AmpleforthMicro-cap
Elevated risk — innovative 5-year monetary experiment with no exploits, but elastic supply creates reflexive selling dynamics and breaks standard DeFi composability
Top Risks
1
Elastic supply rebases reduce wallet balances during contractions, creating reflexive selling pressure and potential death spirals where declining price triggers further supply reduction.
2
Rebasing mechanism fundamentally breaks DeFi composability. Lending, LP positions, and collateral accounting all malfunction with supply-changing tokens.
3
SPOT tranche system is a novel layered structure with limited battle-testing, creating untested edge cases in the senior/junior tranche interaction.
Risk Breakdown
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ampleforth safe to use?
Ampleforth receives a B- risk grade (34/100) from Hindenrank, where lower scores indicate lower risk. 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.
What are the main risks of using Ampleforth?
The key risks identified for Ampleforth are: (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) The SPOT structured product splits AMPL into stable and volatile pieces. The volatile piece amplifies losses during sustained price declines.
What is Ampleforth's risk score breakdown?
Ampleforth scores 34/100 across eight risk dimensions: Mechanism Novelty: 9/15, Interaction Severity: 10/20, Oracle Surface: 2/10, Documentation Gaps: 3/10, Track Record: 0/15, Scale Exposure: 3/10, Regulatory Risk: 1/10, Vitality Risk: 6/10. The highest risk area is Mechanism Novelty at 9/15.
How does Ampleforth compare to other DeFi protocols?
Among 68 rated DeFi protocols on Hindenrank, Ampleforth ranks #26 by safety (lowest risk score = safest). Its 34/100 risk score and B- grade place it in the middle tier of DeFi protocols.
Has Ampleforth ever been hacked or exploited?
Ampleforth scores 0/15 on the Track Record risk dimension, indicating no significant exploits or security incidents in its history. However, past performance does not guarantee future security.
Last scanned 2026-02-12