loan all in one transaction.&nbsp;</p><p>Flash loans can also be used for arbitrage opportunities.&nbsp;</p><h2>Are Crypto Personal Loans Worth It?</h2><p>Getting a crypto loan through DeFi is well worth it for many investors. However, if you're strapped for funds, it's probably a better idea to get a traditional loan. DeFi loans require over-collateralization, meaning that you'll need to post more funds as collateral than what you're borrowing. These types of loans are especially useful for many types of investors. Long-term investors may want to lend out their crypto to receive an APY on their tokens, while risk-tolerant investors may post collateral to leverage their crypto positions.&nbsp;</p>

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Getting Crypto Loans In DeFi 

<p>Origin recently conducted a community AMA for Origin Dollar in our Discord. We collected the most common questions regarding OUSD and OGV from the community, and we’ve summarized them below for quick reference. As always, our team is happy to answer any questions you may have about our products in real time via our&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/ogn">Discord channel.</a></p><h2>1. Why should I swap Dai/USDC/USDT for OUSD?</h2><p>When you hold a stablecoin, your position should grow. That's what OUSD does. You don't have to do anything. You just hold it in your wallet, and tomorrow your balance will be higher than it is today.&nbsp;</p><p>That's the premise behind OUSD as a yield-generating stablecoin. But people also trust it because it's self-custodial and fully transparent on-chain with a doxxed team and verifiable yield generation. You don't have to trust the team or any gatekeepers. You just buy or mint it and you can redeem it for the underlying collateral at any time.</p><h2>2. Where Does OUSD yield come from?</h2><p>OUSD's yield is generated from decentralized, blue chip DeFi protocols. Our current strategies utilize Compound, Aave, Curve/Convex, and Morpho. We're adding strategies slowly after they go through rigorous security review and economic analysis to measure risks and rewards.</p><p>All of the OUSD code is open-source, verified on Etherscan, and accessible in GitHub. Anyone can look at the source code and audit exactly how the yield is generated and automatically distributed to OUSD holders without any involvement from the core team. Unlike the centralized black boxes that failed in 2022, there are no money managers secretly managing your funds.</p><p>You can also visit<a href="https://ousd.com/"> https://ousd.com/</a> to see the current allocation across our strategies as well as the current collateral holdings that are used to generate the yield.</p><h2>3. How does OUSD yield more than its underlying strategies?&nbsp;</h2><p>Multiple factors contribute to OUSD outperforming its underlying strategies, but there’s one big one. While 100% of the collateral is used to generate yield, only some of the OUSD in circulation is receiving that yield. By default, OUSD does not grow when it’s held by smart contracts. This means that the yield that would go to these smart contracts becomes a bonus for all other OUSD holders.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD is different from most other ERC-20 tokens because your balance increases without receiving a transfer. Many smart contracts, such as AMMs, are not set up to properly account for these increases. So OUSD is designed to allocate this yield to regular wallets instead of letting it go to waste. Any smart contract can opt in to receive yield, but the reality is that much of OUSD’s supply is held in AMMs where liquidity providers are motivated to forego their yield in exchange for other incentives.&nbsp;</p><p>In other words, there's a multiplier effect on the APY that OUSD holders experience. There are a few other intermittent yield sources that also supplement our strategies, but that's the main factor.</p><h2>4. What do I need to do to collect yield from OUSD?</h2><p>It’s pretty much a one-step process. Just buy OUSD and hold it in your wallet. It’s really great for small holders, since you don’t need to pay gas fees to collect the yield. Instead, your OUSD balance will increase daily as interest is earned from the underlying strategies.</p><h2>5. Does OUSD work from a hardware wallet?</h2><p>Your OUSD will grow when it’s held in any Ethereum EOA account. There are two types of accounts: Externally-owned (EOA) and contract accounts. The only wallets where OUSD doesn't grow are certain "smart wallets" and multi-sigs.</p><p>In the latter case, with something like Gnosis Safe, you can just connect to the dapp at<a href="https://app.ousd.com/"> https://app.ousd.com/</a> and opt-in to receive the yield. Any smart contract can also opt-in via code, but that requires some light custom work by the contract developer.</p><h2>6. Can you explain the audits and security processes involved in committing code to the OUSD protocol?</h2><p>Prior to shipping any new code for OUSD, every change goes through a rigorous internal and external audit. We have OpenZeppelin on retainer to review our work on an ongoing basis. That includes any changes to minting/redeeming, new strategies, etc. Our auditors rarely find any areas where the code needs improvement, thanks to multiple other internal processes.</p><p>We use several tools to automatically check for common errors in Solidity code. This allows us to take the lessons learned from the whole developer community and apply them automatically to our code review process. Any change to our smart contracts is reviewed by multiple engineers rather than allowing a single person to ship even the smallest improvement. We also review every DeFi exploit that happens to other protocols to confirm that OUSD isn't subject to a similar attack.</p><p>There's also a bug bounty program that we run with the help of Immunefi. That presents an opportunity for anyone to find an issue with our code and earn a reward of up to $250,000 for responsibly reporting it to us.</p><h2>7. How does the $250,000 bug bounty help keep OUSD secure?</h2><p>We get periodic reports of small things that people think we should look into, but we've never received a valid report of any major issues with our contracts. So we know that people are trying, but they haven't found anything that would cause concern. Finally, we have real-time monitoring on all our strategies and underlying protocols so that we're alerted if there's trouble brewing anywhere in our orbit. In an emergency, we have the ability to pause the protocol if we ever want to be on the safe side and investigate anything.</p><h2>8. Is there any code put in place to ensure OUSD holders always have liquidity, even in extreme circumstances?</h2><p>There are multiple features of the protocol that protect OUSD holders. I think the most common concern that we hear is what happens if one of the backing stablecoins were to de-peg from $1.00.&nbsp;</p><p>First, our real-time monitor tracks several variables that would signal this move before it causes a liquidity crunch for OUSD. Our strategists would be able to swap out of the de-pegging stablecoin within a matter of minutes and mitigate those risks. But even if that didn't happen for some reason, an attacker would not be able to drain the value from OUSD's vault.&nbsp;</p><p>We use Chainlink oracles to check the price of the collateral when someone is minting or redeeming OUSD. Based on these exchange rates, we never give someone more than 1 OUSD for their stablecoin and we never give them more than 1 stablecoin for their OUSD. We also stop accepting any collateral that has started to de-peg beyond a certain threshold. What this means is that the Chainlink oracles could be wrong and someone wouldn't be able to take advantage of it.</p><h2>9. What’s the difference between OUSD V1 and V2? What strategies were recently added to OUSD?</h2><p>OUSD V1 and V2 are the same token, but we added new yield strategies under the “OUSD V2” umbrella. These new strategies involve Morpho and Convex.</p><p>Morpho is a peer-to-peer layer on top of Compound and Aave that has grown rapidly to a TVL of over $200 million in a matter of months. We use it to earn a higher rate lending to over-collateralized borrowers, as morpho allows for 100% utilization rates in its peer-to-peer model.&nbsp;We're not only able to earn higher interest, but yes, we're also accumulating those MORPHO tokens that will be controlled by OGV stakers.</p><h2>10. Can you give us the rundown of OGV as a governance token and OGV as a value-accrual token?</h2><p>There are two main areas of utility for OGV (Origin Dollar Governance).</p><p>First, OGV holders determine the future of Origin Dollar.&nbsp;For example, they regularly vote on how OUSD's collateral is allocated across our strategies and what new strategies to build. We've already started to see projects pick up OGV so that they can influence how OUSD evolves.</p><p>Second, OGV holders profit from the growth of OUSD.&nbsp;10% of all the yield generated by OUSD is automatically paid to OGV stakers. Between those fees and other staking rewards, the current APY for OGV stakers is 54.32%.</p><p>The distinction to be made between OGV's roadmap and OUSD's is that it involves a lot of exchange listings. Currently, it's available on top exchanges like Huobi, Uniswap, Kucoin, Gate, and MEXC Global, but we look forward to getting it listed everywhere else and ramping up demand for OGV and OUSD.<br>&nbsp;</p>

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Frequently Asked Questions: Origin Dollar & OGV

<h2>Evaluating Risk In Crypto Staking</h2><p>Initially coined as a term specifically for cryptocurrencies using Proof-of-Stake, crypto staking has extended to any form of cryptocurrency being deposited onto smart contracts or centralized platforms to earn rewards.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>For Proof-of-Stake crypto networks like Ethereum, their native tokens can be staked for a chance to validate and add transactions onto the blockchain network. If the network finds that the validator has added invalid transactions or failed to validate transactions, a portion of their staked tokens will be burnt as a penalty. If they have successfully validated transactions, the staker receives their staking rewards.</p><p>Tokens that have been staked for a longer period of time have higher chances to be validators, encouraging long term incentives to secure the network. This staking process has been created as an alternative to the energy-intensive Proof-of-Work mechanism that Bitcoin and other crypto assets still use.&nbsp;</p><p>For popular stablecoins such as USDC and USDT, staking on centralized platforms such as Gemini, Nexo, or Youhodler usually comes with lockup periods. Due to the opaque nature of the platforms, we can only presume their main method of generating yield for stakers is through fixed-term loans.</p><p>In comparison, staking stablecoins on DeFi-native applications such as AAVE, Compound, or Convex is completely transparent, as transactions are conducted on a blockchain through smart contracts. On these applications, yield is generated through loans or market making activity.&nbsp;</p><h2>Is Staking Crypto Safe?</h2><p>Staking crypto can be safe or dangerous depending on the platforms or applications you use, as well as the cryptocurrencies used to stake. Staking on centralized platforms exposes you to counterparty risks, as they could become bankrupt or insolvent due to the risks taken when they try to generate yield. Real examples are Celsius, Voyager, Blockfi, Gemini, etc, where they promised interest rates above 8% but later became insolvent.</p><p>If you would still like to have a crypto exchange help you earn interest on popular cryptocurrencies, using a highly regulated platform like Coinbase, which is a NASDAQ listed company, or Kraken, which has a Wyoming banking license would be your next best choices.</p><p>The safest choice, however, would be using your own crypto wallet to start staking. Doing this would give you access to applications or protocols which are completely transparent, powered by smart contracts that eliminate human counterparties.&nbsp;</p><h2>Risks of Staking Crypto</h2><p>Though completely transparent, the uncensorable nature of crypto networks means that anyone can deploy smart contracts or applications. This means that not all crypto staking is safe or non-malicious.&nbsp;</p><p>Staking a native token such as ETH on their network is the safest form of staking in terms of smart contract risks. The code for native staking is extensively tested and audited, and there is no incentive for malicious behavior. The main risk of staking is the price movements of the underlying token, the liquidity risk if you need the capital, and the potential penalties if staking work is not done properly.&nbsp;</p><p>Staking stablecoins on DeFi blue-chip platforms such as AAVE, Compound, and Convex allows you to earn passive income while taking non-directional risk. Due to stablecoins not being exposed to volatility, this is often regarded as the safest way to stake crypto. Since these blue chips are extensively audited and have been live on the market for a few years, smart contract risks on these applications are minimal.&nbsp;</p><p>Higher risk options for staking on DeFi are algorithmic stablecoins, uncollateralized loans or options selling. Each DeFi strategy has to be carefully evaluated before putting money in.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Much Can You Earn Staking Crypto?</h2><p>Popular Proof-of-Stake yields range from 4-8%, with exposure to the underlying token. This means your upside may be unlimited, depending on how optimistic you are on the token, but there is also potential for losses due to market movements.&nbsp;</p><h2>Stablecoin Staking vs Staking Other Crypto</h2><p>Similar to fiat currencies, stablecoins do not carry market risks, allowing users to stake them and earn yield on a safe store of value. Staking popular stablecoins such as USDC or USDT on blue-chip options currently yields around 1-4%. For example, AAVE and Compound offer around 1-2% on stablecoins, while OUSD currently offers approximately 4%.</p><h2>Passive Stablecoin Staking via OUSD</h2><p>As mentioned before, the permissionless nature of blockchains allows anyone to deploy their own smart contracts and applications on the network. Numerous applications, whether new, old, conventional, innovative, malicious or non-malicious, carry different risks based on the quality of their smart contract code. This makes it hard for retail users to keep up with the market and conduct proper due diligence.&nbsp;</p><p>If you prefer to earn interest passively and let seasoned blockchain developers do the risk assessment for you, then Origin Dollar is a great option for you. OUSD is backed 1:1 by other stablecoins USDT, USDC and DAI, and it deploys these stablecoins into DeFi yield strategies curated by OUSD engineers. The community and team rebalances stablecoin allocations through Origin Dollar DAO, conducts risks analysis, and deploys new strategies for OUSD holders, ensuring that they receive the best risk-adjusted yields.&nbsp;</p><p>These yields are sent directly to OUSD holders’ wallets, with no staking or lock-ups required. Unlike centralized platforms, OUSD is fully on-chain, making it 100% transparent and auditable 24/7, giving users a peace of mind regarding the safety of their funds.</p><p>OUSD can be obtained through decentralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb">Uniswap</a> or centralized exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT">Gate</a>, or bought directly on the OUSD app via&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>. If users do not have a crypto wallet, they are required to set one up. If storing more than $1000 worth of tokens, it is generally recommended to use a hardware wallet like a Ledger.</p><h2>FAQs</h2><p><strong>What cryptocurrencies are the best for staking?</strong></p><p>The best cryptocurrency to stake depends on your goals and needs. If you like investing in market leaders and would like to have market exposure, you could stake on Ethereum with 32 ETH, or use a staking pool like Lido or Coinbase if you have less than 32 ETH. If you’re looking for low-risk stablecoin staking, then Origin Dollar is a great choice.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Is staking cryptocurrencies safe?</strong></p><p>The safety of staking cryptocurrencies depends on the strategies you employ. Users may prefer using OUSD, as dedicated engineers help conduct due diligence on behalf of investors.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>How do you stake crypto?&nbsp;</strong></p><p><br>Staking methods vary from each cryptocurrency. For Ethereum, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://ethereum.org/en/staking/#how-to-stake-your-eth">Ethereum.org</a> for a guide. To stake OUSD, visit app.ousd.com.&nbsp;</p>

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Crypto Staking Risk Evaluation

<h2>Make the Swap: DAI, USDC, or USDT → OUSD</h2><p>Stablecoins have recently gained popularity as a store of value and vehicle to generate passive income through DeFi and centralized platforms. However, the abundance of stablecoin staking strategies, variety of stablecoins, and recent staking platforms’ bankruptcies have left users confused and wary.&nbsp;</p><p>Through OUSD, users benefit from a dedicated engineering team that does risk analyses and implements yield strategies. This allows users to earn passive income while avoiding the time and effort involved in asset management and portfolio rebalancing.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD distributes its yield directly to users, turning your crypto wallet into a high-yield savings account. There are no lockup requirements and yield is earned directly from your wallet. This makes OUSD one of the simplest ways to put your stablecoins to work.</p><p>Boasting unparalleled convenience and an emphasis on safety, we believe OUSD is the best place to earn interest on your dollars.</p><h2>Problems With Stablecoin Staking</h2><p>Staking with centralized platforms usually involves lock up times, opaque processes and uncertainty of fund management. Since Celsius and Voyager’s bankruptcies, users have realized that these centralized platforms carry significant risks. Conversely, DeFi protocols are transparent, so users can see exactly where their funds are at any time.</p><p>The alternative is DeFi, where everything is transparently shown on the blockchain. That said, the abundance of different stablecoins, yield strategies, and gas fees makes it hard for regular users to invest properly.&nbsp;</p><h2>How is Yield Earned in DeFi</h2><p>The most popular categories of yield generating DeFi protocols are collateralized lending, uncollateralized lending and providing liquidity on decentralized exchanges. For example, collateralized lending protocols like Aave and Compound allow users to borrow assets by posting collateral in crypto. Borrowers are required to be over collateralized with a margin of safety. This way, smart contracts can sell your collateral if leverage crosses below a certain threshold.&nbsp;</p><p>Other DeFi protocols such as Curve allow liquidity providers to earn fees from traders that swap assets. Curve also rewards liquidity providers with CRV tokens, which has value from fee generation, voting rights and boosted liquidity provider rewards. Uncollateralized lending protocols usually generate higher yields, but stakers are exposed to higher risks and illiquidity issues.&nbsp;</p><p>Managing everything involved with stablecoin staking may cause users anxiety and avoid stablecoin yield strategies altogether. OUSD was created to relieve users of these issues, with its benefits outlined below.</p><h2>Benefits of Using OUSD</h2><h2>Liquid Stablecoin Staking</h2><p>OUSD does not require users to stake or lock up money to earn yield. At any time, OUSD can be redeemed for USDC, DAI or USDT through a DEX aggregator or our own&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">app</a>. Users and vendors can accept or use OUSD for payments, earning yield while remaining liquid on their holdings.&nbsp;</p><h2>Passive Yield Management</h2><p>OUSD yield strategies are managed for users by our dedicated team, which include engineers from Google, Meta, Dropbox, Coinbase, Pinterest, etc. They help ensure the protocols used provide the best risk-adjusted returns, putting emphasis on risk management and security. Users can passively hold OUSD to earn yield while skipping the hassle.</p><h2>Blue-Chip DeFi Protocol Integrations</h2><p>OUSD is integrated with blue-chip DeFi protocols. Among them are Aave and Compound for lending, as well as Curve and Convex for providing liquidity. These protocols have been stress-tested for years, through volatile events and audits.</p><p>Additionally, they have been analyzed by our engineering team, ensuring maximum safety for your assets. More information on these protocols can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ousd.com/how-does-OUSD-work">here</a>.</p><h2>Diversified Risk - Stablecoin and Protocol Management</h2><p>Similar to diversified portfolios, OUSD minimizes risk taken in the lending and liquidity markets by using different stablecoins and DeFi protocols. Our engineers are also able to move funds back into OUSD contracts at any moment’s notice should conditions warrant it.&nbsp;</p><h2>Where to Buy OUSD</h2><p>Users who do not have a crypto wallet will be required to set one up. Popular choices include&nbsp;<a href="https://metamask.io/download/">Metamask</a> or hardware wallets like a&nbsp;<a href="https://shop.ledger.com/">Ledger</a>. Users who intend to store more than $1000 worth of money are generally recommended to use a hardware wallet.&nbsp;</p><p>Once you have set up your wallet, you can send USDC, USDT or DAI to your public address. If you don’t already own crypto, you first need to buy on a centralized exchange like Coinbase or Kraken. After funding your wallet, you can trade OUSD through a decentralized exchange aggregator like&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">matcha.xyz</a>, or our own app on&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>.</p><p>Similar to how OUSD can be sold, you can buy OUSD through a DEX&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">aggregator</a> or our own&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">app</a>.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/peuKFAVK-_KYx1Qy613nbNYqG5DXBfWRH7gMEvQnlziNq_9NqxbN_mwUMESWud62Dqur50LxMS9K2D7owQ9zImCKIzbLG80_03ckVqrcN9Dep-N0oyjbcvwg8mn1Ne_dCUkgSpBIZwgl2q7atAb1awfRbvi_gwbiUhIwEbO9y6fMIZqBUlNbpFRCOXlWQA"></figure><h2>What Makes a Stablecoin Safe?</h2><p>We have addressed the stablecoin safety in this&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ousd.com/safest-stablecoins-for-defi">article</a>, outlining the attributes and properties of both safe and dangerous stablecoins.</p><p>There are a few factors that make a stablecoin safe. Firstly, stablecoins should be fully collateralized and redeemable for underlying assets. They should also have an established track record, and be audited. It’s also important, especially for large position sizes, to make sure the stablecoin is liquid.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, USDC is issued by Circle, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centre.io/usdc-transparency">publishes</a> monthly statements/attestations on their USDC reserves. This way, Circle shows its holdings on a regular basis. Currently, USDC is backed by a mixed amount of United States Treasury Securities and U.S Dollars. Users thus have faith in being able to redeem their USDC for USD.&nbsp;</p><p>Since OUSD is redeemable for USDC and other similar stablecoins, OUSD has the same safe properties. With no staking or lockup requirements and a dedicated risk management team, OUSD is the safest and most convenient place to earn interest on your dollars.</p><h2>FAQs</h2><p><strong>Are high-yielding stablecoin strategies worth trying?</strong></p><p>More often than not, there are unannounced risks associated with high stablecoin yields. While it may be worth investing in high yield strategies, there’s likely more risk involved than a low-yield strategy.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>What companies are stablecoin issuers?</strong></p><p>Circle is an example of a company that issues stablecoins. When $1 is posted as collateral, Circle can issue 1 USDC. Smart contracts can also act as stablecoin issuers, such as MakerDAO and the Origin Dollar minting contract.</p><p><strong>Why Use OUSD?</strong></p><p>OUSD earns interest directly to your crypto wallet. It eliminates the need for manual stablecoin staking and allows others to do the work for you.</p>

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The Yield Generating Stablecoin: Why Use OUSD?

<h2>How Does OUSD Work?</h2><p><a href="https://ousd.com/earn-info">OUSD</a> is a yield-generating stablecoin collateralized by other stablecoins, with security as its top priority. Users exchange USDC, USDT, or DAI for OUSD, which the protocol then deploys into DeFi yield strategies curated by Origin Dollar’s engineers.</p><p>Our users have enjoyed earning interest with the security of OUSD in an environment where multiple platforms and exchanges have imploded, without having to deal with the hassle and expenses of asset management.&nbsp;</p><h2>Protocols Utilized by OUSD to Earn Yield</h2><p>OUSD generates yield solely through stablecoin lending and liquidity provision, eliminating any risk of speculative positions in volatile assets. There is no market volatility risk, which is commonly the largest risk when investing in cryptocurrencies. OUSD earns yield through stablecoin lending on&nbsp;<a href="https://compound.finance/markets">Compound</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.morpho.xyz/">Morpho</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://app.aave.com/markets/">AAVE</a> and by providing liquidity on&nbsp;<a href="https://curve.fi/pools">Curve</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.convexfinance.com/stake">Convex</a>. The 30 and 365 day trailing yield for OUSD hovers around 4% to 7%.</p><p>Notably, the yield with OUSD is higher than any singular protocol used by Origin Dollar. Not only is OUSD passive, but it allows for higher yields than the aforementioned blue-chip protocols.</p><h2>AAVE and Compound</h2><p>Borrowers on AAVE and Compound put up different types of collateral, such as ETH, BTC and other tokens or stablecoins to borrow assets. AAVE and Compound require borrowers to be over collateralized and will sell their collateral if their leverage crosses a certain threshold.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, users posting ETH as collateral on AAVE can only borrow up to 82.5% of their position. If the user deposits 10 ETH worth $1,300 each, they can borrow up to $10,725 USDC. Their collateral will be sold off if their loaned USDC reaches 85% value of their ETH to prevent insolvency i.e. if ETH drops to $1261, AAVE will sell enough ETH to ensure USDC lenders get paid back the full $10,725 plus interest owed.</p><p>Using this mechanic, OUSD loans out stablecoins on the platform to earn yield and distribute it to OUSD holders. The yield is earned from the interest and fees generated by the stablecoin pools on Aave and Compound.</p><h2>Curve (CRV) and Convex (CVX)</h2><p>Liquidity providers on Curve allow traders to swap assets for a fee, such as swaps between DAI, USDC or USDT. Curve also rewards liquidity providers with CRV tokens, which the market values due to its fee generation, voting rights and boosted liquidity provider rewards.&nbsp;</p><p>Convex is a yield optimiser for Curve that prioritizes acquiring CRV tokens. Liquidity providers can stake their Curve position on Convex to earn boosted rewards and CVX tokens. In return, Convex takes a percentage of CRV token rewards.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD acts as a liquidity provider for DAI, USDC, USDT, and OUSD, collecting the trading fees and selling CRV token rewards for more stablecoins. OUSD accumulates in users’ wallets as token rewards and fees are collected through the aforementioned protocols.&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD Governance Via veOGV</h2><p>OGV is OUSD’s governance token, whereby users can lock it for a period of time in exchange for vote-escrowed OGV (veOGV). The longer the lockup time, the more OGV rewards and voting power users receive. Note that 10% of all yield generated by OUSD goes to the Origin Dollar protocol, distributed to stakers in the form of yield and token buy backs.&nbsp;</p><p>veOGV holders are able to vote on the actions and general direction the protocol takes, such as determining how assets are distributed between yield strategies, voting on whether or not to integrate new strategies, changing tokenomics or fee structures, etc. Essentially, veOGV holders are able to influence anything that involves Origin Dollar.&nbsp;</p><h2>Risks Involved With Stablecoins</h2><h2>Smart Contract Risks</h2><p>Smart contracts are programs coded to act in certain ways based on its input, as explained in AAVE’s example of lending and borrowing. Though contracts may have multiple audits, there is still a possibility that they may have unintended errors or bugs, which may lead to losses of funds.</p><p>Smart contract risk applies to OUSD, AAVE, Compound, Curve, Convex, and any other decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. That said, the longer a smart contract has been deployed, the more time a potential hacker has had to exploit it.&nbsp;</p><p>AAVE, Compound, Convex and Curve’s models have been stress-tested over 1-5 years, through volatile events and audits, further analyzed by the Origin engineering team. Based on this, we determine risks to be low and utilize these protocols for our yield strategy.</p><h2>Stablecoin Risks</h2><p>OUSD is backed by USDC, USDT and DAI, which exposes the token to counterparty risks. Stablecoin issuers such as Circle and Tether issue USDC and USDT. These stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar based on the issuer’s holdings such as cash and commercial paper.&nbsp;</p><p>Issuers are subject to U.S regulatory risks and have the ability to freeze the stablecoins in users’ wallets. Since DAI is predominantly backed by USDC in a smart contract, DAI has a similar risk profile.</p><p>Based on USDC, USDT and DAI’s track record over multiple years, we determine stablecoin risk to be low.&nbsp;</p><p>Overall, by avoiding the usage of speculative assets, our strategies carry one of the least risks in all of DeFi.</p><h2>The Only Passive, Yield-Bearing Stablecoin&nbsp;</h2><p>The interest earned on OUSD gets directly sent to users’ wallets, without the need for staking or lockups. Boasting unparalleled convenience and emphasis on risk management and security, we believe OUSD is the best place to earn interest on your dollars.</p><p>OUSD can be obtained on exchanges such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT?ref=3018394">Gate</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap?inputCurrency=0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86&amp;outputCurrency=0xdac17f958d2ee523a2206206994597c13d831ec7">Uniswap</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86">Matcha</a>, or directly through the OUSD&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">application</a> with DAI, USDT or USDC.&nbsp;</p>

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How Does OUSD Earn Yield?

<p>The inherent programmability of smart contracts on blockchains have led to many use cases, like marketplaces, escrows, money markets, decentralized exchanges, etc. An artist can customize royalty fees when their NFTs are traded or even make their NFTs untradeable. There are an infinite amount of functions developers and users can incorporate into protocols or tokens––one of the more important functions is rebasing.&nbsp;</p><h2>What Is Rebasing In Crypto?</h2><p>A rebasing token is a token with an elastic circulating supply that is algorithmically increased or decreased according to settings created in its smart contract. In practice, rebasing tokens will fluctuate directly in one’s wallet. In the case of OUSD, the token only increases as it rebases, as yields are converted into OUSD and allocated to users’ wallets proportionally.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Rebasing Tokens Work</h2><p>There are a number of rebasing tokens in DeFi, the most famous ones being OHM from OlympusDAO, AMPL from Ampleforth, and OUSD from Origin Protocol. This article will explain their mechanics below, comparing their pros and cons.</p><h2>AMPL - Ampleforth</h2><p><a href="https://docs.ampleforth.org/learn/about-the-ampleforth-protocol">AMPL</a> was the first rebasing token, created as an inflation-adjusted unit of account. The AMPL token price targets the value of one&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ampleforth.org/dashboard/oracles">2019 CPI adjusted U.S Dollar</a>.</p><p>When the market value of one AMPL is above one 2019 CPI adjusted U.S Dollar, the number of AMPL in users’ wallets increases proportionally to bring down its price. When the market value of one AMPL is below the target, the number of tokens in users’ wallets decreases. Such rebases occur every 24 hours.</p><p>In the long-run, AMPL is able to achieve its target price. But because its price is driven by speculation or sentiment instead of real value, the short-term volatility and lack of liquidity makes it infeasible for real usage as a currency or unit of account.</p><h2>OHM - OlympusDAO</h2><p>OHM’s aim is to become a decentralized reserve currency––a store of value, unit of account and medium of exchange, with a rebasing mechanism based on the fact that each OHM would be backed by $1 of value. When the price of OHM is above $1 and someone purchases OHM from the protocol, new OHM is minted to distribute to stakers. For example, if OHM was purchased for $10 from the protocol, 10 OHM is minted to distribute to OHM stakers.&nbsp;</p><p>The issue with this model is that it relies on a continuous flow of new capital. Before the protocol could earn real revenue with its applications, OHM’s price and hype grew too fast, inducing FOMO and speculation. Late buyers were the source of revenue, akin to a ponzi scheme, and the market capitalization blew up when there was no more demand.&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD - Origin Protocol</h2><p>Unlike AMPL or OHM, OUSD’s design keeps speculation and volatility at a minimum. OUSD is fully backed by stablecoins, earns yield on these stablecoins, and rebases with a target value of $1. For instance, if the protocol generates $1,000 of yield in a day and you hold 10 million OUSD out of the 20 million rebasing supply, your balance will increase to 10,00,500 OUSD. Since the protocol cannot generate negative yield, OUSD can only rebase upwards.&nbsp;</p><p>This shows that OUSD is a superior store of value, unit of account, and medium of exchange compared to its rebasing peers, but also superior to USDC and DAI, which earn zero yield by themselves.</p><h2>How Does OUSD Earn Yield?</h2><p>OUSD generates yield through DeFi, which includes strategies like lending on Compound and Aave, or providing liquidity on Curve and Convex. For more information, please visit our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ousd.com/how-does-OUSD-work">OUSD yield article.</a></p><h2>Benefits of Rebasing Stablecoins vs. USDC and DAI</h2><p>Unlike USDC or DAI, OUSD turns your Web3 wallet into a high yield savings account. Normal stablecoins have to be staked or locked in order to earn yield, requiring the user to do their own research and risk management, while spending transaction fees in the process. OUSD directly deposits yield into your wallet and takes care of all the other headaches for you. If that sounds appealing, new users can acquire OUSD on our&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">app</a>.</p>

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Crypto Rebasing: How OUSD, AMPL, & OHM Compare

<h2>New Utility for OUSD</h2><p>We’re proud to announce a new partnership with the innovators at&nbsp;<a href="https://archimedesfi.com/">Archimedes</a> to drive fresh utility at the junction of DeFi and NFTs.</p><p>Archimedes (ARCH) is an upcoming leveraged stablecoin protocol that turbocharges yield via its lending pools. The platform utilizes its own stablecoin, lvUSD, as collateral on stablecoin deposits. Origin will be powering Archimedes’ blue chip borrowing and lending marketplace, hosted on&nbsp;<a href="https://archimedesfi.com/">archimedesfi.com</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Excitingly, OUSD is the first stablecoin that the protocol will utilize to leverage yields up to 10x. This means that the Origin community will be among the first to gain access to Archimedes’ novel instruments.</p><p>All positions on Archimedes will be represented in the form of NFTs. Users may choose to unwind these at any time in return for their principal deposit and any interest earned on OUSD.</p><h2>How it works</h2><h3>Borrowing</h3><ul><li>A borrower deposits Dai/USDT/USDC (and soon OUSD) to&nbsp;<a href="https://archimedesfi.com/">archimedesfi.com</a> in order to leverage yield up to 10x.</li><li>Archimedes then borrows sufficient lvUSD to open a leveraged position.</li><li>Once opened, borrowers are issued NFTs representing their positions. These can easily be traded on NFT marketplaces.</li><li>All leverage fees will be payable in Archimedes’ governance and utility token, ARCH.</li><li>Leveraged positions remain open for 12 months. Following this, borrowers may either:<ul><li>Unwind the position and claim the principal and accrued interest, thus burning the NFT.</li><li>Renew the position using ARCH tokens.</li></ul></li></ul><h2>Lending</h2><p>Liquidity providers are also able to benefit from Archimedes’ leverage engine. Lenders may provide lvUSD or 3CRV to the protocol’s lvUSD/3CRV pool on Curve Finance. In exchange, lenders are rewarded with token emissions denominated in ARCH, partnered protocol tokens, and a share of the pool’s fees.</p><h2>Driving Further Innovation</h2><p>We’re constantly evaluating fresh opportunities to push the boundaries of blockchain by building across NFTs and DeFi. This partnership with Archimedes provides a shining example of Origin’s multifaceted, complementary product suite.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s a privilege to be building the foundations for further advancements in the space by providing projects with the infrastructure to tackle new use cases.&nbsp;</p><p>The integration of OUSD into Archimedes is part of our ongoing commitment to offer novel instruments to Origin Dollar’s supporters.&nbsp;</p><p>Ready to enter the OUSD ecosystem? You can acquire OUSD via:</p><ul><li>Centralized exchanges: Kucoin and Gate.io</li><li>Directly minting on the OUSD dApp:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ousd.com/">OUSD.com</a></li><li>Decentralized exchange aggregators:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">matcha.xyz</a><br>&nbsp;</li></ul>

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Origin Partners With Archimedes

<p>We’re excited to announce yet another expansion of OUSD’s ever-growing ecosystem.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.popcorn.network/">PopcornDAO</a> passed the PIP-14 governance proposal to turbocharge its treasury’s yield generation. Over $2 million of the organization’s idle USDC will be converted into Origin Dollar to earn yield for Popcorn’s treasury. The integration allows Popcorn to remain in full custody of its assets while it earns passive, market neutral yield through Aave, Compound, Convex, Curve, and Morpho.&nbsp;</p><p>View the full proposal&nbsp;<a href="https://forum.popcorn.network/t/pip-14-treasury-management-next-steps/871">here</a>.</p><h2>OUSD: The Clear Solution for DAO Treasuries</h2><p>By utilizing OUSD, PopcornDAO’s treasury can now enjoy the best risk-adjusted stablecoin yields in DeFi. OUSD’s groundbreaking strategies and fluid allocation mechanics give PopcornDAO the ability to earn yield on its stablecoins through various blue-chip DeFi money markets.&nbsp;</p><p>The upcoming conversion will be a near-seamless process, as the OUSD app is already live on Gnosis. Combined with OUSD’s robust security, this integration carries immense benefits for Popcorn’s community.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/5CXnNNimFjrnZKHDdDZo3aZH_o0S7w8L1uow6ejfBl1Gcrxhwt2Gv4vVrdpBe2ZVnrOVc3Vkd6cAQ1ouCgbseByyywAB9hLrt3tcmgVRzLeXh38uq7RghtZJEDhpSwhq-hiWSr6BmZGu9zw3xyrON6jqpkmGfZa-ZbRAWjzkFcH_EpCY2dd8FoMX2eo5Uw"></figure><h2>About PopcornDAO</h2><p>Launched in late 2021, PopcornDAO is a multi-chain yield optimization protocol with a conscience.&nbsp;</p><p>Users are able to deposit a variety of stablecoins and premier crypto assets to Popcorn’s staking, yield optimizing, and dedicated stablecoin products in order to accrue returns.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/PbCyjob6DHhbbS94INVwM1_40ukroyOm17MEdaZMRXQeHctKXqDBtE8MMBw_lhJCChGCJ0rrm-u__rxTebFygAY26MULZQ3CR4BL-hhgILDvvHbawhRQ9Dt4mePWc5EWIbhKDTXF9mB5FzFk9i_c4K0cl9C5NtHMLjxp4Y0poMXj4z8BNvyAvDcRE96Z4g"></figure><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.popcorndao.finance/">popcorndao.finance</a></p><p>Impressively, PopcornDAO has been designed to generate yield while simultaneously contributing to social causes. A percentage of fees generated by the platform are donated to social impact organizations, which are chosen via governance votes.&nbsp;</p><p>Ready to enter the OUSD ecosystem? You can acquire OUSD via:</p><p>Centralized exchanges: Kucoin and Gate.io</p><p>Decentralized exchange aggregators:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">matcha.xyz</a></p><p>Directly minting on the OUSD dApp:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ousd.com/">OUSD.com</a></p>

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PIP-14 Passes: PopcornDAO Now Uses OUSD to Earn Yield On Its USDC

<p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><i>Research by Domen Grabec, Written by Ryan McNamara</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Liquity is a decentralized borrowing protocol that issues loans in the form of LUSD Coin against Ether as its only form of collateral. The protocol is immutable in that it is deployed on Ethereum with no governance, so there is no risk associated with future contract upgrades.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">After careful assessment, OUSD has deployed a 3crv/LUSD metapool strategy that exposes a portion of the stablecoin’s treasury to the price movement of LUSD stablecoin. In doing so, there are 2 main concerns:&nbsp;</span></p><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">A Liquity Dollar de-peg in case of quick negative movement of ETH price</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">LUSD maintaining a stable peg to allow OUSD to move in and out of the LUSD Convex strategy without incurring significant losses.</span></li></ul><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">✅ LUSD Peg In The Case of Sharp ETH Price Decline</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Liquity Protocol ensures the stability of LUSD using collateralization rules, a stability pool, and its novel recovery mode.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Minimum collateral ratio per Trove (account) is 110%, while in practice most users over collateralize their positions heavily. This is due to the protocol incentivising overcollateralization by reducing the risk of liquidation in case of a so-called recovery mode. Recovery mode kicks in if the protocol’s aggregate collateral goes under 150%. Users with less than 150% collateralization may face liquidation during recovery mode, incentivizing users to stake over 150% collateral for their loans.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">This&nbsp;</span><a href="https://dune.com/queries/33013/66339"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Dune</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> graph shows that aggregate protocol collateralization is commonly above 200%. The chart shows an all-time low collateral ratio of around 183% in January 2022.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FiEGxFyiBxLnctFCIwNHD54FlCGHoDhVmiQGys9lgewVUaU4PCBPTzP5V2_1E4bZXM8M8cg7dONfHxMdH6_PlKSv43g5_r3eRkglcAd2ThGgRojZUxLFxVRtOzmbTY2JcaJPaw4ADQx7wSukEDr9SA_Ea9reUgyE_IWGp6EIyJr6xhJelW6jamxoAvceg"></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Liquity also introduces a stability pool where accounts can deposit LUSD that is used to liquidate Troves that have under 110% collateral (or less than 150% collateral if recovery mode kicks in). Accounts are earning APY on the stability pool and the pool acts as another line of defense in the case of an ETH price decline.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">The protocol’s recovery mode, stability pools, and Trove collateral design do a sufficient job of mitigating risk of a serious LUSD de-peg in the case of a sharp decline in Ether’s price. This is evidenced by $LUSD stability during the Ether price decline that occurred on&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.liquity.org/blog/how-liquity-handled-its-first-big-stress-test"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>19th of May 2021</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">⚠️ LUSD Maintaining Stable Peg</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Due to the 110% minimum Trove collateralization threshold and the ability to redeem LUSD for ETH at a rate of $1 (plus redeem a fee that is variable), LUSD is successful at maintaining a hard enforced peg between $1 and $1.10. In practice, the token commonly trades between $1 and $1.02. More on the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.liquity.org/blog/on-price-stability-of-liquity"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>hard peg mechanisms can be found here</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">The primary concern with integrating Origin Dollar with LUSD is that the protocol is not designed to maintain a price at precisely the $1 mark. Especially when the market cap is relatively low, LUSD experiences increased volatility between $1 and $1.05. The reason for this increased volatility can be attributed to the borrow redemption&nbsp;</span><a href="https://docs.liquity.org/faq/general#does-liquity-charge-any-fees"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>fee mechanism</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">In order to limit rapid changes Liquity Dollar’s market cap, the protocol enforces a time decaying function to calculate the borrow and redemption fees. (There is also a fixed 0.5% fee that applies and is not important for this argument).</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">b(t) := b(t-1) + 𝛼 * m/n</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Where:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><i>b(t) is the base fee rate at time t</i></span></li><li><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><i>m the amount of redeemed LUSD</i></span></li><li><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><i>n the current supply of LUSD</i></span></li><li><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><i>𝛼 is a constant = 0.5</i></span></li></ul><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">See how redemption amount impacts borrow fees in the cart below:</span></p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/FG_qFPXqb5Lb2k-pI0Xv9PiUMXqBsRHyDwmNeoqWVCwSX_2eYEH34mS_6Aec9xIFPxvF8xzYVyFBBE1BRDHHXW-DUcqz4e7HYg0vyob1-2uwsViGYbP_wQ-cRbIEEWl4S2A57KUT26jhp8DLhF-4yETJeScRFrr5Ygx4ZkAsc9D-vWuiBU1Kv5zZmcnSWw"></figure><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">The fee function’s design has the effect of creating more volatile borrow/redemption fees when the market capitalization of LUSD is lower. The more volatile the fee, the more volatile LUSD becomes. Illustrating this behavior, the chart below shows the market capitalization of LUSD overlaid by the token’s price.</span></p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/t5M6hpEWdzjO7FjelCavBhikl8axiObbg3xglUnyDd6tQWbbIYf69lrKtBa0Z6xOLqT1drTpkM5D6GbWk5pk2fnhzphRho5z4JDZWS8VL6u2LWGMY8nq9G5h5ViyNWm92IqlR8JCEySIsLdSYpOrL6WiUjYH5W_oVX8wrEc9Cne29pv4UmN3UIyQ-6pwTQ"></figure><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">The price of LUSD was more stable at a $1.4b market cap, and it gained noticeably more volatility when its market capitalization decreased to $800m. Since its market capitalization decreased further, LUSD has traded more closely to $1.02 than $1.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">It is also worth noting that CoinmarketCap and Coingecko both differ in price &amp; market cap charts for LUSD. The reason seems to be that&nbsp;</span><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/liquity-usd/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>CoinmarketCap</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> is missing the Uniswap LUSD/USDC pool and&nbsp; </span><a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/liquity-usd"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Coingecko</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> is missing the Curve LUSD/3pool from their calculations.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">There is a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://dune.com/queries/32594/65606"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Dune query</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> done by Dani, a Liquity Protocol developer, that is probably the most accurate representation of true market cap. (Drawn over Coinmarketcap price graph):</span></p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZO9JtpYoF6SR-h_APFtOjjUpipFh37pKK7Jnx1VXeLFkUCQQ_JMubOOn7h7Zd8GEdnGfdzSUvzZOAirrYnBzAOcHnv6uUd0MnuYLQLw2N3GjB6FEL4vOCRSqWOlxXW_Km0w9UAjBlCoN2qUkbb_CyPfMzPpR907xQdhFpZNgaOnnpMAPr9ZEWqd-ynW50g"></figure><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Price volatility experiment and funds movement loss</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Instead of simply looking at Coinmarketcap and Coingecko data, the purpose of this experiment is to confirm the price movements of LUSD and 3crv-LUSD-LP using a forked Ethereum node. The goal of the experiment is to gauge what the potential protocol losses are for OUSD when moving funds into and out of the LUSD Convex strategy. The amount of time it would take to recoup these losses by earning APY from the 3crv-LUSD pool is also modeled below.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Below are various block numbers where Coinmarketcap shows the largest LUSD price movements at different market capitalizations. All measurements have been done using forked hardhat nodes interacting with the Curve&nbsp;</span><a href="https://curve.fi/#/ethereum/pools/lusd/deposit"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>3crv_LUSD pool</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://github.com/OriginProtocol/origin-dollar/blob/master/brownie/scripts/misc/lusd_economic_research.py"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Script</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> interacting with the pool does two things:</span></p><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Swaps 1,000 LUSD for DAI</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Removes 1,000 3crv_LUSD_LP of liquidity from metapool and resulting 3crv_LP from 3pool to get DAI</span></li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_47_11_PM_71ba0da1f3.png"></figure><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">V2 test&nbsp;</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">LUSD is trading at $1.028 at the time of writing. Our goal in this model is to figure out what the loss is in case we deploy the Curve liquidity right now and LUSD de-peggs to the $0.99 range.<img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_47_38_PM_d40f04d758.png"></span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">V3 Test</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">This is a similar test to the above, except that the block number stays fixed to 16124585 and the $LUSD market cap is fixed at $180m. In this model, we manipulate the LUSD Curve pool before running the test to change the price of LUSD. However, the market capitalization of LUSD stays the same. The amount of DAI we receive from a $1k LUSD swap can be a direct gauge of the dollar price of LUSD.&nbsp;</span></p><h2 style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Swapping 1,000 LP to DAI</span></h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_49_25_PM_6b323aa7fd.png"></figure><h2 style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Swapping 10,000 LP to DAI</span></h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_49_52_PM_e6dafefee8.png"></figure><h2 style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Swapping 100,000 LP to DAI</span></h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_50_36_PM_d4521005a6.png"></figure><h2 style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Swapping 1m LP to DAI</span></h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_51_19_PM_a14f21a2e7.png"></figure><h2 style="text-align:center;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Swapping 5m LP to DAI</span></h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmsmediaproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2023_01_06_at_12_51_44_PM_f67455f4e7.png"></figure><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Conclusion</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">We grade the risk of a Liquity Dollar de-peg extremely low. Liquidity dollar has robust stabilization mechanisms, holds a track record of a stable peg in volatile markets, and remains over collateralized solely with Ether. Its liquidation mechanisms are proven to react to fast-moving markets, ensuring Liquity dollar maintains its value around $1.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">More substantially, there are risks involved with price volatility of LUSD that need to be accounted for. The volatility of LUSD can have potential negative effects on moving funds to and from the LUSD generalized strategy.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Within the bounds of normal operation, it could take up to 3 weeks to make up for the lost value of entering and exiting the strategy if LUSD falls to $1 from current prices. Notably, the risks of utilizing the strategy will decrease as LUSD grows in market capitalization. It seems that a market capitalization of $1 billion brings sufficient stability to Liquity Dollar. As the stablecoin’s price stabilizes, it’s likely that OUSD governance will choose to increase the allocation to the LUSD Convex strategy. Until then, Origin Dollar has begun to test the LUSD Convex strategy with an allocation of $100,000.</span></p>

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Liquity USD Risk Assessment Research: Origin Protocol

<p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Origin Dollar’s engineers are constantly developing new strategies, improving risk parameters, maintaining security, and maximizing risk-adjusted yield. Before executing on any decisions, Origin governance ensures OUSD and users’ funds stay secure. After thorough review, the Origin Dollar DAO believes adding the LUSD Convex strategy is a key strategic update. The new integration lays the groundwork for broader stablecoin meta strategies on Convex in pursuit of the highest market-neutral, low-risk stablecoin yields.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">What is LUSD?</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">LUSD is a USD pegged stablecoin issued by Liquity, a decentralized borrowing protocol on Ethereum. Liquity allows users to borrow LUSD using ETH as collateral, charging a variable origination fee between 0.5% and 5%. Impressively, the protocol boasts a 0% interest rate for all borrowers.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Liquity requires the overall protocol to be above 150% collateral value, which means the total value of loans in LUSD must be under 66.67% of the ETH value posted as collateral. If the protocol goes under this specified value, positions with a collateral ratio lower than 150% will have their ETH collateral liquidated for LUSD. Based on this&nbsp;</span><a href="https://dune.com/queries/33013/66339"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Dune</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> graph, the protocol usually maintains a collateralization value of &gt;200%.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Note that when the protocol maintains a collateralization value above 150%, individual positions can have a minimum collateral ratio of 110% before being liquidated.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Benefits of Integrating LUSD with Origin Dollar</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">LUSD is similar to Dai, but its strong focus on decentralization sets it apart. Compared to DAI which has onboarded USDC, WBTC, and GUSD as collateral, LUSD only uses ETH which is completely decentralized and uncensorable. Though DAI’s parameters for lending are stringent enough to weather all of crypto’s stressful market tests, LUSD’s additional layer of decentralization is still a positive.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">LUSD’s smart contracts are also immutable, which means no administrator can change variables in the contract for a potential exploit. Unlike MakerDAO, the LUSD protocol is not based on governance––the protocol is deployed with no intention of being changed.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">By onboarding LUSD Convex and Curve strategies, OUSD is able to achieve a projected APY of 2 - 6%. While these strategies expose OUSD to risks associated with LUSD, we believe these risks to be minimal. Moreover, allocations will begin with small allocations, and OUSD remains mintable with only DAI, USDC, and USDT––the same applies for redemption of Origin Dollar.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">What are the Concerns?</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">LUSD’s properties as a completely uncensorable stablecoin and holders’ ability to earn elevated yields on it has led to a constant excess demand for it, making it trade above $1. If OUSD purchases at the current market price of approximately $1.02, the protocol may incur losses if LUSD returns to the $1 value.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Based on the DAO’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/12BNIPbjML0l1McWkTrQToyxuIF2mbHbxqJ7FIl3X9uA/edit#"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>analysis</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">, it will take approximately 34 days to recoup losses if LUSD returns to $1, assuming the OUSD purchases LUSD at $1.028 and maintains an APY of 4.85%. Based on the scenario analysis, the DAO has voted to establish a cap of 100k worth of funds to be deployed to this strategy. Notably, this is a small allocation comparatively to funds being deployed to other yield strategies.&nbsp;</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">Earn DeFi Yield Through OUSD</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">The careful integration of LUSD not only improves OUSD’s yields, but also stablecoin risk diversification. Constant improvements made to the protocol is only possible due to the DAO’s engineers ability to conduct&nbsp;</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sc9NFfn-ACetRZOPfE6DdRi78hf6zokPkzIU1ZQ2jz8/edit"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>smart contract reviews</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">, with continuous research and development.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">To benefit from these efforts, users simply have to hold OUSD, as yield is directly sent to their wallets with no lockups required. OUSD’s positions can be actively monitored on-chain or on the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>analytics dashboard</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">, providing users with radical transparency. With the recent bankruptcies in the centralized arm of crypto, OUSD has become a safe haven for users wanting to earn passive income on their stablecoins.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">How to Buy OUSD</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">OUSD can be obtained through decentralized exchanges such as&nbsp;</span><a href="https://sushiswap.vision/token/0x3155ba85d5f96b2d030a4966af206230e46849cb"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Uniswap</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> or centralized exchanges such as&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Kucoin</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"> or&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.gate.io/trade/OUSD_USDT"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Gate</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">, or bought directly on the OUSD app via&nbsp;</span><a href="https://ousd.com/swap"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>OUSD.com</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0,0%,100%);font-family:Arial;">. If users do not have a crypto wallet, they are required to set one up. If storing more than $1000 worth of tokens, it is generally recommended to use a hardware wallet like a Ledger.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>

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LUSD Convex Strategy Now Live on OUSD

<p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is full of terms and jargon that is confusing for newcomers. Here's a list of the most common DeFi terms and what they mean.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">AMM</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Automated Market Makers (AMM) use algorithms to automatically set prices and facilitate trades on a decentralized exchange (DEX). A DEX is a type of cryptocurrency exchange that operates on a decentralized network, rather than a centralized server. Uniswap is the leading DEX in crypto.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">APY</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is a metric that calculates the yield an investment generates over a one-year period. APY takes into account compound interest, which is why it’s generally used for&nbsp; yield-generating protocols.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">APR</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Annual Percentage Rate (APR) differs from APY in that it is the rate one pays when borrowing funds, whereas APY is in reference to what one earns when saving.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Collateral</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Collateral constitutes the temporary provision of assets in exchange for a loan or minting a token. Origin Dollar (OUSD) uses USDT, USDC and DAI as collateral. Users can mint OUSD by providing a proportional amount of any accepted collateral.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">DAOs</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">DAO stands for decentralized autonomous organization. DAOs are commonly operated through governance tokens, as those who hold these tokens can vote on future protocol upgrades.&nbsp;</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">DeFi&nbsp;</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">DeFi is short for decentralized finance. Decentralized finance is an overarching term for financial functions conducted by blockchains. Pillars of DeFi are trustlesssness, immutability, and censorship-resistance.&nbsp;</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Governance</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">DeFi protocols offer governance tokens which grant holders voting and economic power. Holders may make governance proposals regarding a project’s future, and are able to vote on proposals and fund allocations. This ensures that DeFi protocols maintain their decentralization by giving control of protocol decisions to those they affect most – holders.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Liquidity Provision (LP)</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Decentralized Exchanges source liquidity from users, as opposed to market makers on centralized exchanges. By contributing assets to a liquidity pool on a token pair, LP providers are rewarded with a share of fees from trades executed on the pool in question.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Rebasing</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">A mechanism used to maintain a stablecoin’s peg to the asset it represents. This mechanism changes the amount of tokens one holds to adjust total supply based on predefined requirements. Rebasing helps to ensure price stability for the stablecoin being used.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Reserves</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">The underlying collateral used by protocols like OUSD to generate yield. In the case of OUSD, reserves constitute USDC, USDT, and DAI.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Staking</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Staking constitutes locking up a token in order to either secure a network or reduce liquid supply. In exchange, stakers are rewarded with fees generated by the protocol and/or yield mechanics. OUSD staking does not require any lock-up and delivers yield directly to your wallet in proportion to your holdings.</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Whale</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Someone who holds a large sum of crypto, typically because they invested early and haven't sold their positions. Whales can range from holding 7-figures worth of crypto up to the largest holders with billions of dollars.&nbsp;</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Yield Farming</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0,0%,100%);">Yield farming involves allocating reserves to a number of strategies – staking, liquidity provision, etc. Yield farming protocols like OUSD strive to maximize efficiency through constantly reevaluating strategic allocations to deliver the best yield possible.</span></p>

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DeFi Glossary of Terms

<p>As a yield-generating protocol, OUSD continuously integrates new strategies and protocols to ensure the best risk-adjusted yields are captured for holders. Strategies are always market-neutral, making sure that funds are never risked on speculative positions.&nbsp;</p><p>The new integration with Morpho allows the protocol to generate yields above or equal to strategies on AAVE and Compound.</p><h2>How Morpho Works</h2><p>By matching lenders and borrowers in a peer-to-peer, way Morpho can create higher capital efficiency, resulting in higher rates for lenders and lower rates for borrowers. For example, if a lender supplies 100k worth of DAI on Morpho and someone borrows it, Morpho could set the rate at 2%, allowing the lender to earn more than they would on AAVE and the borrower would pay less.&nbsp;</p><p>If a lender’s capital is unable to find a willing borrower, that capital is simply sent to AAVE or Compound. Once there is demand to borrow capital, Morpho pulls that capital back from AAVE or Compound and lends it. This mechanism allows Morpho to offer equal or higher interest rates for lenders.&nbsp;</p><h2>Morpho vs. Aave and Compound</h2><p>Morpho allows lenders and borrowers to be matched peer-to-peer, unlike AAVE or Compound which has a peer-to-pool model. The peer-to-pool model allows lenders to pool their funds into a lending pool, which is tapped into whenever a user would like to borrow from it. This model usually has an oversupply of lending capital compared to the amount of borrowers, so interest paid by borrowers is split into smaller cuts per dollar supplied.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, if a lending pool has $3m worth of capital supplied and $2m is borrowed paying a 6% interest rate, lenders will receive an interest rate of 4%. If there is $6m supplied and $2m borrowed paying 6% again, lenders will receive an interest rate of 2%. You can see that the more capital supplied, the less interest each lender receives. Note that this is not an exact example on how AAVE and Compound works, as they have a formula for interest rates based on the utilization percentage of the lending pool.&nbsp;</p><p>The oversupply of capital usually results in a spread between the interest rate the lender receives and the interest rate the borrower pays i.e. 1.27% lending rate and 2.71% borrowing rate on AAVE/DAI at the time of writing.&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD V2 Strategies</h2><p>In addition to the vanilla lending strategies on AAVE and Compound, and market making strategy on Convex and Curve Finance, OUSD has added&nbsp;<a href="https://www.originprotocol.com/openzeppelin-audit-ousd-yield-strategies">new Convex strategies</a> and the Morpho integration. By constantly analyzing, developing, auditing and deploying new strategies, OUSD ensures holders receive the best risk-adjusted returns in DeFi.&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD Yield Increase</h2><p>By adding these strategies, OUSD’s 30-day trailing average yields have increased from &lt;3% to &gt;7%, a much higher rate than other blue-chip DeFi platforms offer. Unlike centralized platforms, OUSD strategies can be viewed transparently on the Ethereum blockchain; there can be no obfuscation on the safety of holders’ funds.&nbsp;</p><p>On a risk-adjusted basis, it is not farfetched to say OUSD offers the best stable yields in crypto.&nbsp;</p><h2>Higher APY, Same Security</h2><p>OUSD maintains our philosophy of security first, allowing our users to safely earn passive income. In spite of recent events, OUSD remains untouched and continues to generate yield for holders.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD’s integration with Morpho is preceded by the fact that it has been&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.morpho.xyz/security/audits">audited</a> by multiple third-parties numerous times, with further reviews from OUSD’s in-house engineers. New market-neutral strategies are being built constantly and can be monitored on our&nbsp;<a href="https://vote.ousd.com/#/">governance page</a>.&nbsp;</p><h2>Where to Buy OUSD</h2><p>If you would like to earn passive yield directly sent into your crypto wallet, OUSD can be acquired through a decentralized exchange aggregator like&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">matcha.xyz</a>, centralized exchanges such as Kucoin or Gate.io, or use our own app on&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">OUSD.com</a>.<br>&nbsp;</p>

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Increased Capital Efficiency for OUSD via Morpho P2P Lending Strategy

<p><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The Origin team has been hard at work to improve OUSD’s yield generation mechanics. We’re excited to announce a new set of strategies that build on OUSD’s unique functionality to deliver better yields to users.&nbsp;</span></p><h2><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">New OUSD Convex Strategies</span></h2><p><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">OUSD has deployed two new strategies for yield generation using Convex (CVX). As evidence of our ongoing commitment to prioritizing protocol security, both strategies have been audited by industry leading auditing firm,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.openzeppelin.com/security-audits"><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>OpenZeppelin</u></span></a><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">. View the full audit findings&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.originprotocol.com/openzeppelin-audit-ousd-yield-strategies"><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>here</u></span></a><span style="color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The strategies are designed to provide liquidity to decentralized stablecoin exchange Curve’s 3Pool (3CRV) via different mechanics. 3CRV comprises USDC, USDT, and DAI – the three stables that act as collateral for OUSD. Origin’s long-standing partnership with both Convex and Curve has allowed us to implement these strategies and innovate on their efficiency.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The Convex Generalized Meta Strategy</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The Convex Generalized Meta Strategy enables the use of pools that pair 3CRV with other stables – specifically OUSD.&nbsp;</span></p><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">3CRV is paired with OUSD to deposit into the OUSD3CRV pool.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">This enables Curve users to trade between OUSD, USDT, USDC, and DAI.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The liquidity provision for this pool will be deposited via Convex to earn staking rewards in CRV and CVX, as well as trading fees generated by the pool</span></li></ul><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The Convex OUSD Meta Strategy</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">The OUSD Meta Strategy differs from the Generalized Strategy in that it allows the protocol to mint and deposit OUSD to the OUSD3CRV pool. Conversely, the strategy burns minted OUSD when it’s withdrawn, thus preventing OUSD dilution.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">These mechanisms ensure that the pool remains balanced at all times. Importantly, all OUSD held by a contract is non-rebasing, so that yield generation for holders is not diluted.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Morpho Integration</span></h2><p><a href="https://www.morpho.xyz/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>Morpho</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"> acts as an on-chain, peer-to-peer layer built on top of lending pools. Launched in 2022, the lending pool optimizer allows lenders and borrowers on Compound and Aave to benefit from better rates and get direct exposure to underlying money markets.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Morpho tackles the inefficiencies of low utilization through direct matching, ensuring that all strategies enjoy 100% utilization while maintaining the liquidity offered by traditional pools.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">OUSD has integrated Mopho-CompoundV2 as a novel strategy that enhances the current CompoundV2 strategy used by the protocol.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Achieving Higher APYs With Best-In-Class Security</span></h2><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">At Origin, we pride ourselves on providing the highest yields on a risk adjusted basis in DeFi, bolstered by a security-first philosophy.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">OUSD is only one of six projects that have received a AAA security rating from premier decentralized insurance platform&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.insurace.io/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>InsurAce</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">. All smart contracts are meticulously audited prior to deployment, as has been done with the convex strategies via OpenZeppelin.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">OUSD is a constantly evolving protocol. Origin is consistently working to build new strategies on top of Curve, Convex, Aave, and Compound to deliver the best possible yields to holders. These strategies and allocations can be viewed via OUSD’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://vote.ousd.com/#/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>governance portal</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"> and will be subject to the same rigorous security measures currently being utilized.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">As part of Origin’s commitment to transparency, all OUSD allocations and statistics can be accessed via the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>analytics dashboard</u></span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Holding OUSD allows you to benefit from incredible APYs using the space’s hardest collateral, deployed to premier, battle-tested DeFi protocols. Yield is delivered straight to your wallet – no lockups required.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Ready to enter the OUSD ecosystem? You can acquire OUSD via:</span></p><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Centralized exchanges: </span><a href="https://www.kucoin.com/ucenter/signup?rcode=rP2F4X7&amp;utm_source=af"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Kucoin</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"> and Gate.io</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Decentralized exchange aggregators:&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>matcha.xyz</u></span></a></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;">Directly minting on the OUSD dApp:&nbsp;</span><a href="https://app.ousd.com/"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:hsl(0, 0%, 100%);font-family:Arial;"><u>OUSD.com</u></span></a></li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p>

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Introducing OUSD V2: New Strategies, Higher Yields, and Seamless Functionality

<h2>What is OUSD?</h2><p><a href="https://www.ousd.com/">OUSD</a> is Origin’s native yield-generating stablecoin, fully collateralized by reserves of USDT, USDC, and DAI. First launched in September 2020, the OUSD ecosystem has been developed expressly to innovate on the developments made in DeFi over the past years and drive value directly to holders.</p><p>One of the major impacts of DeFi summer has been the proliferation of stablecoins in crypto. The burgeoning sector now boasts a combined valuation of &gt;$150B, a significant portion of crypto’s total market cap.&nbsp;</p><p>This explosion can be attributed to three factors:</p><ul><li>Dollar-pegged stablecoins offer a rapid medium of exchange tied to the global reserve currency without the volatility of non-stable tokens.&nbsp;</li><li>Stablecoins offer a crypto-based flight to safety in times of high market volatility.</li><li>DeFi has given rise to a wealth of opportunities for yield generating stablecoins through yield farming – lending or staking one’s stables in exchange for interest (calculated as APY) and other rewards.</li></ul><h2>Stablecoins at a Glance</h2><p>Stablecoins constitute any token created to represent another asset, with the value of the underlying asset pegged 1:1.&nbsp;</p><p>Stablecoins have branched into two high-level mechanisms: Collateralized stablecoins are fully backed by treasury reserves (as is the case with USDT, USDC, DAI, and OUSD). Conversely,&nbsp;algorithmic stablecoins like Luna’s infamous UST strive to maintain a peg by altering issuance based on supply and demand.</p><p>While algorithmic stablecoins are more decentralized by nature, the past year has laid bare the many problems with present algo stable architectures – climaxing in Luna UST’s multi-billion dollar collapse in May.</p><h2>What Are OUSD, OGN, and OGV?</h2><p>With the above considerations in mind, OUSD has been developed by Origin as a fully collateralized, decentralized stablecoin with groundbreaking yield generation mechanics.</p><p>Given that Origin offers two distinct ecosystems – NFTs and DeFi – Origin Dollar Governance (OGV) was created as the governance token for the OUSD ecosystem, while OGN offers utility on the NFT side.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Does OUSD Work?</h2><p>The OUSD protocol deploys automated strategies on Compound (COMP), Convex (CVX), Curve (CRV), and AAVE (AAVE).Token holders vote on which protocols to utilize in order to generate maximal yield while eliminating capital risk. This way, investors can let other token holders decide where to earn yield for them, or vote on which protocols to use themselves.</p><p>In contrast to other stable-focused DeFi protocols in the space, OUSD requires no staking or locking of funds in order to generate yield.&nbsp;</p><p>Rather, yield on OUSD is delivered straight to your wallet, allowing users the freedom to transact freely while earning passive yield.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Is OUSD Different from USDT, DAI, or USDC?</h2><p>USDT, DAI, and USDC maintain a dollar peg by holding reserves of USD and hard assets like treasury bonds. These primarily serve as stable mediums of exchange. However, allocating these stables to established DeFi protocols allows for yield generation.</p><p>Conversely, OUSD earns yield intrinsically and is&nbsp;fully collateralized&nbsp;by reserves of USDC, DAI, and USDT deployed to various strategies in order to accrue interest.</p><h2>How Earning Interest With OUSD Works</h2><p>Earning interest with OUSD is a straightforward and pain-free process. For example:</p><ul><li>You mint 100 OUSD using 100 DAI</li><li>The collateral is automatically deposited into a yield-generating protocol, such as Compound</li><li>The Compound strategy earns interest from borrowers</li><li>COMP rewards are automatically liquidated for more stablecoins</li><li>OUSD supply increases according to the number of stablecoins earned by the strategy</li><li>Your OUSD balance increases daily in proportion to your share of the OUSD supply</li></ul><figure class="image"><a href="https://docs.ousd.com/core-concepts/elastic-supply"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/4QbSiOIFUo3jZ1PpLrcZ_YPnYylv9qtn63foJ-RaZA0AoPMG3MqkJGwU3UvnULSVTzw_ClLCIZMO7OKY7RCubNDlb69XxIQuc64AE7rAGA7sUDDIo4Y4j-SNkk1MI980GK0dRIOSdCT4R_5LrSL5VC5ybJWcES4-idLHXeRy18zfQotiIDELlMLoejUAfw" alt="Yield Generating Stablecoin Tokenomics"></a></figure><p>Deposits of USDC, DAI, and USDT are allocated across premier DeFi protocols to generate yield via a three-pronged approach:</p><ul><li>Reward fees are accrued by allocating reserves to Compound (COMP), Aave (AAVE), and Convex (CVX).&nbsp;</li><li>Automated Market Maker&nbsp;(AMM) fees are generated by providing stablecoin liquidity to Curve.</li><li>Liquidity mining rewards&nbsp;are accrued from all four protocols and converted to stablecoins to provide additional yield.</li></ul><p>The OUSD ecosystem is driven by a commitment to true decentralization. All metrics are transparent and easily accessible:</p><ul><li>Comprehensive data including strategy allocations, supply, and holder breakdowns can be viewed on the OUSD&nbsp;<a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/">analytics</a> dashboard.</li><li>Strategy allocations are reassessed weekly and determined by governance votes from OGV holders.</li></ul><h2>OUSD vs Other Stablecoins</h2><p>OUSD is the first stablecoin that earns yield&nbsp;directly in your wallet. Due to the protocol’s novel mechanics, there is no need to stake or lock up your OUSD in order to earn rewards.&nbsp;</p><p>This is a drastic departure from the norm, where other stablecoins require constant staking and unstaking in order to generate yield. Beyond allowing users to freely transact OUSD, this novel approach eliminates the time and gas costs associated with traditional yield generating stablecoins.</p><h2>How to Buy OUSD</h2><h3><strong>1. Set Up Your Metamask Wallet</strong></h3><p>While a host of self-custody Web3 wallets are available, Metamask remains the most widely used, with robust support. To buy OUSD through a decentralized exchange, install metamask by visiting the official site <a href="metamask.io">here</a>. Once added, you’ll be prompted to either import an existing account or create a new wallet. &nbsp;Next, enter and confirm your wallet’s password.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7V01SHc46V3_Q_xqvcdGQKeOfAWyMqkgVJEvaxYdiVMr9FeoILYhUhIpbTlanWKLhhpyuhXViJObCXi0NcelfdjyY886HkBn0C-Rs2mGQ000CSVJUD4rodl1VdNkPGLjFxFDLskIl0VNMpOCrKlnlh7Can4TWxQJfcfL9mMnVhYWS4PBsXQ6WZhtmMbzQ"></figure><p>The wallet can be added as a Chrome extension, or installed on mobile devices via the official Android and iOS apps.</p><p>You’ll be prompted to watch a short video on the importance of securing your wallet. Please take the time to do so, as wallet security is of paramount importance. With self-custody comes responsibility, and it’s vital that your Secret Recovery Phrase is kept safe and held solely by you.&nbsp;</p><p>Metamask will then generate your recovery phrase and ask you to confirm the correct order.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/eNjF18P8Ys07fCaoRq0uZ8dk76SNWJ7XbB7sboolayvfVs2sFc-y30-ia4yUiGFu_te6zp_ZTKhzD1jV0FNzP1HvJqmn6NsK6WFqt1MuYMJ9YLn-bKERxq9LYgqXD558Mvx9XFAVmVDAxL5zqlYdL_PglnUmYbj9PeI22umpHGs4m9CCgg6nt1zFPIsrng"></figure><p>That’s it! You now have a brand new Web3 Wallet home for your OUSD.</p><h3><strong>2. Buy Stablecoins on an Exchange</strong></h3><p>After setting up your Metamask Wallet, you’ll need to purchase either USDT, USDC, or DAI via a traditional exchange, such as Coinbase or Binance.</p><h3><strong>3. Mint OUSD</strong></h3><p>After purchasing your choice of DAI, USDC, or USDT, deposit your stablecoins to your MetaMask wallet.</p><p>Next, navigate to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ousd.com/swap">https://www.ousd.com/swap</a>.</p><p>Connect your wallet via the button in the top right corner, and swap your desired amount of stables for OUSD to instantly begin earning yield!</p><figure class="image"><a href="https://www.ousd.com/swap"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/OQoaLnaKJSDrFSB2wgbthMygIAZKmVD0eegdmpjNHo5aRv56Dq_0XQzyZf50pj_npUeIevVIO98xQJo2BjRvXoEMT6twJ5u4yf5DALXFRpHogt0Zv75OKcTQHL2Y7zwj8XWhYMDspewdCN6O4WoFwYHDFunRTZ5vmM-yJX9KQ486AmzxbjpNiXZIe5bZ9w"></a></figure><h3><strong>4. Swap for OUSD on an Exchange</strong></h3><p>Alternatively, you can either purchase OUSD via the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucoin.com/trade/OUSD-USDT">Kucoin pair</a>&nbsp;or directly on the Uniswap V3&nbsp; <a href="https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap?outputCurrency=0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86">USDT/OUSD pair</a> using your MetaMask wallet.</p><h2>Adding OUSD to Your Wallet</h2><p>OUSD may not automatically reflect in your wallet as Metamask only recognizes a limited range of tokens. To rectify this, navigate to the bottom right of your Wallet and click “import tokens." On the next screen you’ll be prompted to either search for OUSD (a new, experimental feature) or enter the custom token address.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/zOsWUo777-aDE_gnMMCm4mJ0ktdZfqkzAdO97wUJPQWlONBb00d5QEjhqFUU3amv9ggjND3EtGP1vbb5r2iHGFKpWdrzMCHTGWAJEsUmAyJX_2OcIFDv9hv6wn6pNt9-R1JoZbsYvsoGs_2qrGprC6Wj5SxwkjBZvgK9ZXjr-y4fAbbeiQ8m3NGokN41sw"></figure><p>Should you decide to add OUSD as a custom token, simply input the token address:</p><p><a href="https://etherscan.io/address/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86">0x2A8e1E676Ec238d8A992307B495b45B3fEAa5e86</a></p><p>Metamask should fill in the ticker (OUSD) and decimals (18) automatically. Once added, OUSD should reflect in your wallet along with your holdings.</p><h2>OUSD Interest Rates</h2><p>Like any other yield-generating stablecoin, interest earned by OUSD varies according to factors including volume, activity, and the health of strategy allocations.</p><p>OUSD’s APY (Annual Percentage Yield) and other relevant metrics can be explored by visiting the OUSD&nbsp;<a href="https://analytics.ousd.com/">analytics dashboard</a>.</p><p>At present, OUSD observes a 12-month trailing APY of 9%, and a 30-day trailing APY of around 8%.</p><h2>Is OUSD Safe?</h2><p>OUSD has been developed with an emphasis on safety and robust risk management. Origin’s stablecoin is collateralized by three of crypto’s leading stablecoins: USDT, USDC, and DAI.&nbsp;</p><p>Both USDC and USDT are centralized stablecoins backed by real-world dollar reserves and are subjected to regular audits and increased scrutiny from regulators.</p><p>Conversely, MakerDAO’s DAI is a decentralized stablecoin backed by reserves of both risk-on crypto and stablecoins, with USDC currently accounting for the majority of DAI reserves. Crucially, DAI is&nbsp;overcollateralized, meaning that reserves exceed DAI in circulation in order to provide a buffer against market volatility. At present, DAI is&nbsp;<a href="https://daistats.com/#/">overcollateralized by 126%</a>.</p><h2>OUSD Audits</h2><p>Protocol security is of paramount importance, especially considering that OUSD’s smart contracts are responsible for handling millions of dollars in user funds. In an environment as fast-paced as crypto, proactive security measures are a necessity.</p><p>To this end, Origin conducts regular security audits, both internally and externally using premier smart contract security auditing platforms.&nbsp;</p><p>Industry-leading security outfit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.openzeppelin.com/">OpenZeppelin</a> conducted a&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.originprotocol.com/openzeppelin-completes-smart-contract-audit-of-origin-dollar-ousd-cb27a1f314f0">full-scale audit</a> of OUSD over the span of five weeks in October 2021, finding no major issues.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition to OpenZeppelin, Origin has worked with Trail of Bits, Solidified, and Certora on OUSD-related audits. A log of all completed audits can be viewed in the&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.ousd.com/security-and-risks/audits">OUSD documentation</a>.</p><p>Beyond regular internal audits and audits by established security analysts, OUSD’s entirely open-source codebase can be monitored by skilled and dedicated community members to rapidly identify potential threats.</p><h2>Protocol Governance</h2><p>The OUSD ecosystem’s emphasis on community-driven decentralization has been promoted through the launch of Origin Dollar Governance (OGV). Holders can&nbsp;<a href="https://governance.ousd.com/stake">stake</a> their OGV for a set period – from one month up to four years. In return, stakers receive economic and voting power in the form of non-transferrable, Vote-Escrowed Origin Dollar Governance tokens (veOGV).&nbsp;</p><p>The amount of veOGV one receives is determined by two factors – the amount of OGV staked and the duration it has been staked for. Among other proposals and considerations, OGV stakers determine OUSD strategy allocations through weekly governance votes.&nbsp;</p><p>This approach&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.ousd.com/governance/ogv-staking">builds</a> on Curve’s ve- token design, incentivizing users to stake OGV for longer time periods in order to support the protocol, while also ensuring that those most committed to OUSD’s long-term success are rewarded proportionately.&nbsp;</p><h2>Rebasing vs. Non-Rebasing Stablecoins</h2><p>Typical stablecoins, such as OUSD’s USDC, USDT, and DAI reserves, rely solely on collateral to maintain their peg. Rebasing stablecoins, on the other hand, maintain their dollar peg through regular algorithmic adjustments to supply baked into smart contracts.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD employs&nbsp;<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/rebase">rebasing</a> to cater for its elastic supply, an approach pioneered by Ampleforth (AMPL). While the likes of Ampleforth use rebasing to both contract and expand supply depending on distance from peg, OUSD’s supply is up only.</p><p>It’s important to note that OUSD differs from other rebasing coins in that the token’s dollar peg is supported by underlying collateral, shielding against the issues of price instability that have plagued purely algorithmic stablecoins. One’s balance of OUSD and principal invested should never decrease, unless a failure occurs with one of the underlying reserves or AMM protocols.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD’s&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.ousd.com/core-concepts/elastic-supply">elastic supply</a>&nbsp;only expands as more yield is generated and distributed to holders. This supply is rebased as yield is generated and users interact with OUSD smart contracts.&nbsp;</p><p>By using Chainlink Keepers, the protocol ensures that this occurs at least once a day.</p><h2>History of OUSD and Origin Protocol</h2><p>Founded in 2017 by seasoned tech entrepreneurs Matthew Liu and Josh Fraser, Origin Protocol is committed to bringing innovative NFT and DeFi utility to the masses. The team of experienced engineers is constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the blockchain, bolstered by a wealth of advisors.&nbsp;</p><p>Origin’s native token, OGN, closed its first seed round in 2017, followed by a strategic sale in 2018, and a CoinList round later that year. The team raised $38 million in runway, including $3 million in advisor funds invested by leading crypto VC group Pantera Capital.</p><p>OUSD was launched in September 2020 on the heels of DeFi summer, offering fresh innovations on prevailing stablecoin dynamics in the space. The ecosystem has since grown with the launch of OGV for protocol governance in July 2022.</p><p>OGN acts as the governance token for Origin’s white-label NFT marketplaces, clearly delineating Origin’s NFT and DeFi offerings and allowing users to share in each protocol’s revenue.</p><h2>Is OUSD Worth Using?</h2><p>OUSD offers several key benefits over present yield-generating stablecoins in the space. Most prominent is the ability to freely transact your OUSD holdings while still earning yield – distributed directly to your wallet.&nbsp;</p><p>DeFi remains a niche space with high barriers to entry, and simplifying the usual processes of manually staking and compounding allows users to benefit from the protocol without worrying about manual mechanics and the gas and time cost involved in other mechanisms.</p><p>Origin’s commitment to transparency and true decentralization is evidenced by OUSD’s comprehensive, easily accessible analytics regarding APYs, reserves, strategy allocations, and more. OGV’s role in governance means that users have a real say in the protocol’s growth.</p><p>Finally, OUSD is fully collateralized by the industry’s most trusted stablecoins, offering users the peace of mind that funds are being managed responsibly with no risk of depegging.&nbsp;</p>

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OUSD, the Yield Generating Stablecoin: All you need to Know

<h2>Safest Stablecoins</h2><p>Users around the world have started to invest in stablecoins as an easy way to start earning passive income. However, recent events such as UST/Terra, Celsius, Voyager and FTX blow ups have lost users billions of dollars. To help users navigate the market safely, this article will explain the different types of stablecoins, teach investors how to identify risks, and get the best stablecoin interest rates.</p><p>Since stablecoins can be built on different networks, use different collateral, and interact with distinct protocols, there is varying risks among seemingly similar stablecoins. Let's take a look at how to assess stablecoin risk and identify which tokens are the safest stablecoins to use today.</p><h2>What are Stablecoins?</h2><p>Stablecoins are tokens whose values are pegged to a separate, more stable asset, such as US Dollars, Euros or even gold. The most popular types are pegged to the U.S Dollar, mainly USDC, USDT, BUSD, and DAI.&nbsp;</p><p>But there are also different mechanisms for each stablecoin, such as whether they are collateralized, decentralized, fiat-backed or non-fiat backed. Regardless, most stablecoins serve a similar purpose: to reduce the volatility of interacting with cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are often used for payments, lending, and risk-averse DeFi yield farming.</p><h2>Collateralized vs Uncollateralized Stablecoins</h2><p>Collateralized stablecoins are redeemable for the underlying assets which back them, while uncollateralized or partially collateralized stablecoins such as UST rely on their algorithms and assets. USDC and USDT are redeemable 1:1 for dollars, while UST was redeemable for $1 worth of LUNA, which may not be able to be sold for 1 dollar depending on demand.&nbsp;</p><p>Due to panic and speculation, the demand for LUNA dropped, and UST was essentially redeemable for nothing. This would never happen to USDC and USDT, as they are directly redeemable for a dollar each.&nbsp;</p><h2>Decentralized vs Centralized Stablecoins</h2><p>Decentralized stablecoins are usually seen as stablecoins that are issued by DeFi protocols, such as MakerDAO for DAI, while centralized stablecoins are issued by companies such as Circle or Tether for USDC and USDT, respectively. Safer decentralized stablecoins are over-collateralized by staked assets. For example, a DAI vault could require a user to stake $200 worth of ETH to mint $100 worth of DAI. If ETH goes under $150, the protocol liquidates ETH back for DAI, gives the user back the leftover ETH, and takes a fee.</p><h2>Fiat-backed Stablecoins vs Non-fiat Backed Stablecoins</h2><p>Unlike USDC and USDT, there are certain DeFi stablecoins which are not backed by US Dollars, such as LUSD which is only over-collateralized with ETH. Being collateralized with only crypto assets has its advantages like decentralization, but also disadvantages due to market volatility and demand. As shown&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/liquity-usd">here</a>, LUSD’s price can hover 2 cents under or up to 5 cents over USD. To counter this, DAI has implemented a mix of fiat-backed and crypto collateral.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>Which Stablecoins are Safe?&nbsp;</h2><p>Though we have explained the different types of stablecoins and their mechanics, potential users or investors may not have the time to do their own research on each. We will highlight the safest stablecoins below.&nbsp;</p><h2>USDC</h2><p>Circle&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centre.io/usdc-transparency">publishes</a> monthly statements/attestations on their USDC reserves, showing holdings with a mixed amount of United States Treasury Securities and U.S Dollars. As of their latest report, the market value of their assets are $180m more than the USDC in circulation.&nbsp;</p><h2>DAI</h2><p>DAI is backed by a mix of centralized stablecoins and other crypto-assets, such as USDC, USDP and ETH, with a stablecoin collateral ratio of &gt;80% as of writing. Since its inception in 2017, DAI has shown a robust liquidation system and resilient smart contract security, which makes it on par with USDC in terms of security.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>USDT</h2><p>Despite Tether/USDT’s controversies, it is an undisputed fact that it is the oldest and largest stablecoin by market cap, surviving all the attacks thrown at it throughout the years. Tether&nbsp;<a href="https://tether.to/en/transparency/">publishes</a> quarterly statements/attestations on their reserves as well, showing holdings with a mix of cash, precious metals, secured loans and other investments.&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD</h2><p><a href="https://ousd.com/earn-info">OUSD</a> is a yield-bearing DeFi stablecoin collateralized by other stablecoins USDC, DAI and USDT. By using the safest stablecoins as collateral and blue-chip DeFi protocols to generate yield, OUSD is the safest yield-bearing stablecoin on the market.&nbsp;</p><h2>How to Safely Earn Interest on Stablecoins</h2><p>As seen before, unsustainable APYs such as UST’s constant 20% interest rate are unsustainable and can cause loss of funds. During bull markets, where demand for tokens and leverage is high, a 20% interest rate could be viable, but is not sustainable long term. During bear markets, centralized platforms offering &gt;8% interest rates have collapsed, such as Celsius and Hodlnaut.&nbsp;</p><p>Since centralized crypto lending platforms are opaque, platforms offering interest rates above US Treasury yields i.e. &gt;6% are likely taking on more risk, like uncollateralized lending or discretionary trading. To avoid these risks, users can utilize transparent DeFi protocols instead.&nbsp;</p><h2>DeFi Protocols to Safely Earn Interest on Stablecoins</h2><p>Blue-chip DeFi protocols such as Aave, Compound, Curve and Convex have transparent transactions and holdings on chain for anyone to verify. By avoiding uncollateralized lending, these protocols are able to avoid risks at the cost of extra yield. OUSD routes its USDC, USDT, and DAI towards these protocols and automatically distributes the yield back to OUSD holders. More information on these DeFi protocols and OUSD yield strategies can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ousd.com/how-does-OUSD-work">here</a>.</p><h2><strong>OUSD Does The Work for You</strong></h2><p>If doing your own risk analyses and asset management is too cumbersome or time-consuming, holding OUSD is a great option for you. OUSD dedicated DAO members engineering that automatically pick the ideal risk-adjusted yield strategies. Yield generated is then automatically sent to OUSD holders, with no need for staking or lock-ups. Your crypto wallet effectively turns into a high-yield savings account, earning passive income without work.</p><h1>FAQs</h1><h3><strong>What's the difference between fiat currency and stablecoins?</strong></h3><p>Fist currencies are issued by the government, while stablecoins are issued by DeFi protocols or companies that collateralize stablecoins with other assets. Most stablecoins are pegged to USD, representing the value of fiat currency.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>How is the Dai Stablecoin different from USDT and USDC?</strong></h3><p>Dai is issued by MakerDAO, a decentralized protocol built on Ethereum. Its collateral is fully transparent and the app is accessible to everyone, while USDT and USDC are collateralized by centralized companies.</p>

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Safest Stablecoins for Earning Interest In DeFi 

<p>Recent events have left investors questioning the security of not only centralized exchanges and lending platforms, but also the different kinds of stablecoins and their backings. The diverse set of stablecoins include fiat-collateralized stablecoins, crypto-backed stablecoins, algorithmic stablecoins, and commodity-backed stablecoins. Within each category, there are stablecoins that are more secure than others, due to their transparency, time-tested mechanisms, quality of collateral, and so on.</p><h2>What are Stablecoins?</h2><p>Stablecoins are crypto assets that intend to mimic the value of stable assets, such as fiat currencies or precious metals. The most common type of stablecoins are pegged to the U.S Dollar, with cash or US Treasurys used as collateral to issue tokens on-chain (i.e. USDC, USDT, BUSD).&nbsp;</p><h2>Types of Stablecoins</h2><p>In a bid to create a more transparent financial system away from central banks, crypto native decentralized stablecoins were created. The first iteration of this was DAI, which was only able to be minted with ETH as collateral.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, the protocol could require $100 worth of ETH to mint $50 worth of DAI. If the value of the ETH collateral goes under $75 due to market volatility, the protocol sells the ETH for DAI on the open market before its value can decay under the $50 worth of DAI minted. This is an example of a crypto-collateralized and decentralized stablecoin.&nbsp;</p><p>The issue with only using ETH as collateral was that large and negative price fluctuations would lead to surplus demand for DAI as users rush to repay their loan before the protocol sells their ETH with a penalty. As a solution, DAI incorporated USDC as a collateral type, allowing users to mint 1 DAI at the cost of 1 USDC.&nbsp;</p><p>The decentralization loving crypto natives were not happy with this solution, as USDC was issued by a centralized and censorable entity. Hence, the algorithmic stablecoin experiments began. A bunch of stablecoins were created with algorithms, such as lowering the supply when there was a lack of demand.&nbsp;</p><p>The difficulty of creating a widely adopted stablecoin backed by only math and speculation was proven to be insurmountable, as most of these experiments ended in failure. Nation states with actual resources and manpower struggle with currency issues such as hyperinflation. Suffice to say, stablecoins backed only by algorithms would not fare any better.&nbsp;</p><h2>Top 6 Stablecoins</h2><p>Since most users are looking for security and stability when holding stablecoins, algorithmic stablecoins are definitely to be avoided. For our readers’ convenience, we shortlist the most secure stablecoins in the crypto market below.</p><h2>USDC</h2><p>USD Coin (USDC) is a fiat backed stablecoin and is the second largest stablecoin by market cap. Circle, USDC’s issuer, uses a mix of US Treasurys and USD as reserves, allowing users to redeem their USDC 1:1 for USD. By publishing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centre.io/usdc-transparency">reports</a> on their reserves monthly, Circle gives USDC holders&nbsp; confidence that the token can maintain its 1 USD value.&nbsp;</p><p>USDC is extensively used for peer-to-peer payments and DeFi protocols, making it the most commonly accepted stablecoin in DeFi strategies.</p><h2>USDT</h2><p>Tether (USDT) is a fiat backed stablecoin and is the largest stablecoin by market cap. Tether Holdings, USDT’s issuer, uses a mix of investments, secured loans, US Treasurys and cash as reserves, allowing users to redeem their USDT 1:1 For USD. Tether publishes quarterly&nbsp;<a href="https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports">reports</a> on their reserves.&nbsp;</p><p>Compared to USDC, Tether is harder to directly redeem for USD due to its minimum transaction size of 100,000, 0.1% fee and verification fees. As such, USDC has gained more market share than USDT in the last few years.</p><p>USDT is extremely popular in countries with currency controls or hyperinflation, such as China and Lebanon.</p><h2>DAI&nbsp;</h2><p>As explained before, DAI is an overcollateralized stablecoin backed by a mix of crypto assets such as USDC, ETH and BTC. Since its inception almost 5 years ago, DAI has shown that its liquidation model and smart contract security remains robust in stressful market conditions.&nbsp;</p><p>Its ability to remain pegged to USD has made it the most popular DeFi stablecoin.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD&nbsp;</h2><p><a href="https://ousd.com/earn-info">Origin Dollar (OUSD)</a> is a yield bearing stablecoin backed by USDC, USDT, and DAI. OUSD deploys their underlying stablecoins into strategies that are curated and audited by the DAO’s engineering team. The yield generated is directly sent to OUSD holders’ wallet, with no lock ups or staking fees.&nbsp;</p><p>Unlike stablecoin strategies used on crypto exchanges or lending platforms, OUSD’s 8.2% (as of Nov. 2022) 30-day trailing yield is generated with DeFi strategies, making it transparent and auditable 24/7. In light of the recent bankruptcies and insolvencies, transparency on strategies and reserves is the most important factor when earning yield on stablecoins.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD is currently the number one yield generating stablecoin in DeFi.</p><h2>LUSD</h2><p>Liquity USD (LUSD) is an overcollateralized stablecoin backed only by ETH. DAI’s increasing centralization and censorability have led to demand for a true decentralized stablecoin, giving birth to LUSD. Similar to DAI, the protocol requires ETH as collateral to mint LUSD, and sells ETH for LUSD if the collateral drops below a certain value.</p><p>DAI’s issue with only using ETH as collateral has appeared on LUSD as well, as the stablecoin regularly trades over $1 in value. Users who require or prefer a completely uncensorable stablecoin may consider holding LUSD.&nbsp;</p><h2>BUSD</h2><p>Binance USD is a fiat backed stablecoin and the third largest stablecoin by market cap. Binance, BUSD’s issuer, uses a mix of US Treasurys and cash as reserves, allowing users to redeem BUSD 1:1 for USD. Binance also publishes reserve&nbsp;<a href="https://paxos.com/busd-transparency/">reports</a> monthly for users’ confidence.</p><p>BUSD is mainly used for trading cryptocurrency on Binance’s exchange.</p><h2>Advantages of Stablecoins</h2><p>Stablecoins are used as a stable store of value for cryptocurrency users and people living in countries with hyperinflation, peer to peer payments, global remittances and payrolls, as well as the ability to be used in DeFi applications.&nbsp;</p><p>SWIFT transfers for global transactions take a few business days and charge users fees. In the age of the internet where information travels in an instant, the waiting time for SWIFT transactions is outrageously slow and expensive. Stablecoins can be used to make instantaneous global transfers at lower fees, without governments or banks telling you who you can or cannot send to. This has changed the lives of people living in countries with hyperinflation and currency controls like Argentina.</p><p>The ability to use stablecoins on DeFi also allows anyone with an internet connection to earn yield on their USD, essentially helping anyone without banking services or access to yield strategies. Before using such yield strategies, however, it’s recommended that users do their own due diligence on the safety and security of the strategies. Users may be more comfortable using OUSD, which has a dedicated engineering team analyzing risks on behalf of users to generate yield.&nbsp;</p><h2>Is Using Stablecoins Safe?</h2><p>Using stablecoins has certain risks involved––especially with algorithmic versions––but users will be relatively safe if they follow the advice written in this article. That said, using stablecoins to generate yield on opaque crypto exchanges or lending services may not be safe. Many investors have suffered from the bankruptcies of FTX, Voyager and Celsius, as their opaque operations led them to become insolvent.&nbsp;</p><p>Remember, stablecoin safety is not only about which stablecoins are used, but also how they are used.&nbsp;</p><p>Investors who still wish to generate yield on their stablecoins are encouraged to utilize DeFi applications, where all transactions and operations are laid out transparently on the blockchain. Before deploying such strategies, investors should conduct their own research and analysis on the risks.&nbsp;</p><p>Investors who prefer to outsource research and passively earn yield on low risk DeFi strategies may strongly prefer OUSD, which can be purchased through a decentralized exchange&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">aggregator</a>, the OUSD&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">app</a>, or crypto exchanges such as Kucoin and Gate.&nbsp;</p>

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Top 6 Stablecoins In 2022

<h2>Best Stablecoins</h2><p>In recent years, stablecoins have become a global phenomenon, growing from under $10 million at the start of 2017 to over $100 billion today. USD stablecoins act as a store of value for countries such as Argentina and Lebanon which suffer from currency crises, allowing easy peer-to-peer transfers, payments, cryptocurrency trading, and yield generation with the U.S dollar.</p><p>The use case of stablecoins have become compelling enough that governments around the world are actively discussing the potential issuance of their own central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).&nbsp;</p><h2>What Are Stablecoins?</h2><p>Stablecoins are tokens with values pegged to a separate asset that is seen as stable, such as fiat currencies or gold. The top stablecoins are pegged to the U.S Dollar, with household names such as USDC, USDT, BUSD, and DAI.</p><p>While these stablecoins serve the same function, some stablecoins are best for certain use cases, while others specialize in other areas. Let's expand on the different types of stablecoins and risks involved with each.&nbsp;</p><h2>Collateralized vs. Uncollateralized Stablecoins</h2><p>Collateralized stablecoins are tokens that are redeemable for the underlying assets which back them. USDC in particular is redeemable 1:1 for US Dollars, with their issuer Circle keeping a mixed reserve of cash and US Treasuries.</p><p>Uncollateralized or partially collateralized stablecoins may be backed by a mix of assets and algorithms. An example would be UST, which was redeemable for $1 worth of LUNA. However, there was no guarantee that there was constant demand or liquidity for LUNA. As panic ensued, the price of LUNA dropped too rapidly and UST was essentially redeemable for nothing of value.&nbsp;</p><p>Though this shows that fully or over collateralized stablecoins are much preferred over uncollateralized ones, examining the quality of collateral behind all of them is an additional step that cannot be skipped.</p><h2>Best Stablecoins In 2022</h2><p>After the shock of Terra’s collapse in May 2022, investors looking for yield strategies using stablecoins have become more risk-averse. The change in landscape has made such investors flock back to the safer and proven stablecoins, as we will highlight below.</p><h2>USDC</h2><p>USDC, which is issued by Circle, is backed by a mix of US Treasurys and cash.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centre.io/usdc-transparency">Publishing</a> monthly attestations on their reserves, Circle leads the pack on transparency among centralized stablecoins. Its ease of redemptions for USD on Coinbase also serves to bolster its popularity among the western audience.&nbsp;</p><h2>Dai</h2><p>Dai is an over collateralized stablecoin backed by a mix of centralized stablecoins and other crypto assets, such as USDC and ETH. For example, a Dai vault could require a user to stake $1000 worth of ETH to mint $500 worth of Dai. If the value of the ETH collateral goes under $750, the protocol sells the ETH for DAI on the open market, giving the user back any leftover ETH, and takes a fee.&nbsp;</p><p>Being in operation for almost 5 years, DAI has shown resilience with their liquidation systems and smart contract security, making it the most trusted DeFi stablecoin with no close second. DAI currently has a stablecoin collateral ratio of &gt;80% as of writing and is the largest DeFi stablecoin by market cap.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>USDT&nbsp;</h2><p>USDT, which is issued by Tether, is backed by a mix of investments, loans, bonds, cash and cash equivalents. Being the oldest and largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDT has survived multiple stressful market events, and proven itself over the years. In order to compete with USDC in terms of transparency, Tether has started publishing quarterly&nbsp;<a href="https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports">reports</a> on their reserves.&nbsp;</p><h2>OUSD</h2><p><a href="https://ousd.com/earn-info">OUSD</a> is a yield-generating stablecoin collateralized by USDC, DAI and USDT. OUSD uses these collateral to deploy them into strategies that are analyzed, created and audited by the engineering team. This yield is directly accrued to OUSD holders, turning their wallet into a crypto savings account.&nbsp;</p><p>Using the safest stablecoins and blue-chip DeFi protocols, OUSD is the safest yield-bearing stablecoin on the market.</p><h2>Liquity Dollar (LUSD)</h2><p>Liquity Dollar is a decentralized stablecoin made in response to the growing centralization of Dai's backing. Unlike Dai, which can be backed by USDC and other centralized assets, LUSD is solely backed by ether.&nbsp;</p><p>While LUSD is regarded as a safe stablecoin to use, it's slightly more volatile than other options due to its smaller market capitalization. It's not uncommon for LUSD to trade plus or minus three percent from its soft-peg of $1.&nbsp;</p><h2>Transparent Stablecoins</h2><p>The benefit of DeFi stablecoins like OUSD and DAI are that operations or processes are on the blockchain and thus transparent by default. Whenever funds are moved, liquidations are happening, or strategies are executed, users can simply refer to the Ethereum blockchain to verify activity.&nbsp;</p><h2>Best Stablecoin Interest Rates</h2><p>The best stablecoin interest rates are ones that fit the users’ risk profile. There is no free lunch in this world, especially for earning yield. Extra yield is generated either by taking on more risk, or intelligent active research and management.&nbsp;</p><p>Users who have high risk appetites can invest with algorithmic stablecoins such as USDD for yield ranging from 9% to 50%. Centralized lending platforms offer up to 8% on base yields for USDC, USDT and DAI, but note that most users remain skeptical after Celsius and Voyager’s bankruptcies.&nbsp;</p><p>With more than $10 billion dollars worth of value locked in blue-chip DeFi protocols, many users have shown preference for lower risk and transparency in spite of lower yields. Base yields for lending on AAVE and Compound range from 0.5% to 2% for USDC, DAI and USDT. By building strategies on top of blue-chip DeFi protocols, OUSD edges out a trailing 30 day average yield around 3.2%.&nbsp;</p><h2>Earning Interest on Stablecoins via OUSD</h2><p>Crypto investors looking to make passive income must understand that due diligence must be done on stablecoin issuers and the platforms they use to earn interest on. Crypto exchanges and platforms that offer high crypto interest rates during bear markets should be scrutinized closely. Furthermore, the variable nature of interest rates and market conditions require users to keep track of their strategies and holdings.&nbsp;</p><p>Users who want to earn interest with another party actively managing their yields for them, while having the option of reviewing transparent operations and strategies can do so with OUSD. As compared to centralized platforms, which have shown opaque and negligent trading and lending activities, all of OUSD yield strategies are executed on-chain.&nbsp;</p><p>With backgrounds from Google, Paypal, Meta, Ethereum, etc, the engineering team actively creates, manages, monitors, and deploys strategies for OUSD holders. Daily interest is credited into OUSD holders’ wallet, with no lock-ups required. Users whose appetites fit low risk strategies and prefer to passively earn yield should be strongly recommended to utilize OUSD.&nbsp;</p><p>If that sounds like you, you can purchase OUSD through a DEX&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">aggregator</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">app</a>, or crypto exchanges such as Kucoin and Gate.<br>&nbsp;</p>

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5 Best Stablecoins for Your Portfolio

<p>Stablecoin yield strategies in DeFi have an unmatched amount of variety, risks, and APYs. This gives users numerous options to invest in and to match their risk preferences. However, many of these strategies are not well understood and may carry trivialized risks. This article will highlight strategies both for investors with high or low risk appetites.&nbsp;</p><p>Even if a DeFi protocol offers extremely high APYs, it's worthless if the stablecoin crashes or the app suffers from an exploit. Therefore, this article will focus on sustainable DeFi yields with varying amount of risks.</p><h2>Highest Yields on Stablecoins</h2><p>The highest stablecoin yields in DeFi usually involve algorithmic stablecoins, options selling, or uncollateralized lending. However, these yield strategies hold additional risk and are generally considered mid to high risk investments. Below are some examples of different stablecoin yields.</p><h2>Algorithmic Stablecoins</h2><p>Algorithmic stablecoins, infamously popularized by Terra (LUNA), are stablecoins that derive value from being backed by their native crypto asset. In Terra’s case, each UST was redeemable for $1 worth of LUNA. Offering 20% APY on their native lending app, many crypto investors were lured in by high yields and a seemingly confident founder. Due to massive selling pressure and panic, a lack of demand and liquidity on LUNA led to a bank run on UST, causing a death spiral on both UST and LUNA.&nbsp;</p><p>The most similar alternative to UST now is USDD, which is backed by a mix of TRX, BTC and USDC, offering yields ranging from 9% to 50%. Since it is overcollateralized with USDC and BTC, it may be seen as safer than UST. The key risk here is that the minting of USDD and reserve management is controlled by a centralized team, similar to how UST’s treasury with BTC was controlled by the Terra team.&nbsp;</p><h2>Options Selling</h2><p>Known as the covered put option strategy, USD yields can be generated by selling put options on stocks or crypto with cash as collateral. Buyers pay sellers a premium for the put option, and if the price of the underlying stock or crypto does not go below a certain price, the seller earns the premium with no losses.&nbsp;</p><p>For example, if the current price of ETH is $1600, and someone sells put options with a strike price of $1375 for $5. If ETH price stays above $1375, they profit $5. However, if it goes to $1000, they suffer a total loss of $370.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Ribbon Finance’s platform offers this strategy to users, with yields ranging from -25% to 25%.&nbsp;</p><h2>Uncollateralized Lending</h2><p>Uncollateralized crypto lending platforms allow users to choose institutions they are willing to lend to, usually at a much higher rate than collateralized lenders due to the risk lenders take. Due diligence on the institutions lent to is strongly encouraged, as bankruptcies of the firms may result in losses for lenders, as seen in the Celsius and Voyager cases.&nbsp;</p><p>There are DeFi protocols emerging that offer uncollateralized lending, but these apps are regarded as higher-risk than collateralized lending opportunities. Given the yield is only boosted by a few percentage points, most users opt to lend money to collateralized borrowers.&nbsp;</p><h2>Highest Low-Risk Stablecoin Yields</h2><p>When thinking of the safest stablecoins, crypto natives usually point to either USDC or DAI. The ease of redemption of USDC for USD on Coinbase and monthly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centre.io/usdc-transparency">attestations</a> that show that each USDC is backed gives assurance to holders.</p><p>DAI is a crypto-backed stablecoin with a mix of centralized stablecoins and other crypto assets such as USDC and ETH. DAI’s robust liquidation system and resilient smart contract security since its inception of 2017 has made it one of the most popular stablecoins.</p><p>Pairing these stablecoins with blue-chip DeFi protocols such as Aave, Compound, Curve and Convex exposes investors with the least risk possible. These protocols are collateralized lending and market making platforms, with stablecoin interest rates from 0.5 to 2% if only using USDC, DAI and USDT.</p><h2>What Makes Stablecoin Staking Low Risk?</h2><p>Stablecoins such as USDC are generally regarded as safe because of their asset backing with U.S Treasurys or USD, as compared to algorithmic stablecoins like UST. Transparency in both stablecoin backing and yield generating protocols are key, as shown by the obfuscated handling of funds in Terra’s case.&nbsp;</p><p>Since DeFi protocols such as Aave and Compound are coded to have everything done on-chain, with execution of governance proposals under a 1 day timelock. Any suspicious activity from these protocols will be immediately detected on-chain.&nbsp;</p><p>Total value locked in these protocols acts not only as a sign of trust, but acts as a “bug bounty” for any hacker. If the protocol has been operating for a significant amount of time and value locked without any hacks, it is unlikely that such hacks are possible or they would have been done already.&nbsp;</p><p>Protocols without lock-ups are also seen as safer, as users can pull funds if any risks change.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>Highest Yielding Stablecoins with Low Risks</h2><p>We know that Aave, Compound, Curve and Convex are clearly the protocols with the least risk, as they have operated for multiple years through stressful market conditions, have full on-chain transparency, large TVLs and well-defined governance processes. But the different stablecoins may be confusing to readers, hence we summarize the safest stablecoins to use below.&nbsp;</p><h2>USDC and DAI</h2><p>As mentioned before, USDC’s transparency and ease of redemption makes it one of the safest stablecoins, while DAI’s robust liquidation system for its volatile crypto assets coupled with a mix of stablecoins have made it popular.</p><p>USDC and DAI lending rates on Aave and Compound range from 0.8% to 1.2% as of writing.</p><h2>BUSD</h2><p>Similar to USDC, BUSD is backed by a mix of U.S Treasurys and cash, providing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.binance.com/en/busd">monthly</a> reserve breakdowns on their holdings. Redemption of BUSD for USD is easy with access to Binance’s platform.&nbsp;</p><p>BUSD’s lending rate on Aave is currently 1.05% as of writing.</p><h2>USDT</h2><p>USDT is the oldest and largest stablecoin by market capitalization, backed by a mix of investments, loans, bonds, cash and cash equivalents, which are verified with quarterly&nbsp;<a href="https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports">reports</a>. Though USDT may suffer from numerous rumors, it is a fact that it is the stablecoin with the longest history, going through more market tribulations than the others. Redemption of USDT is harder relative to the other stablecoins, as there is a minimum transaction amount of $100,000 and other restrictions.&nbsp;</p><p>USDT lending rate on Compound and Aave range from 0.9% to 2.39% as of writing.</p><h2>OUSD</h2><p><a href="https://ousd.com/earn-info">OUSD</a> is a yield-generating stablecoin collateralized by USDC, DAI and USDT. OUSD automatically deploys them into blue-chip DeFi protocols such as Aave and strategies that have been vetted and analyzed by the engineering team. Daily interest is directly sent to OUSD holders, turning their wallet into a crypto savings account. By using the safest stablecoins and most secure DeFi protocols, OUSD is the safest yield-generating stablecoin on the market.&nbsp;</p><p>OUSD’s 30-day trailing average APY is currently 3.21% as of writing.</p><h2>Protocols With Bonus Stablecoin Staking Rewards</h2><p>APY on stablecoins can be boosted by protocols distributing their tokens as a marketing or community bootstrapping tool. Hop Protocol allows investors to provide liquidity between different chains, acting as “bridges” i.e. Swapping USDC on Arbitrum back to the Ethereum network. Investors can earn up to 8.25% on Hop with stablecoins. However, this premium in yield may be explained by skepticism on DeFi bridges, as many such protocols have been hacked before.&nbsp;</p><h2>Is Stablecoin Staking Worth The Risk?</h2><p>With vastly different risks and attributes between each strategy, the flexibility in stablecoin strategies staking is a double-edged sword for regular users. High yielding strategies may come with risks that are not understood, as seen with UST and Celsius. Variable APYs and market conditions also require users to continuously monitor their strategies, which they may not have the time for. That said, if users understand the risks they are taking and match their strategies according to their risk appetite, then stablecoin staking will be worth the risk.&nbsp;</p><p>If users are looking for an automated low risk strategy with no lock-ups, with an engineering team actively managing, monitoring, and deploying strategies, then OUSD is definitely worth the risk. By having compounding interest credited directly into users’ crypto wallets without transaction fees, OUSD gives users a convenient source of passive income.</p><p>OUSD can be purchased through a DEX&nbsp;<a href="https://matcha.xyz/markets/1/0x2a8e1e676ec238d8a992307b495b45b3feaa5e86/0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48">aggregator</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://ousd.com/swap">app</a>, or crypto exchanges such as Kucoin and Gate.</p>

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