DAOlama 2026: NFT-collateralized lending on the TON blockchain

DAOlama is the largest NFT-lending protocol on TON. Launched in 2023, by 2026 it had processed millions of TON in loans and become the de-facto standard for NFTfi on the chain. The idea is straightforward: you hold a valuable NFT (a .t.me username, a rare Telegram Anonymous Number, a NOT-gift) but don’t want to sell — DAOlama lends you TON against it at a fixed rate and term. Repay with interest, the NFT comes back. Miss the deadline and the NFT goes to the liquidator. This guide walks through the mechanics, the numbers and the pitfalls.

What NFT lending is

The closest analogy is a pawnshop. Instead of a watch or laptop, the collateral is a digital asset; instead of dollars the loan is in TON; and there’s no human appraiser — a smart contract handles everything. Legally it’s a collateralized loan: the borrower hands the collateral over to the protocol’s custody, receives liquidity, and reclaims the collateral on repayment. Miss the deadline and the collateral goes to the lender.

On DAOlama the collateral is an NFT from a whitelisted collection, the loan is in TON, and the formula is simple:

Loan-to-Value (LTV) = loan size / collection floor price.
APR = annual percentage rate (typically 15–60%, prorated for term).
Duration = time to the repayment deadline (typically 3–30 days).

The higher the LTV and the shorter the duration, the higher the APR — that’s the standard risk premium for the lender.

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Worked example

TON Diamond floor = 100 TON. You borrow at 50% LTV = 50 TON for 7 days at 35% APR. After 7 days you repay 50 TON + (50 × 0.35 × 7/365) ≈ 50.34 TON. The NFT returns. If the floor falls to 80 TON and your LTV creeps to 62.5%, the protocol may liquidate early — depending on the pool type.

How it works in practice

Step 1. Connect the wallet

Open /go/?to=daolama via Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet or any other TON Connect–compatible wallet. The connection runs through TON Connect — keys never leave the wallet.

Step 2. Pick an NFT

The UI shows your NFTs with a “eligible / not supported” badge per item. If the collection is whitelisted — click Borrow.

Step 3. Loan parameters

DAOlama offers a configuration:

Loan amount — slide between the minimum and max LTV. Higher amount = higher rate.
Duration — 1 to 30 days. Short loans are cheap in absolute terms but often more expensive on an APR basis.
Pool type — p2p (offer-based) or pool (instant, averaged rates).

Step 4. Confirm

Sign the transaction in your wallet: the NFT moves to the DAOlama smart contract and TON lands on your address. The transaction confirms in seconds (TON is fast).

Step 5. Repay

Your dashboard shows a countdown to the deadline and a Repay button. Repay TON plus interest and the NFT returns instantly. Partial rollovers (renewal) are usually available — pay the interest and extend the loan for another term if your pool type allows it.

Open DAOlama

An NFT-lending protocol on TON: pledge a rare NFT, borrow TON against it without selling the asset. Connects via TON Connect with Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet and others.
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What DAOlama accepts as collateral

The whitelist shifts over time, but persistently includes:

Collection	Type	Why whitelisted
Anonymous Telegram Numbers	`.t.me` usernames, virtual numbers	Stable floor, active secondary market on Fragment
TON Diamond / TON Society	TON Foundation’s flagship NFT collections	Recognisable, cultural demand
Telegram Usernames	Telegram’s auctioned usernames	Premium floor, Fragment liquidity
NOT-gifts	Notcoin’s gift NFTs	Hype collection, millions of holders
MAJOR-NFT	Major reward NFTs	Tied to an active TG community
DOGS-NFT	DOGS-token NFTs	Large holder base

For the up-to-date list, check the DAOlama app — it expands monthly as new collections with steady liquidity come online.

What doesn’t make the whitelist: cookie-cutter spam collections, dead projects with no floor bid, and brand-new collections under a month old. The protocol is deliberately conservative — otherwise a “dead” collection’s collateral might never be liquidatable back into TON.

Rates and LTV: real numbers

In 2026 the typical parameters look like this (subject to market volatility):

TON Diamond / Anonymous Numbers: up to 60% LTV, 18–28% APR, 7–30 days.
NOT-gifts / DOGS-NFT: up to 40% LTV, 30–50% APR, 3–14 days (shorter because of volatility).
Premium Telegram Usernames: up to 50% LTV, 22–35% APR, 14–30 days.

These are annualised — the absolute interest on a short loan is small. Example: 100 TON at 30% APR for 7 days = 100 × 0.30 × 7/365 ≈ 0.58 TON of interest. Cheap absolutely, expensive as an annual rate — this is short-term borrowing, not a mortgage.

Liquidation and risks

The main risk in NFT lending is floor-price risk. If the collection’s floor falls below your collateral level:

In pools with a hard liquidation threshold (say, 80% LTV) — the position liquidates automatically and the NFT goes to the liquidator at a discount.
In p2p mode — the lender usually waits to the deadline but reserves the right to liquidate.
Grace period — typically 6–24 hours after the deadline, during which you can still repay with a penalty (+5–10% over the interest).

When DAOlama is dangerous:

A bull turn flips to a bear and the collection’s floor drops 30–40% in a week.
You pledged a hype-driven collection (DOGS, NOT-gifts) and the floor sinks on a new collection’s launch or a broader crypto correction.
You don’t track the deadline — DAOlama still leans on its UI, push notifications are limited.

When DAOlama is safe:

The collateral is a premium username with a stable $300+ floor. A 50% drop in 7–30 days is unlikely.
You borrow ≤30% LTV — large safety buffer.
You know why you borrowed and when you’ll repay — no “lost track of time”.

Referral programme

DAOlama runs an open referral programme — you invite users through your link and earn a share of their fees (paid by the protocol, not the referrer). A passive monetisation channel for audiences that hold NFTs.

DAOlama vs alternatives

In the TON ecosystem it’s today’s leader in NFTfi. Alternatives exist, but they’re smaller or narrower:

In-marketplace lending programmes (Getgems experiments periodically) — usually limited to specific collections and without an open API.
Community OTC (negotiating directly with another user) — no smart-contract escrow, plus counterparty risk.
Sell-buyback — instant liquidity but tax exposure as if it were a sale.

DAOlama wins on being a smart-contract protocol — no third party that can refuse to return the NFT on a correctly executed repayment.

Use-case strategies

Covered in depth in DAOlama: 5 leverage strategies on TON NFTs; the headline ideas:

Hold + borrow for spending. Don’t sell the NFT — borrow against it and spend the TON on operating capital.
Leveraged NFT flip. Pledge NFT-1, buy NFT-2 with the proceeds, resell at a margin. High risk.
Yield farming with the borrowed TON. Pledge, stake the borrowed TON via Tonstakers — capture the spread between borrow APR and staking APR. Only works on a positive spread.
Rollover in a bear market. Don’t close the position — renew it, hoping floor recovers before the next deadline.

Wrapping up

DAOlama is a mature tool for TON-NFT holders that adds a useful primitive to the market: liquidity without selling the asset. The main risks are floor-price liquidation and the psychology of “I forgot the deadline”. If you know why you’re borrowing and what fraction of the portfolio you’re pledging — it’s a working way to extract extra capital from an otherwise sleeping NFT portfolio.

Getting started is easy: connect a TON wallet, pick an NFT from a supported collection, accept the terms. We recommend keeping your first loan within 30% LTV for 7–14 days — enough to feel the mechanics without serious liquidation risk.