Is Ampleforth Safe?
Risk Grade: B- (34/100)
Ampleforth is rated as moderate risk — some novel mechanisms, generally well-understood.
Elevated risk — innovative 5-year monetary experiment with no exploits, but elastic supply creates reflexive selling dynamics and breaks standard DeFi composability
A unique monetary experiment where the AMPL token's supply automatically expands and contracts daily to target a CPI-adjusted 2019 USD value. It holds $30M in deposits with 5+ years of operation and no exploits. Its C+ grade reflects genuinely novel rebasing mechanisms that break standard DeFi composability and create reflexive selling dynamics during downturns.
TVL
$30M
Mechanisms
6
Interactions
5
Value Grade
D+
Key Risks for Ampleforth Users
Your AMPL balance changes every day. When the price is below target, the protocol reduces your balance. This can feel like losing money even though each token's target value stays the same.
Most DeFi protocols cannot properly handle AMPL because the balance changes. If you deposit AMPL into a protocol that is not designed for it, you may lose your rebase rewards or face accounting errors.
The SPOT structured product splits AMPL into stable and volatile pieces. The volatile piece amplifies losses during sustained price declines.
Top Risk Factors
- •Elastic supply rebases reduce wallet balances during contractions, creating reflexive selling pressure and potential death spirals where declining price triggers further supply reduction.
- •Rebasing mechanism fundamentally breaks DeFi composability. Lending, LP positions, and collateral accounting all malfunction with supply-changing tokens.
- •SPOT tranche system is a novel layered structure with limited battle-testing, creating untested edge cases in the senior/junior tranche interaction.
Risk Score Breakdown
Ampleforth's highest risk area is Mechanism Novelty (9/15). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 34/100 score:
Read the Full Ampleforth Risk Report
This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 2 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.
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