How Does Origin Protocol Work?

OUSD: auto-rebasing stablecoin that increases holder balances to distribute yield

OUSD automatically adjusts holder balances upward to reflect yield earned from underlying DeFi strategies. This is the first major yield-bearing rebasing stablecoin. Now backed 100% by USDC after November 2025 governance vote.

OETH: yield-bearing ETH token aggregating staking and DeFi yields (6.4% APY)

OETH aggregates yields from ETH staking (Beacon Chain) and DeFi strategies. November 2025 upgrade enabled Merkle-proof validation for trust-minimized staking. Competes with stETH and rETH.

Automated yield strategy deployment across Aave, Compound, Convex, and other protocols

User deposits are automatically allocated across DeFi yield strategies. Strategy selection is governance-controlled. Each strategy introduces the smart contract risk of the underlying protocol.

wOUSD non-rebasing wrapper for DeFi composability

Wrapped OUSD (wOUSD) provides a non-rebasing version for DeFi integrations that cannot handle balance changes. Value accrues through exchange rate appreciation rather than balance increase.

OGN governance token with staking rewards funded by protocol revenue

OGN stakers earn yield from protocol revenue. $200K/week in OGN buybacks from protocol revenue and DAO assets. Token serves governance and revenue-sharing functions.

Weekly OGN buyback program using protocol revenue ($200K/week)

Protocol uses operating revenue to buy OGN tokens from market weekly. Predictable schedule may be front-runnable. Creates deflationary pressure on OGN supply.

48-hour upgrade timelock on vault contract changes

All smart contract upgrades must pass through a 48-hour timelock, giving users time to exit before potentially malicious changes take effect. Implemented after the 2020 exploit.

$1M Immunefi bug bounty program

Major bug bounty program incentivizes white-hat disclosure. Audited by OpenZeppelin and Trail of Bits. Implemented as part of post-exploit security overhaul.

If a yield strategy suffers losses, the rebasing mechanism continues inflating supply based on expected yield, creating phantom balances that cannot be redeemed. This was the core attack vector in the 2020 exploit.

Deploying into multiple DeFi protocols aggregates rather than diversifies smart contract risk. A single exploited strategy (Aave, Compound, Convex) can impair the entire vault, affecting all OUSD/OETH holders.

Rebasing tokens break standard ERC-20 assumptions. Protocols that cache balances, use transfer hooks incorrectly, or fail to account for balance changes between transactions are vulnerable to accounting exploits.

Wrapper exchange rate depends on accurate tracking of rebases. If the wrapper contract has any edge case in rebase accounting, the wrap/unwrap exchange rate can be manipulated for profit.

Weekly $200K OGN buybacks on a known schedule are front-runnable. Traders can buy OGN before the scheduled buyback and sell after, extracting value from the protocol treasury at token holders' expense.