Is Pharaoh V3 Safe?
Risk Grade: C+ (37/100)
Pharaoh V3 is rated as elevated risk — multiple novel mechanisms and notable interaction risks.
Moderate risk — Avalanche's leading DEX with strong fee generation and ve(3,3) governance, but xPHAR exit burn creates governance lock-in and bribery market dynamics could extract value at the expense of long-term health
Pharaoh V3 is the leading decentralized exchange on Avalanche, using concentrated liquidity (similar to Uniswap V3) combined with a ve(3,3) governance model. Users can provide liquidity in specific price ranges to earn trading fees, or lock PHAR tokens into xPHAR to vote on which pools receive emission rewards and earn a 50% share of all trading fees. With approximately $28M in TVL and $9.55M in annualized fees, Pharaoh serves as Avalanche's central liquidity hub. The V3 upgrade introduces xPHAR with a notable 50% token burn penalty for exiting governance positions — designed to create long-term alignment but also creating strong lock-in. As a fork of RAMSES, it inherits battle-tested concentrated liquidity code but also the known risks of ve(3,3) governance models including bribery market dynamics.
TVL
$30M
Mechanisms
7
Interactions
4
Value Grade
B-
Key Risks for Pharaoh V3 Users
The xPHAR governance system burns 50% of your tokens if you decide to exit your governance position. This means you lose half your investment just by leaving, creating a strong lock-in that makes it very expensive to change your mind.
ve(3,3) models like Pharaoh's are vulnerable to bribery markets where outside parties pay voters to redirect token emissions to specific pools, potentially enriching a few at the expense of overall protocol health.
As the dominant DEX on Avalanche, Pharaoh concentrates liquidity risk — if the protocol is exploited, Avalanche traders across many token pairs would face dramatically increased slippage and disruption.
Top Risk Factors
- •Pharaoh V3's xPHAR transition (replacing vePHAR) introduces a 50% exit burn penalty, creating lock-in dynamics that could trap governance participants and reduce market liquidity during stress events.
- •As a RAMSES fork on Avalanche, Pharaoh inherits both the benefits and risks of the concentrated liquidity ve(3,3) model — bribery markets and governance extractable value are well-documented failure modes of ve(3,3) protocols.
- •Avalanche C-Chain DEX concentration in Pharaoh creates single-point-of-failure risk. If Pharaoh's liquidity is compromised, Avalanche traders face significantly degraded trading conditions across many pairs.
Risk Score Breakdown
Pharaoh V3's highest risk area is Track Record (8/15). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 37/100 score:
Read the Full Pharaoh V3 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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