Why use xToken?

Spark Notes
set-and-forget investments that
auto-compound returns
reduce gas fees
reduce cognitive load
opinionated but bounded options for governance by proxy
liquid collateral representations (ERC-20) of your automated positions
reduction in possible tax liabilities (dependent on your jurisdiction)
borrow against your auto-compounding positions (coming soon)
With so many new projects building on Ethereum, increasing demand for block space, and the rising price of ETH, using DeFi products is becoming expensive, time-intensive, and cognitively demanding. As a small or midsized user, it's difficult to earn rewards in excess of fees and almost impossible to compound staking rewards profitably. In addition, users of all sizes want set-and-forget products that allow them to earn returns while reducing their mental overhead which is already quite significant. xAssets provide this service and more. Investors can simply hold our tokens and participate fully in returns without managing their position whatsoever.
Set & Forget
Not too long ago the entirety of "DeFi" was a few working applications with limited scope and competition. The average developer/investor could keep track of the ecosystem and their financial positions reasonably well. Fast forward to today and there is such an abundance of assets and applications that everyone, no matter how deep down the rabbit hole they've been, is starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. In addition to the rapid expansion, the tokenomics of these assets and applications have grown increasingly nuanced, requiring more thoughtful and active participation on behalf of users/holders in order to maximize yield.
xAssets automate the active participation required to manage certain assets saving users time, maximizing returns, and reducing headaches.
Mandated Governance
Mandated Governance is the xToken slant on the protocol politician. We've identified and highlighted a set of principles that will guide governance decisions for each Mandate. At launch, we have two mandates: Buchanan (-a assets) and Samuelson (-b assets), each oriented around the philosophy of a Nobel Prize winning economist. Over time, we hope that each Mandate's body of precedent, combined with each's stated philosophy, will be enough to make future voting near deterministic. Holders should be able to develop a reasonable ability to predict how a particular Mandate would or will vote on a given proposition. As this is a delegated governance model, investors are only required to hold one xAsset or another to express a governance position.
Early on, the xToken team will be responsible for executing votes, but we hope that over time, the Buchanan and Samuelson Mandates will become institutions unto themselves, with clear missions and ideals. In the future, we'd like to begin a conversation around passing control of these Mandates to a panel of delegates accountable to XTK token holders.
More detailed information about the Mandate Governance and a list of xToken specific governance decisions can be found on our governance blog.
Liquidity
Many protocols have instituted time locks that delay a staker's ability to reclaim control and use of their assets. xAssets are ERC-20 tokens that are valid claims on staked or otherwise locked assets but can be sold and transferred at any time by their owners. Instead of waiting days or weeks to reclaim assets holders of xAssets can sell their claims on a decentralized exchange somewhat immediately.
For example, AAVE stakers have to wait 10 days after unstaking their AAVE to take control of their AAVE. In contrast, a holder of a xAAVE still has claims on staked AAVE but they can also sell that xAAVE for another asset with no waiting period blocking their ability to do so.  
Our funds vary in terms of how liquidity is managed. In order to maximize staking returns and/or owing to some design constraint on the base protocol level, some funds holds a limited amount of exit liquidity at a given time. We can always release more liquidity and holders will often be able to find secondary liquidity on a DEX like Uniswap or Balancer, but we can't guarantee 100% exit liquidity at a given time for all funds.
Reducing Tax Liabilities
In some cases, xAssets can save users from tax headaches and value leakage. xAssets wrap the staking and liquidity provision process in one set-and-forget token, meaning you're one step removed from taxable events like fee claims and asset swaps. As an xAsset holder, you submit two transactions: buy when you want in and sell when you want out.
Liquid Collateral  
​In the near future, you will be able to use your xAssets as collateral on the xToken Lending platform. You can also be a liquidity provider on decentralized exchanges with your xAssets, allowing you to simultaneously earn LP fees and compounding staking rewards.​

Getting Started - Previous

FAQ

Next - Getting Started

xAssets

Last modified 1mo ago

Copy link

Contents

Reducing Tax Liabilities

Liquid Collateral