The Peak - Edition #6, November 2023
The Peak is a monthly newsletter for the Vertex community. Join us as we unpack the past month’s highlights including market stats, new features, and community content.
November has been an action-packed month for Vertex Volumooors!
In this edition:
- VRTX Token: Recapping the VRTX token launch & LBA.
- Big Releases: VRTX staking, TP/SL orders & new rewards page.
- Markets: Over $21.5B traded and #1 by volume.
- Dual Incentives: Trade on Vertex, earn VRTX & ARB.
- Partnerships: Elixir increases pools, CEX listings, and competitions.
- Community: Content of the month.
VRTX Token Launch & LBA
If there is one thing to remember from November, it’s the VRTX token launch.
Leading up to the token launch was the VRTX Liquidity Bootstrapping Auction, or LBA. The LBA took place over 7 days, between Nov 13 - 20, helping to seed the initial pool of liquidity for VRTX while creating a fair launch price for the token with community input.
Community members had the opportunity to supply USDC.e and trading rewards from the previous epochs to the auction to build an LBA position. LBA positions will be vested over time and earn VRTX rewards in addition to pool fees.
- VRTX Supplied: 13.7M
- USDC.e Supplied: 4.29M
- VRTX Launch Price: $0.3133
- TVL of Launch Pool: $8.58M
On November 21st, a day after the LBA concluded, VRTX officially launched with the VRTX-USDC.e pool on Vertex and partner exchanges (see partnership section).
On the new VRTX token page, users can trade and LP VRTX-USDC.e in addition to staking their VRTX – earning a voVRTX score (covered in the next section). For further details on VRTX and a list of supported market venues, please check out VRTX’s token page on Coinmarketcap or Coingecko!
Over the last few months, our team has been diligently focused on developing the VRTX LBA and meticulously preparing for the token launch. We're thrilled about the remarkably smooth launch, which saw enthusiastic participation from numerous community members and partners.
Big Releases
voVRTX Staking (& Reward Claiming)
Immediately following the launch, VRTX holders can stake their tokens into the voVRTX to earn a voVRTX score.
Every week, a portion of the protocol’s USDC.e fees are distributed into the pool for stakers to withdraw. The amount of rewards each staker earns is proportionate to their score, or share of the pool.
The voVRTX score starts off as 1x the VRTX staked and increases to a max score of 2.5x voVRTX for every VRTX staked over time.
👉 Staking is performed via the VRTX token page on the Vertex app.
The first weekly rewards were distributed to stakers on November 28th. Over 300,000 USDC.e was distributed to VRTX stakers. The baseline, or lowest, APR for stakers that week was 78.48 percent. To learn more about staking an voVRTX scores, please refer to the Vertex DOCS.
***APRs will vary from week and week. Stakers should not expect rewards to maintain any specific level of APR from week to week. It is possible that stakers will lose staked tokens. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Take Profit & Stop Loss
Being one of the most anticipated features, we are thrilled to have launched Take Profit and Stop Loss (TP & SL) orders during November. Traders can now make use of TP & SL on the Vertex app to manage open perp positions.
Please refer to the TP & SL tutorial in the Vertex docs to learn how to create and manage these orders and any associated risks.
Rewards Dashboard
A new rewards dashboard was launched. With the completion of the initial token phase, traders can now claim rewards as ongoing emissions epochs are completed.
Additionally, the new page is designed to support the management of traders’ ARB incentives and LBA rewards. To navigate to the new rewards dashboard, simply head to the “VRTX” section in the navigation bar and select the rewards dashboard.
Here is what you can do:
- Claim trading rewards after each epoch.
- Claim ARB incentives weekly.
- Claim LBA rewards weekly.
The new rewards dashboard layout.
Markets
Vertember was one for the markets. Here are some of the November milestones for Vertex:
Surpassed $26B in Total Trading Volume:
24h total volume ATH of $1.57B
Top 2 DEX by 24-hour volume (at time of writing)
***Vertex Protocol and the VRTX token have a limited operating history. You should not extrapolate from this limited operating history that trading volumes or prices will increase or be sustained. Digital asset markets are volatile. You may lose money trading digital assets including the VRTX token. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Users
By the end of November, Vertex surpassed 16,000 cumulative users. November also saw the highest one-day new user increase, totaling 658.
VRTX / voVRTX
New to the section of the market is the VRTX / voVRTX staking stats. 28.66% of the liquid supply has been staked since launch. The Avg. Staking Rewards for the pool sits at 61.19% for stakers at the time of writing.
Average staking rewards will vary. Stakers should not expect rewards to maintain any specific level of rewards from week to week. It is possible that stakers will lose staked tokens. Past performance is no guarantee of future results
New Markets – Wen?
It’s been a while since we listed new perp and spot markets on Vertex. Our team’s focus was consumed by the VRTX launch. With that completed, we expect to share some news for upcoming listings soon. Stay tuned!
MORE Rewards
Trade & Earn is in full effect on Vertex, with VRTX rewards and ARB incentives up for grabs.
ARB Incentives
With the passing of the STIP proposal, when you trade on Vertex you can earn both VRTX rewards and ARB Incentives.
ARB incentives are distributed weekly to traders. Weeks 1 - 3 were distributed during the month of November. You can view and claim your ARB incentives via the new Rewards Dashboard.
VRTX Rewards
November saw the completion of Vertex’s Initial Token Phase (epochs 1 - 7), and the start of the Ongoing Emissions Phase, which comprises 34% of the total VRTX supply – to be rewarded to traders.
Reward claiming for the Ongoing Emissions Phase will be on a per-epoch basis. Traders will have 30 days after each epoch to claim the rewards for that epoch. Emissions reward claiming is also handled on the new Rewards Dashboard.
📚To learn more about VRTX rewards & ARB Incentive programs please visit the VRTX Trade & Earn docs:
https://vertex-protocol.gitbook.io/docs/community-and-tokenomics/trade-and-earn-rewards-program
Partnerships
Elixir
Vertex Fusion Pools, powered by Elixir, were launched on November 1st. They were promptly covered in our last month’s Newsletter. The pools, which allow users to supply USDC.e to Vertex orderbook pairs and earn rewards, quickly reached capacity after launch.
The Elixir team has since increased the capacity, and we’re excited to share that there is over $9M supplied to Vertex orderbook pairs via Elixir.
Not a trader but want rewards?
Fusion pools are a passive way for users to earn both VRTX rewards and ARB incentives. Pools exist for every Vertex market, including both spot and perps.
You can view pool stats and supply via Elixir Frontend:
➡️ https://app.elixir.finance/orderbooks
Exchanges
We’re pleased to have partnered with several exchanges to support the VRTX token launch!
The supported exchanges for VRTX include:
- Kucoin
- Gate
- Bitget
- Huobi
- Bybit
Since the launch, several other exchanges and DEXs have listed or announced plans to list VRTX pairs. For an inclusive list of venues please check out Coinmarketcap or Coingecko!
Community & Events
Vertember was a busy one for the Vertex community.
On Twitter (can we still call it that?), Vertex content took CT by storm. Here are a few highlights of tweets and community member content:
Events
The Vertex team had the privilege of meeting community members in both Istanbul and London during November! Check out some photos from the events below.
Looking Ahead
November aka “Vertember,” was a milestone month for the Vertex roadmap. It saw the launch of the VRTX token and record-breaking trading volumes. As we approach the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, our team is re-focusing on bringing you the best-in-class trading features, products, and new markets.
If you have any questions about what was shared today, Vertex in general, or want to get more involved in our journey, then we invite you to come say hello in Discord
That’s all for now. Time to get back to building.
- Vertex Team