Overview
Convex Finance launched in May 2021 on Ethereum. It is built on top of Curve Finance, the largest DEX for stablecoins and similar assets, and makes Curve easier and more rewarding to use.
During 2021–2022, Convex was at the center of the “Curve Wars”: a battle between DeFi projects to control Curve’s votes, which decide where Curve’s token rewards go.
How it works
On Curve, people who lock CRV for up to four years get veCRV, which boosts their rewards and lets them vote on which pools get the most CRV. Few users want to lock tokens for four years.
Convex solves this:
- Liquidity providers deposit their Curve LP tokens into Convex and get boosted rewards, without locking CRV themselves.
- CRV holders convert CRV into cvxCRV and earn a share of the platform’s income.
- Convex locks all that CRV permanently as veCRV, becoming one of the largest holders of Curve’s voting power.
- CVX holders who lock their tokens (vlCVX) decide how Convex votes on Curve, and earn payments from projects that want those votes, so-called vote incentives or “bribes”.
The CVX token
| CVX at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Maximum supply | 100 million CVX |
| In circulation (Oct 2026) | about 93 million |
| Price (29 Oct 2026) | about $2.20 |
| All-time high | about $60 (January 2022) |
| Market cap | about $205 million |
CVX is used to vote, to earn platform fees and to collect vote incentives when locked as vlCVX (lock period: about 16 weeks).
Risks
- Curve dependence. If Curve loses users or its CRV token weakens, Convex suffers directly. Curve was hit by a bug in 2023 that drained several pools.
- Cooling demand. Projects pay less for Curve votes than at the 2022 peak.
- Complexity. Layers of tokens (CRV, veCRV, cvxCRV, CVX, vlCVX) make Convex hard to understand.
- Smart-contract risk. Convex has run for years without a major hack, but risk never disappears.
Convex vs. the competition
| Convex | Pendle | Aave | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main use | Boost Curve rewards | Trade future yield | Lending and borrowing |
| Built on | Curve | Many yield tokens | Own pools |
| Token | CVX | PENDLE | AAVE |
Our verdict
Convex is a clever and important part of DeFi: it made Curve’s rewards accessible to everyone and turned voting power into an income stream. It has a long, clean security record.
But its success depends on Curve, the Curve Wars have cooled, and CVX trades about 96% below its peak. CVX is a high-risk investment tied closely to Curve’s future. Invest only what you can afford to lose.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice.