For a minute, take your mind back a handful of years to 2020/2021. What was going on in your life? What were you doing at the time? Were you unemployed, were you employed, were you a student?
All I know is that I was, was a 12-year-old innocent, do-no-wrong kid whose eyes were gorilla glued to his 144 hz monitor, grinding a game called Valorant and never seeing the light of day. My vitamin D levels were low, my skin was as pale as Casper the ghost, and most of all, I was unaware, unaware of what was going on in the world, from the chaos that ensued out of COVID-19, to the financial scene, to the US economy, and even to what was going on with my next-door neighbors.
At that time, I heard stories through various Discord chats about blockchain, Bitcoin going to the moon, Dogecoin being the new biggest winner, and terms like rug pull getting thrown around. Still, I never once bothered to go too deep into them because I only cared about my Immortal rank and 1.5 KDA in Valorant.
Then, amid the quarantine and uncertainty of mid-2020, something new, something some might call revolutionary, was brewing in the DeFi( Decentralized Finance) space. This new tech later became yield farming, which leverages blockchain technology. This innovation allows crypto holders to generate rewards with minimal effort, tapping into the allure of “passive” income.
Yield farming, in technical terms, provides liquidity to DeFi platforms — including decentralized exchanges, liquidity pool exchanges, and lending platforms like AAVE, Uniswap, Balancer, and Curve Finance — by depositing digital assets into smart contracts. In return, farmers earn rewards such as transaction fees, interest payments, or native platform tokens.
This novel concept spawned various investing strategies, ranging from low to high risk. These include liquidity provision, staking, lending and borrowing, leveraged yield farming, flash loans, and arbitrage. Our focus today is on the riskiest yet potentially most rewarding: leveraged yield farming. This method, which incorporates other yield farming strategies, can yield over 100% APY (Annual Percentage Yield) in certain liquidity pools, depending on leverage levels (2x, 3x, or even 5x). With these 100% returns YOY, you could potentially, if you were to save $10,000 in 5 years, have $320,000, which is close to the average retirement savings for all US families of $333,940. This would replace the 10% annual return of the S&P 500, which would take 108 years if there were no more deposits after the initial deposit of $10,000. In a sense, this could give you financial freedom at a younger age and help you achieve generational wealth for your family. However, it also carries the risk of complete position liquidation — an investor’s nightmare.
Beyond liquidation risk, yield farmers face the challenge of impermanent loss. This occurs when one token in a liquidity pool increases in price, triggering a rebalance due to automated market maker settings. While not permanent, this loss can be significant, especially with leverage. Sometimes, a HODL strategy might have been more profitable than yield farming if this impermanent loss occurred.
With that foundation in mind, let’s dive deeper into the heart of the matter: leveraged yield farming, where the potential for rewards — and risks — are significantly amplified.
Single vs. Multi-Leverage Farming
As we explore the nitty-gritty of yield farming, let’s consider two main principles: single-leverage and multi-leverage. It’s not hard to guess which one is riskier — multi-leverage farming takes the cake in that department.
Single-leverage farming is like taking a cautious first step. You borrow once against your initial collateral to increase potential returns, similar to using a small ladder to reach slightly higher fruit. The risk remains manageable, with the lending platform’s liquidation threshold acting as a limit to ensure you don’t borrow beyond what your collateral can support.
Multi-leverage farming, on the other hand, is like building a tower of Jenga blocks, a risky game that could turn south real quick for you with one wrong move. You keep borrowing against your initial collateral and the assets you’ve gained from previous borrowing rounds. It’s a recursive technique that creates multiple layers of leverage, each stacked on top of the last, just like a wedding cake. When market conditions are favorable, this strategy can significantly amplify your gains, potentially leading to exponential growth. However, it’s important to remember that this approach also multiplies your risk. The interconnected nature of these leveraged positions means that a slight market movement can cascade, potentially causing your entire tower to come crashing down if not managed carefully.
The Effect of Multiple Borrowing Layers
Let me introduce you to Joe Berry.
Joe Berry is a dissatisfied and unpleased cranberry farmer from Idaho, where he grows his cranberries. He is known in town for his high yields of cranberries due to his mastery of the craft of cranberry farming. But at this point in life, Joe has achieved all that he has wanted in the cranberry business and wants to test new avenues of life and see what more life has to offer on the money-making side.
On one bright summer day, Joe Berry is displeased with the money he generates in the cranberry farming business, yielding a mere APY of 10%. It’s alright, but not the big money Joe Berry wants. So he enters a new world of farming: yield farming, but not any yield farming, leveraged yield farming in liquidity pools using a DEX.
Joe’s journey begins with an initial deposit into a liquidity pool like Uniswap. He deposits $10,000 worth of ETH and USDC in equal proportions ($5,000 each) into an ETH-USDC pool. This forms the base for leveraging and earning trading fees from the automated market maker (AMM).
In that initial deposit, Joe is making an APY of 10%, the same as his cranberry fields would generate him, so he yearns for more.
Then, he discovers the first borrowing cycle in leveraged yield farming; using the initial liquidity position as collateral, the user borrows additional assets from a lending platform like Aave. So, Joe Berry borrows $5,000 worth of ETH and USDC (maintaining the 50–50 ratio). These borrowed assets are added to the liquidity pool, increasing the user’s share and potential returns. The total position is now worth $15,000. This means now, he will generate an APY of 15% ( initial $10,000 + $5,000 additional = $15,000 x 10%= $1,500 APY, $1,500/$10,000 = 15%)
Now, he goes in deep with a second wave of borrowing using the already enlarged liquidity position (now $15,000) as collateral for a second round of borrowing. With an additional $7,500 worth of assets (split equally between ETH and USDC) and reinvesting them into the pool, the total position grows to $22,500. This multi-leverage approach could boost the APY to around 22.5% (10% * $22,500 / $10,000), assuming consistent returns across the increased position.
Joe is still looking for more than 22.5% because he dreams of living in a penthouse on Billionaire Road with Donald Trump as his neighbor. He does this continuously, with each iteration amplifying potential returns and risks. He goes into his 3rd and final cycle, which involves borrowing $11,250 based on the $22,500 position, resulting in a total of $33,750. The theoretical APY now climbed to approximately 33.75% (10% * $33,750 / $10,000) on the initial investment. It’s important to note that this is a multi-leverage strategy instead of single-leverage, which only involves one round of borrowing.
APY derivation
At this point, you may be wondering where the APY comes from if the crypto isn’t moving up or down. The answer is that this APY is derived from trading fees when users transact the crypto in the liquidity pool. Also, the APY can fluctuate due to trading volume, pool sizes, and fee rates, making consistent rates like these unlikely. The specific fee rate on many AMMs like Uniswap is 0.3% per trade.
Impermanent Loss Risk
Joe Berry could have an impermanent loss due to one coin’s increasing price. To understand this impermanent loss, let’s calculate how a 106% increase in the ETH price could result in an impermanent loss exceeding the 33.75% APY percentage. But before we calculate this, let’s dig deep into what an Automated Market Maker (AMM) model is.
Suppose any shift in supply or demand happens within a liquidity pool, or the price fluctuates between one currency, increasing or decreasing. In that case, the automated market maker in the liquidity pool will rebalance the currencies due to their x * y = k model.
For example, Joe Berry, who we know produces cranberries, now wants to exchange them for potatoes in an automated market model. Then you go to trade in the exchange. There are 50,000 cranberries and 50,000 potatoes, making one cranberry equal to 1 potato, but you are coming to deposit 10,000 cranberries for the said potatoes. So, in the automated market model with the math model of $x*y=k$, k is the constant product, which currently sits at $50,000 * 50,000= 2,500,000,000$ , k= 2,500,000,000. In this case, the K product has to be 2,500,000,000 no matter how many potatoes or cranberries are deposited, potentially causing one of the currencies, potato or cranberry, to be worth less or more than the other in this exchange, depending on their supply. Think of it as a simple supply and demand mechanism.
With that in mind, Joe Berry’s addition of 10,000 cranberries would make the new cranberry amount in the exchange 60,000. Then you have to do k/60,000 = 2,500,000,000/60,000 = 41,666.67. Instead of 10,000 potatoes, he will get 50,000–41,666.67=8,333.33 potatoes, and now the exchange would be one cranberry to 0.69 potatoes.
If he keeps doing this, the price of potatoes will continue to equal more berries, so Joe wants more potatoes and deposits another 10,000 cranberries. Now, $2,500,000,000/70,000 = 35,714.28$ he would get 41,666.67–35,714= ~5952 potatoes for 10,000. Now, the ratio is one cranberry to 0.51 potatoes.
This example demonstrates how the AMM model maintains liquidity and adjusts prices based on supply and demand. When Joe Berry adds a significant amount of cranberries to the pool, it changes the ratio, causing the value of cranberries to decrease relative to potatoes. This is similar to how impermanent loss can occur in cryptocurrency liquidity pools when one asset’s price changes significantly relative to the other. So, in understanding the ETH to USDC, if the prices of ETH go up 100%, there will be more USDC to ETH to balance the pricing, which will cause a need to rebalance USDC to ETH in the liquidity pool, resulting in an impermanent loss.
This is the concept of impermanent loss. So, now, let’s go into detail about how this could happen to Joe Berry if ETH goes up 106% with more profound calculations than just earlier due to the increase in complexity. The impermanent loss also doesn’t entirely mean he lost money, but it means that doing this farming strategy lost him out on more money he could have by just HODL.
The Calculations
Given:
- Joe’s total position: $33,750
- Initial ratio: 50–50 ETH-USDC
- Initial price: 1 ETH = 2,000 USDC
- Price change: ETH up 106% (1 ETH now equals 4,120 USDC)
Initial amounts:
ETH amount: $33,750 / 2/ (2,000) = $8.4375 ETH
USDC amount: $33,750 / 2 = $16,875 USDC
Value if held:
ETH value: $8.4375 * 4,120 = $34,762.50
USDC value: 16,875 (unchanged)
Total if held: $51,637.50
Value in liquidity pool:
Using the constant product formula: (x * y = k)
$k = 8.4375 * 16,875 = $142,382.8125
$x * (4120x)= $142,382.8125
$4120x² = $142,382.8125
$√(142,382.8125 / 4,120) = 5.8838 ETH
$√(142,382.8125 * 4,120) = $24,241.25 USDC
To keep it simple, we’ll use that Joe Berry is the only person in the liquidity pool, which makes the total in the liquidity pool: $(5.8838 * 4,120) + $24,241.25 = $48,640.91
The impermanent loss:
Impermanent loss = (Value in liquidity pool — Value if held) / Value if held
Impermanent loss = $(48,640.91–51,637.50) / 51,637.50 = -5.80%$
The total loss is 33.75% (APY) + 5.80% (Impermanent Loss) = 39.55%
LTV and Liquidation Risk
At the initial deposit of $10,000, Joe Berry is at minimal risk for anything, so he’s only exposed to market volatility and impermanent loss, not liquidation risk.
If the value of his collateral, now at $33,750, drops below the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio set by the lending platform (in this case, 85%), he faces liquidation. LTV ratios can vary between 50% and 90% depending on what you are borrowing and where you are borrowing from. For example, on AAVE, the LTV for ETH is ~80%, and USDC is upwards of 90%; that’s why we use an 85% ratio here for simplicity.
Note that LTV (Loan-to-Value) ratios in DeFi lending platforms can indeed change depending on various factors, including market volatility. For this example, we’ll use a fixed 85% LTV ratio. However, lending platforms may adjust LTV ratios dynamically based on market conditions, asset volatility, and platform-specific risk management strategies. Higher volatility or perceived risk might lead to lower LTV ratios to provide a more significant safety margin against liquidations.
In Joe Berry’s case, his liquidation risk at the third cycle would be a drop of ~17.2%. This is derived from a pretty simple calculation. First, to find the required collateral, you must divide the total borrowed ($23,750) by the LTV of 85%(0.85), achieving a value of $27,941. To maintain the LTV below 85%, your collateral must be at least $27,941.
Now that we have that value of $27,941, we can plug it into another formula to find the percentage drop where Joe would be liquidated. Subtract the current collateral of $33,750 by $27,941 and divide it all by the current collateral of $33,750. As suggested earlier, this accounts for 17.2% of the total.
Regulatory Considerations
As yield farming gains popularity and could be adopted by the financial world, regulatory scrutiny will likely increase. Potential measures include KYC/AML requirements, consumer protection laws, and tax reporting standards, all to keep the ecosystem healthy and a fair game for everyone participating.
KYC/AML measures include Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering. The Know Your Customer(KYC) on DeFi DEXEs and DApps will involve verifying user identities, collecting relevant information, and monitoring activities to reduce the risk of illicit actors and ensure compliance with AML regulations, fostering transparency and trust.
While regulation may pose challenges, it could also legitimize and stabilize the yield farming ecosystem, potentially attracting more mainstream adoption due to recent scandals and iffy events within the DeFi landscape, such as FTX fraud, among other things.
The Future Of Finance Has Arrived
Leveraged yield farming and investment into liquidity pools will attract a wave of investors and investing strategies due to the high rewards it could reap. Doesn’t 100% APY look attractive, or even 20% APY? If a fund could offer an investor that they will return 20% APY over 10–15 years, everybody would take them up on that offer, no questions asked. A pretty prosperous trading firm, citadel, over the past 34 years since its inception in 1990, has produced a CAGR of 19.6%, and in this world of crypto, especially leveraged yield farming, that could be achieved effortlessly.
This also brings a new wave of potential career paths for individuals like you. New Financial expertise, Defi Specialists, blockchain financial advisors, smart contract developers, DeFi Bot programmers, DeFi Risk Analysts, DeFi Compliance specialists, DeFi Educators, Blockchain Finance Researchers, and Yield Farming Strategists are just a few jobs that could emerge as finance gets adopted worldwide.
Take it not just from me, but Kevin O leary, a prominent business figure exclaimed how, “This whole move into stablecoins and cryptocurrencies is to get rid of those middlemen. And we’re going to do it in the next three, four years,” O’Leary said. “They should find other jobs, maybe they should start shining shoes or something.”
It is not just careers that will change; platforms will adapt and improve to fit people’s needs. As this finance system is adopted by newer, more user-friendly, and more uncomplicated platforms to navigate compared to the harder-to-understand ones, it will pop out. Think of these new platforms as the Robinhood of crypto, which will be easy to use even for someone who started crypto the day before.
As platforms change, people become more educated, and as the blockchain ecosystem grows, the world will change, and your life will also be impacted. Now more than ever, many ways exist to achieve financial freedom and have a significant sum of money compounding yearly.
It’s still as early as ever to join the blockchain adventure. Don’t do what my 12-year-old self did, pushing it all to the side; get involved and become more knowledgeable!!
Don’t Go So Fast!!
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