KernelDAO

Join us for an exclusive AMA as we dive into KUSD and how it’s built to stay resilient across market cycles. 🌱

We’ll cover how rewards are generated, the security behind it, and more.

📅 Feb 26
⏰ 2PM UTC

Don’t miss out.

Everyone's chasing rewards on stables right now.

Corporate bonds give you 2-6% but lock your money.
Synthetic stablecoins fluctuate.
Private credit needs you to babysit health factors all day.

sKUSD: 8-15%, no leverage, instant liquidity, real-time settlement.

Not a tradeoff. Just better design. ↓

The thing nobody talks about with "stable" rewards:

Corporate bonds → T+1 to T+3 settlement. Low liquidity. Limited transparency.
Synthetic stables → peg fluctuations. Partial reporting. Medium volatility.

sKUSD is backed by secured institutional credit, fully visible on-chain.
You see exactly where your rewards come from.

Private credit protocols promise 10-20% but require leverage, constant position monitoring, and complex looping strategies.

sKUSD hits 8-15% with zero leverage. Simple stake/unstake.
No looping. No rebalancing.

Higher floor, lower complexity. That's the point.

TL;DR - sKUSD vs leading assets:

⍛ Highest base rewards without leverage
⍛ Instant on-chain liquidity
⍛ Real-time settlement
⍛ Full transparency
⍛ Lowest operational complexity

The stablecoin rewards market has options. Most of them come with asterisks. sKUSD doesn't.

sKUSD isn't live for everyone yet. But you can already check what your rewards would look like using the calculator on the page.

When access opens, you'll want to be early.

Sign up here for regular updates ↓

🔗 https://kred.kerneldao.com/investors#contact

Less than 90 mins to go for the Jan recap AMA! 🌱

Tune in for exciting updates.

P.S. get ready for some hot alpha 👀

⏰ 2PM UTC

See you there!

Less than 24 hours to go. 🌱

Join our AMA for the latest updates across the Kelp ecosystem, plus fresh alpha.

🗓️ Date: February 11, 2026
🕓 Time: 2:00 PM UTC

Set your reminders!

KUSD is the next growth chapter for $KERNEL

KUSD is not just another stablecoin.
It is Kelp’s entry into real financial activity and it materially expands what $KERNEL can capture. ↓

✧ Most DeFi revenue today is tied to crypto market cycles.
KUSD introduces a new revenue rail powered by global payments, settlements, and short-term credit demand.

✧ The addressable market is massive.
Global payment flows are projected to exceed $250T annually, far larger than any crypto-native market.

✧ Even a small share of this flow changes the scale.
If KUSD captures a fraction of settlement and credit activity, protocol revenues can realistically grow into the tens of millions of dollars annually.

✧ For $KERNEL holders, this means value accrual driven by usage, not speculation.
Revenue is generated from real economic activity moving through the protocol.

✧ KUSD extends DeFi into global finance.
Onchain liquidity supports real use cases like remittances, FX settlement, payroll, payouts, and trade finance.

✧ This marks a new phase for Kelp.
From DeFi-native rewards to settlement-native credit and institutional scale liquidity.

✧ The outcome is clear.
A new revenue engine, a vastly larger market, and a credible path for KERNEL to move into the next orbit.

📢 Kelp #AMA on Binance Square

We’re going live to share the latest updates from Jan, across the Kelp ecosystem!

🗓️ Date: February 11, 2026
🕓 Time: 2:00 PM UTC

🎙️ Host: Burning Blade – Head of Community & Governance

Bring your questions, insights, and curiosity - let’s build together 💡🌱

👉 Don’t miss it:

Kelp January 2026 Recap

✧ Gain Updates & Milestones

⍛ High Gain became the world's first DeFi vault with embedded cover via Nexus Mutual, setting a new benchmark for institution-grade risk management.
⍛ High Gain (hgETH) sustained 9-13% rewards on ETH, maintaining its position as the leading ETH vault for 6 months with $50M+ TVL - powered by UltraYield and Upshift.
⍛ Stable Gain (sbUSD) delivered up to ~10% rewards on USDT/USDC with no lockups, powered by UltraYield's risk-adjusted strategies.
⍛ Airdrop Gain (agETH) ranked as the top ETH vault over 30 days, delivering ~12% rewards with $45M+ TVL via K3 Capital and August Digital.
⍛ Combined Gain vaults: $100M+ TVL with consistently strong rewards up to ~10%.

✧ rsETH Integrations & Milestones

⍛ rsETH E-Mode went live on Aave v3 Core market - 93% LTV, up to 14x leverage, ~9% rewards.
⍛ Contango integration enabled one-click E-Mode looping with up to 14x leverage.
⍛ rsETH supply on Aave v3 Core crossed $1B, becoming the 8th-largest asset with supply caps near max utilization.
⍛ rsETH TVL hit 500,000+ ETH restaked.
⍛ rsETH supply on Aave v3 $AVAX and #Base markets crossed $65M.

✧ Community & Ecosystem

⍛ Released Kelp 2025 Wrapped retrospective followed by an AMA.
⍛ Hosted High Gain AMA with Nexus Mutual and UltraYield covering insurance design, vault-level risk management, and institutional pathways.

✧ KUSD Developments

⍛ KUSD rewards generated from real payment settlement flows via short-term credit to verified institutions - designed for market cycle resilience.
⍛ Risk framework includes KYB-verified counterparties, real-time LTV monitoring, Chainlink Proof of Reserve, automated liquidations, and insurance-backed structures.

January focused on rsETH capital efficiency, Gain vault performance, and KUSD mechanics - laying groundwork for scalable, market cycle-resilient growth.

Stay tuned for what's next!

Why KUSD Rewards Are Different.

DeFi rewards are usually driven by leverage, liquidity incentives, or price cycles.
KUSD rewards come from something else entirely: fixing settlement timing gaps in real-world finance. ↓

1/ Most on-chain rewards depend on market activity.
When markets slow, rewards shrink.

2/ KUSD rewards come from somewhere else entirely:
real payment and settlement activity.

3/ Capital backing KUSD is deployed as short-term, self-liquidating credit to verified institutions.
Used to settle transactions → repaid as cash flows clear → recycled again.

4/ No long-duration exposure.
No leverage loops.
No reliance on token prices.

Just predictable, rules-based repayment.

5/ That’s why KUSD rewards are resilient across market cycles.

Payments settle in bull markets.
They settle in bear markets.
They settle every day.

6/ KUSD isn’t chasing markets.
It’s built around how money actually moves.

How KUSD manages risk: designed for real-world credit 🧵

1/ KYB-verified access, not anonymous exposure

Credit is extended only to KYB-verified institutions. Every borrower is known, vetted, and assigned explicit limits before accessing liquidity.

2/ Defined limits, enforced by code

Each borrower has explicit credit limits set upfront. They can’t draw more, extend duration, or change terms mid-cycle, because contracts enforce the rules, not people.

3/ Real-time LTV monitoring

Risk isn’t checked weekly or daily. Positions are monitored continuously. If ratios move toward limits, the system reacts immediately.

4/ Chainlink Proof-of-Reserves

Backing is verifiable on-chain via Chainlink PoR feeds, covering both on-chain and off-chain components. Transparency is built into the system.

5/ Automated liquidations + insurance vaults

When risk thresholds are crossed, protections activate automatically without waiting on human intervention. Insurance vaults are designed to handle rare edge cases so losses aren’t pushed onto users.

KUSD isn’t secured by promises.
It’s secured by rules, verification, and layered defenses.

How KUSD generates rewards.

Most on-chain rewards depend on markets or incentives.
KUSD is different. Rewards are generated when payments settle, not when prices move.

The reward engine follows clear stages, anchored by this loop:

Institution draws credit line liquidity → Settles → Repays → Capital is reused

This is expanded as:

Step 1: Liquidity is minted into KUSD
Step 2: KUSD is staked into sKUSD
Step 3: Institutions draw liquidity when payments need to settle
Step 4: Transactions clear
Step 5: Borrowers repay principal + interest
Step 6: The same capital is reused

No speculation.
No leverage.
Just short-term settlement credit doing real work.

Liquidity is only drawn when required and used for minutes, hours, or days - not months.

As settlements complete, repayment happens, rewards accrue, and capital is immediately available for the next cycle.

Rewards are driven by reuse through settlement, not by market conditions.

Full breakdown in the blog ↓
https://blogs.kerneldao.com/blog/how-kusd-generates-rewards

If you want to participate when access opens, sign up here ↓
https://kred.kerneldao.com/investors#contact

How KUSD is built for safety

Safety isn’t a feature of KUSD.
It’s the foundation.

KUSD is designed around real payment flows and institution-grade credit rails, so risk control comes first.

What that means in practice:

⍛ Short-term credit only
Capital is used for settlements, remittances, and payment cycles - minutes to days, not months or years.

⍛ Verifiable reserves
KUSD integrates Chainlink Proof of Reserve.
No PDFs. No trust-based disclosures. Reserves are referenceable on-chain.

⍛ Real repayment sources
Repayment comes from incoming payment flows and settlement finality - not future promises.

⍛ Controlled access
Borrowers go through KYB/KYC.
Screened counterparties, known exposure.

⍛ Proven infrastructure
Built on the same risk and ops stack that has already handled $2B+ on-chain.

Bottom line:
KUSD is built for safety through structure - not incentives.

Global payments move ~$200T every year.
Yet trillions sit idle because settlement is delayed while liquidity is needed instantly.

This isn’t a payments problem.
It’s a credit problem.

PayFi needs credit against payment settlement receivables.
TradFi needs credit against commercial transaction receivables.
DeFi already has liquidity.

But today:
⍛ DeFi liquidity stays trapped in crypto-native loops
⍛ Payments and commerce lock capital while waiting for settlement

What’s missing is short-term, self-liquidating credit backed by real receivables.

That’s where Kred comes in.

Kred introduces the Internet of Credit:
Receivable → Collateral → Credit → Settlement → Repayment

DeFi stablecoins fund real payment flows upfront.
Borrowers repay when settlement completes.
Liquidity is recycled, and rewards are generated from real repayment activity.

This model connects DeFi liquidity to real-world payment and commerce flows - under predictable rules, with embedded repayment.

Read the full breakdown here 👇
https://blogs.kerneldao.com/blog/the-missing-credit-layer-how-kred-connects-payment-flows-to-defi-liquidity

The countdown is on: just 90 minutes until the 2025 retrospective AMA kicks off! 🌱

Join us for exciting updates from @GoneMultichain.

P.S. get ready for some hot alpha 👀

⏰ 3PM UTC

Don't miss it!

Tune in tomorrow for the 2025 retrospective 🌱

We're going live at 2:30 PM UTC.

Be there!

We recently highlighted an overlooked issue in global finance: while $200T+ flows fast yearly, the underlying system still depends on pre-funding and idle capital due to timing mismatches.

Stablecoins improved speed but left a short-term credit gap, causing trillions to remain unproductive.

This insight led to Kred and its core tool, KUSD - offering on-demand credit backed by real repayment flows, where users can earn rewards from real-world usage.

Huge thanks to the teams at the Ethereum Foundation and Chainlink for collaborating with us on that research and helping ground it in real infrastructure constraints.

If you haven’t revisited it in a while, it’s worth a read 👇

📘   kerneldao.com/internet-of-cred...

2025 was huge for us.

Join our Head of Community & Governance, for a live AMA to recap milestones, key decisions, and how the year went.

📆 Jan 9, 2026
⏰ 3 PM UTC

Bring your questions.