OEV Network Just Passed DeFi’s Biggest Test — The First Proven, Scalable OEV Solution

Since launching last summer, API3’s OEV Network has been steadily growing, onboarding early adopters like Compound, Lendle, Init Capital, Orbit, and Yei Finance. Over the past few months, we’ve expanded our searcher network, optimized liquidations, and rolled out a major V2 upgrade in November—all designed to maximize the money we’re returning to our users.

But until now, the OEV Network hadn’t faced a real stress test.

That changed this past weekend.

The Ultimate Stress Test

From February 2-3, 2025, crypto saw the largest liquidation event in history—with over $10 billion liquidated in a single day. Large lending protocols like Aave saw over $200 million in liquidations. These events generate massive amounts of oracle extractable value (OEV)— MEV tied to oracle price updates.

This is exactly the problem the OEV Network was built to solve.

Oracles are critical for DeFi, yet for years, they have overlooked the untapped value within their price updates. Every liquidation event presents an opportunity to either recapture or lose OEV. Traditionally, this value has leaked from protocols, benefiting external actors instead. API3’s OEV Network disrupts this cycle by equipping its price feeds with an auction mechanism that recaptures significant value from oracle updates—returning it directly to protocols as a sustainable revenue stream.

This weekend’s liquidation event was the first true test of the system at scale. And the results speak for themselves.

Real Numbers: OEV Network in Action

During this historic liquidation event, the OEV Network performed flawlessly:

• Compound saw over $2.6M in total liquidations on Mantle, with $150,000 in value returned.
• Yei Finance had over $370,000 liquidated on Sei Network and received $42,000 in OEV rewards.
• Lendle on Mantle had over $190,000 liquidated, earning $16,000 in OEV rewards.

For Compound, Yei, and Lendle, using API3’s oracles means getting paid for opportunities created within their applications—rather than passively losing value that exists solely because their platforms operate.

The Bigger Picture: What This Means for Lending Protocols

These numbers demonstrate that API3’s impact on lending protocols is undeniable. This liquidation event alone revealed the immense opportunity that major protocols like Compound are missing out on:

“Compound currently earns around $9M a year through borrows, and yet, just five weeks into 2025, Compound has paid out $5.3M in liquidation incentives. That means that currently, the greatest benefactors of Compound are external actors, rather than the protocol itself.”
— Kyle Jacobs (Alpha Growth) Comp.xyz

API3 isn’t just a critical piece of infrastructure that remains resilient during extreme market volatility—it’s infrastructure that pays you significantly for the opportunities created on your platform. This is the future of oracle-powered DeFi.

The First Proven, Scalable, On-Chain OEV Solution

This latest liquidation event was a turning point. API3’s OEV Network didn’t just withstand the pressure—it validated the OEV thesis and solidified itself as the first truly tested, scalable OEV solution.

The numbers don’t lie. The opportunity for larger protocols is too big to ignore.

Compound, Lendle, and Yei were the first to upgrade.

Who’s next?