Curve’s CRV Token Could Earn Like a Stock—Voters Decide Future

The Curve Finance community is set to vote on a $60 million proposal designed to convert its governance token, CRV, into a yield-bearing asset. The initiative, named Yield Basis, aims to enhance returns for CRV holders by allocating a portion of the protocol’s revenue back to token stakers and the ecosystem. The proposal, introduced by Curve founder Michael Egorov, has already garnered 97% approval in early voting.

Under the plan, holders who stake CRV will receive veCRV (vote-escrowed CRV), granting them governance rights and a share of the generated yield. Yield Basis will distribute between 35% and 65% of its value to veCRV holders, with an additional 25% reserved for the broader Curve ecosystem. This shift marks a departure from Curve’s reliance on airdrops and token emissions, offering a more sustainable model for rewarding token participants.

The $60 million credit line will be used to mint crvUSD, Curve’s over-collateralized stablecoin, which will be allocated to three Bitcoin-focused liquidity pools: WBTC, cbBTC, and tBTC, each capped at $10 million. These pools are intended to mitigate impermanent loss — a common issue in automated market maker (AMM) systems where the value of liquidity pool assets fluctuates compared to direct holdings. The mechanism leverages compounding leverage and supply sinks to reduce exposure to such risks, enabling the protocol to scale without compromising the crvUSD peg.

This move comes at a pivotal time for Curve, as the protocol faces a competitive and evolving DeFi market. Total Value Locked (TVL) across the DeFi sector has seen a resurgence in 2025, rising to $163.2 billion as of April 2025 from $115.8 billion at the beginning of the year — a 40.9% increase in just nine months. Protocols like Aave, with $42.5 billion in TVL, and Ethena, which saw over $500 million in revenue in August 2025, are also contributing to the sector’s momentum.

Curve’s TVL, while still significantly below its peak of $24.2 billion in early 2022, stands at $2.4 billion as of April 2025. The Yield Basis proposal is seen as a strategic move to stabilize and grow this metric, particularly in the face of domain name system (DNS) attacks and the proliferation of fraudulent apps that have impacted the protocol’s reputation.

Egorov has previously faced challenges in supporting CRV’s price through leveraged positions, which led to significant losses for Curve. In 2024, he incurred over $10 million in bad debt following a major liquidation event. A similar incident in December 2024 resulted in another liquidation of 918,830 CRV tokens, valued at approximately $882,000. Despite these setbacks, CRV has seen a 1% price increase in the past 24 hours, suggesting growing market optimism about the proposed changes.

If adopted, the Yield Basis model could redefine CRV’s utility, moving it from a primarily governance-focused token to a yield-generating asset. This transformation may reduce Curve’s dependence on inflationary rewards and attract institutional and professional investors by offering transparent and sustainable Bitcoin yields.

The proposal is currently open for voting until September 24, with the outcome expected to determine the future direction of one of DeFi’s most influential protocols. As DeFi continues to recover and expand in 2025, the success of initiatives like Yield Basis could play a key role in shaping the sector’s trajectory.