HELIX

The Ratio Mechanism ​

The Formula ​

The Genome ratio is defined as:

ratio = underlyingBalance / gTokenSupply

Where:

  • underlyingBalance = total underlying tokens held by the Genome contract
  • gTokenSupply = total circulating supply of the gToken

The ratio represents how much underlying one gToken can redeem for at any given moment. A ratio of 1.1 means 1 gMOTO redeems for 1.1 MOTO.

Starting State ​

At genesis, before anyone has wrapped, both underlyingBalance and gTokenSupply are zero and the ratio is treated as 1.0. The first wrap sets both values simultaneously, keeping the ratio at exactly 1.0 (assuming no fee is set).

Worked Example ​

Suppose the gMOTO Genome has a 1% wrap fee and starts fresh:

Step 1: Alice wraps 100 MOTO

  • 1% fee = 1 MOTO stays in the pool, not converted to gTokens
  • 99 MOTO used to mint gMOTO
  • underlyingBalance = 100 MOTO (all 100 stay in contract)
  • gTokenSupply = 99 gMOTO
  • ratio = 100 / 99 ≈ 1.0101

Step 2: Bob wraps another 100 MOTO

  • 1% fee = 1 MOTO stays in pool again
  • 99 MOTO / ratio(1.0101) ≈ 97.99 gMOTO minted
  • underlyingBalance = 200 MOTO
  • gTokenSupply = 99 + 97.99 ≈ 196.99 gMOTO
  • ratio = 200 / 196.99 ≈ 1.0152

Step 3: Alice unwraps her 99 gMOTO at ratio 1.0152

  • Alice receives: 99 × 1.0152 ≈ 100.50 MOTO
  • She deposited 100 MOTO and received ~100.50 MOTO back — net yield from fees

The yield came entirely from the fees Bob paid. Alice earned by holding while others transacted.

Why the Ratio Only Increases ​

The ratio can only increase (or stay flat) because:

  1. Wrap fee: Some underlying enters the contract but no gTokens are minted for that portion. Underlying goes up, supply stays lower → ratio increases.
  2. Unwrap fee: Some underlying stays in the contract after a burn. Supply goes down, more underlying per remaining gToken → ratio increases.
  3. Reward injection: Owner deposits underlying directly without minting any gTokens → ratio increases.

There is no mechanism to decrease the ratio. It is a monotonically non-decreasing value.

Preview Functions ​

The Genome contract exposes two view methods to preview operations before executing:

  • getWrappedAmount(underlyingIn) — given X underlying tokens, returns how many gTokens you will receive (after fees)
  • getUnwrappedAmount(gTokenIn) — given X gTokens, returns how much underlying you will receive (after fees)

The Helix UI calls these automatically to show you the expected output before you confirm a transaction.