Original Author: Synergis Capital

In the current context where liquidity in the Ethereum ecosystem is increasingly solidified and the PoS consensus model is showing its constraints, the new generation public chain Berachain introduces a new consensus mechanism called "Proof of Liquidity (PoL)", injecting a new paradigm into DeFi. At the core of this ecosystem, Infrared stands out…

Since its synchronized launch with Berachain in February 2024, Infrared has driven liquidity growth, user participation, and overall development of the Berachain ecosystem through its innovative liquid staking solutions, validator infrastructure, and deep integration with Berachain governance and DeFi protocols. Currently, Infrared has successfully accumulated over $1.2 billion in TVL, achieving staking of 60% of BGT and 16% of BERA through its liquid staking tokens iBGT and iBERA. Infrared has generated over $4 million in protocol revenue, an important indicator of long-term sustainability.

Amid this strong growth trend, Infrared has officially entered the next stage of its development—the launch of the points system.

In-depth Understanding of the Proof of Liquidity (PoL) Mechanism

Under the traditional PoS mechanism, users need to lock up tokens to participate in network consensus. While this enhances network security, it sacrifices the utility of tokens in DeFi. Meanwhile, DeFi protocols often fall into a "liquidity subsidy competition" to vie for liquidity, lacking long-term sustainability.

Berachain's PoL is an innovative consensus mechanism suitable for its Layer 1 blockchain that is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, linking network security with liquidity provision, thus addressing the limitations of traditional PoS systems.

PoL establishes a cooperative economy that unifies the incentive mechanisms of validators, liquidity providers, protocol parties, and users. It ensures that network rewards flow to those who truly provide liquidity to the ecosystem, creating a more liquid, secure, and decentralized ecosystem. Unlike the locking mechanism of traditional PoS, PoL allows staked assets to continue being used in DeFi protocols, thus solving the problem of asset liquidity being locked.

The PoL mechanism of Berachain is achieved through a combination of three native tokens:

· BERA: Fuel Token (Gas Token)

· HONEY: Stablecoin

· BGT: Governance Token (non-transferable, soul-bound)

Protocol parties can create reward vaults, which are permitted smart contracts where users can deposit LP tokens or other qualified assets (such as HONEY-USDC LP from BEX) in exchange for BGT rewards. These rewards are distributed by validators, who typically allocate a portion of BGT emissions (e.g., 10% of block rewards) to these vaults based on the "bribes" (incentives) provided by the protocol parties. This creates a market for competition among protocols for liquidity.

The core value of PoL lies in transforming previously "locked" assets into drivers of network growth, pioneering a more composable, efficient, and equitable on-chain consensus and economic model.

Infrared's Mission: Making PoL More Usable, Efficient, and Composable

Although the PoL model is theoretically groundbreaking, there are still certain barriers in practical operation—users need to understand LP strategies, participate in BGT delegation, assess vault cost-effectiveness, and interact with validators, making the complexity comparable to early DeFi's "liquidity mining." Infrared was born in this context.

Infrared lowers this barrier by providing simple and user-friendly tools. It automates the process of liquid staking and delegating BGT to validators, allowing users to optimize their returns without manually navigating complex validator systems or participating in the "bribery" process. Through this "one-click" experience, Infrared enables users to more easily participate in the Berachain ecosystem, becoming an important entry point for this ecosystem.

Infrared's Liquidity Aggregation and Vault Mechanism

Infrared aggregates the liquidity of LP tokens deposited by users through its vault mechanism, which stakes assets into the PoL system and earns BGT as rewards. These BGT are further delegated to validator nodes operated by Infrared, forming a virtuous cycle of "liquidity—security—rewards," promoting the healthy development of the entire Berachain ecosystem. To date, Infrared's liquidity aggregation mechanism has helped it achieve over $1.2 billion in TVL, making it the largest and most active protocol in the Berachain ecosystem.

Deep Integration with the Berachain Ecosystem

Infrared not only promotes liquidity at the protocol level but also collaborates deeply with multiple Berachain ecosystem protocols. For example, the partnership with Dolomite allows users to deposit liquidity from the Boyco market into Infrared's vault, enhancing capital efficiency. Additionally, iBGT, as a composable liquid staking token, can be widely used in Berachain's DeFi protocols as collateral for lending, trading pairs, and other applications, further enhancing liquidity.

BGT Aggregation and Validator Operations

Infrared not only operates top-tier validator nodes but also uses the BGT obtained through its vault system to further participate in Berachain governance, ensuring that BGT reward distribution is more efficient and fair. As Infrared's influence in the ecosystem continues to grow, it will continue to play a core role in the Berachain governance system.

Launch of the Points Program to Promote Long-term User Retention and Growth

Infrared officially announced the launch of Infrared Points on April 23, which are used to record your participation in the Infrared protocol. The longer you stake and the more liquidity you provide, the higher the points you accumulate. All participation is automatic, and points will be automatically retroactively awarded, so early mainnet users have already begun accumulating points without needing to register separately; just by using Infrared normally, points will continue to grow.

Users can earn Infrared points in the following ways:

· Stake in Infrared's PoL vault and receive iBGT, stake iBGT, use iBERA for staking

If you provided liquidity to the following liquidity pools before the PoL activation, you will also receive retroactive points (as of March 21):

· Provide iBGT/WBERA liquidity on Kodiak

· Provide iBERA/WBERA liquidity on Kodiak

· Provide iBERA/BERA liquidity on BEX (StableSwap)

LPs in these liquidity pools are no longer accumulating new points as they have been replaced by the PoL vault.

This mechanism serves as an incentive for early users and leaves room for potential future airdrops or ecosystem rights design.

Top Capital Support, Infrared Becomes a Stronghold for Structural Change in DeFi

Infrared has secured a total of $18.75 million in funding from well-known institutions such as YZi Labs (Binance), Framework, NGC Ventures, Selini Capital, and Synergis Capital. The founding team members have backgrounds as core contributors to Berachain and have held key roles at Apple, NASA, Kraken, and Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Optimism, combining technical strength with ecosystem experience.

As one of the earliest and most deeply integrated protocols of the PoL mechanism in the Berachain ecosystem, Infrared is not just a simple liquid staking product but is exploring the "balance between asset utility and security." Its automated and highly composable architectural design is expected to provide a reference for more new public chain ecosystems.

From an investment perspective, the market is not only focused on short-term TVL and points enthusiasm but also values the long-term network effects and irreplaceability established in Berachain governance, liquidity infrastructure, and asset layer tools.

Infrared is becoming a composite product of "Lido+Convex+Curve" in the PoL era, and this is just its starting point.

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