On August 15, Lucie (@LucieSHIB), the marketing lead for Shiba Inu, unveiled the official launch date for liquid staking on the Shibarium network. The announcement, made via a video on X, marks a significant milestone for the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
Lucie expressed enthusiasm for the development, praising the K9 Finance team for their efforts. “Let’s give a huge shout out to the incredible K9 Finance team! Liquid staking is on its way to SHIBARIUM! The KNINE testnet is live for everyone! Mark your calendars: Liquid Staking launches on Shibarium this September 18!” she stated.
What to Expect from Shibarium's Liquid Staking
Shibarium, a layer-2 blockchain designed to enhance scalability and reduce transaction costs for Shiba Inu and its associated tokens, is about to enter a key phase with the introduction of liquid staking. This feature will be powered by K9 Finance, the designated platform for Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) within the ecosystem.
Through K9 Finance, users can stake their BONE tokens and receive knBONE, a liquid staking derivative token. knBONE serves as a tradable receipt of the user's stake, which can be used in various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications or traded freely. This setup maintains liquidity, allowing users to engage in other financial activities without having their assets locked up, thus providing greater flexibility and potential for additional earnings through DeFi platforms.
The initial testing phase for the BONE Crusher feature began in late July, focusing on large-scale token holders—referred to as ‘whales’—who owned at least 400 million KNINE DAO tokens. This phase enabled these major stakeholders to stake BONE, earn knBONE, and gain additional rewards, including partner tokens and retroactive KNINE rewards.
Following the success of this preliminary phase, K9 Finance is now expanding the testnet to a broader audience, removing previous restrictions to include more users.With the mainnet launch scheduled for September 18, the project is advancing into the second of its three development phases. The upcoming stage, ‘Boro,’ named after the extinct Borophaginae, will see the full-scale deployment of K9 Finance's core liquid-staking product on Shibarium. This phase is set to arrive as planned in Q3 2024.
The final phase, ‘Caninae,’ will be introduced in Q4 2024. This stage will launch a V2 of the platform, symbolizing the complete realization of K9 Finance as a fully decentralized liquid-staking derivative product. It will represent the modern-day Canine and is expected to finalize the development of K9 Finance.
Notably, K9 Finance DAO had previously launched its native governance token, KNINE, on March 7. Initially available solely on Uniswap, this ERC20 token plays a crucial role in the governance and operation of the K9 Finance ecosystem.
August 2024, Cryptoniteuae