Virtuals Cuts veVIRTUAL Staking Loose—Genesis Launchpad Users Reap Turbocharged Rewards
DeFi just got a shot of adrenaline. Virtuals unveils veVIRTUAL staking—locking tokens now means juicier yields for early backers.
Genesis launchpad participants first in line: The protocol’s vote-escrow model cranks APY dials for loyal holders. Call it bribery or call it smart incentives—either way, liquidity just got stickier.
Watch the governance tokenomics unfold: More stake, more say, more gain. Meanwhile, TradFi banks still can’t spell ’vesting schedule.’
Efforts to bring utility and governance power
Virtuals is priced at $2.07 and has been leading the performance of the AI agents-related tokens with over $100 million in market cap, soaring 270% in the past 30 days as of May 13, according to CoinGecko.
When users stake VIRTUAL, the vote-escrowed token veVIRTUAL is issued. The quantity of tokens staked and the lockup duration, which can extend to two years, determine the amount of veVIRTUAL received.
The protocol has implemented linear decay for veVIRTUAL balances, which decrease over time until the stake unlocks. To maximize the conversion rate, users can select an “Auto Max-Lock” option that locks tokens for the full duration and yields a 1:1 ratio of veVIRTUAL per VIRTUAL.
Virtuals stated that veVIRTUAL will also serve as the basis for governance rights after introducing on-chain voting mechanisms. This effectively transitions VIRTUAL from a passive utility asset to an active instrument of governance and rewards.
Immediate participation incentivized
According to the announcement, users who stake their VIRTUAL tokens within 24 hours of the May 13 post will qualify for a separate, unspecified reward that will be revealed the following day.
While specifics are pending, the call-to-action marks the start of a broader campaign to drive long-term staking participation.
The staking mechanism mirrors the vote-escrow systems first popularized by protocols such as Curve Finance, where governance influence and reward allocations are proportionate to token lockups rather than raw balances.
The model’s design aims to reward long-term alignment and reduce speculative token velocity.
Virtuals framed the rollout as a departure from passive participation toward a structure prioritizing extended token commitment.
