DeFi protocol Dolomite launches vARB to bring dual functionality to ARB holders

• Dolomite says vARB is a “vote-enabled ARB” token that will allow holders to participate in Arbitrum’s governance through voting.
• While it cannot be lent or borrowed, vARB means users can use their ARB collateral to vote.

DeFi protocol Dolomite has launched vARB, a “vote-enabled ARB” token that allows holders participate in governance voting on the Arbitrum network.

vARB is not a new token, and is non-transferable and non-tradable. Unlike ARB, users won’t be able to lend or borrow this token, the protocol said in a press release shared with CoinJournal.

However, vARB will allow holders to tap into ARB tokens deposited as collateral to access governance and voting rights on Arbitrum.

Amplify ARB voting power

According to Dolomite, vARB will be held in “isolation mode” on the protocol, with users able to use them for voting on Arbitrum. That’s not possible with the ARB locked in liquidity pools and used for lending and borrowing. As it stands, ARB locked in DeFi protocols such as Aave or Compound cannot be used in governance votes.

vARB makes this possible as users can use the same ARB for voting and for lending and borrowing by easily converting their ARB to vARB. The token however does have another advantage – holders can use it to amplify their votes’ weight.

To achieve this, users deposit vARB as collateral, getting to borrow more ARB. They can then swap the additional ARB for vARB, with this possible up to five times. As stated in the announcement, holders face no risk of liquidation from price movements given the value of vARB remains the same as that of ARB.

Arbitrum continues to grow as one of Ethereum’s most dominant Layer-2 networks. The network launched its ARB token in March and has over $2.4 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) as of December 28, 2023.

The price of ARB was $1.52, up by more than 32% in the past week as analysts predict a potential surge to $2.