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How Does OUSD Earn Yield?

January 19, 2023
How OUSD Works

How Does OUSD Work?

OUSD 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.

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. 

Protocols Utilized by OUSD to Earn Yield

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 CompoundMorpho and AAVE and by providing liquidity on Curve and Convex. The 30 and 365 day trailing yield for OUSD hovers around 4% to 7%.

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.

AAVE and Compound

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. 

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.

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.

Curve (CRV) and Convex (CVX)

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. 

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. 

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. 

OUSD Governance Via veOGV

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. 

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. 

Risks Involved With Stablecoins

Smart Contract Risks

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.

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. 

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.

Stablecoin Risks

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. 

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.

Based on USDC, USDT and DAI’s track record over multiple years, we determine stablecoin risk to be low. 

Overall, by avoiding the usage of speculative assets, our strategies carry one of the least risks in all of DeFi.

The Only Passive, Yield-Bearing Stablecoin 

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.

OUSD can be obtained on exchanges such as KucoinGateUniswap and Matcha, or directly through the OUSD application with DAI, USDT or USDC. 

Joshua Teo
Joshua Teo
Origin
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