I’m supportive of this RFC to update Base USDC yield sources. Adding these ARKs spanning Clearstar, 40Acres, Midas, Gauntlet, and Euler; broadens diversification and strengthens Base-native yield options.
Looking forward to the @BlockAnalitica risk review for pending ARKs before promoting this one onto the SIP.
We, 40acres, would be honored to be included in the names listed above!!! Let us know if you need any more information from myself or the team for the integration.
As a delegate I am supportive of 40 Acres, and agree with the above USDC yield sources. I am also a user of their protocol, and highly supportive of them.
We reviewed the Euler Frontier YO USDC vault on Base as a potential ARK for the USDC fleet on Base. At current size and yield it does not pass the BA Labs baseline TVL and economic added value test, so we do not recommend onboarding it at this stage.
Vault overview
Yield source: Euler Frontier YO USDC vault on Base
Current TVL: ~350k USDC
Current total APY: ~4.8 percent, coming purely from lending yield on Euler
Baseline TVL and APY screen
Per the BA Labs baseline criteria, a new ARK should have enough TVL and APY so that, if the USDC fleet on Base allocated capital on the same order of magnitude as the protocol TVL and the protocol APY was maintained, the fleet APY would increase by 5% of its current value. This requirement is encoded in the TVL_min formula in the baseline post.
Using the current Base USDC fleet TVL and APY together with Frontier YO USDC metrics, the implied TVL_min from that formula is clearly above the vault’s current TVL of about ~ 350k USDC. In other words, even if the fleet deployed an amount comparable to the current protocol TVL, the expected uplift in fleet APY would be well below a 5 percent target.
Given this, and in line with the “first rule” checklist, we do not proceed to a deeper collateral or risk analysis for this ARK at this time.
Recommendation
BA Labs does not recommend onboarding Euler Frontier YO USDC as an ARK for the USDC fleet on Base in the current conditions. The protocol TVL is too small relative to the fleet and the expected APY uplift is not meaningful enough to justify additional integration and monitoring overhead.
We are open to revisiting this assessment if protocol TVL grows materially and the yield remains attractive relative to the Base USDC fleet APY.
We reviewed the Universal USDC Morpho vault on Base as a potential ARK for the USDC fleet on Base. At current size and yield it also fails the BA Labs baseline TVL and economic added value test, so we do not recommend onboarding it at this stage.
Vault overview
Yield source: Universal USDC vault on Morpho Blue
Current TVL: ~570k USDC on Base
Current total APY: ~3.9 percent
Baseline TVL and APY screen
Applying the same BA Labs baseline rule as above, the Universal USDC vault should only progress to deeper analysis if its combination of TVL and APY can deliver an expected fleet APY uplift of roughly 5 percent when the fleet allocates on the order of the protocol TVL and the protocol APY is sustained.
Using current Base USDC fleet metrics together with Universal USDC’s TVL of about 570k USDC and total APY of about 3.9 percent, the implied TVL_min from the baseline formula is again significantly higher than the vault’s current TVL. This means that even a sizable allocation relative to the vault would move fleet APY by clearly less than the 5 percent target.
Given this limited marginal economic benefit and the additional monitoring and integration work that a new ARK implies, Universal USDC does not pass the first rule TVL and APY filter.
Recommendation
BA Labs does not recommend onboarding Universal USDC as an ARK for the USDC fleet on Base at this time. The vault is currently too small and the incremental APY uplift at fleet scale is not sufficient under the baseline criteria.
We are open to revisiting this assessment if Universal USDC grows meaningfully in TVL on Base and maintains a robust APY premium relative to the existing fleet composition.
Although this project is new to my radar, it has been around since May. with pretty consistant returns since then.
At time of this reply, yoUSD is farming 10 different yield farms. all of which are vetted projects.
But there are some flags that require deeper considerations.
Like
the Looping yoUSD on Euler. These are quite dangerous loops and they inflate TVL metics to pointlessness. IF yoUSD starts losing peg they will be straped to repay USDC they borrowed to loop>
that said the chart does have some major dips that are quickly eaten back up. But are they recovered by more looping or by more USDC entering the system.