Written by: Frank
With the mainnet launch imminent, how to easily and conveniently capture the most BGT/BERA on Berachain?
With Movement, Fuel, and others gradually launching tokens, Berachain, based on the PoL (Proof of Liquidity) mechanism design, has become one of the few emerging public chains still attracting attention. However, for ordinary users, this also constitutes a 'high wall' for participating:
From how to participate in Boyco pre-deposit to choosing DAPP, calculating yield strategies, and dynamically participating in governance voting, every step requires a high level of chain experience and operational ability, hindering the majority of users from maximizing their opportunities to capture BERA. Currently, there are almost no available simplifying tools.
Notably, StakeStone has just launched the market's first one-stop Berachain liquidity provision product 'Berachain Vault', specifically designed to simplify the process from Berachain pre-deposit activities to liquidity mining under the POL mechanism. It aims to help ordinary users easily participate in the Berachain ecosystem and seize early dividends through a one-stop babysitting service.
Can this Vault product become a 'direct train' for retail investors to participate in Berachain? This article will explore the potential and value of this product in lowering thresholds and optimizing yield management, starting from the needs of emerging ecosystems represented by Berachain in conjunction with the core design of the StakeStone Berachain Vault.
Berachain: The 'flywheel' and 'high wall' of the POL mechanism
When talking about Berachain, one cannot ignore its core innovation point, the Proof-of-Liquidity (POL) mechanism, which requires users to provide liquidity to specific liquidity pools to earn corresponding BGT (a governance token that can be converted into BERA) rewards. Which liquidity pools can obtain more BGT emissions is determined by votes from validation nodes appointed by BGT holders.
Does that sound familiar? If we replace Berachain with Curve, replace the POL mechanism with the ve model, and replace BGT with CRV, the operational logic of both has astonishing similarities—on Curve, CRV holders obtain veCRV with voting weight by locking for different durations. The veCRV obtained can then be used to vote on which trading pairs can receive subsequent CRV token emissions. In other words, Berachain can be simply understood as a 'public chain version of Curve', or a public chain based on the ve model:
Under the POL mechanism, the votes of validation nodes directly influence the emission and distribution of BGT, which will undoubtedly greatly stimulate ecological projects to actively create various liquidity incentive plans to compete for more BGT emissions, forming a 'bribery election' ecology similar to that on Curve.
However, Berachain has delved this logic deep into the underlying architecture of the chain, creating a highly collaborative 'community of interests' among users, validation nodes, and DApps:
Ideally, the success or failure of validation nodes and DApps are aligned in interests. The former has the motivation to allocate more BGT emissions to DApps with high transaction volume and strong activity, while DApps will attract more users to participate in liquidity pools by increasing incentives for LP users, thus generating more considerable returns for these high transaction volume pools.
As more users flood into the liquidity pool due to high returns, the governance support and liquidity scale of the DApp further increase, thus striving for more BGT emission rights. This continuous expansion of liquidity and governance weight not only strengthens the scale of the protocol but also attracts more users and funds into the ecosystem, gradually forming a strong positive flywheel.
However, new problems arise: once the Berachain mainnet goes live, how should ordinary users judge and choose where to provide liquidity to maximize their returns?
Whether it's the choice of validation nodes, ecosystem projects, or liquidity pools, each choice faces the need for in-depth research on dozens of options. This undoubtedly poses a 'high wall' for participants.
Compared to Curve, the Berachain ecosystem undoubtedly needs a whole service ecosystem project to support its users, among which the voting delegation platform Convex and the one-stop yield platform Yearn.finance will also be indispensable components in addressing the core pain points of ordinary users in Berachain.
Typical user dilemmas include:
Information asymmetry: The returns and governance weight distribution of different DApps/liquidity pools are in dynamic flux. Retail investors need to invest time and effort to track and research the dynamics of each project to make optimal choices;
Disadvantage of scale effects: The liquidity contribution of individual retail investors is small, making it difficult to compete with large funds or professional players during competition for emission rights, and therefore hard to achieve scale effects through individual participation;
Complexity of operations: Managing liquidity, participating in governance voting, and optimizing returns simultaneously has a high barrier for ordinary users. A small oversight may lead to missed opportunities, such as failing to timely adjust voting direction or reallocate liquidity, which can directly affect overall returns;
In response to this demand, the full-chain liquidity asset protocol StakeStone has launched the innovative product Berachain Vault, specifically designed for the Berachain ecosystem, becoming the earliest one-stop Berachain mining service platform officially recommended by Berachain.
StakeStone Berachain Vault: One deposit, two networks, multiple returns
In the context of DeFi, 'Vault' is an automated investment strategy aimed at simplifying user operation experiences. Users only need to deposit assets, and the protocol will automatically execute a series of financial transactions to maximize returns through various strategy combinations. However, traditional Vault products, while providing convenient asset management, have obvious limitations in return appreciation and liquidity release.
On one hand, the assets that users typically deposit are usually non-income-generating underlying native assets like ETH, which, despite having high market recognition, do not generate returns directly; on the other hand, liquidity is often locked after being deposited in the Vault, making further utilization difficult and limiting users' investment flexibility.
As income-generating assets like stETH, pufETH, rzETH gradually become mainstream, Vault products also evolve to support these assets with embedded income logic, allowing them to capture basic returns like PoS staking and further enhance yields through liquidity mining, lending, and other combination strategies, maximizing users' investment returns.
So, extending the thought, if the liquidity locked in the Vault could also be released in the form of Vault LP Tokens and allowed to participate in various DeFi yield scenarios, wouldn't it be possible to maximize multi-layer returns to the extreme?
Taking the recently launched Berachain StakeStone Vault as an example, it is such an innovative product that not only continues the asset management function of the Vault but also, through the innovation of Vault + Vault LP Token, thoroughly opens all dimensions of multiple returns for users:
Package the LP assets of the Berachain Vault into income-generating assets: Allow users who want to participate in the Berachain ecosystem to deposit LP assets (income-generating or non-income-generating) like ETH, STONE, etc. After receiving the assets, the Vault will maximize returns by employing liquidity mining and governance yield strategies under the POL mechanism for specific liquidity scenarios, and based on this, package them into income-generating Vault LP Tokens (like beraSTONE).
Then, based on the packaged income-generating assets, conduct DeFi yield combinations: Subsequently, the Vault LP Tokens can be utilized in various mature DeFi infrastructures on Ethereum, creating a unique parallel universe structure where the source of income is on Berachain and the financing activity for income occurs on the Ethereum mainnet. This structure simultaneously balances the high yields of the new chain with the abundant funds and mature DeFi infrastructure of the Ethereum mainnet, thus having the potential to become a new paradigm in the DeFi market.
In the design mechanism of Stakestone, the packaged Vault LP Token, like ETH, possesses top-level composability - it can participate in Uniswap liquidity mining, Aave/Morpho collateral lending, and even be split into PT and YT in Pendle, further amplifying returns.
So, if examined closely, the real innovation of the StakeStone Berachain Vault lies in linking an asset through secondary utilization and deep release, connecting the emerging ecosystem of Berachain with the mature network of Ethereum (or other EVM chains), forming a 'multi-layer return' flywheel effect:
First layer of returns, underlying earnings assets' PoS returns: Users can deposit ETH to obtain STONE and other full-chain liquidity assets, covering the underlying PoS returns of ETH;
Second layer of returns, POL returns from the Berachain ecosystem: STONE deposited in the StakeStone Berachain Vault will earn liquidity mining rewards under the POL mechanism in the Berachain ecosystem and further package this layer of returns as Vault LP Token (like beraSTONE);
Third layer of returns, diversified DeFi strategy returns on Ethereum: Vault LP Token in the form of beraSTONE can be further increased in returns on Ethereum through leverage, liquidity mining, and other strategies;
Thus, by combining the ecological characteristics of Berachain with the diverse on-chain yield scenarios of Ethereum, the StakeStone Berachain Vault achieves multiple reuses of an asset from emerging markets to mature ecosystems, maximizing returns while thoroughly releasing liquidity potential, significantly enhancing the utilization efficiency of individual assets, and bringing higher capital liquidity and market recognition to the Berachain ecosystem.
Through these two assets, users can not only obtain high BERA returns under the Berachain Proof of Liquidity (PoL) mechanism but also achieve yield stacking in established ecosystems such as the Ethereum mainnet. More importantly, users can lock in future governance tokens STO in advance by participating in the StakeStone Vault.
During the event period, users can participate in a total reward pool of 15 million STO by holding or using beraSTONE and beraSBTC, which includes 8.25 million Bera-Wave points rewards (distributed in points, settled at TGE) and an additional 4 million STO rewards during the Boyco event; furthermore, the first 10,000 early bird users (depositing ≥0.042 ETH or ≥0.0015 BTC) will also receive an additional incentive of 150 STO each.
How to earn Bera-Wave points? Mainly divided into basic points rules + DeFi acceleration rewards (the referral reward mechanism can be seen in the specific process below):
1. Basic points rules:
Hold 1 beraSTONE to earn 1 point per hour;
Hold 1 beraSBTC to earn 25 points per hour (points accumulate hourly without any additional action);
2. DeFi acceleration rewards - depositing beraSTONE or beraSBTC into the following DeFi protocols can significantly increase point accumulation speed:
Providing liquidity on Uniswap: 5 times the basic points reward.
Precise liquidity range (±0.1%): When the liquidity range is maintained at the current price ±0.1%, a 6 times reward of the basic points can be obtained (must remain active).
More protocol support: Pendle, Morpho, and others will be launched in the future, providing more reward opportunities and further enhancing point earnings.
Overall, these rewards cover Berachain PoL, Boyco protocol, and future ecosystem earnings, as well as the future token airdrop of StakeStone, making it a 'one fish, many eats', providing users with comprehensive participation opportunities in Berachain & StakeStone, and the specific operational processes are quite simple:
1. Enter the StakeStone Vault interface and click 'Deposit' to access the StakeStone Berachain Vault interface.
2. Connect wallet in the upper right corner.
3. Enter the invitation code to receive a 10% points boost reward (you can enter 91852), share your personal invite code on Twitter to receive more commission rewards (20%)
4. Deposit ETH/STONE/WETH to obtain beraSTONE; deposit SBTC/WBTC/cbBTC/BTCB to obtain beraSBTC (not yet opened). Holding beraSTONE or beraSBTC can earn points.
Only Ethereum mainnet assets are acceptable; if not, please click 'Switch Network' to switch to the Ethereum mainnet;
Select the asset to deposit on the left, enter the amount, and then click the 'Deposit' button, and confirm in your wallet;
5. Participate in DeFi protocols to obtain more rewards.
It is worth noting that the current Berachain has not yet launched its mainnet, so the initial operation of the StakeStone Berachain Vault will mainly focus on the Berachain pre-deposit protocol Boyco. The pre-deposit funds deployed to Boyco can not only earn direct BERA token rewards during the pre-deposit period but will also be mapped 1:1 to the mainnet, laying the groundwork for comprehensive access to the future Berachain mainnet.
Once the Berachain mainnet goes live, the core function of the Vault will switch to the POL system of the Berachain mainnet, providing users with one-stop Berachain liquidity mining services.
This gradual deployment path not only reduces technical and operational risks but also provides early users with the opportunity to participate in the liquidity construction of the Berachain ecosystem, enabling users to seize the liquidity advantage before the Berachain mainnet goes live and capture early liquidity mining returns in the Boyco protocol.
Will StakeStone Vault be a new solution for emerging ecosystems on-chain?
From the perspective of Berachain, the Berachain StakeStone Vault offers the earliest pre-deposit channel in the entire market, making it the preferred tool for seizing dividends and maximizing returns.
Especially during the critical window period when the Berachain mainnet is about to launch and the mining mechanism is about to start, it can help ordinary users lock in early dividends of the new ecosystem without facing complex technical operations, allowing retail investors to fairly participate in the ecological benefits of Berachain.
From a broader perspective of the emerging blockchain market, the significance of this product goes far beyond this. It not only provides Berachain with an innovative liquidity management solution but also offers an entirely new development idea for the entire emerging ecosystem—packaging the yields of emerging ecosystems into income-generating assets and connecting them with more mature mainnet infrastructures, thereby becoming a crucial pipeline for cross-ecosystem liquidity and yield management.
This mechanism is particularly suitable for emerging markets such as Berachain and Movement, as they often face challenges such as insufficient liquidity and imperfect infrastructure in the early stages of cold start or ecosystem development. The Vault products that StakeStone previously launched in collaboration with Plume have initially validated the feasibility of this model, and the StakeStone Berachain Vault is a further deepening of this model.
Its core value lies in allowing a user's asset to be reused across multiple ecosystems, maximizing returns while releasing liquidity potential:
Lower the participation threshold for emerging ecosystems: Users can seize ecological dividends through the Vault without complicated operations, allowing more people to efficiently participate in local yield capture in ecosystems like Berachain, thus achieving broader user coverage;
Enhance the appeal of emerging ecosystem assets: Through the packaging mechanism of the Vault LP Token, traditional locked assets are transformed into Ethereum mainnet earning assets with liquidity and earning capability, which not only enhances asset utilization efficiency but also increases the attractiveness of emerging ecosystem assets;
Connecting mature networks to realize value flow: The income-generating assets (beraSTONE) packaged by the Vault can seamlessly connect to mature financial infrastructures like the Ethereum mainnet, further amplifying asset returns, while the Berachain ecosystem can establish a deeper collaborative relationship with the global DeFi market;
This means that the Stakestone Vault product can not only capture local yields from emerging ecosystems but also, by packaging assets like LP into income-generating assets, endow them with higher-dimensional financial attributes, and access more ample and mature liquidity markets like Ethereum in a structured product form, enhancing capital efficiency.
The complexity of Berachain's POL mechanism and the asset management needs during the initial launch make it the best testing ground for the StakeStone Vault model. The Vault mechanism not only effectively addresses the liquidity bottlenecks Berachain faces during the cold start phase but also injects more application scenarios and yield paths into its ecosystem assets:
On one hand, the automated strategies within the Vault help users efficiently capture local yields such as liquidity mining and governance rewards; on the other hand, the packaged income-generating assets can participate in more mature ecosystem's multi-layer yield scenarios, such as liquidity mining on Uniswap, collateral lending on Aave, and even yield splitting on Pendle.
This mechanism not only enhances the compound ability of asset returns but also promotes the acceptance and recognition of emerging ecosystems like Berachain. As more emerging ecosystems arise, the demand from users for asset returns and capital efficiency in these ecosystems will undoubtedly become increasingly complex. This means that the innovative mechanism of the StakeStone Vault actually provides a dynamically adaptive asset management approach, enabling the development of different asset types for yield stacking and secondary utilization based on any emerging ecosystem, further enhancing investment returns.
Within this framework, the StakeStone Vault is not only an efficient asset management tool but also an important bridge connecting emerging ecosystems with mainstream blockchain ecosystems.
Conclusion
Whether in traditional finance or the DeFi world, enhancing capital efficiency has always been the ultimate pursuit of all players.
For on-chain yield products, how to simply and safely maximize returns and make every dollar work to its fullest potential can also be seen as the eternal 'muse' of the market. From this perspective, the StakeStone Berachain Vault and its underlying Stakestone Vault product structure actually provide a very interesting new paradigm for emerging public chains:
By using the Vault, which embeds multiple return paths as a bridge, it simplifies user participation thresholds while enhancing the attractiveness of external funds. Meanwhile, it packages the returns within the ecosystem into a liquid income-generating asset, achieving seamless integration between local earning opportunities and mainstream DeFi markets on-chain, exploring a more ideal launch and long-term growth path for the entire emerging ecosystem.
In the future, whether this model can become a universal solution for emerging ecosystems and even grow into a multi-billion dollar on-chain financial narrative remains to be seen, but the vision and practice of the StakeStone Berachain Vault may be one of the best paths to approaching the answer.