psdnOCEAN Security Report
The launch of psdnOCEAN was one of the successful milestones of H2O, with 7.4% of the total $OCEAN locked (veOCEAN) as of this writing. With the increasing number of locked OCEAN, it’s vital to understand the security of the psdnOCEAN contract to give users peace of mind and safety assurance.
Why blockchain security matters?
Blockchain technology has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, with applications ranging from cryptocurrency to supply chain management. At its core, a blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger that allows multiple parties to securely record and verify transactions without needing a central authority.
One of the key benefits of using a blockchain is its enhanced security. Because a blockchain is decentralized, it is not controlled by a single entity, making it less vulnerable to hacking or other forms of tampering. Additionally, using cryptography to secure transactions on a blockchain adds an extra layer of protection.
In a traditional centralized system, a single point of failure can be exploited to gain access to sensitive information or disrupt operations. However, in a blockchain system, the decentralized nature of the network makes it much harder for attackers to target a specific point and gain access to the system.
Furthermore, using cryptographic techniques, such as digital signatures, ensures that only authorized parties can access and verify transactions on the blockchain. This helps to prevent fraud and ensures that the integrity of the data on the blockchain is maintained.
However, although decentralized systems are extremely secure, smart contracts are not immune to failure. It is, therefore, important to understand, as a DeFi user, what codebase was used to deploy contracts on the blockchain.
With psdnOCEAN, the H2O team used the code base of Convex with slight changes to fit the Ocean’s protocol ve-model. Below is a more detailed overview of Convex and psdnOCEAN contracts.
About Convex
Convex is a yield optimizer known for rewarding CVX tokens, its native currency, to users who lock their CRV through the protocol. The platform is designed to benefit long-term holders in the best possible way by offering incentives to those who participate in staking and liquidity providing. The protocol has been around for quite some time and has $3.09B in TVL at this writing.
Curve Finance has been a major player in the market since its inception in August 2022. Since then, it has amassed approximately $196 million in annual revenue and has US$3.71 billion in TVL. Its popularity stems from minimal impermanent loss, low slippage, and attractive product yields. Currently, Convex holds the majority of Curve’s veCRV, which is a good indicator of its credibility despite the market challenges.
Considering that Convex is now more than two years old, plays a huge role in the Curve ecosystem, and has been battle-tested over the years, it shows how sturdy the protocol is.
Understanding psdnOCEAN contract
Most of the codebase for psdnOCEAN is forked 1:1 from the contracts of Convex.finance with some minor adjustments to fit our requirements.
Here is a simplified list of all the changes:
- Updated all contracts to Solidity version 0.8.13
- Renamed CRV references to OCEAN references
- Booster contract
— Removed all logic related to CRV LP - Depositor contract
— Adjusted to collect fees and rewards from Ocean Marketplace. - VoterProxy
— Removed logic on Curve Gauges and replaced it with allocation on Ocean Marketplace.
— Adapted VoterProxy to claims rewards on DataFarming.
Conclusion
H2O implemented and adapted Convex’s codebase to ensure users with the utmost security and provide an ideal experience while using the protocol. The protocol’s collaboration with Ocean Protocol solidifies its foundation, as both projects create pathways for data monetization and democratization. The web3 data economy seeks to create a more decentralized and transparent marketplace for data. In the future, web3 will likely play a more prominent role in the data economy, enabling users to share and monetize their data in new and innovative ways.
This is only the beginning of H2O’s growth. Join our community to be part of the DataFi revolution.
