Crypto Ser

2025, Polkadot governance reached a major milestone with 482 referenda entering OpenGov. One of the most important outcomes was Referendum #1710, where the community voted on-chain to cap DOT supply at 2.1B.
To make governance more accessible for liquid stakers, Bifrost introduced vDOT Delegation Voting, allowing vDOT holders to participate in OpenGov without giving up staking rewards or liquidity.
Through delegation, vDOT holders can assign their voting power to trusted addresses or directly to Bifrost OpenGov (DVT), keeping full control while staying active in governance.
🗳️ What is vDOT Delegation Voting?

vDOT Delegation Voting allows liquid-staked DOT holders to stay involved in Polkadot governance without sacrificing staking yield or liquidity.
Instead of voting manually, you can delegate your vDOT voting power to:
Any trusted address, or Bifrost OpenGov, a dedicated governance track
Your vDOT never leaves your wallet. You stay liquid. You stay earning.
🔁 How Delegation Works

Choose a conviction multiplier from 0.1x to 6x
When your delegate votes, your voting power automatically follows
vDOT only gets locked if a vote is actually cast
You can revoke the delegation at any time
No delegation? No impact on liquidity or redemption.
🧩 Introducing DVT — Bifrost OpenGov Track

Bifrost also launched the vDOT Delegation Track (DVT) - a pooled governance layer where delegated vDOT voting power is aggregated.
Here’s the twist:
BNC holders collectively decide how the pooled vDOT votes, creating a powerful cross-asset governance loop between DOT and BNC.
🚨 Why This Matters Now
Referendum #1827 is currently live - a major proposal that could reshape Polkadot staking mechanics.
If you’ve ever wanted to participate in governance without micromanaging votes, this is the perfect moment to try vDOT Delegation Voting.
👉 Try it now on Bifrost Dapp:
https://app.bifrost.io/vstaking/vDOT?tab=governance&type=delegation
Governance should be liquid.
Governance should be accessible.

Governance is one of the most powerful ideas in DeFi — but also one of the least used.
Bifrost has just introduced a proposal that directly addresses this problem:
Should active governance participation be rewarded with real economic incentives?
As someone who follows DeFi closely — especially the Polkadot ecosystem — I think this proposal is an important step forward, not just for Bifrost, but for on-chain governance design in general.
Let’s break it down in simple terms.
The Core Problem: Governance Is Undervalued
Right now, governance on many DeFi protocols (including Bifrost) faces a few common issues:
Many BNC / vBNC / bbBNC holders don’t clearly know where or how to vote
There’s often strong discussion, but low actual voting turnout
Governance feels like a “responsibility” rather than a rewarded action
At the same time, Bifrost has entered a new phase focused on buybacks and profit sharing.
That makes governance even more important — because decisions now directly affect long-term value.
So the question becomes:
How do we turn passive token holders into active protocol participants?

The Proposal: Incentivize Governance Participation
Bifrost is asking the community to choose one of two incentive models, via on-chain voting.
👉 You vote AYE on the option you support, and NAY on the other.
👉 The winning option will be implemented.
Option A: Governance Participation Affects bbBNC APY
🔗 Referendum: https://bifrost.subsquare.io/referenda/189
How it works (simplified):
If you actively participate in governance, your bbBNC APY increases
If you stay inactive, your yield may be lower
Governance becomes part of the core yield logic, not a side activity
Key characteristics:
Long-term, structural incentive
Strong alignment between governance and economic value
Requires on-chain upgrades and more development time (≈ 6 months)
Option B: Governance Participation Earns Lottery Tickets
🔗 Referendum: https://bifrost.subsquare.io/referenda/190
How it works (simplified):
Each governance action earns lottery tickets
Periodic draws distribute rewards from a prize pool
More participation = more chances to win
Key characteristics:
Fast to launch (≈ 2 months)
No on-chain logic changes required
Flexible campaign-style incentives
Rewards are probabilistic, not guaranteed
UX Improvements (Regardless of Option)
No matter which option wins, Bifrost will upgrade its governance UX:
Clear proposal list with voting stats
One-click participation using BNC / vBNC / bbBNC
Transparent display of voting status and lock conditions
Depending on the chosen option, users will also see:
APY impact dashboards (Option A), or
Lottery pages with tickets, pools, and draw info (Option B)
This is already a big win for accessibility.
My Personal Take as a DeFi & Polkadot Content Creator
Both options are valid — but they serve different goals.
Why Option B Makes Sense Short-Term
If the goal is:
Quick participation boost
Low technical risk
Immediate feedback on incentive effectiveness
👉 Option B is very practical.
Lottery-style rewards are familiar in crypto and can attract casual users who normally ignore governance.
Why I Personally Lean Toward Option A
From a long-term protocol design perspective, I find Option A more compelling.
Why?
It treats governance as productive work, not a game
It aligns yield, ownership, and responsibility
It encourages consistent participation, not one-off actions
It strengthens bbBNC as a “governance-aligned asset”
Yes, it’s more complex and slower to ship — but structurally, it’s closer to what mature DeFi governance should look like.
If Bifrost wants governance to be a core pillar, not a marketing campaign, Option A sets a stronger foundation.

Bifrost is taking a meaningful step forward in liquid staking with the launch of vETH 3.0, built on top of its next generation infrastructure, SLPx 2.0. From a professional DeFi content creator’s view, this upgrade is less about incremental changes and more about redesigning how staking liquidity should work in a multi chain world.
vETH 3.0 is Bifrost’s multi chain liquid staking token for ETH, supporting Ethereum, major Layer 2s, and Polkadot without requiring users to manually bridge assets. It is ERC 4626 compatible, which makes it easy to integrate into lending protocols, AMMs, and other DeFi applications as a standard yield bearing asset. Validator decentralization is enhanced through Distributed Validator Technology using SSV Network, and the base yield of around 3.5 percent is competitive with most existing ETH liquid staking tokens.

The core upgrade comes from SLPx 2.0. By adopting an async pool model and the ERC 4626 vault standard, Bifrost removes many of the frictions seen in earlier cross chain staking systems. Minting is instant, redemptions are faster and batched, and fees are significantly reduced because cross chain operations are handled in the background instead of per transaction.

Compared to SLPx 1.0, the new design is more scalable, more cost efficient, and much easier for DeFi protocols to integrate. Liquidity is managed at the chain level, exchange rates follow an eventual consistency model, and the system is built to expand smoothly across new networks.

Together, vETH 3.0 and SLPx 2.0 reflect where liquid staking is heading: standardized, composable, and truly multi chain, turning staked ETH into active capital across the DeFi ecosystem.