Yearn Finance Enters Ship Season

**Octapad takes the prize** with an innovative token launchpad that creates a regenerative funding loop. The platform routes fees through an **Octant YieldDonatingStrategy** wrapped around a Yearn vault managed on Kalani. **Key features:** - Uni v4 hooks capture swap fees automatically - Creates regenerative loop benefiting supporters and public goods - Combines token launches with yield generation and donations This winning entry demonstrates how DeFi infrastructure can be designed to **benefit both users and the broader ecosystem** through automated fee routing and public goods funding.

**Yearn Finance** is hosting a Twitter Space discussion focused on bringing **transparency, security, and better risk practices** back to DeFi markets. The conversation centers around the question: *How do we make DeFi Cypherpunk again?* **Featured Partners:** - @LiquityProtocol - @asymmetryfin The discussion aims to address current challenges in decentralized finance and explore solutions for returning to DeFi's original principles of transparency and security. [Set a reminder for the Twitter Space](http://x.com/i/spaces/1vAGR)

**Yearn Curation has grown to $160M TVL** since launching in July, positioning itself as a security-focused curator in the DeFi lending space. **Key Performance Metrics:** - WETH Vault: $46M TVL, 3.8% yield (3rd largest WETH vault) - USDC Vault: $29M TVL, 4.74% yield with OEV boosting - Curates 2 of 3 highest TVL vaults on Katana **Risk Management Framework:** - Multi-dimensional risk scoring across 8 categories - Continuous monitoring of all vault strategies - In-house risk capabilities built for Morpho Labs integration **"Know Your Curator" Philosophy:** Yearn emphasizes transparency in curation practices, contrasting with recent concerns about opaque lending practices in DeFi. Their approach prioritizes fund safety over maximum yields. The platform leverages existing vault curation expertise to manage Morpho vaults, ensuring strategy alignment with user risk preferences while maintaining immutable code with configurable parameters.

Yearn Finance has launched a new USDC vault that leverages API3's Oracle Extractable Value (OEV) network to boost yields. The vault represents a shift in how liquidation value is captured in DeFi lending markets. Previously, liquidator bots competed through gas price auctions, with most value going to validators. API3's OEV network changes this by: - Obscuring oracle data - Auctioning data to liquidators - Redirecting value from validators to protocols Key Benefits: - Enhanced yield potential - Exclusive use of API3 oracles - Increased oracle diversity [Learn More](https://forum.morpho.org/t/new-oev-boosted-vaults-by-yearn-api3/1833)

Yearn Finance announces yBOLD, a yield-bearing version of BOLD built on Yearn V3. Key features include: - Oracle-free architecture - Permissionless access - Automatic yield optimization - Zero entry/withdrawal fees - Integration with Yearn's Dutch Auctions The upgrade enables users to earn yields while maintaining BOLD exposure. Additionally, @asymmetryfin is developing sUSDaf, among other yield-bearing Liquity V2 projects in development. Previous implementations showed potential for: - Use as productive collateral on platforms like Euler - Advanced yield strategies via Spectra and Pendle - Exposure to 15+ fork rewards through Stability Pool deposits