What is Infrared (IR)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Infrared Finance solves a key problem within the Berachain ecosystem: unlocking liquidity from staked assets. Berachain uses a Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus, where participants provide liquidity to earn rewards. Infrared simplifies this by allowing users to stake Berachain's native BGT (governance) and BERA (gas) tokens to receive liquid, tradable versions (iBGT and iBERA). This lets users earn staking rewards while using the liquid tokens elsewhere in DeFi, significantly enhancing capital efficiency (Introducing IR).

2. Technology & Core Products

The protocol operates through smart contracts on Berachain. Its main products are:

• iBGT/iBERA: Liquid staking tokens representing staked BGT and BERA. Holding them maintains governance rights and accrues staking yields.
• PoL Vaults: Automated strategies that manage asset deposits into Berachain's PoL system, optimizing rewards for users with a single click. The protocol is described as the "backbone of Berachain’s yield economy" (Terms of use).

3. Tokenomics & Governance

The IR token has a total supply of 1 billion. Its primary functions are governance and value accrual. Users can stake IR to receive sIR, which provides voting power on protocol decisions. A portion of all protocol fees is directed to a community-controlled Red Fund, which buys back IR tokens to fund initiatives and incentives, creating a potential deflationary pressure (Introducing IR).

Conclusion

Infrared is fundamentally a DeFi infrastructure project designed to be the essential staking and yield engine for Berachain, with its IR token serving as the conduit for community governance and value sharing. How will the adoption of Berachain's unique PoL model drive the utility and demand for IR?