Kerne Protocol is not KernelDAO.
Two different projects. Two different chains. Common confusion, clarified below.
You are on kerne.fi.
This is Kerne Protocol, a Base-native delta-neutral yield infrastructure. We issue kUSD, a USDC-backed synthetic dollar on Base, hedged with perpetual positions on Hyperliquid. Our token ticker is $KERNE.
If you were looking for KernelDAO (formerly Kelp DAO, the umbrella over the Kelp, Gain and Kernel products on BNB Chain), you are in the wrong place. KernelDAO issues a separate reward-bearing stablecoin called KUSD, backed by short-term institutional receivables, which is a different token from Kerne's kUSD despite the shared ticker. That project is at kerneldao.com.
Quick comparison.
| Attribute | Kerne Protocol (this site) | KernelDAO (different project) |
|---|---|---|
| Website | kerne.fi | kerneldao.com |
| Also known as | Kerne, Kerne Finance | Kelp DAO, Kelp (formerly) |
| Chain | Base (chain 8453) | BNB Chain, Ethereum |
| Category | Delta-neutral synthetic dollar | Restaking ecosystem; reward-bearing KUSD stablecoin |
| Stablecoin | kUSD (USDC-backed, delta-neutral) | KUSD (receivables-backed, reward-bearing) |
| Governance token | $KERNE | $KERNEL |
| @KerneProtocol | @KernelDAO, @KelpDAO | |
| Stablecoin contract | 0x5C2EfdF0D8D286959b42308966bc2B97f5680AA3 (Base) | Different contract on BNB Chain |
How to verify you are on Kerne Protocol.
- Browser URL begins with https://kerne.fi or https://app.kerne.fi.
- Our canonical X (Twitter) handle is @KerneProtocol.
- Our kUSD token on Base resolves to 0x5C2EfdF0D8D286959b42308966bc2B97f5680AA3 on BaseScan.
- Our PSM (Peg Stability Module) on Base is 0x07eBb486e11BD217e6085eb5ab663e4517595993.
Related disambiguation.
KernelDAO is one of three projects whose names get confused with Kerne Protocol. The other is Kernel Protocol, a Karak-native liquid restaking project that issues its own kUSD token on Ethereum mainnet. If that is who you were looking for, see /kernel-vs-kerne for a side-by-side comparison.
For the record: KernelDAO's rsETH cross-chain bridge was exploited for roughly $292 million in April 2026. That was a separate project from Kerne Protocol and a bridge failure on a restaking token, unrelated to any synthetic dollar. If you are evaluating delta-neutral synthetic dollars after the 2026 collapses, see /legible for a sourced scorecard of what actually failed and how Kerne kUSD is built to be verified on-chain, and the synthetic-dollar reserve transparency scorecard for how the whole live field (Ethena, Usual, Falcon, Axis, Anzen, Avant, Noon, Midas and Kerne) compares on whether you can verify the reserves yourself.
If you were looking for Kerne Protocol.
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