YAM Finance
Summary
YAM Finance was an experimental DeFi rebase protocol launched on August 11, 2020 after only ten days of development and without a formal security audit. A single missing division operator in the rebase function caused the protocol to mint an astronomical surplus of YAM tokens to its treasury, rendering on-chain governance permanently inoperable within roughly 35 hours of launch; a community rescue attempt failed and approximately $750,000 in yCRV tokens were permanently locked. The protocol was subsequently relaunched as YAMv2 and YAMv3 following a PeckShield audit, but never recovered its initial market position or community trust.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigationsTimeline(11 events)
2020-08-01
YAM Finance team coalesces in a chat group; development begins on what would become a ten-day build from conception to launch.
The Defiant — Yam Finance Backstory2020-08-11
YAM Finance protocol launches at 7:00 PM UTC with 5 million YAM tokens, no pre-mine, no audit. Launch announcement explicitly warns the code has not been audited.
Yam Finance Medium — YAM launch announcement2020-08-12
TVL surpasses $460 million within the first 17 hours of launch; YAM token peaks near $167, far above its intended $1 peg.
CoinDesk — Deposits in Monetary Experiment Meme Token YAM Break $460M2020-08-12
At approximately 6:00 PM UTC, the YAM team discovers a critical bug in the rebase function: a missing .div(BASE) operation causes exponential over-minting of YAM to the governance treasury, permanently disabling quorum.
Yam Finance Medium — YAM Post-Rescue Attempt Update2020-08-12
YAM price drops from ~$167 to ~$14 following the bug announcement. The team calls for emergency community governance action.
Chain Bulletin — The Full Story: Yam Finance's Rise & Fall & Rise Again2020-08-13
Community assembles 160,000+ delegated YAM and submits emergency governance proposal by approximately 7:00 AM UTC. Shortly after, security experts confirm the rebaser bug interacts with the governance module to prevent the proposal from succeeding.
CoinTelegraph — Five Hours to Failure: The Save Yam Proposal Is Falling Short2020-08-13
Rescue attempt officially declared a failure. YAM co-founder Brock Elmore acknowledges the outcome publicly. YAM price collapses to below $1, more than 99% below its peak. ~$750,000 in yCRV permanently locked in treasury.
CoinDesk — DeFi Meme Coin YAM Succumbs to Fatal Rebase Bug2020-08-19
Phase 1 migration executes: original YAM token holders can burn v1 tokens for YAMv2 via a PeckShield-audited migration contract.
Chain Bulletin — The Full Story: Yam Finance's Rise & Fall & Rise Again2020-08-31
PeckShield begins a 3.5 person-week security audit of the YAMv3 codebase, funded by a Gitcoin grant.
Yam Finance Medium — YAM Replanting: Migration and Launch2020-09-10
PeckShield audit of YAMv3 completes, identifying 17 basic coding issues and 12 advanced DeFi logic concerns including one high-risk item; all issues reported as resolved.
Defiye — Yam V3 to Launch on Friday After Detailed Audit by PeckShield2020-09-18
YAMv3 launches. YAMv2 holders migrate 1:1 (50% liquid immediately, 50% vested over 30 days). Liquidity incentives for YAM/yUSD pair go live the following day.
CryptoTicker — YAM v3 Relaunch On Sep 18Decision Log
- hash: 93Da3NtF9caBytQ9dFZnFAjbUzemCqNfBNtysYxVb4tc
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/30/2026, 12:59:03 PM
last updated: 5/30/2026, 12:59:08 PM
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