Governance
Buy Power, or Earn It?
Most protocols sell voting power to the highest bidder. Whale shows up, buys tokens, controls the protocol. Democracy at its finest.
Ripe rewards conviction over cash. Lock your tokens. Stack governance points every block. That small holder who locked for 3 years? They outvote the whale who arrived yesterday.
The kicker: Onchain voting isn't live yet, but your points are already accumulating. Like mining Bitcoin in 2010.
Live terms live onchain. Lock lengths, the maximum boost, asset weights, and the exit fee vary by deployment and change over time. Every number on this page is an example. Params is the source of truth.
Why Lock RIPE?
The Power of Time Commitment
Time-Weighted Power: Points accrue every block from stake size and remaining lock
Lock Bonuses: Longer locks earn faster — up to 3x for a maximum lock
Early Advantage: Points you earn today stay banked; nobody can buy them later
Aligned Incentives: Those who lock longest have the most say
Real Yield Through Staking
Beyond governance points, the vault earns RIPE block rewards from the staker category. RIPE LP earns more than plain RIPE, and claims stake straight back into the vault, so rewards compound. Reward points and governance points are tracked separately — locking earns you both, and the lock multiplier feeds into your reward share too.
How Governance Points Work
The Point Accumulation Engine
Key mechanics:
Points accrue every block and are added to a running total
Your bonus rate is read from your remaining lock each time your position is touched — a deposit, an extension, a withdrawal, or a reward claim that stakes into the vault — and applied to every block since the last touch
So touch your position while the lock is still long to bank the high rate. A position left alone until after it unlocks earns no bonus for that whole stretch
LP tokens get a 1.5x asset weight in the example
Lock Duration Bonus
The bonus scales linearly from the minimum lock to the maximum. Example: 1-day minimum, 3-year maximum, 200% top boost.
1 day (minimum)
0%
1x
3 months
~17%
1.17x
6 months
~33%
1.33x
1 year
~67%
1.67x
2 years
~133%
2.33x
3 years (maximum)
200%
3x
Example: Lock 1,000 RIPE for 2 years and, while about 2 years remain, your position accrues points at 2.33x the rate of someone who locked for a day. Touch the position now and then to bank that rate; the bonus shrinks as the unlock approaches.
Asset Weighting
RIPE: 100% weight (baseline)
RIPE LP: 150% weight in the example — a 50% bonus for providing liquidity
Managing Your Position
You hold one blended position per asset in the vault. A new deposit blends its lock with what's already there, weighted by size: 1,000 RIPE with 2 years left plus a fresh 1,000 RIPE at 1 day gives one 2,000 RIPE position with about a year left. A big deposit at a short lock shortens your lock. Auto-staked rewards blend the same way, at the reward lock length.
Lock Extensions: Your Power Move
One-Way: You can push your unlock date later, never earlier
Banks First: Pending points are settled at the old rate, then the new lock sets the rate going forward
Compound Strategy: Extend when you claim rewards — the fresh stake lands on a long lock instead of shortening it
Withdrawing
Withdrawing burns stored points in proportion to what you take out. Withdraw half, lose half your points; withdraw everything, lose them all.
A locked position is not shielded from your loan. If the vault asset backs your debt and you're liquidated or redeemed, the tokens are transferred out of your position, your points on them burn, and the recipient starts a fresh minimum lock.
Early Exit: The Nuclear Option
Need liquidity before your unlock? If governance has turned on early exit for the asset, you can release the lock for a fee:
80% Fee in the example: release 10,000 RIPE, keep ~2,000
Two Steps: Release clears the lock; you withdraw separately, and that withdrawal burns your points
Needs a Nonzero Fee: A zero fee means early exit is off, not free
Needs Company: Someone else must still hold the asset in the vault
Bad-Debt Freeze: If the protocol is carrying bad debt and the asset is set to freeze, release is blocked — you couldn't withdraw anyway
Natural Unlock: Patience Rewards
When your lock expires, withdraw any amount with no fee. Whatever stays keeps earning base points, and you can re-lock any time for the bonus.
If Governance Changes the Terms
If governance makes the terms worse — raises the exit fee on an asset that already had early exit, lowers the max boost, lengthens the minimum or maximum lock, or removes early exit — you get a courtesy unlock. It lands the next time your position is touched, so a quick touch frees you with no fee.
Governance can also permanently switch off point accrual for the whole vault or for one account; tokens stay withdrawable on the normal terms.
What You'll Control (Coming Soon)
The governance module that will consume your points is a placeholder today; the points themselves are live, and your running total becomes your voting weight when onchain voting ships. RIPE holders will then control:
Core Protocol Parameters
Risk Management: Collateral ratios, liquidation thresholds, stability fees
Asset Integration: New collateral approval, oracle selection, risk tiers
Economic Policy: Interest rate models, fee structures, revenue distribution
System Limits: Debt ceilings, deposit caps, exposure limits
Treasury Operations
Endaoment Strategy: Yield deployment across DeFi protocols
Partnership Terms: Liquidity partnerships and revenue sharing
Capital Allocation: Investment priorities and risk tolerance
Emergency Response: Crisis management and recovery procedures
Protocol Evolution
Technical Upgrades: Smart contract improvements and new features
Incentive Design: Reward distributions and emission schedules
Governance Rules: Voting parameters and proposal requirements
Strategic Direction: Long-term vision and growth initiatives
Time to Choose Your Side
In most DeFi, whoever has the most money right now owns the protocol. Buy tokens, vote, dump tomorrow.
Ripe flips the script. Your weight = tokens × time locked × lock bonus. Can't buy your way to the top. Can't raid the treasury and run. Voting launches later. Power accumulates now.
Lock RIPE. Stack points. Own the future.
For technical implementation details, see RipeGov Technical Documentation.
Last updated