What is Infrared (IR)?

By CMC AI
12 June 2026 08:02PM (UTC+0)
TLDR

Infrared (IR) is the native governance and utility token of the Infrared Finance protocol, which serves as core liquid staking infrastructure for the Berachain ecosystem.

  1. Core Purpose – It's a liquid staking protocol that unlocks liquidity from Berachain's native tokens (BGT and BERA) through yield-bearing assets.

  2. Token Utility – The IR token grants governance rights, a share of protocol fees, and supports ecosystem growth through mechanisms like staking and a community fund.

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Infrared Finance is designed as the foundational infrastructure layer for Berachain, a high-performance Ethereum-compatible blockchain. Its primary value is solving liquidity lock-up for users who stake Berachain's native tokens. The protocol converts non-transferable staked assets into liquid, yield-bearing tokens (iBGT and iBERA), allowing users to participate in DeFi while still earning staking rewards (Infrared Finance).

2. Technology & Key Products

The protocol leverages Berachain's unique Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism. Its main products are automated PoL Vaults, which simplify participation in network validation, and the liquid staking tokens iBGT (for governance) and iBERA (for the native gas token). This architecture lets users engage with Berachain's yield economy in a single click.

3. Tokenomics & Governance

The IR token has a total supply of 1 billion. Its core functions include staking to receive sIR, which confers voting power on protocol decisions and a proportional share of protocol revenue. A portion of fees is directed to a Red Fund for buying back IR tokens to fund community initiatives, aligning tokenholders with the protocol's long-term health (Introducing IR).

Conclusion

Infrared is fundamentally a governance and revenue-sharing token that powers the essential liquid staking rails within the growing Berachain ecosystem. How will its fee-sharing and buyback mechanisms evolve to sustain community-led growth?

CMC AI can make mistakes. Not financial advice.