0% protocol fee on staked kUSD, for every holder. Mint kUSD →

0% protocol fee on staked kUSD, for every holder. Mint kUSD →

0% protocol fee on staked kUSD, for every holder. Mint kUSD →

0% protocol fee on staked kUSD, for every holder. Mint kUSD →

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Documentation

The Escrowed Token: esKerne

esKERNE (escrowed KERNE) is the primary reward token for protocol participation. It is the mechanism through which early participants earn $KERNE before and after TGE.

How esKERNE Works

Post TGE, when you deposit assets into KerneVault, you will earn esKERNE proportional to your deposit size and duration. esKERNE vests linearly over 365 days to $KERNE at a 1:1 ratio. Once vesting starts, it cannot be reversed or fast tracked. (Pre TGE, deposits earn Opal Fragments instead. See the Opal Rewards section for details.)

The key design feature: if you withdraw your deposit from the vault before your esKERNE has fully vested, you forfeit the unvested portion. This creates a powerful incentive to stay deposited, which benefits all participants by maintaining stable protocol liquidity.

Why esKERNE Exists

esKERNE solves three problems simultaneously:

  1. Anti-dump protection: Reward tokens must vest before they can be sold, preventing immediate mass selling at TGE.
  2. TVL stickiness: Users stay deposited to vest their rewards, creating stable, predictable liquidity for the protocol.
  3. Alignment: Early depositors who believe in the protocol vest fully and receive their full $KERNE allocation. Mercenary capital that exits early forfeits rewards, which benefits long term participants.

esKERNE holders receive the same governance rights and staking rewards as liquid $KERNE holders during the vesting period. The only restriction is that esKERNE cannot be transferred or sold until it has fully vested into $KERNE.

The published intent is that team and investor allocations carry their own multi-year schedules with cliffs, set out in the allocation table in the whitepaper, rather than the 365-day esKERNE clock, which is scoped to the ecosystem and liquidity-mining allocation. Either way the purpose is the same: insiders should not be able to sell ahead of the community. None of it is implemented. No KERNE has been emitted as esKERNE to any address, no vesting contract has been deployed, the 2-of-3 Safe still holds 100% of supply as one undivided balance, and nothing on chain currently prevents an insider distribution. Treat this as a stated intention, not as a protection you can rely on today.