Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
CVX: The Token of Convex Finance, a Booster for Curve Rewards
Pooling Curve voting power in the ‘Curve Wars’
CVX is the governance and rewards token of Convex Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol on Ethereum. It boosts rewards earned on the exchange Curve and pools Curve voting power, making it a key player in the ‘Curve Wars’.
1. A rewards booster layered on Curve
Convex began on Ethereum in 2021, reportedly built by a pseudonymous team. Curve is a decentralized exchange for similarly priced assets that pays its token, CRV, to those who supply funds (liquidity providers). Convex sits in between: users deposit Curve LP tokens (receipts for supplied liquidity) and Convex pools them for larger CRV rewards.
CVX is the protocol’s governance and rewards token, with a maximum supply of about 100 million. On the Crypto Nation map, CVX stands in Ethereum City (the capital), because Ethereum is where the coin was first issued. Convex casts Curve votes for its users and passes that power to those who lock CVX.
2. veCRV and vlCVX: how voting power is gathered
On Curve, locking CRV for up to four years creates ‘veCRV’, which votes on how much CRV each pool receives (gauge weights). Convex locks deposited CRV to hold a large amount of veCRV and lets CVX holders direct that voting power. Converting CRV to cvxCRV earns trading fees and CRV rewards but hands governance rights to Convex, and the conversion is one-way.
Locking CVX for a set period creates vlCVX (vote-locked CVX), which votes on where Convex’s veCRV points and receives part of platform fees. Curve’s gauge votes run every two weeks, and Convex casts its on-chain vote in the same proportions as its CVX holders’ Snapshot vote (an off-chain poll by holdings). Payouts come as cvxCRV, cvxFXS and cvxFXN.
3. Where it is used, and what happened
CVX is used to vote, to receive fee payouts, and by protocols seeking more CRV rewards for their pools. Stablecoin projects such as Abracadabra, Frax and Alchemix paid CVX holders voting incentives (often called ‘bribes’), typically through platforms such as Votium; this contest became known as the Curve Wars.
Convex has been described as gathering a large share of Curve’s voting power, and CVX holder votes on Curve Ownership DAO proposals continued in 2026. In early March 2026, for instance, they covered a new pool’s reward gauge and a peg keeper (price-stability tool) for the stablecoin GHO.
4. Things to know
Because Convex gathers many users’ votes in one place, concern that Curve’s decisions are concentrated in few hands has long been discussed. A Convex multisig wallet (one needing several signers) confirms Snapshot results, and the docs say it will not sign proposals judged to be attacks on Curve or Convex.
Convex’s usefulness depends heavily on Curve’s reward policy and trading activity, so changes there could shake Convex’s role. Ordinary DeFi risks apply as well: smart-contract bugs, problems at connected protocols and swings in market mood. CVX cannot be sold while it is locked.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.