Yield farming app accumulates $12M TVL 2 weeks after launch

A new yield farming app called Origin Ether has accumulated over $12 million in total value locked (TVL) just 14 days after launch, according to data from blockchain analytics platform DefiLlama. TVL is a metric that measures the dollar value of assets inside an app’s smart contracts.

The app was launched on May 16, according to a representative from the development team. DefiLlama data shows the app already had $793,000 locked inside its contracts before the launch, which team members or other early partners may have supplied.

Once the public launch occurred on May 16, deposits to Origin Ether (OETH) rapidly accumulated, leading to a TVL of over $13 million by May 30. This is a gain of approximately $12.6 million over 14 days.

According to the app’s official documentation, Origin Ether generates yield from Ether (ETH) by depositing it into multiple liquid staking and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Specifically, it utilizes an algorithmic market operations strategy on Curve and Convex to maximize returns. Before being deposited to Curve and Convex, some of the ETH is converted into liquid staking derivatives, including Lido Staked Ether (stETH), Rocket Pool Ether (rETH) and Frax Staked Ether (sfrxETH). The protocol’s documentation states that this allows users to gain additional farming rewards from these providers.

Related: Celsius adds over 428K stETH to Lido’s lengthening withdrawal queue

Ether liquid staking protocols allow ETH holders to stake their coins with a network of providers in exchange for tokens representing those deposits. They have become more popular as Ethereum moved to proof-of-stake consensus and enabled withdrawals. 

On May 1, DefiLlama reported that liquid staking protocols had become the top DeFi category, surpassing the TVL of decentralized exchanges. On May 30, cross-chain bridging protocol LayerZero partnered with the Tenet network to increase the use of liquid staking in the Cosmos ecosystem.