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About YO
YO is a multi-chain yield optimizer that automatically rebalances user deposits across DeFi pools to capture the best risk-adjusted returns. Its core business revolves around vaults (yoTokens) that aggregate yield strategies, with daily automated rebalancing based on risk ratings and pool performance.
Market pain points YO addresses include the complexity of manually chasing yields across chains, high friction from bridging and gas costs, and the lack of transparent risk assessment. YO solves these by offering a single-deposit solution, sponsoring gas fees, and using Exponential.fi's risk ratings to quantify pool safety.
Core competitiveness lies in its automated strategy execution, non-custodial design, and transparent on-chain operations. The protocol's risk-adjusted yield algorithm weights returns against the probability of pool failure, while its rebalancing system avoids unnecessary transactions by confirming trends before acting.
Regarding recent developments, YO experienced a significant incident in March 2026 when its harvesting system executed a bad swap, converting $3.84 million worth of stkGHO into only $112,000 USDC, resulting in approximately $3.7 million in losses captured by Uniswap v4 LPs. The root cause was a boundary condition where the harvester attempted to convert the entire vault balance (principal plus rewards) instead of just rewards, and the initial quote was not validated for reasonableness. Following this, YO implemented systemic changes and standardized transaction protection measures across all systems. The yoUSD vault has since returned to full operation with user balances and protocol solvency unaffected.
Key milestones: 1) Built Exponential, an institutional-grade DeFi risk rating system, laying the foundation for risk-adjusted yield optimization. 2) Launched YO Protocol with a cross-chain architecture using 'embassies' (native-asset vaults) to minimize bridge risk, and a 'DeFi Graph' for deep dependency monitoring. 3) Raised $10M Series A led by Foundation Capital (with Coinbase Ventures, etc.), bringing total funding to $24M and enabling expansion to more chains and partner infrastructure. These steps mark YO's evolution from a risk framework to a scalable, multi-chain yield engine.
Over the past six months, YO has launched yoSOL, a SOL vault offering automated risk-adjusted yield through liquid staking, lending, and basis trading. The protocol introduced the $YO governance token with an initial non-transferable phase, followed by a rewards program (14% initial rate) after the YO Points campaign concluded. YO secured a $10M Series A led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and others.
Looking ahead, YO plans to deepen risk models, expand to more chains and assets, harden partner-facing infrastructure, and grow its team. The roadmap emphasizes multichain default, risk-aware design, and serving both individual users and institutional partners, positioning YO as the unified yield layer for DeFi.
Driss Benamour (Co-Founder & CEO, ex-Uber Head of FinTech, Stanford GSB MBA)
Mid (Co-Founder, Twitter: @Elmidou)
Krasimir Raykov (Lead Engineer, Twitter: @raykov_krasimir)