What is Convex Finance?

Convex Finance (CVX) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that strives to compensate Curve liquidity providers for their participation on Curve without the need for staking liquidity there. Instead, liquidity providers can stake with Convex and receive boosted CRV and liquidity mining rewards. This approach seeks to provide CRV stakers with improved capital efficiency and positions Convex Finance as a participant in the ongoing "Curve wars". The protocol's function is to manage Total Value Locked (TVL) to gain control over Curve Finance, a large decentralized exchange (DEX) by TVL.

How does Convex Finance work?

Convex Finance operates through a unique incentive structure. It targets CRV holders and Curve liquidity providers in two ways: CRV holders receive cvxCRV for staking their CRV, and Curve liquidity providers receive boosted rewards for staking their LP tokens with Convex. Convex Finance acts as a pool that aggregates the assets of individual stakers, allowing even low-level investors to stake their Curve Finance LPs with Convex and receive boosted rewards. Stakers are compensated for their provided liquidity, a share of the Curve trading activity, the boosted rewards from Convex, and CVX tokens. Additionally, CRV tokens can be staked to receive cvxCRV, which yields veCRV rewards, Convex trading activity, CVX tokens, and airdrops going to veCRV token holders.

What are the potential use cases for Convex Finance?

The primary use case for Convex Finance is to provide a platform for Curve liquidity providers and CRV holders to earn rewards. By staking their CRV or LP tokens with Convex, users can receive boosted rewards that may not be attainable otherwise. This includes compensation for their provided liquidity, a share of the Curve trading activity, and the boosted rewards from Convex. Additionally, users can stake their CRV tokens to receive cvxCRV, which provides further rewards such as veCRV rewards, Convex trading activity, CVX tokens, and airdrops going to veCRV token holders. CVX tokens can also be used to participate in proposals in the Convex Finance protocol, providing users with a say in the protocol's governance.

What is the history of Convex Finance?

Convex Finance was developed by an anonymous team of developers. Despite the anonymity of its creators, Convex Finance is a known protocol in decentralized finance. The protocol plays a role in the ongoing "Curve wars", a competitive race to gain control over Curve Finance, a large DEX by TVL. Convex Finance was audited by MixBytes to aim for its security. However, a bug in one of the smart contracts led to the re-deployment of the vote-locking contract and a temporary fluctuation in the value of CVX.