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- Curve Finance has put forward a revenue-sharing protocol to give CRV holders sustainable income beyond emissions and fees.
- Curve aims to mint $60 million in crvUSD and channel it into three Bitcoin pools, and create yield opportunities.
On August 18, a contributor known as michwill put forward an idea called “Create a crvUSD credit line to Yield Basis.” People are already referring to it as Yield Basis for short, and the core idea is to provide CRV holders who lock into veCRV with a more direct and steady stream of income from the protocol.
Currently, most veCRV rewards originate from emissions and indirect incentives; however, this proposal would redirect real protocol revenue to stakers through a crvUSD-powered mechanism. If the community signs off, it could mark one of the biggest overhauls of Curve’s tokenomics in years.
The crvUSD credit line is designed to act like fuel for Curve’s liquidity engine, funding pools in much the same way as crvUSD mint markets and PegKeepers. The Yield Basis proposal lays out a system where 35%–65% of the value generated flows directly back to veCRV holders, while still ensuring liquidity providers benefit from fees and incentives.
In practice, the plan would bootstrap three “Bitcoin wrapper” pools, WBTC, cbBTC, and tBTC, each initially capped at $10 million. Pre-minted crvUSD would be loaned into these pools to strengthen liquidity while reducing long-term risks like impermanent loss.
Revenue Flow and Distribution
The revenue model is structured with multiple layers: LPs borrowing crvUSD pay rates that stay within the system to rebalance pools, while trading fees from stablecoin-to-BTC wrapper pairs are split, half covering operations and half shared between veYB holders and LPs.
With multipliers and emissions factored in, the design ensures that veYB holders capture a significant portion of the upside, aligning governance with recurring, protocol-backed rewards.
Another topic in the Yield Basis debate is how many YB tokens, the governance and incentive layer of the system, should flow back to Curve DAO itself. The working plan is that around 20% of YB token inflation would go directly to the DAO, with the potential for more if the program scales successfully. This would give the wider Curve ecosystem both skin in the game and resources to manage ongoing oversight.
However, not everyone is sold on going all-in right away. Some in the community are pushing for a phased rollout instead of dropping the entire $60 million credit line on day one. The suggestion: start smaller, maybe $10M–$20M, watch how the pools perform, and adjust based on results.
Others are focused on guardrails, audits, contract safety, crvUSD’s peg stability, and clear plans for what happens if markets swing against the system. In the first quarter of 2025, Curve Finance processed close to $35 billion in transactions, a reminder of just how central the protocol remains in DeFi.
Right now, Curve’s total value locked stands at about $39 million. On the market side, CRV has seen a big pickup in activity, with trading volume jumping 37.5% to around $230 million. The token’s market cap is sitting at roughly $1.7 billion, and CRV is currently changing hands at $0.7724. Traders are already eyeing the next key resistance level up near $0.80.
