Reserve Currency · Review
InactiveSnowbank Review 2026: A Shuttered Avalanche Reserve Currency
Snowbank (SB) was an OHM-style reserve currency on Avalanche that announced its shutdown in February 2022 after interest in rebasing projects fell. It is a historical case study, not a live product.
By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated
DappsAtlas score
2.0/10
Weak
Our verdict on Snowbank
2.0/10Snowbank is not something to use today. It was an OHM-style reserve currency on Avalanche that announced its end in February 2022 when interest in rebasing projects collapsed. Its main strength is as a case study in protocol-owned liquidity and the rebase model. The main caveat is that the model relied on new buyers and high emissions, the project listed no audits, and it is now defunct. Read it as history and be careful with any leftover SB price listings.
Score breakdown
How Snowbank scores
- Security
- 2.0/10
- Ease of use
- n/a
- Fees
- n/a
- Features
- 2.0/10
Scores run from 0 to 10 and are based only on facts we could verify. Where information was missing we mark the score n/a rather than guess.
What is Snowbank?
Snowbank was a DeFi project on Avalanche that issued the SB token. It described itself as a decentralized reserve currency unbound by a peg, with a focus on solving liquidity ownership. In practice it was an OHM fork with a twist, part of the wave of rebasing projects that followed Olympus DAO in 2021.
Directories list it from November 2021. In February 2022, a news report said the project announced its end because overall interest in rebasing projects had fallen to an all-time low. The same report mentions a USDC claim for holders.
Price trackers still show an SB price and a market cap of zero or near zero, with no 24-hour volume. These listings reflect leftover data, not an active market. The project's homepage could not be retrieved, and no audits are listed.
How Snowbank works
Snowbank copied the model made popular by Olympus DAO. Users could stake the native token, SB, to receive rebasing rewards, meaning their token balance grew each epoch. Users could also bond assets to the protocol in exchange for discounted SB, which let the treasury accumulate its own liquidity.
The aim was a token backed by treasury assets but not pegged to a fixed price. The advertised APR came from new token emissions, not from outside revenue. That is why headline yields reached extreme figures in promotional material.
This model works only while new capital keeps arriving and holders choose to stay staked. When demand for rebasing projects fell, the structure had no other source of value to fall back on.
4 features
Key features
01
Unpegged reserve currency
SB was designed as a reserve-backed asset not tied to a fixed price target, in the style of Olympus DAO.
02
Protocol-owned liquidity
The project described its goal as solving liquidity ownership, meaning the protocol aimed to hold its own liquidity rather than rent it.
03
Staking with rebases
As an OHM variant, SB was staked for rebasing rewards, which third-party videos advertised at extremely high APRs.
04
Avalanche deployment
The project ran on the Avalanche network and was listed in DeFi directories from November 2021.
Pros and cons
What we like
- It is a clear example of the OHM-fork model, useful for understanding how rebasing reserve currencies worked.
- The shutdown was announced publicly rather than the project disappearing without notice, according to a news report.
- A USDC claim for holders was reportedly offered at the wind-down.
- The concept of protocol-owned liquidity had a clear stated purpose.
Watch out for
- The project announced its end in February 2022, so there is no active product to use.
- Rebasing OHM-style designs depended on a steady stream of new buyers, and interest in them collapsed.
- Headline APRs, such as the six-figure percentages promoted in third-party videos, were unsustainable by design.
- No audits are listed for the protocol.
- The team, treasury makeup and governance details are not published.
- Price listings for SB still exist, but trackers report zero 24-hour volume, so any quoted price is not a usable market.
Snowbank fees
Fee details are not published. Typical OHM-style protocols had no explicit staking fee but charged network gas, and bonding involved buying tokens at a discount rather than paying a fee.
Because the project has shut down, there is no current fee schedule. Any transaction costs would be Avalanche network gas.
Is Snowbank safe?
No audits are listed for Snowbank in DeFi directories, and the team and treasury details are not published in the sources available. Smart-contract risk and treasury risk should be assumed to have been high, as with most OHM forks of that period.
The project has announced its end, so the main risk today is interacting with leftover contracts or with scam sites that impersonate the project. Verify any claim process only through the project's verified channels. No public source describes a licence or regulatory status.
5 steps
How to get started with Snowbank
- 1
Do not deposit funds into Snowbank. The project announced its end in February 2022.
- 2
If you held SB, look for the project's official announcement and any claim instructions on its verified social account.
- 3
Check a wallet's Avalanche transaction history to confirm what you still hold.
- 4
Treat any site or message offering to restore or claim funds with suspicion and never share a seed phrase.
- 5
If you want to study the model, read about Olympus DAO's design and its bonding and staking mechanics first.
Who Snowbank is for
This page suits researchers, former SB holders and readers curious about how OHM forks worked and why many failed. It is not for anyone looking for a live place to stake or earn yield.
Snowbank FAQs
What was Snowbank?
Snowbank was a decentralized reserve currency on Avalanche. Its token, SB, was not pegged to a fiat currency and was described as a variation on Olympus DAO's OHM design.
Is Snowbank still active?
No. A February 2022 news report says the project announced its end after interest in rebasing projects dropped sharply. It reportedly also offered a USDC claim to holders.
Was SB a stablecoin?
The project described SB as a reserve currency unbound by a peg, with a focus on the protocol owning its liquidity. It was a fork of OHM with a modification.
Can I still trade SB?
Price sites still list SB, but they report zero 24-hour trading volume. A quoted price on a dead market does not mean the token can actually be sold at that level.
Why did projects like Snowbank fail?
Rebasing reserve currencies paid very high advertised APRs funded largely by new deposits and token emission. When demand fell, token prices dropped and the model stopped working.
What should former holders do?
Anyone with a claim should rely only on official announcements from the project's verified channels. Be wary of unsolicited links or messages offering recovery of funds.
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Guides
Guides about Snowbank
DeFi
Snowbank Shutdown and the USDC Claim: What Holders Should CheckSnowbank (SB), an OHM-style reserve currency on Avalanche, announced its shutdown in February 2022. Online posts about a USDC exodus and claim process are hard to confirm, so this guide explains how to check such claims yourself and avoid recovery scams.
How we checked
Sources
Last updated . Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.