Curve Finance is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for stablecoins, utilizing an automated money maker (AMM) for liquidity management. Its unique approach of focusing exclusively on liquidity pools for stablecoins and wrapped assets like wBTC and tBTC enabled it to stand out. By the latter half of 2020, Curve Finance had become a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) player. Further emphasizing its commitment to decentralization, it launched its own decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in August, introducing CRV as its native cryptocurrency.
What is Curve DAO
Curve DAO, developed by Curve Finance, is a project that empowers the collective decision-making of its community. This DAO is built using Ethereum’s Aragon tool, connecting several smart contracts essential for depositing liquidity. CRV token holders can vote on project-related matters or by suggesting changes.
Curve Finance team
Curve Finance was founded by Michael Egorov, who also serves as its CEO. A seasoned player in the crypto space, Egorov co-founded NuCypher in 2015 and has been instrumental in various other crypto ventures, including a decentralized bank known as LoanCoin.
How does Curve DAO work
Governance token CRV facilitates community-driven decision-making. Tokens are distributed based on liquidity contribution and duration of holding, ensuring a fair system where greater CRV holdings translate to more significant voting power. This incentivized model, which encourages financial commitment, quickly became a DeFi standard, bolstering Curve's standing as a DEX and fostering its DAO community's growth.
CRV tokenomics
Introduced on August 13, 2020, CRV came into prominence during the DeFi boom. Mirroring industry trends, Curve Finance transitioned its community governance to a DAO structure. Of the 3.30 billion CRV tokens minted, only 871.7 million are circulating as of July 2023. CRV’s primary function is to facilitate community governance, although staking and liquidity mining are also notable use cases for the token.
CRV distribution
CRV is distributed the following way:
- 62 percent to liquidity providers
- 30 percent to shareholders
- 3 percent to the project's employees
- 5 percent reserved for the community
