Role of BERA
The BERA token serves two main purposes on the Berachain network:Transaction fees
BERA is used to pay for transactions on the Berachain network (hence its designation as the “gas token”). Tokens used for transaction fees are burned, removing them from the circulating supply. Check out the hundreds of projects and dapps in the Berachain Ecosystem.Staking BERA
BERA can be staked a number of ways:- To provide liquidity in BERA-denominated pools. The complete list of pools approved by governance is shown on the hub. When you stake to pools, you earn a portion of the trading fees from that pool.
- Staking directly into the BERA POL Yield Vault, where the yield is a share of all PoL incentives. When you stake BERA in this vault, you receive sWBERA tokens representing your staked position.
Validator staking
Validators stake BERA to operate a validator. Within the active set, the more BERA a validator has staked, the more frequently they are chosen to propose blocks. A validator’s probability of block production is directly proportional to their share of the total staked BERA. The economic value of all staked BERA tokens forms the economic security of the chain, with BGT dynamics controlling its inflation. To learn more about how BERA staking affects block production and emissions, see Block Rewards.Tokenomics
BGT governs emissions and economic incentives. The following documents the fixed supply, allocation, and release schedule for BERA.Overview
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Token name | BERA |
| Total supply at genesis | 500,000,000 BERA |
| Inflation | ~5% annually via BGT emissions, subject to governance |
| Decimals | 18 |
Distribution and allocation
The genesis supply of 500,000,000 BERA is allocated as follows:
Allocated to advisors and members of Big Bera Labs, the core contributors to the Berachain blockchain. Investors — 171,500,000 (34.3%)
Allocated to Seed, Series A, and Series B investors. Community allocations — 244,500,000 (48.9%) Airdrop — 79,000,000 (15.8%)
Distributed to testnet users, Berachain and ecosystem NFT holders, social supporters, ecosystem dApps, and community builders. See the Blog airdrop overview for details. Future community initiatives — 65,500,000 (13.1%)
Reserved for incentive programs, grants, and other initiatives, with community input via Snapshots, RFPs, and similar mechanisms. Ecosystem & R&D — 100,000,000 (20%)
Used for ecosystem development, R&D, growth, and Berachain Foundation operations: developer programs (Boyco), node operator delegations, and Proof-of-Liquidity evolution. At launch, 9.5% of total BERA supply from this bucket is unlocked for ecosystem growth, developer tooling, liquidity provisioning, and related uses.
Token release schedule
All allocated parties share the same vesting terms:- Cliff: 1 year; no tokens unlock before the cliff.
- Initial unlock: After the cliff, 1/6 of the allocated amount unlocks.
- Linear vesting: The remaining 5/6 vests linearly over the following 24 months.
