Token Description & Project Background

 Orca is an AMM-powered decentralized exchange built on Solana. 

The protocol has a native token, ORCA, used to facilitate protocol governance and also to reward liquidity providers for sharing their funds with the network. 

According to Messari, liquidity providers can utilize their LP tokens within Orca’s so called “double dip pools” to earn an even greater yield on their assets. Moreover, the protocol holds weekly Aquafarm rotations that incentivize users to provide liquidity to certain pools.

Orca also supports another liquidity pool variation called a Whirlpool that concentrates user provided liquidity within a set price range, eliminating slippage costs.

Furthermore, the platform’s proprietary SDK provides a means by which other Solana-based applications can integrate with the exchange, building upon its various features.

Grace “Ori” Kwon and Yutaro Mori cofounded the protocol in 2021.

Kwon, a Stanford University graduate, previously worked as a software engineer at Coursera before pivoting to the blockchain space.

Mori, who’s listed as the architect of Orca’s core AMM, was previously employed by the Ethereum Foundation where he worked on layer-2 scaling solutions.

Risks of ORCA

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in ORCA. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in ORCA is subject to the following specific risks:

• Orca faces competition from other decentralized exchanges. Any potential success associated with the ORCA token depends on Orca’s rate of adoption.

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with ORCA. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The ORCA community and Orca founding team are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of ORCA have no recourse to the ORCA community, ORCA founding team, or Uphold if ORCA declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing ORCA on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on ORCA and determined that ORCA is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of ORCA, including ensuring the source code is open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community. 
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of ORCA.
• Any marketing materials put forward by the ORCA social team including on, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with ORCA, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning ORCA and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with ORCA, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of ORCA. 

General

Uphold has prepared this Crypto Asset Statement based on publicly available information. Although Uphold has taken steps to obtain information from apparently reliable sources, information contained in this Crypto Asset Statement may be inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date. This overview is a starting point for you to perform your own research prior to investing in a crypto asset.

Uphold users should read the Risks Specific To Holding Digital Assets statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with crypto assets made available through the Uphold platform.  

Canadian residents, please note that Uphold has filed an application for registration in certain Canadian jurisdictions but has not yet obtained registration. Until such time as Uphold obtains registration, Uphold has agreed to abide by the terms of an undertaking available at the following link. Please also review the Uphold Canada – Crypto Risk Statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with the crypto assets made available through Uphold Platform. Please be aware that statutory rights of action for damages or rescission in section 130.1 of the Securities Act (Ontario) and, if applicable, similar statutory rights under securities legislation in the other provinces and territories of Canada do not apply in respect of this Crypto Asset Statement or other disclosures on the Uphold website and Risks Specific To Holding Digital Assets statement. 

Last updated on June 21, 2023.