[BIP-917] Enable Gauges for the Sagix Miliarium Aureum on Ethereum

PR with Payloads

Summary

Enable three gauges on Ethereum via a single combined payload:

  1. ixAQUA — Gauge 0xc77Fc22917501D7D299F27be9847077B6FCbdE53 for pool 0x1967a1db66872356601f3fa5dd632a8240fbb87a (XAUt / waEthUSDT / cbBTC / ixEDEL / svZCHF)

  2. ixSTRATA — Gauge 0xd3a3848C5d445D9aB4bD78346EC674031D0713Fa for pool 0xe408b69ff6e7036c095449ab458e61219b5d8ae4 (LINK / AAVE / Aave Prime GHO / ixEDEL / svZCHF)

  3. ixFORUM — Gauge 0x6bAeD4Cd5833b47095B9A8BA65d4529Ea37d32E2 for pool 0xd10d96730cbe56b7dc22cd69b1b8f325f929c8fe (SKY / LDO / sUSDS / ixEDEL / svZCHF)

Three 5-token weighted Boosted pools on Balancer V3, Ethereum Mainnet. Each is 52% yield-bearing (ERC-4626) and qualifies for Core Pool status. The Miliarium Aureum pools extend Balancer’s existing Aave liquidity hubs by connecting stablecoin, macro asset, and DeFi governance markets through shared routing anchors (svZCHF and ixEDEL).

By offering 15x lower swap fees than competitors for high-volume assets like cbBTC and LINK, these pools are designed to aggressively capture aggregator volume.

Extends the Sagix infrastructure from BIP-913 (svZCHF/ZCHF + ixEDEL/USDC gauges, passed 100% approval).

All three pools are live as of 10 March 2026. svZCHF rate provider (0xf32dc0ee2cc78dca2160bb4a9b614108f28b176c) deployed from Balancer’s factory. The svZCHF rate provider (0xf32dc…176c) uses the standard Balancer V3 interface, relying on the underlying vault’s immutable convertToAssets logic, ensuring zero reliance on external oracles or upgradeable proxies.


Pool Architecture

ixAQUA — Hard Assets

Token Weight ERC-4626 APY
waEthUSDT 26% ✦ Yes ~3.5%
svZCHF 26% ✦ Yes ~3.75%
cbBTC 16% No
XAUt 16% No
ixEDEL 16% No

Core Pool: 52% yield-bearing. Fee: 0.02%. Boosted.

Pool: 0x1967a1db66872356601f3fa5dd632a8240fbb87a

Bridge token volume: cbBTC $500M+/day, XAUt $110M/day. Combined $610M+/day.

waEthUSDT connects upstream to the Aave GHO/USDT/USDC pool so it’s one hop from GHO and USDC to cbBTC and XAUt high trading volume.

ixSTRATA — DeFi Infrastructure

Token Weight ERC-4626 APY
Aave Prime GHO 26% ✦ Yes ~3.4%
svZCHF 26% ✦ Yes ~3.75%
LINK 16% No
AAVE 16% No
ixEDEL 16% No

Core Pool: 52% yield-bearing. Fee: 0.02%. Boosted.

Pool: 0xe408b69ff6e7036c095449ab458e61219b5d8ae4

Bridge token DEX volume: LINK $95M/day, AAVE $65M/day. Combined $160M/day.

GHO Prime connects upstream to the Aave GHO/USDT/USDC pool. So it’s one hop from AAVE and LINK high trading volume.

ixFORUM — Yield Governance

Token Weight ERC-4626 APY
sUSDS 26% ✦ Yes ~4.0%
svZCHF 26% ✦ Yes ~3.75%
SKY 16% No
LDO 16% No
ixEDEL 16% No

Core Pool: 52% yield-bearing. Fee: 0.02%. Boosted.

Pool: 0xd10d96730cbe56b7dc22cd69b1b8f325f929c8fe

Bridge token DEX volume: SKY $70M/day, LDO $58M/day. Combined $128M/day. Full Sky Protocol alignment (sUSDS + SKY) alongside Lido staking governance.

While assets are spread across three pools, the shared anchors (42% of each pool) act as a single virtual liquidity hub, ensuring that volume for svZCHF and ixEDEL is additive rather than fragmented.

At a 0.02% swap fee, the primary revenue driver is the 10% protocol fee on the 52% yield-bearing weight. This ensures Balancer earns sustainable revenue even during low-volume periods, while the low swap fee ensures we win the aggregator routing for high-volume bridge assets like cbBTC and LINK while TVL expands.


Routing Architecture

svZCHF appears in all three pools at 26% — the only Frankencoin (ZCHF) Savings Module svZCHF (ERC-4626 vault) liquidity on any DEX. ixEDEL appears in all three at 16% — the cross-pool routing bridge parallel road.

Each pool generates 10 internal trading pairs. Three pools = 30 pairs. All cross-pool routes pass through svZCHF or ixEDEL, connecting six high-volume tokens (cbBTC, XAUt, LINK, AAVE, SKY, LDO) with $898M+ combined daily DEX volume compared to competing DEX fees of 0.3%. These pools at 0.02% offer 15x cheaper execution and competitive swaps at smaller TVL.

ixEDEL is a Reserve Protocol DTF (defensive basket: ~24% ZCHF, ~21% XAUT, ~21% sUSDS, ~16% steakUSDC, ~13% cbBTC, ~5% syrupUSDC). Permissionless mint/redeem at NAV creates a tight arb band (~0.1%) that keeps pool price anchored.

The dual-anchor design (svZCHF + ixEDEL in every pool) creates by design three layers of structural arbitrage: yield drift on svZCHF (~3.75% APY), NAV arbitrage on ixEDEL, and cross-anchor arbitrage when the two anchors’ partially independent price dynamics diverge.

This structural arbitrage potential was designed to boost trading volumes across the pools.

Technical foundation and analysis: Sagix Miliarium Aureum — Dual-anchor AMMs and the small-world routing problem.


Motivation

  • Core Pool yield fees from Day 1. Balancer earns 10% on all ERC-4626 yield accrual regardless of swap volume. At 52% yield-bearing weight per pool, this is immediate sustainable protocol revenue.

  • $898M+ in daily bridge volume to capture. Six high-volume tokens with minimal or zero Balancer depth today. Aggregators route to the cheapest venue automatically.

  • ZCHF savings module liquidity monopoly. svZCHF at 26% across three pools makes Balancer the canonical ZCHF venue in DeFi. No comparable svZCHF infrastructure exists on any other DEX.

  • Proven governance commitment. Sagix holds veBAL rank ~13 at the moment.


Risk Assessment & Mitigation

1. Strategic IL Mitigation via the ‘Yield Cushion’

Impermanent Loss (IL) is the primary concern for LPs in weighted pools. In the Miliarium Aureum, this is structurally mitigated:

52% Yield-Bearing Weight: More than half of the pool (svZCHF and USD-pegged stables) is continuously accruing yield. This creates a “yield cushion” where the interest earned by the pool acts as a recurring buffer that can offset IL during periods of moderate market volatility.

The 68% Defensive Anchor: With 68% of each pool allocated to svZCHF (26%), stablecoins (26%), and ixEDEL (16%), the pool is heavily weighted toward capital preservation. The volatile bridge assets (cbBTC, LINK, etc.) are capped at 16% each, significantly reducing the “divergence loss” compared to a standard 50/50 pool.

2. Volatility Dampening via ixEDEL Design

The ixEDEL anchor is a Decentralized Token Fund (DTF). Because its internal basket is diversified across Gold (XAUt), Bitcoin (cbBTC), and multiple yield-bearing stablecoins, its price action is naturally dampened. Using a low-volatility, multi-asset anchor as a routing pivot (16% weight) stabilizes the pool’s price discovery and reduces the impact of “toxic flow” compared to pools anchored solely by a single volatile asset.

3. Macro-Hedge: The Uncorrelated CHF/USD Pivot

The Miliarium Aureum introduces a unique macro-stabilizer by pairing svZCHF (Swiss Franc denominated) with USD-stablecoins. Historically, the CHF exhibits low correlation relative to USD and the broader crypto market. This “uncorrelated pivot” provides a layer of protection: if USD loses value, the CHF-denominated anchor remains a stable, independent pricing reference, protecting the pool’s overall value and providing an alternative routing path for aggregators.

4. Oracle and Protocol Robustness

Oracle-Free Foundation: Frankencoin (svZCHF) uses zero external oracles, eliminating the most common vector for DeFi exploits.

Arb-Driven NAV Alignment: ixEDEL’s price is anchored by a permissionless mint/redeem mechanism. This ensures that arbitrageurs, not just LPs, bear the cost of keeping the pool aligned with Net Asset Value, maintaining a tight arb band.

Audited Infrastructure: All underlying protocols (Reserve, Frankencoin, Aave, Balancer V3) have undergone multiple Tier-1 audits.


References

Existing Sagix Pools (BIP-913): svZCHF/ZCHF · ixEDEL/USDC · BIP-913 — 100% approval

Miliarium Aureum Pools (this proposal): ixAQUA · ixSTRATA · ixFORUM

Protocols: Frankencoin · Reserve Protocol · ixEDEL DTF · Sagix Apothecary · Aave GHO/USDT/USDC pool

Technical Analysis: Sagix Miliarium Aureum — Dual-anchor AMMs and the small-world routing problem

GitHub PR: [TBD — to be submitted by Maxis upon approval]


Specifications

Governance: Frankencoin — non-upgradeable, oracle-free, Swiss non-profit. Reserve Protocol — on-chain governance, ixEDEL managed by Sagix deployer with ABC Labs as Guardian. Aave, Sky, Lido — standard on-chain governance. Coinbase (cbBTC) — centralized custodian, proof of reserves. Pools — immutable post-creation.

Oracles: svZCHF rate provider (0xf32dc0ee2cc78dca2160bb4a9b614108f28b176c) deployed from Balancer’s factory. sUSDS, waEthUSDT, Aave Prime GHO use standard ERC-4626 interface. Reserve Protocol uses Chainlink for DTF basket pricing. Frankencoin uses no external oracles.

Audits: Frankencoin — ChainSecurity (2023, v2024), Code4rena. Reserve — Halborn, Code4rena (3.0.0). Aave V3 — Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, SigmaPrime. cbBTC — OpenZeppelin. Lido — ChainSecurity, Sigma Prime. Sky — multiple audits, operational since 2017.

Centralization: cbBTC and XAUt are centralized issuers (Coinbase, Tether). All other tokens are protocol-governed. Pools are immutable. Reserve Protocol’s ABC Labs shares DTF guardian status of ixEDEL.


Technical Specification

The Balancer Maxi Omni-Sig 0x9ff471F9f98F42E5151C7855fD1b5aa906b1AF7e will interact with the GaugeAdderV4 at 0x5DbAd78818D4c8958EfF2d5b95b28385A22113Cd and call addGauge with:

Gauge Pool Type
0xc77Fc22917501D7D299F27be9847077B6FCbdE53 ixAQUA 0x1967a1db66872356601f3fa5dd632a8240fbb87a Ethereum
0xd3a3848C5d445D9aB4bD78346EC674031D0713Fa ixSTRATA 0xe408b69ff6e7036c095449ab458e61219b5d8ae4 Ethereum
0x6bAeD4Cd5833b47095B9A8BA65d4529Ea37d32E2 ixFORUM 0xd10d96730cbe56b7dc22cd69b1b8f325f929c8fe Ethereum

Hi there
We see that https://balancer.fi/pools/ethereum/v3/0x1e1b5d2395b2565aa2b6d7821edb0ef2ad558deb uses an oracle that hasn’t been fully vetted in yet. Therefore, this proposal is on hold until that issue is resolved. Thanks.

hi @Xeonus thanks for the feedback.

please note that @zekraken and I discussed this via DM and we have updated the pool

following his instructions I have deprecated the old pool and created this new one without the oracel since this is a weighted pool not a stable pool and therefore there is no need to the oracle.

https://balancer.fi/pools/ethereum/v3/0x1967a1db66872356601f3fa5dd632a8240fbb87a

also note that the BIP post is updated for the new pool hash above and its new gauge hash since yesterday. the link at the end was still outdated and i just updated the link to the proper pool

also note that the UI automatically suggests the unvetted rate feed when adding xaut, and the deployer has to choose not to use the oracle when depolying the pool, which was done for the new pool.

please let me know if you have further questions

Edit by MAXYZ:

  • assign BIP ID
  • add PR with payloads

https://snapshot.org/#/s:balancer.eth/proposal/0x24290650610ffb7ff9bb0fe36e042b85f597493ba0fd70dc83fa3085dc9e5358