Other · Governance · BTRFLY
Hidden Hand (Redacted Cartel) operates bribe marketplaces where protocols pay to steer vote-escrow emissions on Curve, Balancer, Frax and related venues. BTRFLY governs the Redacted ecosystem treasury and incentive routing.
Governance incentives marketplace for vote-escrow protocols.
Protocol TVL
$52.8K
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Multi-protocol bribe marketplace spanning Curve/Frax/Balancer vote-escrow systems — the Hidden Hand brand is the canonical bribe venue.
A generalized governance-incentives (bribe) marketplace by Redacted where protocols deposit incentives to sway vote-escrow gauge/emissions voting, and voters/delegators earn those incentives. Runs separate markets per host ecosystem (Balancer, Aura, Frax, and others).
The DAO/organization behind Hidden Hand, originally an OlympusDAO (OHM) fork that launched the BTRFLY reserve-currency token in December 2021 and later pivoted to a fixed-supply, revenue-focused model. Now operates under the Dinero brand.
Governance token of the Redacted ecosystem. BTRFLY v2 has a capped supply (~650,000). Revenue-locked BTRFLY (rlBTRFLY) lockers receive a share of Hidden Hand and other product fees.
Redacted's token-securitization / liquid-wrapper product line. It wraps locked governance tokens (e.g. pxCVX for Convex CVX, plus pxGMX/pxGLP) into liquid tokens and offers auto-compounding and bribe-capture strategies.
Redacted's ETH-staking and stablecoin stack. Pirex ETH went live December 13, 2023, using a two-token model (pxETH for liquidity, apxETH for boosted staking yield) underpinning the Dinero overcollateralized stablecoin.
4% protocol fee on incentives; voters/delegators receive 96%
DeSpread Research — Redacted Cartel report~35% treasury / 50% rlBTRFLY lockers / 15% DAO Reserve
DeSpread Research — Redacted Cartel reportBalancer, Aura, Frax (plus historical Tokemak, Ribbon)
Hidden Hand marketsLaunched Jan 2022 after Redacted acquired Votemak (Tokemak-based bribe market)
DeSpread Research — Redacted Cartel reportBTRFLY (v2 capped supply ~650,000); rlBTRFLY for revenue lockers
DeSpread Research — Redacted Cartel reportWinding down: new markets ended 2025-12-31; claims-only through 2026-06-30
Hidden HandHow Redacted (Hidden Hand) maps onto established TradFi structures, and where it diverges.
Corporate lobbying / political action committees
Redacted (Hidden Hand)
Hidden Hand is a marketplace where interested parties pay to influence governance outcomes (which pools receive token emissions), analogous to paying to influence votes and policy.
TradFi analogue
All incentive flows are transparent on-chain and permissionless; payments (incentives) are paid directly to the voters/delegators rather than to intermediaries or campaigns, and outcomes are enforced by smart-contract gauge weights rather than legislation.
Proxy-advisory firms (e.g. ISS/Glass Lewis) and vote aggregation
Redacted (Hidden Hand)
Like a proxy advisor aggregating shareholder votes, Hidden Hand consolidates delegated ve-token voting power and directs it, helping vote-holders monetize and coordinate their governance rights.
TradFi analogue
Hidden Hand explicitly auctions the vote direction to the highest incentive rather than recommending votes on governance merits, and it is non-custodial and fully automated on-chain.
Redacted (Redacted Cartel / Dinero)
Parent protocol / DAO The organization that builds and operates Hidden Hand alongside Pirex and Dinero. Governed by BTRFLY holders and rlBTRFLY lockers; rebranded toward the Dinero identity as its ETH-staking and stablecoin products grew.
rlBTRFLY lockers
Revenue-sharing governance participants Holders who lock BTRFLY into rlBTRFLY to receive a share of protocol revenue, including a portion of Hidden Hand's 4% incentive fee.
Founding team & DAO Reserve
Core contributors / treasury BTRFLY v2 allocated 9% to the founding team and 15% to the DAO Reserve, with additional allocations to Olympus DAO (10%) and investors (6%). The DAO Reserve receives part of Hidden Hand fees.
Key milestones: launches, upgrades, exploits and governance events.
Redacted (BTRFLY) launches as an OlympusDAO fork
ExecutedRedacted debuted in December 2021 as an official OlympusDAO fork, raising roughly $73.2M via a token issuance auction for the BTRFLY token before later moving to a fixed-supply v2 model.
SourceVotemak acquisition and Hidden Hand launch
ExecutedHidden Hand launched in January 2022 following Redacted's acquisition of Votemak, initially targeting ecosystems including Tokemak, Frax, Balancer and Ribbon.
SourceLast day for new Hidden Hand markets (wind-down)
ExecutedPer the wind-down announced on Hidden Hand's official channels, new incentive markets could be created through December 31, 2025.
SourceEnd of Hidden Hand claims-only period
ExecutedFrom January 1 to June 30, 2026 Hidden Hand operated in claims-only mode with no new markets; previously earned rewards remained claimable until this deadline.
SourceHidden Hand is a governance-incentives (bribe) marketplace built by Redacted. Protocols deposit incentives to attract votes in vote-escrow (ve) gauge and emissions systems, and vote-escrow token holders who delegate or vote earn those incentives. It generalized the earlier Votemak/Tokemak model to serve many DeFi protocols.
Hidden Hand takes a 4% fee on incentive (bribe) revenue, so voters/delegators receive 96%. The 4% protocol fee has been distributed roughly 35% to the treasury, 50% to rlBTRFLY lockers, and 15% to the DAO Reserve. There is no cost for voters to use the platform.
Hidden Hand runs separate incentive markets across multiple vote-escrow ecosystems, including Balancer, Aura, and Frax, and historically served protocols such as Tokemak and Ribbon. It acts as an aggregator that consolidates ve-token voting power and routes it toward the highest incentives.
Redacted acquired Votemak (a bribe marketplace built on Tokemak) in January 2022 and launched Hidden Hand later that month, generalizing Votemak's mechanics into a marketplace usable by any ve-token protocol.
Yes. Citing declining platform activity and rising infrastructure costs, the team announced Hidden Hand would wind down. Per its official channels, new markets could be created through December 31, 2025, followed by a claims-only period from January 1 to June 30, 2026, during which previously earned rewards remain claimable.
