June 2023 : Convex Year-in-Review
It’s been 2 years since the launch of Convex Finance. As Convex celebrates birthday number 2, some reflection about the years past events, new developments in the works, and shout outs to the community of projects and contributors that continue to make Convex Finance a success.
Convex has expanded beyond the initial CRV locking, and added tokens from the Frax ecosystem. Convex currently supports conversion/locking of 3 native tokens:
- CRV as cvxCRV
- FXS as cvxFXS
- FPIS as cvxFPIS
Convex Finance <-> Curve Finance
Convex and Curve continue to work synergistically as they have from day 1. New Curve pools come and go as the ecosystem continues to evolve. Convex enables individuals to benefit from the CRV locking system without individually locking governance tokens.
Recently launched, crvUSD is the latest development from Curve Finance. crvUSD uses an innovative collateral system that involves “soft liquidation” rather than complete liquidation when a users position moves against them.
As crvUSD continues to grow, cvxCRV and vlCVX stakers aim to benefit from increased overall volumes in Curve/Convex pools generating additional fees. Details on the launch of crvUSD can be found in Curve Finance’s documentation.
cvxCRV/CRV Pool Migration
As a final reminder, the new factory pool (originally announced in the January ’23 update) has been created for cvxCRV/CRV. Incentives/rewards will be directed to this pool going forward. Users are encouraged to move liquidity to the new pool at their convenience.
Convex Finance <-> Frax Finance
Convex and Frax continue collaboration as they did throughout the last year. A quick recap of major developments so far:
cvxFXS Single-Sided Staking
cvxFXS single-staking is available as of the March ’23 Update. Users holding cvxFXS users can stake on Convex (under the FXS tab) to earn 10% of platform fees plus regular veFXS rewards.
Additionally, the Convex will soon be creating a new factory pool to replace the existing cvxFXS/FXS pool in order to support upcoming functionality regarding cvxFXS lending. Details will be posted when this process begins.
cvxFPIS Launch
Also in March this year, Convex added support for locking FPIS as cvxFPIS. As of this writing, over 1.5M FPIS have been locked in Convex as cvxFPIS. Currently, users can stake on Convex (under the FPIS tab) and earn normal veFPIS rewards. Future developments are ongoing.
Reminder: Frax Gauge Votes
The recurring bi-weekly gauge votes enable vlCVX holders to dictate how they want Convex’s share of veCRV and veFXS allocated in their respective gauge weight systems. This dictates how much of each protocols token emissions are allocated to each pool for the next period.
Through Convex, Curve gauge vote results are forwarded onto Frax gauge weight votes. Pools that receive vote weight from vlCVX voting get weight allocated to both the Curve pool and the Frax pools.
Convex UI Updates
Deploying Pools on Convex is now easier than ever. Pools with a gauge and non-zero vote weight will automatically be visible on https://www.convexfinance.com/create-convex-pools. Anyone can then use the interface to deploy that pool on Convex and benefit from the socialized boost.
Convex Sidechains
As of the March Update, Convex is active on both Polygon and Arbitrum, with plans for additional sidechains/L2s in the future.
Users can interact with the Arbitrum and Polygon versions of Convex Finance using the same interface on www.convexfinance.com and choosing which chain they prefer in the UI. Pools and TVL continue to expand over time.
Protocols, Integrations, and Community Projects
Convex owes a large portion of it’s continued success to the flourishing community of supporters and groups it is surrounded by. Many thanks to the continued efforts of individuals around the cryptosphere for their continued development and building around Convex Finance.
New project spotlight: The Llamas
Launched in early May 2023, The Llamas aims to bring NFT-fi to the Curve Ecosystem. The project aims to solidify the informal Llamas cultural aspect to members of the Curve/Defi ecosystem, and further promote growth and coordination. You can find more information on the NFTs, and the projects goals from their Twitter page here: https://twitter.com/wenllama
Additionally, major shout-outs to the following projects for their continued support and contributions to the overall Convex ecosystem:
LLama.Airforce continues to make data visualization around Convex vote locking exceptionally easy to understand, as well as value-add for the incentives system built up around the ecosystem.
Votium continues to enable individuals to optimize incentives for their vlCVX votes.
AladdinDAO : 0xCLever and 0xConcentrator enable yield optimization for Convex positions.
Sentiment.xyz is one of the first projects on Arbitrum to support Convex LP positions as collateral for lending markets.
Silo Finance supports Convex LP positions as collateral in a risk-isolated manner for users, and Silo integration on the Convex website for reward claiming is live now to make the process seamless for users.
Gearbox Protocol allows users to leverage their Convex LP positions and tokens.
InverseDAO ‘s new FiRM lending market allows users to borrow against collateral such as cvxCRV.
On the horizon…
- Additional expansion to other chains/L2s
- Further utility for cvxFPIS
- On-chain voting/additional efforts towards decentralized infrastructure solutions
- Additional project integrations!
