Other · Governance · SDT
Stake DAO aggregates vote-escrow positions (Curve, Balancer, Frax) via liquid lockers and strategies. SDT governs the protocol; lockers retain voting rights for depositors while enabling liquid exposure.
Liquid lockers and vote aggregation across DeFi governance.
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Liquid locker + vote-aggregator spanning multiple vote-escrow ecosystems with on-chain strategies over locked governance positions.
Users deposit vote-escrow governance tokens (CRV, BAL, FXS, PENDLE, ANGLE, etc.) and receive liquid, transferable sdTokens (sdCRV, sdBAL, sdFXS, sdPENDLE...) in return. The protocol perpetually re-locks the underlying at max lock, so sdTokens retain governance power, maximized yield, and vote-incentive rewards without the user having to lock. sdTokens remain liquid via DEX pools, so holders can exit to the underlying without waiting for a lock to expire.
Auto-compounding vaults that deposit LP tokens (e.g. Curve, Balancer, Pendle LPs) and leverage the protocol's aggregated veToken balances (from the Liquid Lockers) to earn boosted rewards across multiple chains, socializing the boost among depositors.
A permissionless on-chain vote-incentive (bribe) marketplace where protocols create campaigns paying token rewards in exchange for gauge votes, and voters claim the incentives. Votemarket v2 (launched Nov 2024) uses storage proofs and an Arbitrum L2 architecture to cut gas, supports multi-week reward distribution (no weekly claims), covers both direct veToken holders and wrapper voters (vlCVX/vlAURA), and adds fallback strategies and point-based incentives.
SDT is the protocol's governance and value-capture token (100M max supply). Historically SDT was locked into veSDT (vote-escrowed, decaying) to boost sdToken voting power up to 2.5x and to govern the DAO. In 2026 governance approved a migration to vlSDT (vote-locked SDT): 1 SDT staked = 1 non-decaying voting/boosting unit, no fixed lock, with an 8-week exit queue (or instant exit with penalty).
Julien Bouteloup (founded Stake DAO in 2020)
IQ.wiki - Julien BouteloupSDT (ERC-20, 0x73968b9a57c6e53d41345fd57a6e6ae27d6cdb2f), 100,000,000 max supply; locked as veSDT/vlSDT for governance and boost
Stake DAO Docs - SDT TokenGovernance / vote-aggregation and liquid-locker protocol across Curve, Balancer, Frax, Pendle and Angle vote-escrow ecosystems
Stake DAO Docs - Liquid LockersPerformance fees on harvested rewards only (no deposit/withdrawal fees); rates vary by locker and shown in-app; proceeds fund sdToken liquidity incentives and DAO treasury
Stake DAO Docs - Locker FeesPrimarily Ethereum, with deployments/activity on Arbitrum and Base (Votemarket v2 runs computation on Arbitrum)
DeFiLlama - Stake DAOHow Stake DAO maps onto established TradFi structures, and where it diverges.
Actively-managed asset manager / index fund over governance positions
Stake DAO
Like an asset manager pooling client capital to run a strategy, Stake DAO pools users' governance tokens, locks them at maximum efficiency, and manages the aggregated voting/boost position to maximize yield returned to depositors, taking a performance fee.
TradFi analogue
Non-custodial and on-chain: users always hold a liquid, redeemable sdToken and retain the ability to exit and to influence governance, with strategies enforced by public smart contracts rather than a discretionary manager or custodian.
Lobbying / proxy-vote-advisory and pay-to-influence marketplace
Stake DAO
Votemarket is analogous to a marketplace for buying influence over collective decisions: campaign creators pay to steer emissions (votes) the way a firm might pay a lobbyist or use proxy advisors to sway shareholder votes.
TradFi analogue
Fully permissionless, transparent and on-chain; anyone can post or claim incentives, pricing of votes is set by open market bidding, and settlement is enforced by smart contracts rather than opaque private arrangements.
Julien Bouteloup
Founder Serial crypto entrepreneur (in crypto since ~2010) who founded Stake DAO in 2020, alongside other ventures including Stake Capital Group, BlackPool Finance and Rekt News. Stake DAO grew out of the Stake Capital DAO / liquid-staking work.
Stake DAO Association
Governing / publishing entity The association named as author on official documentation and whitepapers (e.g. the Votemarket v2 whitepaper, Nov 2024). The protocol is community-governed by SDT lockers (veSDT/vlSDT) who vote on proposals (SDGP) and gauge/boost allocations.
Key milestones: launches, upgrades, exploits and governance events.
SDT token launch / initial airdrop
ExecutedSDT, the protocol's governance token (100M max supply), launched with an initial 1.5% (1,500,000 SDT) airdrop distributed on 20 January 2021.
SourceveSDT & FXS Locker audited (ChainSecurity)
ExecutedChainSecurity audit of the veSDT vote-escrow system and FXS liquid locker, part of the rollout of the Liquid Lockers + veSDT product line.
SourceVotemarket v2 launched
ExecutedStake DAO announced Votemarket v2, an on-chain vote-incentive marketplace using storage proofs and an Arbitrum L2 architecture: multi-week reward distribution (no weekly claims), coverage of both direct and wrapper (vlCVX/vlAURA) voters, fallback strategies, and point incentives.
SourcevlSDT migration and updated governance framework
ExecutedGovernance approved migrating from decaying veSDT to vlSDT (vote-locked SDT): 1 SDT staked = 1 non-decaying vote/boost unit, no fixed lock, 8-week exit queue (or instant exit with penalty); the vlSDT token was audited by Trust Security on 2026-03-26.
SourceStake DAO is a non-custodial DeFi protocol that lets users put vote-escrow governance tokens to work. Its flagship product, Liquid Lockers, converts locked governance tokens (CRV, BAL, FXS, PENDLE, ANGLE...) into liquid sdTokens that keep yield and governance power without the illiquidity of a lock. It also runs boosted strategy vaults and Votemarket, an on-chain vote-incentive marketplace.
When you deposit CRV into Stake DAO you receive sdCRV, a liquid ERC-20. Stake DAO perpetually re-locks the underlying CRV as veCRV at max lock, so sdCRV holders keep governance power and earn maximized Curve rewards plus vote incentives, while remaining able to swap sdCRV back to CRV via DEX liquidity instead of waiting out a 4-year lock. The same model applies to sdBAL, sdFXS, sdPENDLE and others.
Votemarket is Stake DAO's permissionless on-chain marketplace for vote incentives (bribes). Protocols post campaigns paying token rewards to voters who direct gauge emissions to their pools; voters claim the incentives on-chain. Votemarket v2 runs heavy computation on Arbitrum using storage proofs, removing weekly claims and reducing gas while staying fully on-chain.
SDT is Stake DAO's governance token (100M max supply). Locking SDT gives boosting power (up to 2.5x on sdToken votes) and DAO governance rights. The original veSDT model used a time-decaying lock; in 2026 the DAO approved a migration to vlSDT, where 1 SDT staked equals 1 non-decaying vote/boost unit with an 8-week exit queue and no fixed lock term.
Stake DAO charges performance fees on rewards harvested by its Liquid Lockers and strategy vaults (no deposit or withdrawal fees). Rates vary by locker and are shown on each locker's page in the app. Fee proceeds fund liquidity incentives for sdToken pools and the DAO treasury. Votemarket also takes a platform fee on vote-incentive campaigns.
Yes. On 27 May 2026 an attacker compromised Stake DAO's deployer private key and manipulated the LayerZero v2 OFT peer configuration to forge a cross-chain message minting roughly 5.4 trillion fake vsdCRV on Arbitrum. Because vsdCRV had thin liquidity, the attacker only extracted about $91K (43.7 ETH) before DEX liquidity was exhausted. Stake DAO publicly warned users not to interact with vsdCRV.
