Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to what actually matters.
Getting Started
What is Ripe Protocol?
One loan backed by everything you own. While other protocols make you juggle five vaults for five assets, Ripe combines your entire portfolio — crypto, tokenized stocks, blue-chip NFTs, everything — into ONE position. Borrow GREEN stablecoins against it all.
What makes Ripe different from other lending protocols?
One loan, many assets. While other protocols force you to manage separate positions for each collateral type, Ripe lets you deposit multiple different assets that all work together to back a single GREEN loan. This means you can use your USDC, ETH, tokenized stocks, treasury bills, and even NFTs all in one borrowing position.
What is GREEN?
GREEN is Ripe's overcollateralized stablecoin, always worth $1. Every GREEN is backed by at least 110% in collateral value (often much more). You create GREEN by borrowing against your deposited assets and destroy it by repaying your loan.
Is my money safe?
Your deposits back only your own loans — not a shared lending pool. If someone else's risky position fails, it doesn't affect you. The protocol uses multiple safety mechanisms including redemptions before liquidations, partial liquidations (not full), and a four-phase liquidation system designed to minimize losses.
Borrowing Basics
How much can I borrow?
Each asset has its own Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio:
Stablecoins: Up to 80% of value
ETH/WBTC: Up to 70% of value
Volatile assets: 40-50% of value
Your total borrowing power combines all assets weighted by their individual LTVs.
How do interest rates work?
You pay a single weighted-average rate based on your collateral mix. If you deposit mostly stablecoins (lower rates) with some ETH (medium rates), your rate will be closer to the stablecoin rate. Rates only change when you interact with your loan — existing borrowers aren't affected by market fluctuations unless they choose to update.
What are dynamic rates?
Dynamic rates are an emergency mechanism that activates only when GREEN trades significantly below $1. Under normal conditions, you simply pay your weighted base rate. If GREEN exceeds 60% in liquidity pools (indicating oversupply), rates may temporarily increase to incentivize repayment and restore balance.
Can I repay anytime?
Yes! There are no prepayment penalties, fixed terms, or lockups. Repay any amount at any time to reduce your debt and improve your position health.
Managing Risk
When do I get liquidated?
Liquidation happens when your collateral value drops below the required minimum for your debt. There are three key thresholds to monitor:
Max LTV (e.g., 70%): Your borrowing limit - cannot borrow more beyond this
Redemption threshold (e.g., 80%): Early warning - GREEN holders can redeem against your position
Liquidation threshold (e.g., 90%): Danger zone - automatic liquidation begins
Quick Example: With $6,000 debt and 90% liquidation threshold, you need at least $6,667 collateral ($6,000 ÷ 0.90). If collateral drops below this, liquidation starts.
Monitor your position and add collateral or repay debt before reaching these zones. For a visual guide showing all risk zones, see How Thresholds Work Together.
What's the difference between redemption and liquidation?
Redemption (happens first):
No penalty or discount
GREEN holders pay off your debt at exactly $1 value
Helps you deleverage automatically
Better outcome than liquidation
Liquidation (last resort):
Incurs liquidation fees (5-15%)
Four-phase process: Your own assets → Stability pools → Dutch auctions
Only liquidates enough to restore health (partial, not full)
How does partial liquidation work?
Ripe only liquidates the minimum amount needed to make your position healthy again — not your entire position. If you need 20% debt reduction to be safe, that's all that gets liquidated. You keep the rest of your collateral.
Earning with Ripe
What is sGREEN?
sGREEN is yield-bearing GREEN that automatically captures protocol revenues. Your sGREEN balance stays the same while its GREEN value increases over time through:
Borrower interest payments
Origination fees from new loans
Protocol revenue distributions
No staking or claiming needed — just hold and earn.
How do stability pools work?
Stability pools hold sGREEN and GREEN LP tokens that get swapped for liquidated collateral at discount. As a depositor, you:
Continue earning sGREEN yield
Get liquidated collateral at 5-15% discount
Earn RIPE rewards
Can withdraw anytime
It's like being a liquidator without running any bots.
How do I earn RIPE rewards?
RIPE rewards currently flow to two groups (90% stakers, 10% borrowers):
Stakers (90%):
RIPE LP: 45% of staker rewards (best returns!)
GREEN LP: 25% of staker rewards
sGREEN: 15% of staker rewards
RIPE: 15% of staker rewards
Borrowers (10%): Based on debt size and duration
Future categories (not active yet): General depositors and vote-selected assets.
Important: Current emissions are ramping up. When claiming rewards, 75% auto-stakes with a ~1-year lock.
GREEN Stability
How does GREEN maintain its $1 peg?
Six mechanisms work together:
Overcollateralization: Every GREEN backed by 110%+ collateral
Dynamic rates: Borrowing costs increase if GREEN weakens
Direct redemption: Arbitrageurs can redeem GREEN for $1 of collateral (when positions in redemption zone)
Stability pool redemption: Additional redemption path through liquidated collateral
Endaoment operations: Treasury automatically rebalances liquidity pools
Peg Stability Module (PSM): Direct GREEN/USDC conversion at 1:1 — the most accessible arbitrage path
What happens if GREEN trades below $1?
Arbitrageurs immediately profit by:
Buying GREEN cheap on a DEX (e.g., $0.97)
Redeeming via PSM for exactly $1 USDC (or via direct redemption for $1 of collateral)
Pocketing the difference
This creates instant buying pressure that pushes GREEN back to $1. The PSM provides the most direct path — no need to wait for positions in redemption zones.
Can GREEN lose its peg permanently?
The protocol's design makes this extremely unlikely. As long as loans remain overcollateralized, arbitrage mechanisms ensure GREEN returns to $1. The worse the depeg, the bigger the profit opportunity for arbitrageurs to fix it.
What is the PSM and how do I use it?
The Peg Stability Module (PSM) lets you convert between GREEN and USDC at a 1:1 ratio:
Mint GREEN: Send USDC to the PSM, receive GREEN (can auto-wrap to sGREEN)
Redeem GREEN: Send GREEN to the PSM, receive USDC (accepts sGREEN too)
Why use it?
Arbitrage when GREEN trades off-peg
Get GREEN without borrowing (just swap USDC)
Exit GREEN to USDC without DEX slippage
Limitations: The PSM may have rate limits per interval, optional fees, and requires sufficient USDC reserves for redemptions. Check the UI for current availability and terms.
Technical Details
Why did my transaction fail?
The protocol limits users to one action per block (approximately 2 seconds on Base). If you submit multiple transactions too quickly, subsequent ones will fail. Simply wait a few seconds and retry.
This rate limiting:
Prevents front-running attacks
Ensures fair ordering of operations
Protects protocol state consistency
What is account locking?
Account locking is an emergency security feature that restricts all protocol actions for a specific wallet address. If your account is locked:
You cannot deposit, withdraw, borrow, or repay
This is typically activated for security reasons (suspected compromise, unusual activity)
Contact the team via Discord or email to resolve
Account locking protects both users and the protocol from potential exploits or hacked wallets.
Can the protocol be paused?
Yes. In emergency situations, individual components or the entire protocol can be paused:
Per-contract pausing: Specific functions (deposits, borrows, liquidations) can be paused independently
Global pause: All protocol operations can be halted
Purpose: Allows response to discovered vulnerabilities or market emergencies
Controlled by: Governance through RipeHq
Pauses are temporary measures used only in genuine emergencies to protect user funds.
Advanced Features
Can I use yield-bearing tokens as collateral?
Yes! Tokens like stETH, aTokens, and LP positions continue earning their underlying yields while serving as collateral. The protocol uses share-based accounting to capture all rewards, rebases, and fee accruals.
Can I use tokenized real-world assets?
Yes! Ripe is built for the $16 trillion in real-world assets being tokenized by 2030. Tokenized stocks, real estate, treasury bills, gold — if it has value, you can borrow against it. This is the core vision: unlocking liquidity for assets that traditional DeFi ignores.
What's the delegation system?
You can grant granular permissions to other addresses for automated position management:
Per-Address Delegations:
canWithdraw: Allow delegate to withdraw collateral on your behalf
canBorrow: Enable borrowing and deleveraging operations
canClaimFromStabPool: Allow claiming liquidated collateral from stability pools
canClaimLoot: Allow claiming RIPE rewards on your behalf
Global User Settings:
canAnyoneDeposit: Let any address add collateral for you
canAnyoneRepayDebt: Allow anyone to repay your debt (useful for rescue scenarios)
canAnyoneBondForUser: Let others purchase bonds on your behalf
Security Guarantees:
Delegates can never steal funds — withdrawals always go to the original owner
Each permission is independent — granting one doesn't grant others
Permissions can be revoked at any time
Use Cases:
Automated yield strategies via third-party protocols
Team-managed treasury positions
Bot-assisted position management
Emergency rescue by trusted parties
Can I use my borrowed GREEN to earn yield?
Absolutely! When borrowing, you can:
Receive GREEN directly for any use
Auto-convert to sGREEN to start earning immediately
Deposit straight to stability pools for maximum yield
Many users borrow at 5% to earn 8%+ in sGREEN.
Governance & RIPE Token
What is RIPE?
RIPE is the protocol's governance token. Lock it in the governance vault to:
Accumulate voting power for future governance
Earn rewards from the staker allocation
Get up to 3x rewards with longer lock periods
When does governance go live?
Governance points are accumulating now, but onchain voting hasn't launched yet. Governance will activate once sufficient RIPE tokens have been distributed through block rewards and the holder base has grown to ensure decentralized decision-making. Early participants who lock RIPE are building voting power that will control the protocol when governance activates.
What's the RIPE token distribution?
1 billion RIPE total supply:
25% Community incentives (only allocation unlocking at TGE)
22.2% Ripe Foundation treasury
20.6% Core contributors (locked 1 year, then 4-year vest)
17.2% Early backers ($550k seed at $0.02)
15% Distribution partner (Hightop)
All vesting happens onchain with transparent contracts. See full details in RIPE Tokenomics.
What are Ripe Bonds?
Bonds let you exchange stablecoins (like USDC) for RIPE tokens at dynamic prices. Lock your bonded RIPE for up to 3 years to get up to 3x more tokens. All proceeds build the Endaoment treasury that backs GREEN and generates protocol revenue.
What are Bond Boosters?
Bond Boosters multiply your bond allocation based on ecosystem contributions (like testnet participation). They work through a unit system:
1 unit = 1 USDC of boost capacity
Units are consumed permanently when bonding
Example: 1,000 units + 200% booster = first 1,000 USDC bonded gets 3x RIPE
Combined with lock bonuses, top contributors can get up to 5x multipliers.
What's the Endaoment?
The Endaoment is Ripe's treasury system that combines automated mechanisms with strategic oversight. It:
Manages protocol-owned liquidity from bond sales
Generates yield across DeFi via Underscore
Defends GREEN's peg through market operations
Funds operations without token inflation
All bond proceeds become permanent productive capital working 24/7.
Safety & Security
What are the main risks?
Smart contract risk: Bugs could affect funds
Liquidation risk: Collateral value dropping too fast
Oracle risk: Incorrect price feeds (mitigated by multiple sources)
Interest rate risk: Dynamic rates during market stress
Is Ripe audited?
ChainSecurity reviewed the code last year, but lessons from Underscore and real-world usage in Hightop pushed us to refactor. We removed onchain governance, Juice Score, NFTs, GREEN bonds, and complex DeFi adapters. The slimmer v1 launching today has not yet been re-audited — please keep this in mind when deciding position sizes.
How does Ripe price assets accurately?
Ripe uses a multi-oracle system with automatic fallback. We check Chainlink, Pyth, Stork, and Curve in priority order, taking the first valid price. If one oracle fails, we instantly switch to the next — no manual intervention needed. This prevents single points of failure that have destroyed other protocols.
How does Ripe handle bad debt?
The protocol has multiple defenses:
Conservative collateral ratios
Redemption mechanism before liquidation
Stability pools absorb liquidations
Keeper network ensures fast execution
Endaoment treasury as final backstop
If bad debt does occur, the protocol can sell bonds to raise funds. This creates RIPE tokens beyond the 1 billion cap (e.g., if 1M RIPE covers bad debt, total supply becomes 1.001 billion). The extra minting dilutes all RIPE holders proportionally, distributing the cost fairly while ensuring the protocol remains solvent.
What happens in a market crash?
During extreme volatility:
Redemptions help positions deleverage automatically
Stability pools provide instant liquidation liquidity
Partial liquidations minimize user losses
Dynamic rates incentivize debt repayment
Multiple oracle sources prevent manipulation
Getting Help
Where can I learn more?
Documentation: Detailed guides in our docs
Discord: Active community and team support
Twitter: Protocol updates and announcements
GitHub: Open source code and development
Homepage: Ripe Homepage
How do I report bugs or issues?
Security issues: Please report privately to [email protected] General bugs: Open an issue on GitHub or report in Discord
This FAQ covers common questions. For detailed technical information, see our comprehensive documentation.
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