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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"3ea86d8d-cf97-4d35-a225-ac751d906967","kind":"publish","page_slug":"yam-finance","published_at":"2026-05-30T12:59:08.090Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"YAM Finance","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"Protocol Overview and Launch Hype","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM: An Experiment in Fair Farming, Governance, and Elasticity — Yam Finance Medium","type":"official","url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-finance-d0ad577250c7"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Deposits in 'Monetary Experiment' Meme Token YAM Break $460M — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2020/08/12/deposits-in-monetary-experiment-meme-token-yam-break-460m"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Full Story: Yam Finance's Rise & Fall & Rise Again — Chain Bulletin","type":"news_article","url":"https://chainbulletin.com/the-full-story-yam-finances-rise-fall-rise-again"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A DeFi farmer pumped $11 million into unaudited platform Yam — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/38430/a-defi-farmer-pumped-11-million-into-unaudited-platform-yam"}]},{"content":"","heading":"The Critical Bug: Missing Division Operator","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Finance Smart Contract Bug Analysis & Future Prevention — CertiK","type":"research","url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/yam-finance-smart-contract-bug-analysis-future-prevention"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Single-line software bug causes fledgling YAM cryptocurrency to implode just two days after launch — The Register","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/13/yam_cryptocurrency_bug_governance/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DeFi Meme Coin YAM Succumbs to Fatal Rebase Bug, Makes Plans for YAM 2.0 — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/08/13/defi-meme-coin-yam-succumbs-to-fatal-rebase-bug-makes-plans-for-yam-20"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Overnight DeFi success Yam Finance alerts users to bug — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/38510/overnight-defi-success-yam-finance-alerts-users-bug"}]},{"content":"","heading":"The Failed Rescue Attempt","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Post-Rescue Attempt Update — Yam Finance Medium","type":"official","url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-post-rescue-attempt-update-c9c90c05953f"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Five Hours to Failure: The 'Save Yam' Proposal Is Falling Short — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/five-hours-to-failure-the-save-yam-proposal-is-falling-short"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DeFi strikes again: YAM protocol bug leads to $750,000 loss — CoinGeek","type":"news_article","url":"https://coingeek.com/defi-strikes-again-yam-protocol-bug-leads-to-750000-loss/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Yam Finance DeFi Experiment Comes to a Grinding Halt — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/yam-finance-defi-experiment-comes-to-a-grinding-halt/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Price Collapse and Market Impact","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Yam Crashes 98.79%, Governance Can't Save, Project Abandoned, Yam2 Coming — TrustNodes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.trustnodes.com/2020/08/13/yam-crashes-98-79-governance-cant-save-project-abandoned-yam2-coming"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Token Price Crashes 99.9% To Hit $0.6 — CoinJournal","type":"news_article","url":"https://coinjournal.net/news/yam-has-crashed-by-99-after-security-flaw-was-found/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DeFi Meme Coin YAM Succumbs to Fatal Rebase Bug, Makes Plans for YAM 2.0 — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/08/13/defi-meme-coin-yam-succumbs-to-fatal-rebase-bug-makes-plans-for-yam-20"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aug 2020 YAM Finance Incident — Quadriga Initiative Case Study","type":"research","url":"https://quadrigainitiative.com/casestudy/yamincident.php"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Relaunch as YAMv2 and YAMv3","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Replanting: Migration and Launch — Yam Finance Medium","type":"official","url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-replanting-migration-and-launch-997b4848b8d8"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Yam V3 to Launch on Friday After Detailed Audit by PeckShield — Defiye","type":"news_article","url":"https://defiye.com/2020/09/yam-v3-to-launch-on-friday-after-detailed-audit-by-peckshield/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Yam Finance readies for less-disastrous relaunch — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/yam-finance-readies-for-less-disastrous-relaunch"},{"credibility":2,"name":"PeckShield Audit Report YAMv3 — GitHub (yam-finance/yamV3)","type":"research","url":"https://github.com/yam-finance/yamV3/blob/master/PeckShield-Audit-Report-YAMv3-v1.0.pdf"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Risk Factors and Lessons","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Finance Smart Contract Bug Analysis & Future Prevention — CertiK","type":"research","url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/yam-finance-smart-contract-bug-analysis-future-prevention"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Finance Made a Mistake! You Can Avoid It — ImmuneBytes","type":"research","url":"https://immunebytes.com/blog/yam-finance-made-a-mistake-you-can-avoid-it/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Single-line software bug causes fledgling YAM cryptocurrency to implode — The Register","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/13/yam_cryptocurrency_bug_governance/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Meteoric Rise and Fall of YAM — Finematics","type":"news_article","url":"https://finematics.com/yam-explained/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM: An Experiment in Fair Farming, Governance, and Elasticity — Yam Finance Medium","type":"official","url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-finance-d0ad577250c7"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Post-Rescue Attempt Update — Yam Finance Medium","type":"official","url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-post-rescue-attempt-update-c9c90c05953f"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Deposits in Monetary Experiment Meme Token YAM Break $460M — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2020/08/12/deposits-in-monetary-experiment-meme-token-yam-break-460m"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DeFi Meme Coin YAM Succumbs to Fatal Rebase Bug, Makes Plans for YAM 2.0 — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/08/13/defi-meme-coin-yam-succumbs-to-fatal-rebase-bug-makes-plans-for-yam-20"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Single-line software bug causes fledgling YAM cryptocurrency to implode — The Register","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/13/yam_cryptocurrency_bug_governance/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Five Hours to Failure: The Save Yam Proposal Is Falling Short — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/five-hours-to-failure-the-save-yam-proposal-is-falling-short"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Overnight DeFi success Yam Finance alerts users to bug — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/38510/overnight-defi-success-yam-finance-alerts-users-bug"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A DeFi farmer pumped $11 million into unaudited platform Yam — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/38430/a-defi-farmer-pumped-11-million-into-unaudited-platform-yam"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Finance Smart Contract Bug Analysis & Future Prevention — CertiK","type":"research","url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/yam-finance-smart-contract-bug-analysis-future-prevention"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DeFi strikes again: YAM protocol bug leads to $750,000 loss — CoinGeek","type":"news_article","url":"https://coingeek.com/defi-strikes-again-yam-protocol-bug-leads-to-750000-loss/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Full Story: Yam Finance's Rise & Fall & Rise Again — Chain Bulletin","type":"news_article","url":"https://chainbulletin.com/the-full-story-yam-finances-rise-fall-rise-again"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Yam Crashes 98.79%, Governance Can't Save, Project Abandoned, Yam2 Coming — TrustNodes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.trustnodes.com/2020/08/13/yam-crashes-98-79-governance-cant-save-project-abandoned-yam2-coming"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Token Price Crashes 99.9% To Hit $0.6 — CoinJournal","type":"news_article","url":"https://coinjournal.net/news/yam-has-crashed-by-99-after-security-flaw-was-found/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Yam Finance DeFi Experiment Comes to a Grinding Halt — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/yam-finance-defi-experiment-comes-to-a-grinding-halt/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Replanting: Migration and Launch — Yam Finance Medium","type":"official","url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-replanting-migration-and-launch-997b4848b8d8"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Yam Finance readies for less-disastrous relaunch — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/yam-finance-readies-for-less-disastrous-relaunch"},{"credibility":2,"name":"PeckShield Audit Report YAMv3 v1.0 — GitHub yam-finance/yamV3","type":"research","url":"https://github.com/yam-finance/yamV3/blob/master/PeckShield-Audit-Report-YAMv3-v1.0.pdf"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Meteoric Rise and Fall of YAM — Finematics","type":"news_article","url":"https://finematics.com/yam-explained/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aug 2020 YAM Finance Incident — Quadriga Initiative Case Study","type":"research","url":"https://quadrigainitiative.com/casestudy/yamincident.php"},{"credibility":2,"name":"YAM Finance Made a Mistake! You Can Avoid It — ImmuneBytes","type":"research","url":"https://immunebytes.com/blog/yam-finance-made-a-mistake-you-can-avoid-it/"}],"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.","timeline":[{"date":"2020-08-01","event":"YAM Finance team coalesces in a chat group; development begins on what would become a ten-day build from conception to launch.","source":"The Defiant — Yam Finance Backstory","source_url":"https://thedefiant.io/it-was-exciting-but-also-terrifying-yam-finances-backstory"},{"date":"2020-08-11","event":"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.","source":"Yam Finance Medium — YAM launch announcement","source_url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-finance-d0ad577250c7"},{"date":"2020-08-12","event":"TVL surpasses $460 million within the first 17 hours of launch; YAM token peaks near $167, far above its intended $1 peg.","source":"CoinDesk — Deposits in Monetary Experiment Meme Token YAM Break $460M","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2020/08/12/deposits-in-monetary-experiment-meme-token-yam-break-460m"},{"date":"2020-08-12","event":"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.","source":"Yam Finance Medium — YAM Post-Rescue Attempt Update","source_url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-post-rescue-attempt-update-c9c90c05953f"},{"date":"2020-08-12","event":"YAM price drops from ~$167 to ~$14 following the bug announcement. The team calls for emergency community governance action.","source":"Chain Bulletin — The Full Story: Yam Finance's Rise & Fall & Rise Again","source_url":"https://chainbulletin.com/the-full-story-yam-finances-rise-fall-rise-again"},{"date":"2020-08-13","event":"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.","source":"CoinTelegraph — Five Hours to Failure: The Save Yam Proposal Is Falling Short","source_url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/five-hours-to-failure-the-save-yam-proposal-is-falling-short"},{"date":"2020-08-13","event":"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.","source":"CoinDesk — DeFi Meme Coin YAM Succumbs to Fatal Rebase Bug","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2020/08/13/defi-meme-coin-yam-succumbs-to-fatal-rebase-bug-makes-plans-for-yam-20"},{"date":"2020-08-19","event":"Phase 1 migration executes: original YAM token holders can burn v1 tokens for YAMv2 via a PeckShield-audited migration contract.","source":"Chain Bulletin — The Full Story: Yam Finance's Rise & Fall & Rise Again","source_url":"https://chainbulletin.com/the-full-story-yam-finances-rise-fall-rise-again"},{"date":"2020-08-31","event":"PeckShield begins a 3.5 person-week security audit of the YAMv3 codebase, funded by a Gitcoin grant.","source":"Yam Finance Medium — YAM Replanting: Migration and Launch","source_url":"https://medium.com/yam-finance/yam-replanting-migration-and-launch-997b4848b8d8"},{"date":"2020-09-10","event":"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.","source":"Defiye — Yam V3 to Launch on Friday After Detailed Audit by PeckShield","source_url":"https://defiye.com/2020/09/yam-v3-to-launch-on-friday-after-detailed-audit-by-peckshield/"},{"date":"2020-09-18","event":"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.","source":"CryptoTicker — YAM v3 Relaunch On Sep 18","source_url":"https://cryptoticker.io/en/yam-v3-relaunch/"}]},"v":1}