Josh Fraser, Co-Founder of Origin Protocol, on Liquid Staking, Getting Better Yields in Crypto, and The Future of DeFi | Ep. 339

In an exclusive interview with Cryptonews Podcast, Josh Fraser, co-founder of Origin Protocol, an Ethereum-powered platform that develops Web3 technologies, discussed liquid staking and earning better yields “everywhere.”

He talked about Origin Protocol going multi-chain to Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism, as well as creating a Liquid Staking Token (LST) that users can get in and out of on a one-to-one basis without slippage concerns.

Mining Bitcoin on Smoking Laptops

Fraser discovered Bitcoin very early on, back in 2010.

Buying some at the time was difficult, but mining it was somewhat easier.

It required downloading software, running it on the computer for seven hours, and overheating the device.

It took one smoking laptop to get the 50 BTC block reward – then just a change, today a massive fortune.

But Fraser didn’t know what to do with it at the time, and it would take another seven years for him to return to the crypto world, settling there.

In 2017, co-founder Matt Lew convinced him to get into Ethereum, reigniting the excitement about blockchains.

“And so we started off just playing in the space,” Fraser said, trading some crypto, building smart contracts, “just to see what was possible and what actually made sense.”

The more they built, the more he became convinced that “this was a revolutionary technology.”

The founders came up with several ideas, choosing “the craziest, most audacious one of all,” which eventually became Origin Protocol.

Give our intern a follow for updates on all things Origin https://t.co/WbOUqahjOL

— Origin Protocol (@OriginProtocol) May 20, 2024

Going Multi-Chain

Origin is all about giving users better yields everywhere, no matter where they live or the chain and asset they use, said the co-founder.

Notably, it launched Origin Ether (OETH), an ETH-pegged token that earns yield from staking.

One among many things Origin is working on is having it one-to-one pegged and instantly redeemable so users can get out on a one-to-one basis anytime they want.

This is all permissionless, and there is no counterparty risk. “You just have to trust the code,” not the team.

The team aims to be “the only LST you’ll be able to get into and out of on a one-to-one basis without having to worry about any slippage whatsoever, no matter how large that trade is.”

Instant LST redemptions with zero slippage…

Time to start paying attention to the Automated Redemption Manager https://t.co/9Mqret99uG

— Origin Protocol (@OriginProtocol) May 23, 2024

Another big area the team is focused on is moving multi-chain.

Gas on the Ethereum is quite prohibitive for a lot of people, Fraser said.

Also, there are many “really enticing” yield opportunities on other chains and Layer 2s to explore.

“And so big push for us this year is expanding from mainnet to Arbitrum and then later on Base and Optimism as well,” he remarked.

Incentivized by Higher Yields

Expansion to Layer 2 is “a big shift” for the project.

The team received an 185,000 ARB grant from the Arbitrum Foundation. This, he said, will help the team grow the ecosystem.

And it’s not only OETH, Fraser remarked. “A lot of DeFi is shifting over to these Layer 2s.”

It is an inevitable move, he opined. One of the biggest factors behind it is savings on gas.

The new wOETH/ETH pool will distribute 3,968 $ARB per week to liquidity providers

LPing the pool allows you to stack:

$ARB rewards
Staking yields
Trading fees

— Origin Protocol (@OriginProtocol) May 30, 2024

Another is “a lot of new incentives that are coming from these other chains.”

There is an opportunity for people to earn extra yield as well.

All of that is passed onto the holders of Origin Dollar, Origin Ether, and the OGN governance token, Fraser said.

So there are multiple ways to get involved and participate in all of the yield that’s available, said Fraser, both on the mainnet and increasingly on Layer 2s as well.

Not Harvesting the Yield, Just Receiving It

Staking is often considered complicated and impossible for many.

Theoretically, to become an Ethereum validator, one needs to invest 32 ETH. Not everybody has this amount or wants to stake that much.

Others would like to stake more, but maybe not quite enough to get to ten validators, for example.

Services have popped up to offer solutions for this issue and provide “risk-free yield.”

Introducing the brand new Origin Dapp and the OGV-OGN Migration Portal! The new dapp features:

▸ A unified experience for Origin’s products
▸ New staking mechanics for xOGN
▸ Built-in governance and new staking rewards

Here’s how to convert your OGV and get started with… pic.twitter.com/TeZqRjjfpN

— Origin Protocol (@OriginProtocol) May 28, 2024

What Origin does, for example, when staking ETH, no matter the amount, stakers get an equal amount of OETH back.

Therefore, it’s always redeemable for the underlying ETH, says Frazer.

Behind the scenes, it’s put into 32 ETH chunks and is deployed onto validators.

“We take care of all of that overhead for you. You don’t have to worry about it. And then, all of that yield, as it comes back, you don’t have to do anything to claim or harvest it. Your balance will automatically increase in your wallet,” Frazer stated.

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That’s not all.

In this interview, Fraser also discussed:

starting coding at the age of 10 and creating games;
co-founding three venture-backed companies: EventVue, Torbit (acquired by Walmart Labs), and Forage;
working with many top 500 internet retailers, including Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and others;
DeFi industry – how it began, where it is now, and where it is headed;
crypto industry’s volatility;
staking, Ethereum, and Origin’s expansion to Layer 2 networks;
token mergers, the OGN-OGV merger, and the idea behind LST yield derivatives;
Automated Redemption Manager (ARM) enabling new use cases, a cross between an AMM and an isolated money market.

You can watch the full podcast episode here.

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About Josh Fraser

Josh Fraser is the co-founder of Origin Protocol, an Ethereum-powered platform that develops Web3 technologies. It aims to make non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) accessible to a wider audience.

Impressively, Fraser started coding at the age of 10.

Prior to Origin, he co-founded three other venture-backed companies: EventVue, Torbit (acquired by Walmart Labs), and Forage.

The post Josh Fraser, Co-Founder of Origin Protocol, on Liquid Staking, Getting Better Yields in Crypto, and The Future of DeFi | Ep. 339 appeared first on Cryptonews.