---
title: "Revenue Flow"
description: "Where Overlayer revenue comes from — Aave lending yield and swap fees — and how it is allocated, with 75% distributed to stakers of overlaid assets."
keywords:
  - "revenue"
  - "Aave"
  - "swap fees"
  - "revenue allocation"
  - "stakers"
canonical_url: https://docs.overlayer.fi/dive_deeper/revenue_flow
md_url: https://docs.overlayer.fi/dive_deeper/revenue_flow.md
last_updated: 2026-05-05T15:42:56.000Z
---

# Revenue Flow

> Where Overlayer revenue comes from — Aave lending yield and swap fees — and how it is allocated, with 75% distributed to stakers of overlaid assets.

Overlayer’s economic design is built around real protocol activity rather than inflationary emissions.

Revenue comes from two main sources:

* lending yield on underlying stablecoins supplied to Aave
* swap fees generated across Overlayer markets and related liquidity surfaces

When users mint overlaid assets, the underlying stablecoins are supplied to Aave. This creates a transparent, scalable yield base tied directly to protocol TVL and not to token inflation, leverage, or directional strategies. As Overlayer’s liquidity surfaces expand, swap-fee generation adds a second revenue stream to the model.

Under the current standard design, protocol revenue is allocated as follows:

* **75% → Distributed to stakers of overlaid assets:** The majority of revenue is paid out directly to stakers, increasing reward rates and reinforcing long-term retention.
* **10% → Buyback OVER:** A portion of revenue is used to buy OVER on the open market and redistribute value through the protocol’s liquidity structure.
* **10% → Reserve Index:** A portion is directed to strengthen the Reserve Index by increasing TVL, improving routing efficiency, deepening liquidity, and enhancing resilience.
* **5% → Treasury:** The remainder supports development, audits, operations, and ecosystem growth without relying on inflationary emissions.

This structure aligns usage with sustainable value flow:

* Users who stake overlaid assets benefit from most of the protocol’s real yield.
* The Reserve Index compounds utility and liquidity depth.
* Treasury funding supports continuity and development.
* Token-related mechanisms remain linked to real protocol activity rather than emissions.

These parameters belong to the economic design of the protocol and may evolve over time through governance and protocol decisions. What matters structurally is that Overlayer’s fee flow is built around realized on-chain activity and explicit allocation rules, rather than around dilution or subsidized reward programs.