New Basepool: Strategic USD Reserves

Recently, the Curve DAO voted to add the Curve.fi Strategic USD Reserves pool (USDC/USDT) as an official Basepool.

This provides asset issuers and pool creators immediate access to deep and efficient liquidity, significantly simplifying the creation of new stablecoin liquidity pools on Curve.

What are Basepools and Metapools?

Basepools form a foundational liquidity layer on Curve, composed of widely-used, highly-liquid stablecoins. Anyone can permissionlessly build new liquidity pools - called Metapools - on top of a Basepool.

A Metapool combines a asset with the LP tokens of an existing Basepool. This structure allows Metapools to instantly benefit from the liquidity and stability provided by the underlying Basepool.

Example: How the Strategic USD Reserves Basepool Works

Let’s illustrate using the newly approved Curve.fi Strategic USD Reserves Basepool, and its first Metapool, the DOLA Strategic Reserves Metapool:

In this structure:

• Basepool: When USDC and USDT have equal value, liquidity will naturally balance to 50% USDC and 50% USDT.
• Metapool: When DOLA, USDC, and USDT all have equal value, liquidity will naturally balance to 50% DOLA, 25% USDC, and 25% USDT (via Basepool LP tokens).

Benefits of Basepools and Metapools

Curve’s Basepool-Metapool architecture offers distinct benefits for liquidity providers (LPs), stablecoin issuers, and traders:

1. Deep Liquidity & Low Slippage: Metapools directly benefit from the liquidity of Basepools, resulting in lower slippage even for newly issued or less liquid stablecoins.
2. Risk Isolation: LPs in Basepools aren’t directly exposed to tokens within the Metapools, minimizing their risk. Metapools are also isolated from each other; the only shared risk is de-pegging risk of Basepool assets, which is why adding new Basepools requires a DAO vote.
3. Positive Liquidity Loop (Reflexivity): Deposits into Metapools also increase liquidity within Basepools. This creates a positive feedback loop that enhances overall liquidity and trading efficiency across all pools.
4. Built-in Yield Generation: Basepool LP tokens continuously earn trading fees. Since Metapools hold these LP tokens, Metapool LPs automatically receive a portion of the Basepool’s trading yield, providing immediate organic returns even before trading volumes pick up.
5. Seamless Stablecoin Integration: Stablecoin issuers can permissionlessly pair their tokens with a Basepool, accelerating their token’s liquidity and adoption within the Curve ecosystem.

Why Curve’s New USDC/USDT Basepool Matters

Currently, the largest Basepool on Curve is the DAI/USDC/USDT pool (3Pool). However, with MakerDAO focusing on migrating from DAI to USDS, and Curve’s new generation of Stableswap offering significant efficiency improvements for both liquidity providers and traders, it's an ideal moment to transition to a new primary Basepool.

The newly approved USDC/USDT Basepool significantly simplifies launching new stablecoins on Curve by immediately providing two critical advantages:

• Instant Access to Deep Liquidity: Issuers instantly tap into substantial liquidity pools of two trusted and widely-adopted stablecoins (USDC and USDT).
• Automatic Organic Yield: The attractive trading fee yield (ranging from 1-5% over the past month) enhances returns, making pools attractive to liquidity providers from day one.

These benefits are already visible in the newly launched DOLA Strategic Reserve Metapool, clearly demonstrating the powerful advantage of using the new Basepool.

Current Basepools

Curve offers a variety of Basepools across many deployed chains. Below is a list of Basepools currently in use with significant TVL.

Note: New pools are defined as the new generation (ng) pools, which have several optimizations and dynamic fees

Create Your Own Metapool

If you're interested in launching your own Metapool or learning more, reach out to the Curve team today and leverage Curve’s powerful Basepool liquidity to support your stablecoin!