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Stake DAO Official: Liquid Lockers, sdTokens & Votemarke 

Stake DAO Official: Liquid Lockers & Votemarket 

Stake DAO Official is a non-custodial platform focused on unlocking the value of decentralized governance. This technical documentation serves as the primary resource for utilizing Liquid Lockers (minting sdCRV, sdFXS, sdPENDLE), earning revenue via Votemarket Bribes, and optimizing LP positions with Automated DeFi Strategies. Stake DAO aggregates governance power to maximize user yield. 

Stake DAO Ecosystem: The Governance Aggregator 

Stake DAO solves the illiquidity problem of "Vote-Escrow" (ve) tokenomics.

Liquid Lockers: Protocols like Curve and Frax require users to lock tokens for up to 4 years to earn full yields. Stake DAO does this permanently on behalf of users. Users deposit tokens (e.g., CRV) and receive a liquid receipt token (e.g., sdCRV) that can be traded or staked to earn the locked rewards.

Votemarket: An on-chain marketplace for voting incentives. Since the Liquid Lockers control massive amounts of voting power (e.g., veCRV), external protocols pay "bribes" to sdToken holders to vote for their liquidity gauges.

Strategies: For users who just want to provide liquidity (e.g., in a Curve pool), Stake DAO offers automated strategies that use the protocol's aggregated "boost" to offer higher APYs than standard farming.

sdTokens & Peg Mechanisms 

The infrastructure of Stake DAO Official is designed to maintain liquidity and peg stability.

sdToken Mechanics: When you deposit CRV into the locker, it is locked forever as veCRV. You receive sdCRV at a 1:1 rate. You cannot "unlock" the underlying CRV from the contract, but you can swap sdCRV back to CRV on secondary markets (Curve/Balancer pools).

Peg Stability: To ensure sdTokens trade near 1:1 with the underlying asset, Stake DAO incentivizes deep liquidity pools. Additionally, if sdCRV trades at a discount, the protocol may use fees to buy back and burn sdCRV, or offer higher yields to incentivize buying.

Cross-Chain: Stake DAO deploys lockers on L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism, allowing users to interact with governance tokens like ARB or GMX (in the future) without expensive mainnet gas fees.

veSDT, Bribes & Fees 

The reward system aligns the interests of lockers, voters, and the DAO.

veSDT: By locking the native $SDT token, users receive veSDT. This grants: 1) A boost on all strategy yields, 2) Governance rights over the Stake DAO protocol, and 3) A share of the platform's performance fees.

Bribes: Holders of sdTokens (like sdCRV) can vote on Votemarket. If they vote for a pool that is offering incentives, they receive those bribes (often paid in other tokens like FXS, SPELL, or ALCX).

Platform Fees: The protocol charges a performance fee (typically ~15%) on the yield generated. A portion of this fee is redistributed to veSDT holders, creating a cash-flow stream for governance participants.

Security, Audits, and Risks 

Stake DAO Official manages complex inter-protocol dependencies.

Audits: The Liquid Lockers and Strategy contracts have been audited by top-tier firms including Swiss Staking, Omniscia, and PeckShield.

Smart Contract Risk: Because Stake DAO builds on top of other protocols (Curve, Frax, Angle), it inherits their risks. If Curve's voting contract has a bug, sdCRV could be affected.

Peg Risk: sdTokens are not pegged by a hard redemption mechanism (since the underlying is locked). The price depends on market demand. If everyone sells sdCRV at once, it could depeg significantly below 1 CRV.

Official Documentation & Reference

Access the verified Stake DAO Official technical resources below:

App: stakedao.org

Lockers: lockers.stakedao.org

Votemarket: votemarket.stakedao.org

Docs: docs.stakedao.org

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is sdCRV? sdCRV Liquid Locker token is a liquid version of vote-locked CRV. It earns the same rewards as locking CRV for 4 years (trading fees + boosts) plus Stake DAO specific rewards, but remains liquid and tradable.

What is Votemarket? Votemarket is a platform where protocols pay "bribes" to voters. If you hold sdTokens, you can vote for these protocols to earn the bribe money.

How does veSDT work? veSDT is the governance token. You lock SDT to get it. It boosts your yield on other products and gives you a cut of the platform's revenue.

Is Stake DAO safer than Convex? They have different designs. Stake DAO focuses heavily on allowing the user to retain their own voting power (via Votemarket/Snapshot), whereas Convex often automates the voting for you. Both carry smart contract risks.