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ve4626

Vote-escrowed token contract where users lock ■TOKEN or ▢TOKEN for time-weighted voting power.

Source​

ContractPath
ve4626contracts/governance/ve4626.sol

Purpose​

ve4626 implements the vote-escrow mechanism at the heart of the protocol's governance. Users lock tokens for a duration (7 days to 4 years) and receive voting power that decays linearly over time. This aligns long-term incentives: the longer you lock, the more influence you have.

Each lock position is represented as an NFT, making positions transferable and composable.

System role​

Key behaviors​

Locking​

Users lock tokens for a chosen duration. Longer locks yield more voting power:

Lock durationVoting power multiplier
7 days~0.5% of amount
1 year25% of amount
2 years50% of amount
4 years100% of amount

Voting power decay​

Voting power starts at amount × (duration / maxDuration) and decays linearly to zero at unlock time. This creates urgency to participate actively rather than passively holding.

Voting Power
    │
    ■ 1000 (4yr lock)
    │ ■
    │   ■
    │     ■
    │       ■ 500 (2yr remaining)
    │         ■
    │           ■
    │             ■ 0
    └─────────────────→ Time

Position management​

Lock positions can be:

  • Increased - Add more tokens without changing duration
  • Extended - Lengthen duration without adding tokens
  • Withdrawn - Claim tokens after lock expires
  • Early exited - Exit before expiry with penalty

Invariants​

InvariantDescription
Lock duration bounds7 days minimum, 4 years maximum
Decay linearityPower decreases smoothly to zero
NFT ownershipOnly position owner can manage
No negative powerPower cannot go below zero

Position NFT​

Each lock is an ERC-721 NFT containing:

  • Token type (■TOKEN or ▢TOKEN)
  • Locked amount
  • Lock start time
  • Lock end time

The NFT can be transferred, enabling secondary markets for locked positions.

Delegation​

Users can delegate their voting power to another address. The delegatee can then vote on their behalf in VaultGaugeVoting.

By default, users must self-delegate before voting.

Integration points​

Integrates withPurpose
VaultGaugeVotingCast votes with ve power
VoterRewardsDistributorEarn epoch rewards
Governance proposalsVote on protocol changes

Implementation details​

For function signatures and events, see the source code.

Key implementation notes:

  • Uses checkpoint system for historical voting power queries
  • Implements ERC-721 for position representation
  • Supports both ■TOKEN and ▢TOKEN as lock assets
  • Early exit penalty is proportional to remaining lock time