Overview
Solidly is one of the most consequential yet tragic projects in DeFi history. Created by Andre Cronje and launched on Fantom in February 2022, Solidly introduced the ve(3,3) mechanism — a combination of Curve's vote-escrow model with Olympus DAO's (3,3) game theory — designed to create a self-sustaining liquidity flywheel where token emissions are directed by voters who earn fees from the pools they vote for.
The launch was surrounded by extraordinary hype. Cronje's reputation (as the creator of Yearn Finance) drove a frenzy of Fantom ecosystem activity, with protocols competing to accumulate TVL to qualify for Solidly's initial token distribution. Fantom TVL surged past $12 billion in anticipation.
Then, barely a month after launch, Andre Cronje announced he was leaving DeFi entirely. The announcement (alongside collaborator Anton Nell) crashed Fantom's ecosystem and left Solidly without its principal architect. The project was never formally developed further by Cronje, and the original Solidly contracts on Fantom were effectively abandoned.
However, Solidly's mechanism design proved extraordinarily influential. Teams forked and improved the codebase, creating Velodrome (Optimism), Aerodrome (Base), Thena (BNB Chain), Ramses (Arbitrum), and dozens of others — many of which became the dominant DEXs on their respective chains. Solidly the project failed; Solidly the idea succeeded spectacularly.
Smart Contracts
The original Solidly contracts were innovative but rough. The ve(3,3) mechanism — veNFT locking, gauge voting, emission direction, and fee distribution — was novel and complex. The code contained several bugs and inefficiencies that forks later fixed: issues with the voting reset mechanism, emission calculation errors, and governance vulnerabilities. The contracts were open-sourced, which enabled the fork ecosystem but also exposed the flaws. The original deployment on Fantom received limited auditing before launch.
Security
Security is a major concern for the original Solidly. The contracts were launched quickly with limited auditing. Several bugs were discovered post-launch, including issues with the base emission calculations and voting mechanics. The rapid abandonment meant no security patches were ever applied to the original contracts. While no catastrophic exploit drained user funds, the unpatched contracts represent a security risk for any remaining users. The lack of active maintenance makes the original Solidly effectively unsafe for significant capital.
Liquidity
Liquidity on the original Solidly contracts is negligible. After Cronje's departure and Fantom's ecosystem collapse (compounded by the Multichain bridge incident), virtually all meaningful liquidity migrated away. The original Solidly pools have near-zero TVL. Any remaining liquidity is likely dust or abandoned positions.
Adoption
Adoption of the original Solidly is effectively zero. No active users, no protocol integrations, and no development activity. The website may still be accessible, but the protocol is abandoned infrastructure. The adoption story of Solidly is told through its forks: Velodrome has billions in cumulative volume, Aerodrome exceeds $1B TVL, and the ve(3,3) model has become a DeFi standard — none of which benefits the original SOLID token.
Tokenomics
SOLID and veSOLID tokens were distributed based on a snapshot of Fantom TVL, which created a deeply flawed initial distribution — protocols gamed the snapshot by temporarily inflating TVL, leading to a concentration of tokens among a few large holders. The emission mechanism functioned as designed, but with no ecosystem activity, emissions are meaningless. The token trades at a fraction of its launch value on illiquid markets.
Risk Factors
- Abandoned: No active development, maintenance, or security patches
- Creator departure: Andre Cronje's exit destroyed confidence and ecosystem support
- No liquidity: Near-zero TVL makes the protocol unusable for meaningful trading
- Unpatched bugs: Known issues in the contracts have never been fixed
- Fantom ecosystem collapse: The underlying chain lost most of its DeFi activity
- Worthless token: SOLID has negligible value and liquidity
Conclusion
Solidly is a paradox: a failed project that produced one of DeFi's most successful mechanism designs. Andre Cronje's ve(3,3) concept — directing emissions through vote-escrow governance aligned with fee generation — has been validated across dozens of chains through forks like Velodrome and Aerodrome. The idea was genuinely brilliant.
The 2.6 score reflects the original Solidly as it exists today: abandoned, unpatched, and illiquid. This score does not reflect the mechanism design's influence, which would rate much higher. Investing in original SOLID tokens would be speculative in the extreme — the value proposition exists in the forks, not the original. Solidly's legacy is as an intellectual contribution to DeFi, not as a functioning protocol.