# Understanding PLY & veNFTs {% hint style="info" %} Users can earn `PLY` emissions by providing liquidity in a liquidity pool and stake their LP tokens in a [gauge](/v2-docs/plenty-v2-introduction/understanding-gauges.md). A user can [boost](/v2-docs/plenty-v2-introduction/understanding-boosting.md) their rewards by 2.5x by owning a `veNFT.` {% endhint %} ## What can `veNFT` holders do? * Vote on the weekly `PLY` emission percentage split across the [gauges](/v2-docs/plenty-v2-introduction/understanding-gauges.md) of the different Plenty liquidity pools. * Claim weekly trading fees from voted liquidity pools. * [Boost](/v2-docs/plenty-v2-introduction/understanding-boosting.md) `PLY` rewards APR for own LP stake. * Claim weekly [bribes](/v2-docs/plenty-v2-introduction/understanding-bribes.md) from voted liquidity pools.

Alice earns fees and bribes by voting. Boosting multiplies the LP token staking rewards by 2.5x.

## Advantages to locking PLY for vePLY Similar to Curve’s `veCRV`, `vePLY` (and its associated voting power based on the duration of the lock) functions primarily around governance, gauge rewards, and gauge voting. It also serves as a reward booster, as liquidity providers (LPs) that hold `vePLY` receive 40%-100% of the reward. Users receive more voting power the longer they lock their tokens, which helps keep value locked within the protocol. So users that own `PLY` that wish to participate in voting and receive a share of the revenue generated by the protocol can lock their `PLY` for a given amount of time and receive a `vePLY` NFT. This time lock can last as short as a week or as long as four years. Once a `PLY` lock is created, a user can vote on different gauges to receive trading fees from the gauges that the user has voted for. The following is a general overview of the different time lock based voting rights: * Four Year Lock: 1 `PLY` = 1 vote * Two Year Lock: 1 `PLY` = 0.5 vote * Six Month Lock: 1 `PLY` = 0.125 vote Similar to Curve’s vote-escrow token design, a user’s `vePLY` voting power decays linearly over time and must be actively renewed to avoid decay. Although this is not a novel mechanism, it does help keep constant locking pressure on `PLY`. Once the given time lock expires, the original `PLY` deposit can be withdrawn from the lock.
Lock Scenarios * If you lock 1000 `PLY` for 4 years, you get a `vePLY` NFT with an initial voting power of 1000. * If you lock 1000 `PLY` for 3 years, you get a `vePLY` NFT with an initial voting power of 750. * In a similar way, you get 500 for 2 years, 250 for 1 year and so on in a linear way. The longer the duration of your lock, the higher your initial voting power. As mentioned before, this voting power also decreases constantly at the same linear rate. So, if you have 1000 `PLY` locked for 4 years and received a `vePLY` with initial voting power as 1000 - after a year, the voting power will be reduced to 750. By the end of the lock, the voting power would reach zero.
Another iteration on existing vote escrow models is that the dilution of existing early `PLY` locks is actively mitigated. A game theoretic application intended to keep `PLY` staked for longer periods of time is applied through the provision of emissions. In short, `PLY` locks also receive a share of `PLY` emissions, based on the circulating supply. As more token holders lock, therefore, less `PLY` rewards are distributed to LPs. ### Three economic principles of Plenty's ve that deviate from the standard vote escrow rules from Curve {% hint style="info" %} We have modified the math of the original first two principles of ve(3,3) to allow decent incentives for protocols that join later in the future. {% endhint %} 1. **Weekly `emissions` are adjusted as a percentage of `circulating supply`** The `real emission` that the users receive is related mathematically to a `base emission` as follows: $$ Emission\_{real} = Emission\_{base} - (Emission\_{base} \* \frac {PLY\_{ lockedSupply}} {PLY\_{totalSupply}} \* 0.5 ) $$ Meaning, if the weekly `base emission` is set at 2,000,000. Then, if 0% of `PLY` is locked for `vePLY`, the entire 2,000,000 is emitted. If 50% of `PLY` is locked for `vePLY`, the weekly emission would be 1,500,000. If 100% of `PLY` is locked for `vePLY`, the weekly emission would be 1,000,000. **2. `ve` locks increase their holdings proportional to the weekly `emission`** The locked PLY supply is inflated to prevent dilution as: $$ PLY\_{newLockedSupply} = Emission\_{real} \* \frac {PLY\_{ lockedSupply}} {PLY\_{totalSupply}} \* 0.5 $$ Assume a 1,500,000 `PLY`weekly `emission`, a `total_supply` of 20,000,000 `PLY`, and a `locked_supply` of 10,000,000 `PLY`. This would mean that 1,500,000 are minted and provided as incentives. Then, according to the math, total locked supply would be inflated by 3,75,000 `PLY`. **3. `vePLY` is transferable as an NFT** By tokenizing the lock position we allow a single address to own more than one lock. Lock balances are cumulative and each lock contributes to the overall voting power. This further allows locks to be traded on secondary markets, as well as to allow participants to borrow against their locks in future lending market places. By extending locks into NFTs, the capital inefficiency problem of ve assets, for example in DeFi protocols like Curve, is solved. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.plenty.network/v2-docs/plenty-v2-introduction/understanding-ply-and-venfts.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.