Olympus v1Price

(OHM)

OHM is a digital asset that powers the project, aiming to become a decentralized reserve currency for the digital asset industry. Its goal is to achieve both price stability and scalability, bridging the gap between fiat-pegged stablecoins and volatile digital assets. It strives to be a policy-controlled currency system, serving as a global unit-of-account and medium-of-exchange, fundamentally reshaping how value is stored and exchanged in the decentralized space.

OHM is "backed" by a basket of assets held in its treasury, such as stablecoins and other digital currencies. Each OHM is theoretically backed by at least a certain value of a stablecoin. Unlike traditional stablecoins, it is not pegged to a specific fiat currency, meaning its price is free-floating and determined by market dynamics. The protocol is designed to influence its value by buying back and burning OHM when its market price falls below its intrinsic backed value and minting and selling new OHM when it trades above that value.

Staking involves users locking their OHM to earn rebase rewards, which automatically compound their holdings over time and represent the primary value accrual strategy. Bonding allows users to sell accepted digital assets (e.g., stablecoins, liquidity tokens) to the treasury in exchange for discounted OHM, which vests over a set period. This helps the protocol acquire its own liquidity. The project became known for offering exceptionally high yields, which sparked concerns about their long-term sustainability and led to comparisons with models requiring continuous new investment.

Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) is a pioneering concept where the project's treasury directly acquires and owns its liquidity, rather than renting it from external liquidity providers. This innovative approach aims to ensure deep and stable markets for OHM, reducing reliance on mercenary capital that can withdraw liquidity at will. By owning its liquidity, the protocol gains greater control over its market depth, earns fees from trades, and fosters a more robust and resilient ecosystem. This strategic control minimizes volatility and enhances long-term stability.

Olympus v1 experienced substantial market volatility after its initial success. This dynamic market behavior, despite its backing mechanism, highlighted areas for improvement. The project subsequently migrated to V2 to introduce significant enhancements, including on-chain governance capabilities and automatic staking for bonded assets. V2 also involved a token upgrade, replacing previous wrapped tokens with new versions, requiring users to migrate their assets to access these new features and ensure compatibility with future partner integrations and protocol developments.

This is a significant and frequently asked question about the project. Critics often raise concerns that its economic model, particularly the promise of extremely high yields, might rely on a continuous influx of new capital from later investors to pay out earlier ones. This structure draws comparisons to Ponzi schemes, where returns to earlier investors are funded by subsequent investors, rather than from genuine revenue or asset growth. While proponents defend the model as a legitimate economic experiment aiming for a decentralized reserve currency, the operational characteristics have fueled considerable debate and scrutiny.