Yearn Finance, a popular DeFi yield aggregator used to provide depositors with the best passive investment opportunities. The protocol boasts $5B in TVL and significant returns for those who seek high yield for (relatively) low risk.
Similarly as Convex did, Yearn created a vault, giving CRV depositors the opportunity to earn an even higher yield than they’d obtain on Curve. With this, Yearn was able to use their power to hold more voting weight, giving them an edge in the war.
However, they gave 23 million veCRV to Convex, while retaining voting rights. This was done to further boost (or prop up) yields, while also aligning themselves with a major player in the war. Now allies, Yearn and Convex stand as significant players in the Curve Wars, positioning themselves as monopolistic dominant entities.
Convex and Yearn aren’t the only players in this war-game. Olympus DAO, Frax and Abracadabra have all recently moved into battle with one goal in mind - accumulate CVX in order to inevitably acquire governance.
Protocols don’t want to be left behind. This is incredibly important in a space that moves at light speed, and it’s pretty easy to get left in the dust, unless you are making moves. In order to keep up, these protocols have been incentivizing their pools, offering rewards in an attempt to gain an edge. Olympus, for example, released CVX bonds in order for them to accumulate CVX.
FRAX and MIM are two new stable coins, eager to gain liquidity. In order to bootstrap this, they’ve been giving out bribes and other goodies, as every reputable stable coin needs to keep their peg and maintain order.
Tetranode is an anonymous crypto and DeFi space whale. Famous for being a major supporter of Ethereum and known for his market making of CVX, Tetranode is prolific in the community for his involvement with protocols. He has undeniable influence in DeFi space, especially after the recent Mochi Finance debacle, resulting in the obliteration of Mochi’s pool and the slaughtering of Mochi’s native token. Tetranode has influenced CVX for a while now, hence the market making status.