Infrared is advancing the staking ecosystem on Berachain, and new features for the IR Token are gradually coming online.

[Coin World] Infrared, as a liquid staking protocol on Berachain, recently announced a series of expansion plans for the IR Token, and the actions are quite frequent.

The IR reward vault is now open. Users can earn PoL rewards on Berachain by staking IR LP Tokens, with supported trading pairs including USDT0-IR, IR-USDT0, IR-WBERA, and WBERA-IR. In other words, if you have IR liquidity positions, you can use them to earn interest.

Looking ahead, the Infrared plan is set to launch its native IR staking feature in January 2026. By then, users will be able to directly stake IR to exchange for sIR, earning yields through protocol revenues—this design is quite common in DeFi, but the key is how substantial the revenue from the protocol itself can be. The official team has also promised to use a buyback mechanism to reward long-term holders, which serves as an incentive for locking participants.

Interestingly, a Dutch auction system is set to be launched in the first quarter of 2026. Third-party protocols can use IR to bid for BGT emission rights; whoever wins the bid will have their funds locked for one year for protocol development. This mechanism essentially creates a demand scenario for IR while also constraining capital liquidity—it's somewhat akin to considering the long-term stability of the Berachain ecosystem.

The logic of Infrared is very clear: to drive demand for IR through these phased mechanisms innovations, thereby boosting the value of the Token. Whether it can succeed ultimately depends on whether the heat of the Berachain ecosystem can hold up.