40 Acres
AuditedVerifiedNo TokenA veNFT lending protocol offering 0%-interest, non-liquidating USDC credit lines against vote-escrowed Aerodrome, Velodrome, Pharaoh and Blackhole positions, repaid automatically from the weekly DEX voting rewards those NFTs earn.
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Live signals detected by Sentinel monitors across all five risk classes.
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Score history
This rating is re-checked every month. A point is recorded for every check, so a flat line means we looked and nothing moved. Hover anywhere on the chart to see what moved that month, and by how much.
First published October 2026 at BB · 61/100. Re-checked monthly — the history chart appears after the first re-check.
The Problem
Vote-escrowed DEX positions such as veAERO and veVELO lock capital for up to four years, or permanently. The holder keeps earning weekly fees and bribes but cannot access the principal, and conventional lending markets will not price an illiquid, non-transferable governance NFT as collateral.
The Solution
40 Acres lends USDC against the veNFT's income stream rather than its market value, sizing a credit line at roughly ten epochs of recent voting rewards. Each week the protocol votes the NFT, harvests the fees and bribes, and applies 75% of them straight to the loan balance, so the position repays itself with no interest, no payment schedule and no liquidation price.
Why it Matters
Unlike Alchemix, which mints a synthetic dollar against yield-bearing collateral, 40 Acres has no synthetic token and therefore no peg to defend — lenders supply real USDC and are repaid in it. It is also emission-free: with no token of any kind, lender yield comes entirely from DEX fees and bribes rather than from subsidy. The trade-off is that non-liquidating also means non-resolving: collateral is released only at a zero balance, so a collapse in bribe income leaves the NFT locked rather than seized.
Protocol Metrics
Related Research
View allFrequently asked questions about 40 Acres
What is 40 Acres?+
40 Acres is a Lending protocol operating on Base, Optimism, Avalanche. A veNFT lending protocol offering 0%-interest, non-liquidating USDC credit lines against vote-escrowed Aerodrome, Velodrome, Pharaoh and Blackhole positions, repaid automatically from the weekly DEX voting rewards those NFTs earn.
How does 40 Acres work?+
40 Acres lends USDC against the veNFT's income stream rather than its market value, sizing a credit line at roughly ten epochs of recent voting rewards. Each week the protocol votes the NFT, harvests the fees and bribes, and applies 75% of them straight to the loan balance, so the position repays itself with no interest, no payment schedule and no liquidation price.
Is 40 Acres safe?+
DeFi Sentinel rates 40 Acres BB with a safety score of 61/100, indicating elevated risk. The score reflects five risk dimensions: smart contract & technical risk, economic design & market risk, governance & centralization, sustainability & competitive position, and reputation & social trust. 40 Acres has 4 audits on record. DeFi Sentinel's analysis flagged 3 high, 6 medium, 2 low risk alerts across Smart Contract & Technical Risk, Economic Design & Market Risk, Governance & Centralization, Sustainability & Competitive Position and Reputation & Social Trust. As with all DeFi protocols, residual risk remains and users should review the full risk breakdown before depositing.
What is the safety score of 40 Acres?+
40 Acres has a DeFi Sentinel safety score of 61/100 (rating BB), last updated October 13, 2026. The score is computed across smart contract & technical risk (30%), economic design & market risk (25%), governance & centralization (20%), sustainability & competitive position (15%), and reputation & social trust (10%).
Which chains does 40 Acres support?+
40 Acres is deployed on Base, Optimism, Avalanche.
Has 40 Acres been audited?+
Yes. 40 Acres has 4 audit reports on record from firms including Sherlock, Sherlock, Sherlock. Audit reports and dates are linked under the Resources tab on this page.