June 15, 2020
Compound launches COMP governance token
Compound distributed its COMP governance token starting June 15, 2020 — rewarding users who lent and borrowed on the protocol and kicking off "DeFiDecentralized finance — lending, trading, and derivatives on blockchains without traditional banks. Summer."
What it was for
Yield farming — earning governance tokens for providing liquidity — spread across Aave, Curve, and copycat protocols within weeks. TVL exploded as developers composed money legos: deposit DAI, borrow ETH, stake LP tokens, claim rewards. It rewired how crypto startups bootstrapped usage.
Why it's here
COMP liquidity mining ignited the 2020 DeFiDecentralized finance — lending, trading, and derivatives on blockchains without traditional banks. Summer boom.
Why it mattered
Governance tokens became the default growth hack for on-chain protocols.
What it solved
DeFiDecentralized finance — lending, trading, and derivatives on blockchains without traditional banks. protocols needed decentralized ownership and incentives without venture-only cap tables.
Media
- ImageCompound (company)
GitR0n1n, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Uniswap v1 releasedNovember 2, 2018
- MakerDAO launches DAI stablecoinDecember 18, 2017
- Ethereum mainnet launchesJuly 30, 2015