$HKU
Last updated
Last updated
$HKU is an ERC-20 token that powers the Haiku ecosystem, connecting users and builders across the protocol. The goal of $HKU is to create direct economic alignment between holders and protocol success while enabling governance over Haiku's future development.
$HKU is the key to unlocking maximum value across the Haiku ecosystem. The token captures real revenue from trading fees, vaults and API licensing that flows directly to holders through real yield, protocol fee discounts, governance influence and access to synthetic vault positions.
Institutions, partner protocols, and traders accumulate $HKU to optimise their trading costs, access custom features and to drive product direction within Haiku's API and trading platform. Holding $HKU ensures that partners receive the best rates and benefits that the protocol offers. If you are bullish on the future of trading automation DeFAI and Berachain, $HKU represents direct exposure to the growth of AI-powered intent execution. $HKU holders are positioned to benefit directly from the protocol's expanding footprint in autonomous, optimised trading, as Haiku's infrastructure processes more volume and attracts deeper integrations.
Tokenholders can lock their $HKU into $veHKU to gain voting rights proportional to their stake and lock duration. Tokens can be locked for a minimum of one week to a maximum of two years. $veHKU holders govern key protocol decisions, including treasury allocation, fee structures, vault strategies, and the distribution of DAO-controlled reserves, which represent 40.72% of the $HKU supply.
After TGE, the Haiku DAO will vote on implementing either a buy-back program or a real-yield distribution model. This will allow tokenholders to receive a proportion of protocol revenues, subject to legal and regulatory approval.
$veHKU tokenholders receive tiered fee discounts across Haiku products, including intents trading and vaults. The more $HKU you stake and the longer the lock duration, the higher the discount. Stay tuned... 📻
Haiku enables institutional, protocol, and trading partners to participate directly in the protocol's growth. Haiku API and Enterprise users will receive benefits based on their $veHKU holdings, including tiered API pricing with volume discounts, access to advanced trade execution models, co-development of product features, and custom trading strategy development.
Haiku introduces Shadow Positions, a system that allows $veHKU holders to earn yield without sacrificing governance power. Restaked governance tokens, $rveHKU, provide users with synthetic exposure to vault performance, making governance-staked tokens a productive asset that generates returns.
The program and product design will be socialised with the DAO for governance approval post-TGE.
The $HKU token is the primary mechanism for incentivising user engagement and aligning activities with Haiku's key objectives:
Growing and retaining TVL in Haiku Vaults
Growing protocol users
Scaling transaction volume through Haiku Intents (Agent, Classic, API)
Incentives will be sourced from protocol reserves, including Product Emissions, Liquidity Incentives, and the Airdrop Fund, with distributions governed by the Haiku DAO. The following programs will be activated post-TGE, subject to DAO approval:
A portion of the $HKU supply is reserved for early adopters and high-value contributors with 50% of the Airdrop Pool available for distribution at TGE. Meaningful participation in protocol activities including Beta Testing, product and design feedback and community participation will be rewarded.
The initial $HKU airdrop will occur at TGE and be decided upon by Haiku Core Contributors - further details will be provided closer to TGE.
The remaining 50% of the Airdrop pool will be vested quarterly over the next 12 months following TGE, to facilitate progressive onboarding of new users as well as to reward user loyalty over time.
Liquidity incentives
Haiku DAO will provide liquidity incentives to encourage behaviours that help the protocol to maintain deep liquidity and price stability for the $HKU token. Users who provide liquidity to Haiku's liquidity pools will receive structured $HKU incentives. These rewards will be funded from the Liquidity Incentives Pool, with emissions linearly distributed over 24 months.
$veHKU tokenholders that deposit into Haiku Vaults will receive boosted yield rewards, paid in $HKU, based on their governance stake and deposit duration. This program will be funded by controlled linear emissions from the Product Emissions Pool.
Users who onboard new traders or vault depositors to Haiku may be eligible for referral rewards. Referrals will be tracked by dApp interactions, and referrers will receive rewards based on their position in the protocol's leaderboard.
