Author: jfab.eth Compiler: Cointime.com 237
Yield aggregators in DeFi can deliver huge returns. If you’re not using any yield aggregators yet, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities.
Below is a discussion about the hidden diamond that is Athena. But before we delve into Athena, we first need to understand Hummus.
Hummus is a novel stablecoin swap protocol based on Platypus. Users can trade between stablecoins with minimal slippage and provide one-sided liquidity.
Hummus solves many challenges faced by traditional stablecoin exchanges, such as:
• Impermanent loss
• Liquidity fragmentation
• Need to provide pairwise liquidity
• Fragmented user experience
So you can imagine it will be a pleasant experience.
$HUM is the native token of the platform. When staking HUM, users can accumulate a non-transferable version called veHUM. The more $veHUM a user holds, the higher their stablecoin yield will be.
Accumulation of veHUM is based on the amount of HUM and/or lock-up time.
veHUM, or vote-locked HUM, is a very valuable asset for other ecosystem protocols. It enables users (including protocols or DAOs) to direct $HUM rewards to the pool of their choice. We can think of it as an efficient way to rent liquidity.
As you can imagine, this mechanism encourages projects to build on Hummus.
By doing so, the protocol can siphon $HUM and drastically increase the yield on its stablecoin while gaining substantial control over:
1. Governance
2. $HUM Reward Distribution
Is this similar to Curve Wars (@CurveFinance)?
Yes, this is the battle of $HUM.
Now, let’s take a look at Athena.
Athena is the newest aggregator on Metis, built on top of Hummus.
It currently offers crazy yields for unilaterally staking stablecoins and some token pairs.
After only about 24 hours of launch, Athena has already locked up an impressive 4.67% of the $HUM circulating supply.
As of now, they lock up 6.2% of the $HUM circulating supply.
And these numbers will continue to rise.
But what makes Athena so popular among users?
It enables HUM holders to earn huge yields on their HUM while also earning the enhanced yields on stablecoins offered by Athena.
Why wouldn’t users go crazy about this?
Athena has accumulated a large number of HUM and veHUM, and currently provides:
1. Lock in ATH’s annual return of 76%
2. Annual return rate of xHUM staking: 90%
3. HUM−xHUMLP’s annual return is 8%
4. METIS - $ATH LP’s annual return rate is 20%
Athena’s positive cycle
As more and more people lock $HUM in Athena, the total value locked (TVL) of Hummus and Athena will continue to grow, just like the yield Athena provides to stablecoins.
Conceivably, this would create a positive cycle where TVL and revenue would continue to grow.
Key risks to consider before converting HUM to xHUM: xHUM cannot be converted back to HUM.
However, it can be exchanged for $HUM by relying on available liquidity in an external HUM−xHUM pool, such as the one in Hermes. This pool will be live on the frontend soon.
Now that you have a basic understanding of Athena, put it to good use.
