Find the Stride Berachain app here.

Overview

For a full overview of how stBGT works and the benefits of holding stBGT, please see our Introduction to stBGT blog

We’ve designed a DeFi points game to bootstrap stBGT. In this post we’ll be completely transparent about all aspects of the game, and then you can decide whether or not you want to play.

You earn points by providing liquidity to the stBGT/BERA pool on BEX, then depositing the LP tokens in the Stride vault. The points you earn are proportional to the amount of LP tokens you deposit in the vault. The amount of points distributed per day is uncapped.

(Note, as a liquid staking protocol with a large amount of staked BGT, Stride will have the ability to direct new BGT emissions. This is a core Berachain mechanic, and is similar to the way new token emissions work on Curve. As soon as possible, Stride will direct BGT emissions to the stBGT/BERA pool. So holders of stBGT/BERA LP tokens in the Stride vault will be earning both BGT and points.)

The points program starts immediately. Once the stBGT / BERA reward vault is whitelisted, the points program ends when one of two conditions are met. Either 1) 75 days after the launch of stBGT, or 2) when the stBGT supply hits $25M and sustains that value for 24 hours.

Once the points program has ended, airdrop distribution will happen shortly thereafter. The airdrop distribution will be done in two phases.

Airdrop phase one will last for two weeks, beginning shortly after the end of the points program. During phase one, users will be able to claim their full airdrop at any time but will have to forfeit 25%.

Airdrop phase two will last for an additional two weeks. During this phase, users will be able to claim 100% of their airdrop at any time.

The two airdrop phases combined will last for four weeks, after which the airdrop will conclude and all unclaimed USDC will be repurposed for other initiatives.

That’s the points game. Are you in?

Considerations

There are no tricks and no unknowns in this points game - just a transparent set of rules and conditions. To increase transparency, in this section we’ll highlight some things you may want to consider.

1. As a points collector, it is in your best interest for the supply of stBGT to grow quickly and hit the $25M stBGT supply threshold, which could pull forward the end of the points program and the beginning of the airdrop. If the $25M threshold is hit soon, everyone’s points will be worth much more.

2. To earn points, you have to provide liquidity to the stBGT/BERA pool on BEX. Since stBGT can be converted 1:1 to BERA at any time, these two tokens should trade at roughly the same price. So by LPing this pool, your capital will at all times roughly track the price of BERA.

3. As soon as possible, the stBGT/BERA pool will be whitelisted for BGT emissions, and Stride will direct BGT emissions to this pool.

4. Trading fees for this pool will likely be quite high, since it’s the only way to buy and sell stBGT. The only way to acquire stBGT without providing liquidity on Berachain is to buy it from this pool. We expect high volume.

5. Points directly correspond to LP tokens in the vault, and there is no limit to the amount of points given out per a day. Therefore, your goal should be to have as much liquidity in the stBGT/BERA pool for as many days as possible.

If you increase your share of the liquidity in the pool, you will increase your daily points and will eventually get more USDC. But if your share of the liquidity in the pool falls, you will get fewer points and will eventually get less USDC. 

6. During the points program, the liquidity providers for the stBGT/BERA pool will be incentivized with: 1) points, 2) BGT rewards, and 3) high trading fees. Even once the points program concludes, there will still be BGT rewards and high trading fees. This should ensure the sustainability of stBGT.  

Strategic rationale for Stride

In the past, some Stride airdrops have been hugely successful and led to sustained growth. Other airdrops, such as the airdrop to TIA liquid stakers in Q1 / Q2 2024 did not achieve sustained growth.

Given our experience in designing about a dozen airdrops over the past 2.5 years, here's why we feel stBGT will drive value to Stride:

First of all, Berachain is uniquely in need of liquid staking, as BGT is natively non-transferable. For example, TIA can be used onchain natively, whereas BGT cannot be used onchain natively. It needs a liquid wrapper to be used at all. For this reason, there will be high demand for liquid staked BGT.

Second, liquid staking providers on Berachain have the unique advantage of directing fresh BGT emissions. Using the staked BGT controlled by Stride, we’ll always be able to direct fresh BGT emissions to the stBGT/BERA liquidity pool, ensuring the pool will always have deep enough liquidity to support stBGT collateralization. Incidentally, the stBGT/BERA pool always serves as a sink for stBGT.

Thirdly, Berachain is going to have a large DeFi ecosystem from day one, meaning that within a few weeks there will be many stBGT integrations. The more integrations, the more useful stBGT will be.

Final thoughts

The stBGT points program offers an enticing opportunity for early users of stBGT on Berachain. With the points program in play, PoL participants can capitalize on the growth of the stBGT ecosystem, all without sacrificing their BGT rewards.

Bm, henlo, and welcome to Q5.