Gauges

What are gauges in Orvex?

Gauges in Orvex are the mechanisms that decide how liquidity incentives and rewards are distributed between different liquidity pools on the platform. They control how oORVX emissions are allocated to liquidity providers across pools.

How gauges work in Orvex

1. Voting power allocation

Orvex uses a vote-escrowed token system. Users lock their ORVX to receive veORVX.
veORVX represents a user’s voting power in the protocol.
Holders of veORVX can vote on specific gauges to signal where they want liquidity incentives to go.

2. Gauge voting

Each incentivised liquidity pool on Orvex can have its own gauge (for example, an ORVX/USDC gauge).
By voting on a gauge, veORVX holders decide how much of the weekly emissions that pool receives.
The more veORVX directed to a gauge, the larger the share of emissions distributed to LPs in that pool.

Voting Mechanics and Epoch Integration:

Gauge voting operates on the same 7-day epoch cycle as all other protocol operations:

Epoch Start: Thursday 00:00 UTC — veORVX balances are snapshotted
Voting Deadline: Votes must be cast before the epoch starts to affect that epoch
Snapshot Lock: Voting power is fixed for the entire epoch based on the snapshot
Rewards Accrue: During the epoch (Thursday-Wednesday)
Distribution: At epoch end, rewards become claimable based on final votes

Important: If you vote after the Thursday snapshot, your vote applies to the next epoch, not the current one.

For full epoch timing details, see Voting.

3. Reward distribution

Emissions are allocated to gauges using a proportional calculation:

Formula:

Pool Emissions = (Total Epoch Emissions × Pool Votes) ÷ Total Votes Across All Gauges

Example (Illustrative):

Assume weekly emissions = 100,000 oORVX and three pools receive votes:

Pool	veORVX Votes	Vote Share	Emissions Received
ORVX/USDC	500,000	50%	50,000 oORVX
ORVX/SNT	300,000	30%	30,000 oORVX
SNT/USDC	200,000	20%	20,000 oORVX
Total	1,000,000	100%	100,000 oORVX

Key Insights:

Pools with more gauge weight from veORVX voters receive more emissions
Higher emissions → better APRs → attracts more liquidity
LPs stake positions into gauges to earn these emissions
This keeps reward distribution aligned with the preferences of active governance participants rather than being fixed or arbitrary

Competition Dynamics:

Gauges create competition between pools for emissions:

High-Volume Pairs — Naturally attract votes due to fee generation potential
Protocol Incentives — Protocols offer bribes to boost their gauge votes
Strategic Pools — Ecosystem-critical pairs receive community support
New Pools — Must compete for initial attention and votes

4. Flexibility and incentives

Gauges introduce flexibility in how rewards are steered over time.
Protocols or other participants can encourage votes to their gauges by offering external incentives (formerly “bribes”) on top of standard oORVX emissions.
This creates a dynamic environment where different pools compete for attention and incentives, pushing capital towards the most valued pairs.

Benefits of gauges in Orvex

Decentralised decision-making:
Gauges give veORVX holders a direct say in how emissions are allocated, rather than leaving it to a static schedule.
Efficient capital allocation:
Rewards flow to pools that the community actively supports, helping liquidity concentrate where it is most useful.
Higher engagement: The need to vote and monitor gauges encourages ongoing participation from long-term ORVX lockers, strengthening alignment between users, LPs and protocols building on Status.

Strategic Voting Considerations

What Drives Voting Decisions?

veORVX holders consider multiple factors when allocating votes:

1. Trading Fee Potential

Voters earn 100% of trading fees from pools they vote for
High-volume pools generate more fee revenue
Target pools with consistent trading activity

2. Bribe Offerings

Protocols offer external incentives (bribes) to attract votes
Additional rewards on top of trading fees
Evaluate bribe value vs. pool sustainability

3. Emissions Efficiency

Does the pool need more emissions to be competitive?
Will additional liquidity actually improve the pool?
Are emissions being used productively?

4. Ecosystem Alignment

Support pools critical to Status Network growth
Vote for protocol partners and integrations
Consider long-term ecosystem value

5. Personal LP Positions

Vote for gauges where you have staked LP positions
Earn both voter rewards (fees + bribes) and LP rewards (oORVX)
Maximize returns across both roles

Voting Strategies

Conservative Strategy:

Focus on established, high-volume pairs
Prioritize consistent fee generation over bribes
Lower risk, predictable returns

Aggressive Strategy:

Chase high-bribe opportunities
Support new protocol launches
Higher potential returns, more active management required

Balanced Strategy:

Split votes across stable and opportunity pools
60-70% to core pairs, 30-40% to bribe opportunities
Moderate risk, diversified returns

Ecosystem Strategy:

Vote for pools that benefit Status Network broadly
Support partner protocols and integrations
Long-term value creation over short-term returns

Common Voting Mistakes

Voting After Snapshot — Wait until next epoch, no rewards this week
Spreading Too Thin — Diluting voting power across many small pools
Ignoring Fees — Chasing bribes while missing high-fee pools
Not Re-Voting — Votes don't carry forward automatically (implementation dependent)
No Delegation — Letting voting power sit idle instead of delegating

Delegation Alternative

If weekly voting is too time-intensive:

Delegate voting power to expert voters or strategies
Retain veORVX ownership and rewards
Less active management required
See veORVX Delegation for details

Gauge Lifecycle

Creating a Gauge

New gauges can be created through governance:

Pool Creation — Deploy new liquidity pool
Gauge Proposal — Submit gauge creation request
Review — Operations multisig reviews (3-of-7, 24h timelock)
Deployment — Gauge contract deployed if approved
Whitelisting — Gauge becomes eligible for votes

Requirements for Gauge Approval:

Pool uses approved tokens
Liquidity meets minimum threshold
No major security concerns
Aligns with protocol objectives

Gauge Competition

Once live, gauges compete weekly for emissions:

Week 1: New gauge, low votes, minimal emissions
Week 2-4: Protocol offers bribes, votes increase
Week 5+: Establishes baseline support or fades if uncompetitive

Successful gauges maintain voter interest through:

Consistent trading volume and fees
Ongoing bribe programs
Strategic ecosystem importance
LP community engagement

Gauge Caps

Gauge caps are throughput-linked limits that prevent over-allocation of emissions to underproductive venues.

Each gauge has a measurable economic throughput — for DEX pools, this is swap fee revenue generated during the epoch. If the emissions allocated to a gauge exceed that gauge's throughput multiplied by a configurable cap multiplier, the excess emissions are burned rather than distributed.

This mechanism protects against rent-seeking: veORVX holders cannot sustainably direct emissions to low-activity pools simply through coordinated voting. A pool must generate proportionate economic activity to absorb its full gauge allocation.

Cap multipliers are set via governance and can be adjusted per gauge type. The burn of excess emissions is permanent, reducing total supply.

Token Whitelisting

Tokens must meet basic criteria -- such as a minimum TVL threshold and liquidity profile -- before being eligible for gauges. This keeps gauges focused on pools that are meaningful for the ecosystem. Exceptions can be considered case by case.

Gauge activation requires whitelisting. After review, partners can secure gauges for their ecosystem tokens. The Orvex team may also maintain gauges for key assets (for example, core Status ecosystem tokens) to support healthy base liquidity.

Emergency Council

An Emergency Council, initially composed of Orvex core contributors and potentially expanding over time to include community members, advisors, and DeFi participants, can intervene when necessary. Its powers include:

Removing unproductive or malicious gauges
Adjusting oORVX emissions parameters
Updating multisig or operational addresses where required

Council actions are guided by the goal of keeping gauges aligned with Orvex's objectives and partner commitments, and mitigating abuse or misaligned incentives.

Omni Gauges

Omni Gauges extend the gauge system beyond DEX liquidity pools, allowing veORVX holders to direct oORVX emissions to any whitelisted DeFi venue across the Status ecosystem.

Traditional gauges vs. Omni Gauges

Traditional gauges direct oORVX emissions exclusively to Orvex DEX liquidity pools. Omni Gauges expand this to additional venue types:

Lending protocols
ERC-4626-compatible vaults
Other DeFi protocols deployed on Status Network

The voting mechanism is the same -- veORVX holders allocate votes to whitelisted gauges each epoch -- but the destinations are no longer limited to Orvex pools.

How Omni Gauges work

A DeFi venue on Status Network is proposed and whitelisted through governance
An Omni Gauge is deployed for that venue
veORVX holders can vote to direct oORVX emissions to it, alongside traditional pool gauges
Participants in the venue earn oORVX emissions proportional to the gauge weight

All existing gauge mechanics apply: epoch-based voting, proportional allocation, and bribe support.

Gauge caps for Omni Gauges

Gauge caps apply to omni gauges as well. For lending venues, throughput is measured as yield or interest revenue generated during the epoch rather than swap fees. If emissions assigned to an omni gauge exceed that venue's yield throughput multiplied by the cap multiplier, the excess is burned.

ERC-4626 is the baseline interface standard for omni gauge integration. Any venue satisfying this interface can become gauge-eligible through the standard governance whitelisting process.

Closed-loop lending flywheel

Omni Gauges create a self-reinforcing loop for lending venues: veORVX holders vote to allocate emissions to a lending market, which attracts depositors seeking oORVX rewards on top of yield. Deeper deposits increase available liquidity and strengthen lending yield. That yield routes back into the ecosystem -- supporting governance participation and further demand for veORVX -- completing the loop.

Why Omni Gauges matter

Omni Gauges position Orvex as a liquidity coordination layer for the entire Status ecosystem, not just a DEX. Any protocol on the network can tap into Orvex's emission system to bootstrap and sustain liquidity, creating a unified incentive layer across DeFi on Status.

Key Takeaway

Gauges transform emissions from a passive distribution mechanism into an active governance system where:

veORVX holders control capital allocation through weekly votes
Liquidity providers earn based on governance support
Protocols compete transparently for liquidity
The ecosystem benefits from aligned, productive capital deployment

By participating in gauge voting, you directly shape the liquidity landscape of Orvex and the broader Status Network ecosystem.