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Founding Stakers

Founding Stakers are early participants who commit to the network during the launch period and maintain their position through the first 60 days. In return, they receive a share of exit fees accumulated during the stabilization window.

Eligibility

Warning

Unclaimed vKAT is not eligible for Founding Staker status. You must actively stake to qualify. Any unclaimed vKAT that is not claimed within 90 days of TGE will be clawed back.

Founding Staker status requires three on-chain-verifiable conditions:

1. Entry — Stake within 72 hours of TGE

You must stake KAT within the first 72 hours after TGE through one of two paths:

Path Group How
Pre-staking Pre-stakers Auto-executed by relayer into avKAT
Manual stake Early stakers Stake KAT to vKAT or deposit to avKAT within 72h

2. Balance floor — Maintain your position for 60 days

Your vKAT or avKAT balance must never drop below your founding-eligible amount at any point during Day 0 through Day 60.

The balance floor is a single rule that covers all exit scenarios:

  • Entering the exit queue and completing a withdrawal = balance decrease
  • Selling avKAT on the DEX = balance decrease
  • Moving tokens from founding wallet to another = balance decrease
  • If either takes you below the floor, you are disqualified

If you stake additional KAT after TGE and later partially unstake, that is fine — as long as your balance stays at or above the founding-eligible amount.

3. Anti-gaming — No sell-and-rebuy

This prevents selling KAT after TGE and rebuying to inflate a position. The snapshot for pre-stakers and early stakers is the on-chain balance at TGE.

Important Rules

Rule Detail
Same wallet Founding status requires holding staked balance in the same wallet used for pre-commitment or initial stake. Sending tokens to another wallet is treated as a sell and results in disqualification.
avKAT/vKAT switching Moving between avKAT and vKAT via the app does not reset Founding status. Only unstaking to liquid KAT or selling on the open market disqualifies.
Minimum commitment 100 KAT minimum, consistent with the pre-staking threshold.

Founding Distribution

Exit fees collected during the stabilization window (Day 0-60) are accumulated, not distributed in real-time. This prevents short-term stakers from harvesting peak yield.

After Day 60, the accumulated exit fees are distributed to Founding Stakers over several epochs, proportional to each staker’s founding-eligible amount.

From Day 61 onward, exit fees revert to normal real-time distribution to all active vKAT holders.

Note

During the accumulation period (Day 0-60), displayed yield reflects bribes and protocol revenue only. When the founding distribution begins after Day 60, yield increases for those who stayed.

Founding Staker vs. Vote Boost

Founding Staker status and the vote boost are related but distinct:

Feature Founding Staker Vote Boost
Who qualifies Pre-stakers, early stakers 72h Pre-stakers only
Duration Determined at Day 60 Decays over 56 days
Reward Share of accumulated exit fees Amplified voting power and reward weight
Lost by Breaking the balance floor or transferring to another wallet Same conditions

What’s Next