Editor's note – this article was written in January 2024, before the proposal to simplify and strengthen OETH. Origin Ether now operates as a true LST.
Origin Ether has seen tremendous growth since launching in May. The protocol is now the 2nd largest LST yield aggregator on Ethereum, only surpassed by yearn.finance.
Over its first month in prod, OETH has generated impressive statistics:
Many holders of stETH, rETH, and frxETH have deposited their tokens to mint OETH over the past month. That being said, the majority of OETH’s collateral is currently held in ETH. This collateral is harnessed by the protocol’s Curve AMO strategy, using these funds to provide liquidity to the OETH-ETH Curve pool.
At present, ~40% of OETH collateral is currently held in liquid staking tokens (LSTs). These comprise Lido’s stETH, Rocketpool’s rETH, and Frax’s frxETH.
Considering the LSTs held by Origin Ether, rETH boasts the highest allocation at 18.3%, with over 2,740 rETH deposited. More than 2,400 frxETH has been deposited to the protocol, accounting for nearly 16.5% of collateral. The first four weeks saw traders deposit more than 770 stETH.
OETH targets 2x the yield on Lido staked ETH. The protocol is delivering on this goal with a 30-day trailing APY of ~10%, outpacing raw LSTs with far higher yield for users. OETH utilizes OUSD’s yield disbursement design. Yield is compounded directly to holders’ wallets, with no staking or gas fees required in order to claim rewards.
OETH yield is generated through liquid staking tokens stETH, rETH, and sfrxETH. Yield is elevated through Origin’s AMO strategy, utilizing protocol-owned liquidity on the Curve ETH-OETH pool to accrue rewards and trading fees.
Origin Ether uses 95% of Origin Dollar’s codebase, which has been audited over a dozen times and has seen hundreds of millions of dollars flow through it. Even though the code remains similar, OETH received its own audit from OpenZeppelin, a leading provider of security audits for web3 applications.
Origin DeFi Governance (OGV) acts as the governance token for the Origin DeFi ecosystem, serving both OETH and OUSD. At present, OGV has live incentives on Curve’s OGV-ETH pool, which increase yield for liquidity providers by over 40%.
OGV offers best-in-class governance via its vote-escrowed design. Holders who stake their OGV are granted voting and economic power in the form of veOGV, proportional to the amount staked and duration.
OGV also acts as a value-accrual token for stakers, with veOGV holders earning protocol fees from both OETH and OUSD. The OGV DAO accumulates flywheel tokens, earns a significant allocation MORPHO distributions, and conducts buybacks in the form of OGV. veOGV stakers can vote on treasury management, optimizing funds for maximum returns for holders.
Despite only being live for a month, OETH’s performance evidences the protocol’s strength as a liquid staking yield aggregator. OETH’s carefully tailored strategies continue to maintain outsized APYs even as the platform scales rapidly. These unique mechanics allow users to enjoy sizable yield on a robust and secure platform.
With more strategies and innovations in the works, Origin Ether is primed to continue its rapid expansion.
We'd like to thank our early adopters that have driven OETH to become a top-3 LST aggregator. The LSTFi sector is truly at a tipping point, and we're thrilled to be making an impact during such a critical time in Ethereum's history. If you're interest in our mission, we invite you to swap to OETH, and Stack ETH faster.
