> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tapir.money/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tapir.money/readme.md). # What is Tapir? **Tapir is a depeg protection marketplace for decentralized finance.** It takes a yield-bearing position and gives you three ways to hold it: derisk it, boost its yield, or provide liquidity. Every side keeps the full base yield of the underlying asset. You only choose how much depeg risk you carry, and what you earn for carrying it. {% hint style="success" %} **Mainnet is live on Ethereum and Base in a stealth phase.** Access is invite-based. To get in, tag [**@Tapir\_Protocol**](https://x.com/Tapir_Protocol) on X and send a DM. {% endhint %} *** ## The problem: depegs are DeFi's quiet tax Pegged assets break their promises more often than most portfolios account for. Tapir's own research counts **$1.1–3.3 billion** lost to depegs of collateral-backed stablecoins and pegged assets between November 2020 and November 2025. Not exotic failures: stETH traded at a discount for up to two months in 2022, USDC fell to $0.87 during the SVB weekend in 2023, and USDe crashed to $0.65 on a single exchange in October 2025, triggering $283M in compensation payouts. Algorithmic collapses like TerraUSD sit in a separate category and add another **$42–54 billion**. The full event-by-event analysis, with loss estimates and sources, is public: [Long-Term Depegs in Crypto Assets, 2020–2025](https://hackmd.io/@WsWACVT3QOy5_gRc2Z3ZGg/BkEPcKvy-e). Despite this, **less than 0.2%** of the $150B+ in yield-bearing DeFi assets is hedged. The reason is structural: traditional cover locks capital in idle reserves, so protection sellers give up their yield and pass that cost on as premiums. Investors end up choosing between protection and yield. Tapir removes that choice. Protection is built from the yield-bearing asset itself, so no capital sits idle on either side. *** ## Three ways to hold a position | Side | What you get | What you give | | ------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **DP** | Depeg protection up to a 50% loss, from any cause, plus the full base yield | A market-priced premium, paid through the DP/YB spread | | **YB** | The full base yield plus the protection premium DP holders pay | You absorb depeg losses first; in a depeg, your loss is roughly twice the depeg size | | **LP** | Swap fees from DP/YB trading on top of the base yield | AMM position risk; trading pauses automatically on a suspected depeg to protect liquidity providers | Positions are tradeable the whole time a market is active, so you can move between sides as your view changes. *** ## How it works Tapir splits 1 unit of a yield-bearing asset into **0.5 DP + 0.5 YB**. Both halves keep earning the base yield. The two tokens trade against each other on the market's AMM, and that spread is the live price of protection: set by supply and demand, not by an underwriter. At maturity, a multi-source oracle checks whether the asset held its value. No depeg: both sides redeem 1:1. Depeg: value moves from YB to DP, sized exactly to the drop, up to the structural 50% cap.
The deeper material lives in [How It Works](/readme/how-it-works.md), [Tapir Mechanics](/tapir-mechanics.md), and [Oracle Resolution](/tapir-mechanics/oracle-resolution.md). *** ## Why this design holds up * **One due diligence, many positions.** Without Tapir, smart-contract risk scales with every protocol in a yield stack. A DP position is exposed to Tapir's core contracts only (under 1,000 lines of code, audited by Quantstamp), so the DD is done once. * **No claims process.** Settlement is rules-based and automatic: the oracle resolves the market, redemption values are fixed on-chain, and anyone can verify the inputs. No filings, no governance votes, no waiting. * **Honest limits.** Coverage is structurally capped at a 50% loss, YB holders can lose principal in a depeg, and depeg protection is market-priced risk transfer — not insurance and not risk-free. *** ## Where to go next * [How It Works](/readme/how-it-works.md) — the three-step mechanism in five minutes. * [Live Markets](/live-markets/live-markets.md) — every live market with its contracts, oracle setup, and market-specific risks. Early participants earn Tapir points toward **TPR** allocations (discretionary, subject to change). * [Using Tapir](/system-workflow/using-tapir.md) — strategies for buyers, yield-seekers, and LPs. * [Markets](/system-workflow/markets.md) — reading the dashboard and navigating a market. * [FAQ](/resources/tapir-faq.md) — costs, coverage, maturity, and how to get access.