LendingVault
Self-service IFR lending offers on Ethereum Mainnet
1. The Idea
A lender follows a guided 1-5 flow: connect MetaMask, choose the free IFR amount, approve the LendingVault if needed, confirm createOffer(amount), then verify that the offer is live in the market. Only after createOffer confirms on-chain does the amount appear in the market and borrower views. Unlent offer balances can be withdrawn again with withdrawOffer(amount).
Builders can browse live offers and borrow IFR against ETH collateral after the contract price parameter ifrPriceWei is set for collateral calculation. Approval alone is not a lending offer; it only gives the vault permission to transfer IFR in the next transaction.
Current Mainnet flow: Lender approves IFR, creates an offer, borrowers see it in the market, and later loan repayment or liquidation routes value back through the protocol. Lenders can withdraw only the currently available, unlent part of an offer; IFR already borrowed stays active until repayment or liquidation.
2. The Complete Cycle
Six steps that reinforce each other:
- Builder borrows 10M IFR — deposits 200% ETH collateral. The tokens are allocated from the contributor's lendable pool.
- Builder uses IFR for user discounts — e.g. “Buy 5M IFR, lock them, get 30% off our SaaS.” User buys IFR to participate in the lock.
- User buys IFR on Uniswap → BUY PRESSURE
- 90 days later: Builder buys IFR back on Uniswap → BUY PRESSURE — to repay the loan.
- Interest is split: 50% → Contributor (ETH yield), 50% → Uniswap LP (pool becomes deeper and more stable).
- Deeper pool → less slippage → more builders want to borrow → CYCLE
3. Interest Rate Model
The interest rate dynamically adjusts to the utilization of the lending pool:
| Utilization | Interest Rate / Month |
|---|---|
| 0% | 2.0% (Base) |
| 25% | 3.0% |
| 50% | 5.0% |
| 75% | 8.0% |
| 90% | 15.0% |
| 100% | 25.0% (Penalty) |
Self-regulating: At low utilization, loans are cheap — this encourages builders to borrow and brings activity into the system. At high utilization, loans become expensive — this prevents overload and protects contributors.
No manual intervention needed: The interest curve is encoded on-chain. Governance can adjust parameters, but the system balances itself under normal conditions.
4. Collateral System
Every loan is secured by ETH collateral. The rules:
- Initial: 200% ETH collateral required (e.g. 10M IFR worth 1 ETH → deposit 2 ETH)
- Warning below 150%:
checkHealth()emits a margin-call warning; V1 does not enforce a 48-hour grace period - Liquidation below 120%: An external caller can execute
liquidate(); it is not an automatic timed process - Liquidator bonus: 5% of collateral as incentive for liquidators
- V1 price reference: Governance-set
ifrPriceWei. Mainnet is intentionally0, so borrowing is disabled. A TWAP/oracle design belongs to a separately audited successor.
checkHealth() emits a warning. V1 imposes no timed grace period.5. Repayment and Default Settlement
V1 settles the two outcomes differently. Only a borrower who acquires IFR on a market to repay creates that external market purchase; the contract itself does not force a Uniswap trade.
Builder buys IFR on Uniswap to repay the loan.
Result: Buy pressure on Uniswap.
An external caller liquidates below 120%. The caller receives 5% of the ETH collateral and the lender receives the remainder.
Result: No automatic IFR purchase or Uniswap swap occurs in V1.
Accounting boundary: Repayment returns principal to the offer, sends the lender share of interest to the lender and sends protocol interest to the configured protocolFeeReceiver when one is set. V1 does not guarantee an LP route for that receiver.
6. As a Builder — Step by Step
How to use the LendingVault as a builder:
- Browse Lender offers — On the Lending Market page you can find all available IFR pools with current interest rates.
- Deposit ETH collateral — At least 200% of the IFR value in ETH. Example: you want to borrow 10M IFR worth 1 ETH → deposit at least 2 ETH.
- Request a loan — On-chain transaction. The smart contract checks collateral ratio and availability automatically.
- Use IFR for your product — Deploy the borrowed IFR for discounts, user rewards, or loyalty programs.
- After 90 days: repay IFR — Buy IFR on Uniswap and repay the loan + interest. Your ETH collateral is released.
7. Operational Fee-Exemption Invariant
LendingVault V1 records nominal IFR amounts and relies on its InfernoToken feeExempt status remaining active. At Ethereum Mainnet block 25811214, the exemption was active and the vault held 52,155,440.952845656 IFR, exactly matching totalAvailable + totalLent; the accounting difference was 0 IFR.
Current status: no live accounting deficit was observed. Automated invariant monitoring and negative regression tests remain open defense-in-depth work. A future V2 must combine balance-diff inflow accounting with runtime exemption guards that fail closed before affected outgoing transfers. Technical status and task list.
FAQ
How safe is my ETH collateral?
The collateral is held in an audited smart contract. It can only be released in two ways: (1) you repay the loan in full, or (2) liquidation is triggered below 120%. No admin, no multisig, and no governance can move your collateral manually.
What if the IFR price drops sharply?
If the IFR price drops, your collateral ratio automatically improves — because you need less ETH to cover the IFR value. A falling IFR price is not a risk for borrowers, but an advantage. For lenders (contributors), the lock remains in place — their tokens are committed long-term regardless.
How do I find a lender?
The Lending Market page displays all contributors who have marked parts of their locks as lendable. You can see available amounts, current interest rates, and terms. Everything is peer-to-pool — no matching needed.