Buy Badger DAO

BadgerDAO is a decentralized organization that set out to make bitcoin useful inside decentralized finance. Bitcoin does not natively run smart contracts, so using it as collateral or to earn yield generally means holding a wrapped version of it on another network, usually Ethereum. Badger built products around that idea, and BADGER is its governance token.

Anyone researching this asset should understand its current state before anything else. Badger's user facing applications have been retired. The project's website states that front end access to eBTC, remBadger and the legacy vaults is no longer provided through badger.com or ebtc.finance, and directs users to interact with the vaults and contracts directly through a block explorer. The contracts remain deployed and the organization continues as a governance community, but this is a project in a much reduced state rather than one in active expansion. Our guide to decentralized finance covers the wider category, and our guide to Ethereum covers the network Badger was built on.

What BadgerDAO built

Badger launched in late 2020 with a straightforward pitch: bitcoin holders were largely locked out of the yield opportunities appearing across decentralized finance, and Badger would close that gap.

Setts. Automated vaults that took a deposit, ran a yield strategy across other protocols on the depositor's behalf, and compounded the returns. The user got a single deposit and withdrawal instead of managing a set of positions manually. Wrapped bitcoin products. Including an interest bearing representation of bitcoin, which packaged several yield sources into one token. DIGG. A supply elastic token designed to track the price of bitcoin by expanding and contracting the number of tokens held by everyone, rather than by holding reserves. eBTC. A later protocol, launched in 2024, that let users borrow a synthetic bitcoin against staked ether collateral, with no interest charged, relying on the yield from the collateral rather than on borrower fees.

The technical ambition was real. What Badger never solved was durable demand for the products at scale, and the sector it competed in moved quickly.

The December 2021 front end attack

In December 2021 attackers drained roughly one hundred and twenty million dollars in assets from Badger users. It remains one of the largest incidents in decentralized finance, and how it happened is worth understanding because the lesson generalises.

The smart contracts were not broken. The attackers compromised a key belonging to Badger's web infrastructure provider and injected malicious code into the website itself. When users visited what looked like the ordinary Badger application, they were prompted to approve a transaction. Those approvals granted an attacker controlled address permission to move their tokens, and the tokens were taken later.

Badger engaged incident response and blockchain analysis firms, and the DAO subsequently created a dedicated restitution vault funded from its treasury to repay affected users over time.

The general lesson is that in decentralized finance the interface is part of the attack surface. Audited contracts do not protect you from a compromised website, and a token approval you sign can be used long after you sign it. Reviewing and revoking approvals is basic hygiene for anyone interacting with these protocols.

What is BADGER used for?

Governance. BADGER is the voting token for the DAO, with proposals and voting conducted off chain through a signaling platform. Historic staking and boosts. BADGER was used in vault staking and in a boost system that increased rewards for participants, in the period when those vaults were actively promoted. Liquidity in other protocols. BADGER trades in pools on other decentralized exchanges, which is where most of its on chain activity now sits.

There is no proof of stake network here, no gas paid in BADGER, and no automatic distribution of protocol revenue to holders.

Where the project stands now

The honest summary is that Badger has wound down its user facing products while leaving the underlying contracts in place.

The website no longer hosts the interfaces for eBTC, the restitution vault or the legacy vaults, and points users to the contracts directly. A public repository documents the sunset. Governance continues in the sense that the token exists, holders can vote, and treasury assets remain, but the development story that supported the token is not what it was.

For a holder that has two practical consequences. Anyone with funds still in Badger contracts needs to interact with them directly rather than through a familiar website, which requires care and technical confidence. And BADGER's market value now rests on governance rights and speculation rather than on growth in an active product.

Which network is your BADGER on?

BADGER is natively an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, and bridged representations have existed on other networks compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Addresses are not interchangeable between networks. Sending BADGER to an address on a network the receiving wallet or exchange does not support is one of the most common ways people permanently lose tokens, and it usually cannot be reversed. Before any transfer, confirm which network the destination expects and make sure the network you are sending from matches. Our guide to sending crypto on the wrong network covers what can and cannot be recovered.

What are the risks of holding BADGER?

A project in retreat. The user facing products have been retired. A token whose ecosystem is contracting has a weaker case than one whose ecosystem is growing, and that is the single most important fact here. No revenue to holders. BADGER pays nothing. Its function is a governance vote over an organization with reduced activity. Liquidity risk. Trading venues review low volume assets, and some have wound down BADGER markets. Thin liquidity means larger price impact when buying or selling, and fewer places to do it. Front end and approval risk. Badger's history is the clearest example in the sector of an attack that bypassed the contracts entirely. Anyone interacting with the remaining contracts should be extremely careful about what they sign. Smart contract risk. Contracts left running without an active team and interface still carry risk, and receive less ongoing attention. Governance risk. Voting is token weighted, participation in a quiet organization tends to be very low, and treasury decisions can be carried by a small group. Extreme volatility. BADGER has fallen very heavily from its earlier highs and can move sharply in both directions on little volume. No consumer protection. Crypto assets are high risk and your capital is at risk. BADGER is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and it is not protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. You should be prepared to lose all the money you put in.

Buying BADGER with US dollars on CoinJar

CoinJar has operated since 2013 and lists BADGER against US dollars, so you can buy, sell and hold it without converting through another cryptocurrency first. Current charges are on our fees page, and live US dollar rates are on our cryptocurrency prices page.

CoinJar, Inc. is registered with FinCEN as a money services business and holds money transmitter licenses in a growing number of states, NMLS ID 2492913. You can check whether CoinJar operates in your state before you sign up.

How is BADGER taxed in the US?

The IRS generally treats BADGER as property. A taxable event can occur when you sell it for US dollars, exchange it for another cryptocurrency, spend it or give it away.

The IRS explains these rules on its digital assets guidance page. Our guide to downloading your transaction history for tax shows how to get the records you need. This is general information, not tax advice. Consider speaking to a qualified tax professional about your circumstances.