Curve is a decentralized exchange specialized in trading of highly correlated assets like stablecoins. It allows anyone to trade assets and provide liquidity to earn trading fees.

Dexes

Curve

Protocol Code Quality

Protocol Maturity

Protocol Design

Risk Rating

green

Best

* [Documentation](https://resources.curve.fi/) 
 * Auditors 
 	* [Quantstamp](https://curve.fi/files/CurveMetapoolAudit.pdf) 
 	* [Trail of Bits](https://curve.fi/files/01-ToB.pdf) 
 	* [Audits](https://curve.fi/audits) 
 * Please see our [FAQ on experienced auditors](https://help.exponential.fi/en/articles/6381015-what-are-experienced-auditors)

Exploit/Hacks

None

* [Website](https://curve.fi/)  
 * Token: CRV  
 * Tags: Dexes

Info

* TVL: $4.9B (Rank #3)  
 * TVL Ranking by Dexes: #1  
 * Blockchain: Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, Fantom, Avalanche, Moonbeam, Kava, xDai, Celo, Aurora, Harmony  
 * Chain TVL  
 	* Ethereum: $3.37B  
 	* Arbitrum: $66.87M  
 	* Polygon: $47.93M  
 	* Optimism: $46.8M  
 	* Fantom: $31.04M  
 	* Others: $61.69M

Key Metrics

Information


- Code reviewed by several experienced auditors including [Quantstamp](https://curve.fi/files/CurveMetapoolAudit.pdf) and [Trail of Bits](https://curve.fi/files/01-ToB.pdf)
- Public team promotes accountability
- No documented protocol hacks since launch


- Core protocol launched in 2020; maturity over 2 years minimizes technical risk as smart contracts are amongst the most battle-tested
- Top 1% by total value locked reduces risk
- Decentralized governance increases transparency
- Low voting power concentration reduces risk


- No concerns identified
- Curve's automated market maker (AMM) technology is specialized to facilitate trades between highly correlated assets like two stablecoins. This minimizes price impact when trading. It is currently the main venue for trading stablecoins

Risk Assessment

Curve innovated the stableswap automated market maker (AMM) concept to enable a more efficient way to exchange similarly priced assets like stablecoins while maintaining low fees and low slippage.

What we like

The Curve platform can be complex and requires more user understanding of the CRV token economics to fully take advantage.

What we like less

Curve remains the most popular decentralized exchange (DEX) for you to earn yield through market making on stablecoins and tokenized assets given significant volumes and low risk.

What it means for you

Summary

#### How Curve works
Curve launched with the goal of being an efficient fiat savings account for liquidity providers. To achieve this, the team at Curve designed the stableswap AMM algorithm which is a combination of the constant product (popularized by Uniswap) and constant sum formula. Trading occurs on a constant sum curve when the pool is relatively balanced and switches to a constant product curve when imbalanced. This allows for lower slippage and impermanent loss but is only applicable to similarly priced assets like stablecoins. The protocol charges a fee on every trade within a pool.
#### How Curve makes money
Curve makes money through protocol fees that are currently set at 0.04% for each swap with 50% going to liquidity providers and 50% to eligible CRV token holders (veCRV). The fees as well as pool parameters are decided by the Curve DAO or CRV holders.
#### How you make money on Curve
You earn swap fees for providing liquidity on Curve. Each pool also provides incentives in the form of native protocol tokens and the CRV token, which represents voting power in the Curve DAO. You can also stake CRV (veCRV) to earn a portion of trading fees.