MaiaDAO is a comprehensive DeFi ecosystem that offers a variety of protocols and tools to help users maximize their returns. Whether you’re a newcomer or an experienced DeFi user, understanding the different strategies within MaiaDAO can help you make informed decisions and optimize your earnings.

This guide will explain in detail:

• How different strategies work within the MaiaDAO ecosystem.
• Step-by-step instructions on how to implement these strategies.
• How each strategy can help you make money.
• The associated risks and considerations.

Understanding Yield Opportunities via MaiaDAO

Key Revenue Streams

• HERMES Exposure Through MAIA:
  • MAIA holds approximately 50% of all burned HERMES tokens.
  • Staking MAIA provides proportional access to this significant stake.
  • Earn revenue from MAIA’s treasury holdings.
• Liquidity Provision:
  • Provide liquidity to earn HERMES emissions.
  • Emissions determined by gauge votes.
  • Enhanced yields through automatic boost system.
• Cross-Chain Opportunities:
  • Arbitrage across different chains.
  • Unified liquidity management.
  • Optimized capital efficiency.
• Governance Participation:
  • Influence protocol decisions.
  • Direct emissions through gauge voting.
  • Access to utility tokens.
• Enhanced yields through automatic boost system:
  • Boost automatically activates when $bHERMES is present in wallet while staking the position.
  • No additional steps required.
  • Applies to all eligible position.

Strategy 1: Staking Strategies ($MAIA, $vMAIA)

Overview

Staking $MAIA provides exposure to MAIA’s substantial stake in HERMES, granting governance rights and revenue share. When you stake $MAIA to receive $vMAIA, you gain proportional access to MAIA’s $HERMES holdings, which represents approximately half of all burned $HERMES tokens.  

How Does It Work?

• Stake $MAIA to Receive $vMAIA: By staking your $MAIA tokens, you receive $vMAIA tokens.
• Access HERMES Exposure: Gain proportional access to MAIA’s HERMES holdings.
• Access to bHERMES Utility Tokens:
  • Gain access to bHERMES utility tokens for governance and gauge voting.
  • Earn yield through gauge voting.
  • Direct emissions to preferred pools.
• Earn Treasury Revenue: Receive share of revenue based on MAIA’s $HERMES stake.

How Does It Make Money?

Revenue Generation

1. HERMES Exposure Benefits:
   • Direct exposure to MAIA’s HERMES holdings.
   • Proportional share of protocol revenue.
   • Benefit from protocol growth and development.
2. Governance Utilities:
   • Access to voting power.
   • Direction of protocol development.
   • Gauge voting capabilities.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Acquire $MAIA Tokens:
   • Purchase $MAIA tokens from a supported exchange or DEX.
2. Stake $MAIA for $vMAIA:
   • Navigate to the “Stake” Tab on the MaiaDAO platform.
   • Enter the Amount of $MAIA you wish to stake.
   • Confirm the Transaction in your wallet.
3. Hold $vMAIA:
   • Your staked $MAIA becomes $vMAIA, which is used for governance and earning revenue.
4. Participate in Governance:
   • Stay Informed: Follow MaiaDAO proposals and discussions.
   • Vote on Proposals: Use your $vMAIA to vote on governance proposals.
5. Collect bHERMES & Revenue:
   • Auto-minted bHERMES: When you activate your $vMAIA, the protocol mints a proportional share of $bHERMES (based on how much $MAIA you staked and the size of MAIA’s $HERMES treasury).
   • Vote with bHERMES: Your freshly minted $bHERMES appears on the Vote page, ready to direct gauge emissions exactly like burned-for bHERMES.  
   • Revenue stream: Treasury fees accrue to the MAIA treasury; your exposure to those fees is captured in the value of your $vMAIA and reflected in periodic reward claims on the Stake dashboard.

Risks and Considerations

• Lock-Up Periods:
  • Limited Withdrawal Times: Withdrawals of staked tokens may be restricted to specific periods (e.g., the first Tuesday of each month).
  • Plan Ahead: Ensure you won’t need immediate access to your staked funds.
• Market Risk:
  • Price Volatility: The value of $MAIA and $vMAIA tokens can fluctuate.
  • Potential Losses: If the token price drops, the value of your staked assets decreases.
• Governance Participation:
  • Active Involvement: To maximize benefits, you should stay engaged with governance matters.
  • Proposal Outcomes: Not all proposals may align with your interests.

Benefits

• Passive Income: Earn revenue without active trading or complex strategies.
• Influence: Participate in shaping the future of the MaiaDAO ecosystem.
• Potential for Additional Rewards: Incentives can increase your earnings.

Strategy 2: Liquidity Provision Strategies

Overview

Hermes Protocol offers a unique liquidity provision model where trading fees go to gauge voters while liquidity providers earn emissions-based rewards. This model, enhanced by Talos’s Automated Liquidity Management (ALM), optimizes returns while minimizing management overhead.

Part A: Providing Liquidity on Hermes Protocol

How Does It Work?

• Pool Creation: Deposit token pairs into liquidity pools.
• Fee Distribution: Trading fees go to gauge voters (bHERMES holders).
• Emissions: Earn HERMES emissions based on gauge votes.
• Automatic Boost: Boost automatically activates when bHERMES is present in wallet while staking the position.

How Does It Make Money?

1. Fee Distribution:
   • Trading fees (e.g., 0.3%) go to gauge voters (bHERMES holders), not directly to LPs.
   • Pool Selection: Voters earn more from high-volume pools.
   • Voting Power: Amount earned proportional to voting allocation.
2. HERMES Emissions:
   • For Liquidity Providers:
     • Earn HERMES tokens based on gauge votes.
     • Automatic boost up to 2.5x with bHERMES in wallet.
   • For Voters:
     • Direct emissions to preferred pools.
     • Earn both trading fees and rewards from voted pools.
3. Advanced Features:
   • Single Token Entry:
     • Use “Add in Any Ratio” feature.
     • Input just one token (e.g., only ETH for ETH/USDC pool).
     • System automatically handles conversion.
     • Optimizes for chosen price range.
     • Perfect for users holding only one token of the pair.
   • Automatic Boost System:
     • Boost automatically activates when bHERMES is present in wallet while staking the position.
     • Boost range from 1x to 2.5x.
     • No manual setup needed.
     • Scales with bHERMES balance.
     • Works across all your liquidity positions.

Mitigating Impermanent Loss

What is Impermanent Loss?

A temporary loss in value compared to holding the tokens separately, due to price fluctuations between the paired assets.

Mitigation Strategies:

• Stablecoin Pairs: Provide liquidity in pairs of stablecoins (e.g., USDC/DAI) to reduce volatility.
• Concentrated Liquidity: Use narrow price ranges where you expect the token prices to remain.
• Balanced Pools: Choose pools with assets that have correlated price movements.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Choose Your Entry Method:
   • Option A – Single Token Entry:
     • Navigate to “Add in Any Ratio” feature.
     • Input your single token amount.
     • System automatically optimizes conversion.
     • Review and confirm the position.
   • Option B – Traditional Entry:
     • Prepare both tokens of the pair.
     • Enter balanced amounts for both tokens.
2. Navigate to the “Liquidity” Tab:
   • Select “Native Liquidity Provision”.
   • Review available pools and APR estimates.
3. Select Token Pair and Fee Tier:
   • Choose your preferred token pair.
   • Select appropriate fee tier based on volatility.
4. Set Price Range:
   • Define your desired liquidity range.
   • Review estimated APR for your range.
5. Add Liquidity:
   • Enter token amount(s).
   • System shows real-time APR estimates.
   • Confirm transaction.
6. Boost Enhancement:
   • Boost automatically activates when bHERMES is present in wallet while staking the position.
   • System automatically applies up to 2.5x boost.
   • No additional steps needed.

Risks and Considerations

• Impermanent Loss:
  • Price Volatility: Significant changes in token prices can lead to losses when withdrawing liquidity.
  • Awareness: Understand that impermanent loss can outpace earnings from fees and rewards.
• Smart Contract Risk:
  • Security Vulnerabilities: Risks of hacks or bugs in the protocol.
  • Mitigation: Research the protocol’s security measures and audits.
• Liquidity Lock-Up:
  • Access to Funds: While you can usually withdraw liquidity at any time, there may be delays during high network congestion.

Part B: Using Talos’s Automated Liquidity Management (ALM)

What is Talos ALM?

Talos is MaiaDAO’s Transparent Automated Liquidity Omnichain Strategies platform, offering automated management of liquidity positions for Uniswap V3 pools with seamless integration of Hermes rewards and boost systems.

Talos currently offers three vault archetypes:

How Does It Work?

• Automated Strategies: Talos provides pre-defined strategies that manage your liquidity positions automatically.
• Concentrated Liquidity: Focuses your liquidity within optimal price ranges.
• Single-token entry: Deposit just one side; Talos swaps the other half for you.

How Does It Make Money?

1. Optimized Fee Earnings:
   • Trading Fees: Go to gauge voters following Solidly model.
   • HERMES Emissions: Earn boosted rewards automatically with $bHERMES.
   • Increased Capital Efficiency: Enhanced returns through concentrated liquidity.
2. Reduced Manual Effort:
   • Time Savings: Automation means you spend less time monitoring and adjusting positions.
   • Single Token Entry:
     • Deposit single token into strategies.
     • System handles optimal conversion.
     • Real-time APR estimates during deposit.
   • Automatic Boost:
     • Boost level is tied to the vault’s Boost Aggregator and is chosen by the strategy creator, not by individual depositors. Depositors inherit this boost automatically.
     • No manual activation required.
     • Applies across all positions.
   • Expert Strategies: Benefit from strategies designed by experienced developers.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Open Strategies
   Header -> Strategies -> + New Strategy
2. Pool & Fee tier
   • Pick the token pair (e.g., $mUSDC/$USDC) and the Uniswap V3 fee tier. 
3. Optimiser preset
   • Passive, Super-Wide, Aggressive, Insane define initial tick width. 
4. Boost Aggregator (optional)
   • Select an existing aggregator or create one (≥ 10 000 $bHERMES to list publicly). Set Max Fee %, then Next.
   • Note: the vault’s boost is set here by the **creator** and will apply to all future depositors.
5. Strategy type
   • Choose Fixed or Dynamic (UI shows whether Dynamic is Decentralised or Centralised).
6. Deposit
   • Enter one or both tokens—wizard previews swap, price impact, and estimated APR. Click Deposit and sign.
7. Monitor
   • Dashboard shows TVL, range health, rewards. Harvest or withdraw whenever you like.

Risks and Considerations

• Strategy Risk:
  • Underperformance: Automated strategies may not always yield the best results.
  • Market Conditions: Rapid market changes can impact strategy effectiveness.
• Fees:
  • Management Fees: Talos may charge fees for its services.
  • Transaction Costs: Frequent rebalancing can incur additional gas fees.
• Smart Contract Risk:
  • Security: Ensure Talos has undergone audits and has a good security track record.

Benefits

• Maximized Earnings: Potentially higher returns through optimized liquidity management.
• Convenience: Automation reduces the need for constant oversight.
• Professional Strategies: Access to strategies you might not develop on your own.
• Automated Boost: Seamless integration with bHERMES boost system.

Strategy 3: Cross-Chain Strategies Using Ulysses Protocol

Overview

The Ulysses Protocol enables seamless cross-chain liquidity management and trading, integrating with Hermes’s Solidly model for fees and boosting. This protocol specializes in cross-chain arbitrage and unified tokens for enhanced yield optimization.

Part A: Arbitrage Strategies

How Does It Work?

• Pool Imbalances: Take advantage of price discrepancies in the unified liquidity pool on Arbitrum.
• Bridge Route Opportunities: Capture positive slippage when pools are unbalanced.
• Unified Liquidity: All liquidity is consolidated in Arbitrum, enabling efficient arbitrage.

How Does It Make Money?

1. Profit from Price Differences:
   • Identify Arbitrage Opportunities: Monitor token prices across chains.
   • Execute Trades Quickly: Use Ulysses to transfer assets swiftly.
2. Efficiency:
   • Lower Fees: Ulysses aims to reduce fees compared to traditional bridges.
   • Security: Minimize risks associated with cross-chain transfers.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Identify an Arbitrage Opportunity:
   • Use price tracking tools to find tokens priced differently across chains.
2. Use Ulysses for Cross-Chain Swap:
   • Navigate to the “Swap” Tab.
   • Select Source Chain and Token: Where the token is cheaper.
   • Select Destination Chain and Token: Where the token is priced higher.
   • Enter Amount: Calculate based on potential profit after fees.
3. Execute the Swap:
   • Review Fees and Estimated Time.
   • Confirm the Transaction.
4. Sell on Destination Chain:
   • Use a DEX on the destination chain to sell the token at the higher price.
   • Collect Profits.

Risks and Considerations

• Market Volatility:
  • Price Changes: Prices can change rapidly, eroding potential profits.
  • Execution Speed: Delays can affect the success of the strategy.
• Transaction Fees:
  • Cross-Chain Fees: Ensure the profit outweighs the fees incurred.
  • Network Congestion: High traffic can increase fees and delay transactions.
• Complexity:
  • Technical Knowledge: Requires understanding of multiple chains and DEXs.
  • Monitoring Tools: Need reliable tools to track prices accurately.

Part B: Leveraging Unified Tokens

How Does It Work?

• Unified Tokens: Represent liquidity across multiple chains in a single token.
• Virtual Liquidity: Assets are mirrored across chains without physically moving them.
• Providing Liquidity: Use unified tokens to provide liquidity on various platforms.

How Does It Make Money?

1. Earning Fees Across Chains:
   • Diversified Exposure: Earn fees from trading activities on all chains where the unified token is active.
   • LP Rewards: Earn $HERMES emissions for providing liquidity.
   • Boost Integration: Automatic boost up to 2.5x with $bHERMES.
   • Increased Yield Potential: Benefit from higher combined volumes.
2. Liquidity Mining Rewards:
   • Incentives: Protocols may offer rewards for providing liquidity with unified tokens.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Deposit Assets into Ulysses Protocol:
   • Navigate to the “Ulysses” Tab.
   • Choose Tokens and Chains: Select the assets you wish to deposit.
2. Receive Unified Tokens:
   • These tokens represent your stake in the cross-chain liquidity pool.
3. Utilize Unified Tokens:
   • Provide Liquidity: Use them in liquidity pools on supported platforms.
   • Stake for Rewards: Stake unified tokens to earn additional yields.
4. Monitor and Manage:
   • Track Performance: Use dashboards to monitor earnings.
   • Adjust Positions: Rebalance or withdraw as needed.

Risks and Considerations

• Cross-Chain Risks:
  • Protocol Vulnerabilities: Cross-chain operations can be complex and may have security risks.
  • Reliance on Ulysses: Ensure you trust the protocol’s security measures.
• Impermanent Loss:
  • Liquidity Pools: Be aware of impermanent loss when providing liquidity.
• Market Risk:
  • Price Fluctuations: The value of underlying assets can change`

Benefits

• Diversification: Spread risk and exposure across multiple chains.
• Enhanced Earnings: Potential for higher combined yields.
• Flexibility: Access to various DeFi opportunities with a single token.

Additional Strategies

Boosting Liquidity Rewards with bHERMES

How Does It Work?

• Burning HERMES for bHERMES: Permanently lock (burn) HERMES tokens to receive bHERMES.
• Boosting Rewards: Boost automatically activates when $bHERMES is present in wallet while staking the position.

How Does It Make Money?

1. Burning HERMES for bHERMES: Permanently lock (burn) $HERMES tokens to receive $bHERMES.
2. Creator-Linked Boost: Vault APR includes whatever boost the strategy creator attached; individual depositors don’t add extra boost.
3. Gauge Voting: Direct emissions and earn fees from voted pools.

Core Benefits

1. Fee Earning:
   • Trading Fees: Earn fees from pools you vote for (following Solidly model).
   • Emissions Direction: Control HERMES emissions to preferred pools.
   • Revenue Share: Participate in protocol revenue through voting.
2. Boost Enhancement:
   • Automatic Application: System detects bHERMES and applies boost.
   • Scaling Benefits: Boost ranges from 1x to 2.5x based on holdings.
   • Multiple Pools: Boost applies across all your positions.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Burn HERMES Tokens:
   • Navigate to the “Burn” Tab.
   • Enter Amount of $HERMES to burn.
   • Confirm Transaction.
2. Receive bHERMES Tokens:
   • These tokens are used for boosting and governance.
3. Boost Your Liquidity Positions:
   • Provide Liquidity: Deposit in supported pools.
   • Automatic Boost: System applies boost based on $bHERMES.
   • Monitor Performance: Track enhanced yields.
4. Participate in Governance:
   • Vote on Emissions: Direct $HERMES to productive pools.
   • Track Revenue: Monitor fees from voted pools.
   • Influence Protocol: Participate in key decisions.

Risks and Considerations

• Irreversible Action:
  • Permanent Burn: Once HERMES is burned, it cannot be recovered.
  • Opportunity Cost: Consider potential future value of HERMES tokens.
• Market Risk:
  • Token Value Fluctuations: The value of HERMES and bHERMES can change.
• Liquidity Risks:
  • Pool Performance: Boosting rewards doesn’t mitigate risks like impermanent loss.

Benefits

• Maximized Earnings: Significantly increase your rewards.
• Greater Influence: Boosting often ties into governance, amplifying your impact.

The MaiaDAO ecosystem offers diverse strategies to help you maximize your earnings. By understanding how each strategy works, you can make informed decisions that align with your financial goals and risk tolerance.

• Staking: Access MAIA’s significant $HERMES stake
• Liquidity Provision: Earn fees and rewards, especially when optimized with tools like Talos.
• Cross-Chain Opportunities: Leverage arbitrage and unified tokens for diversified earnings.
• Governance Participation: Influence the ecosystem and earn additional rewards.

Important Considerations

• Risk Management: Never invest more than you can afford to lose.
• Diversification: Spread your investments to mitigate risks.
• Security: Use secure wallets and follow best practices to protect your assets.

Disclaimer

This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Crypto investments carry significant risks, including market volatility, liquidity risks, and regulatory uncertainties. Always consult with a financial advisor and conduct your own thorough research before making any investment decisions.