Is Vesper Safe?
Risk Grade: B (26/100)
Vesper is rated as moderate risk — some novel mechanisms, generally well-understood.
Moderate risk — well-audited standard yield aggregation with 4+ years of operation, balanced by external protocol dependency risk and reduced scale from peak.
Vesper Finance is a yield aggregator built for longevity, offering Grow pools (in-kind yield) and Earn pools (cross-token yield) with over 50 independent audits covering all deployed contracts. Founded by Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik, it operates with $35M in deposits. Its B grade reflects the well-understood yield aggregation model and extensive audit coverage, with moderate risk from external protocol dependencies.
TVL
$44M
Mechanisms
5
Interactions
4
Value Grade
D
Key Risks for Vesper Users
Vesper deposits user funds into external DeFi protocols through yield strategies. If any integrated protocol is exploited, Vesper users in the affected strategy would lose funds even though Vesper's own contracts may be secure.
A vulnerability in Vesper's rebase logic was discovered in March 2023 by Dedaub. While it was never exploited and was promptly fixed, it demonstrates the complexity of managing multiple yield strategies.
VSP token's reduced market cap from its 2021 peak means governance economic security may be lower relative to managed assets, potentially reducing the cost of a governance attack.
Top Risk Factors
- •Vesper deploys user deposits into external DeFi protocols via yield strategies (Grow and Earn pools). A vulnerability in any underlying strategy's integrated protocol (Aave, Compound, Maker, etc.) could result in loss of funds deposited through Vesper, even if Vesper's own contracts are secure.
- •A rebase vulnerability was discovered by Dedaub in March 2023 that could have allowed a malicious user to intercept strategy yield via the WETH/VSP Uniswap pool. While the vulnerability was never exploited and was patched promptly, it demonstrates the complexity of multi-strategy yield aggregation.
- •VSP token governance controls strategy selection and pool parameters. With diminished TVL from its 2021 peak of $1B, the economic security of governance (VSP market cap) may be low relative to controlled assets.
How Vesper Compares to Peers
Vesper ranks #10 of 116 Yield protocols (top quartile — safer than most). At a risk score of 26/100, it's 11 points safer than the sector average of 37/100.
Adjacent peers: Lulo (B, 25/100) is ranked just safer, and Stake DAO (B, 26/100) is ranked just riskier.
See the full Yield sector leaderboard or the Vesper vs Stake DAO comparison.
Common Questions about Vesper
Plain-English answers based on Vesper's scores across Hindenrank's 8 risk dimensions. The highest-scoring (riskiest) dimension is Vitality Risk (5/10).
Has Vesper ever been hacked or exploited?
Vesper has had some operational issues or moderate incidents in its history. The track record dimension scored 6/15 — not catastrophic, but enough to flag. Look at the specific events and whether they were addressed by the team before drawing conclusions.
How much money is at stake in Vesper?
Vesper currently holds roughly $44M in user deposits. Smaller TVL means individual depositors carry a larger share of any loss event, and it can be harder to exit a position quickly during stress.
What's the worst-case scenario for Vesper?
Hindenrank has identified specific collapse scenarios for Vesper. The most prominent: "Underlying Strategy Protocol Exploit". The trigger condition is A DeFi protocol integrated with a Vesper Grow or Earn pool strategy is exploited, draining funds deposited through the strategy. Reading through the full scenario list on the protocol page is the single best way to understand the actual failure modes — generic "smart contract risk" is rarely the thing that takes a protocol down.
Is Vesper regulated or insured?
Vesper has low regulatory exposure on Hindenrank's framework (3/10). The protocol is structured in a way that minimizes counterparty and jurisdiction concentration, though regulatory risk in crypto can change rapidly. No DeFi protocol carries FDIC-style insurance — even with low regulatory risk, depositors are not protected in the way bank customers are.
What are the biggest red flags for Vesper?
Hindenrank's retail-focused risk audit flagged: Vesper deposits user funds into external DeFi protocols through yield strategies. If any integrated protocol is exploited, Vesper users in the affected strategy would lose funds even though Vesper's own contracts may be secure. A vulnerability in Vesper's rebase logic was discovered in March 2023 by Dedaub. While it was never exploited and was promptly fixed, it demonstrates the complexity of managing multiple yield strategies. VSP token's reduced market cap from its 2021 peak means governance economic security may be lower relative to managed assets, potentially reducing the cost of a governance attack.
Should beginners deposit into Vesper?
Vesper is rated B, which is acceptable for users who understand the protocol's mechanism. Beginners should read the full risk breakdown and only deposit after they can articulate the top three failure modes. If you cannot explain how the protocol works, do not deposit.
How does Vesper compare to safer Yield alternatives?
Vesper is one protocol in Hindenrank's Yield coverage. The safest Yield protocols on the leaderboard tend to share three traits: a long incident-free track record, conservative mechanism design, and high-quality public documentation. Compare Vesper against the full Yield ranking before committing capital.
For the full 8-dimension score breakdown, the radar chart, and dependency graph, see the Vesper risk report.
Read the Full Vesper Risk Report
This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 1 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.
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