1. Introduction

1.1 Background

As decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to mature, the demand for safer, more efficient, and cross-chain interoperable protocols has grown significantly. Amid an increasingly complex on-chain ecosystem and yield-generating mechanisms, KernelDAO has emerged as a protocol that integrates restaking with automated strategies, offering a new direction for maximizing on-chain asset utilization. Currently operating on Ethereum and BNB Chain—and compatible with over 10 blockchain networks—KernelDAO provides users and protocols with unprecedented levels of security, liquidity, and reward generation capabilities.

Unlike other restaking protocols, KernelDAO is not a single-purpose tool, but rather a multi-layered ecosystem. It allows users to restake assets such as ETH, BTC, and BNB to build a shared security network, while combining this with automated strategy vaults to improve capital efficiency and bolster the protocol’s risk resilience. According to public data, KernelDAO has achieved over $2 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), partnered with over 50 DeFi projects, and is supporting 30+ ecosystem projects in development—making it a representative of the next generation of DeFi infrastructure.

1.2 KernelDAO’s Position in the Crypto Ecosystem

KernelDAO holds a unique and important position within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It is a highly innovative restaking ecosystem on Ethereum and BNB Chain. Its core mission is to simplify the infrastructure for restaking and crypto reward generation, allowing users around the world to participate easily and earn rewards.

From the perspective of ecosystem construction, KernelDAO has formed an organically collaborative whole through its three core products: Kelp, Kernel, and Gain. Kelp LRT (rsETH) accepts various ETH-based collateral on Ethereum, providing unified, instant liquidity and higher return opportunities for restaked assets. It has accumulated over $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL), established partnerships with more than 150 DeFi protocols, and is operational on more than 10 Layer 2 networks, significantly enhancing the liquidity and utilization efficiency of assets within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Kernel, as a shared security product on BNB Chain, supports BNB, BTC, and other reward assets as its economic security foundation. It has reached over $630 million in total value locked and maintains a steadily expanding ecosystem consisting of over 30 protocols, providing strong security and support for projects on BNB Chain.

Gain, as a set of non-custodial automated vaults, integrates airdrops, rewards, and points across multiple networks into a simplified form of collectible rewards. Its total locked value exceeds $130 million, offering convenience for users to participate in activities across different networks and earn yields.

Within the broader crypto ecosystem, KernelDAO maintains close connections with many projects. On one hand, it provides economic security to applications built on the Kernel platform and Eigenlayer, facilitating the stable operation and development of these applications. On the other hand, partners within the Kernel ecosystem distribute governance rights through airdrops to KERNEL token holders. This interaction not only strengthens the cooperation between KernelDAO and other projects, but also brings additional benefits to KERNEL holders, thereby attracting more users to participate in the KernelDAO ecosystem and its affiliated projects, forming a mutually beneficial and win-win ecosystem.

2. Comprehensive Analysis of KernelDAO

2.1 Basic Concepts and Definitions

KernelDAO is a pioneering multi-chain restaking ecosystem in the cryptocurrency space. At its core lies an innovative restaking technology that allows users to achieve the dual goals of “liquidity + maximum yield” using major crypto assets like ETH, BTC, and BNB. This new model breaks the limitation of traditional staking and DeFi protocols, where assets can only generate returns on a single chain, thereby significantly enhancing capital efficiency.

In traditional staking systems, when users stake assets on a specific chain, those assets become locked and cannot participate in yield-generating activities on other chains. This results in idle capital and increased opportunity cost. The emergence of KernelDAO has changed this situation. By constructing a cross-chain restaking infrastructure, it enables users to flexibly reallocate staked assets across different chains. While providing security to multiple projects and networks, users can also earn multiple streams of rewards. For example, ETH staked by a user can not only support the security of the Ethereum network but, through KernelDAO’s restaking mechanism, also contribute to the economic security of projects on the BNB Chain, earning additional rewards in the process. This maximizes asset utility. This innovative multi-chain restaking model is unique within the entire crypto industry, offering new value realization paths for both users and project developers, and occupying a leading position in industry innovation.

2.2 Core Products and Functions

KernelDAO provides users with a diverse range of restaking and yield-enhancing solutions through a series of innovative products. These products not only cover Ethereum and BNB Chain but also simplify users’ participation in complex DeFi strategies through automation and integrated design.

2.2.1 Kelp

Kelp is KernelDAO’s core product in the Ethereum ecosystem, fully known as Kelp LRT (rsETH). Its main function is to provide liquid restaking services for ETH. In Ethereum’s staking system, traditional staking often results in locked assets with no liquidity, preventing users from using those assets flexibly during the staking period. Kelp creatively solves this issue by accepting various ETH-based collateral and offering unified, instant liquidity for restaked assets.

Specifically, when users deposit ETH into Kelp, they receive rsETH (a liquid restaking token) representing their staking rights. rsETH can be freely traded on the market and used in over 50 integrated DeFi applications. This allows users to maintain asset liquidity while also earning additional rewards by participating in various DeFi activities. For example, users can deposit rsETH into lending protocols like Aave, Spark, and Morpho to earn interest income; or they can add it to liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges like Balancer to earn a share of trading fees. Thanks to this unique design, Kelp has accumulated over $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL), established close partnerships with more than 150 DeFi protocols, and operates stably on over 10 Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, making significant contributions to the liquidity and economic security of the Ethereum ecosystem.

2.2.2 Kernel

Kernel is the shared security product on the BNB Chain. Its core function is to support BNB, BTC, and other reward assets as economic security backing, providing shared security services for various projects on BNB Chain. In the BNB Chain ecosystem, security assurance is critical. Kernel significantly reduces the cost and complexity of setting up security infrastructure for projects through an innovative merged security architecture. It allows stakers to maximize their staking rewards while participating in a decentralized security model.

Kernel allows users to stake BNB, BTC, and other assets, which are pooled together into a security vault that provides economic security for more than 30 protocols within the Kernel ecosystem. This includes over 25 types of middleware and more than 5 liquid restaking protocols. These protocols no longer need to build their own complex security mechanisms and can instead share the security provided by Kernel, thus lowering operational costs and security risks. Meanwhile, stakers can earn rewards from the development of these protocols, creating a win-win situation. Currently, Kernel’s total value locked exceeds $630 million, and its continuously expanding ecosystem has attracted numerous projects, contributing to the flourishing development of the BNB Chain ecosystem.

2.2.3 Gain

Gain is a set of non-custodial automated vaults launched by KernelDAO. Its unique feature is integrating airdrops, rewards, and points across multiple networks into simple, collectible rewards, providing users with a convenient way to access and manage earnings from various networks. In the complex cryptocurrency market, users often have to spend a lot of time and effort tracking and claiming rewards and airdrops from different projects—a process that is both tedious and prone to omissions. Gain simplifies this process through automated strategies.

Gain supports various assets including ETH, rsETH (from Kelp DAO), ETHx (from Stader Labs), and stETH (from Lido Finance). When users deposit assets into Gain, the vaults automatically allocate the assets according to preset strategies to participate in airdrops and reward programs across different networks. For instance, Gain may bridge user assets to Layer 2 networks such as Linea and Scroll to receive their airdrop rewards. Simultaneously, it can participate in activities on DeFi protocols like Pendle and Lyra to generate extra yields. In this way, users can effortlessly obtain rewards from multiple networks and protocols without manual operations, maximizing their returns. At present, Gain has a total value locked of over $130 million and is used by around 15,000 users across its four automated vaults, becoming a key tool for users seeking to earn yields in the crypto space.

3. KernelDAO Architecture and Technical Design

3.1 Technical Core I: Restaking System

KernelDAO’s restaking system is composed of three main components:

a. Multi-Asset Staking Support

• ETH Staking: Supports both native staking and restaking through Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) such as stETH, rETH, and cbETH.

• BTC Support: Integrated into the PoS architecture via cross-chain wrapped assets like WBTC or BTCB.

• BNB and Other Assets: Natively supported staking on BNB Chain; other assets are integrated into strategy vaults after being bridged.

b. Validator Delegation Mechanism

Users can choose to delegate staked assets to a specific validator or have them distributed by the protocol across Kernel’s validator node cluster. High-performing nodes are eligible for additional incentives. If penalties are triggered (e.g., double-signing), the insurance pool mechanism is activated to compensate and ensure user fund safety.

c. Shared Security API

KernelDAO provides a unified API interface for third-party protocols:

• Projects can access Kernel’s validator cluster by simply calling the API.

• No need to build their own staking pools, significantly lowering the barrier to launching a secure infrastructure.

• Custom validator selection, reward distribution settings, and governance arbitration modules can be configured.

3.2 Technical Core II: Vault Strategy Engine

The Vault system is another foundational component of KernelDAO, designed for optimized capital allocation and yield generation.

a. Strategy type (Composable)

• Lending Strategy: Allocates capital to protocols like Aave, Compound, and Venus to earn lending interest.

• LP Farming Strategy: Provides liquidity on platforms such as PancakeSwap and Uniswap to earn trading fees and mining rewards.

• Staking Strategy: Participates in validator staking and PoS network rewards.

• Delta-Neutral Strategy: Combines long and short positions to capture arbitrage opportunities while maintaining principal stability.

• Cross-Chain Arbitrage: Exploits price differences of assets across different blockchains.

b. Automated Allocation System

KernelDAO uses a proprietary automated orchestration engine, including:

• Yield Optimizer: Dynamically reallocates capital based on real-time yield rates.

• Risk Modeling Engine: Adjusts fund allocation using on-chain risk scores, market volatility, and TVL distribution.

• Strategy Governance Module: Community governance decides which strategies can go live, and sets risk parameters and profit-sharing ratios.

c. Strategy Container Standard (Vault SDK)

All strategies are built using a unified interface standard—the KernelVault SDK—allowing community developers and institutional users to freely build and deploy custom strategies. This framework ensures high scalability.

4. KernelDAO Multichain Ecosystem Expansion

4.1 Current Multichain Deployments and Strategy

As of now, KernelDAO has achieved native deployment across the following blockchain networks:

• Ethereum Mainnet

• BNB Chain

• Arbitrum One

• Optimism

• Polygon POS

• Avalanche C-Chain

• Fantom

• zkSync Era

• Linea

• Scroll

This deployment strategy brings significant capital flexibility and broad market coverage:

• Users can seamlessly transfer funds between chains for restaking;

• Automated Vaults can deploy strategies across chains, enhancing yield compounding;

• Protocol composability is greatly improved, attracting more DeFi protocols to integrate Kernel’s security layer.

4.2 Ecosystem Development Plan

KernelDAO is not merely a protocol tool—it is building a Programmable Security & Yield Network, which includes:

a. Kernel SDK & Developer Incentives

• SDK enables developers to quickly build staking tools, yield strategies, or governance interfaces;

• High-quality strategies are eligible for $KERNEL subsidies and revenue sharing;

• An ecosystem fund will support the incubation of 100 sub-projects.

b. Kernel Launchpad

• Offers staking launcher services;

• Supports new projects to launch based on Kernel’s security layer and auto-integrate with Vault strategies;

• DAO community will review onboarding standards and governance models.

c. Kernel Governance Layer

• All projects within the Kernel ecosystem can connect to the Kernel governance network;

• $KERNEL holders vote on key parameters, such as yield distribution weights and strategy activation;

• A cross-protocol, cross-chain unified governance model will be gradually established.

5. KernelDAO ($KERNEL) Tokenomics

5.1 KERNEL Token Basic Information

1. Token Overview

• Name: Kernel Token
• Ticker: $KERNEL
• Type: Governance and Utility Token

2. Supply Information

• Total Supply: 1 billion $KERNEL
• Circulating Supply: To be announced closer to the Token Generation Event (TGE)

3. Token Allocation

The distribution of $KERNEL follows a “Community-First” principle, with most tokens allocated to users and ecosystem participants:

• Community & Ecosystem Partners: 60%

• Community Rewards & Airdrops: 55%

• 20% allocated for multiple rounds of airdrops

• 35% reserved for future incentives to promote ecosystem activity and user participation

• Ecological Partners: 5%

• For market making, on-chain liquidity, and ecosystem support

• Private Sale: 20%

• Includes completed and upcoming strategic private rounds

• Team and Advisors: 20%

• Locked for 6 months after TGE, followed by linear vesting over 24 months

5.2 $KERNEL Token Utilities

Core features

• Governance:

  $KERNEL holders can participate in decision-making for Kernel’s three major products—Kelp LRT, Kernel Infrastructure, and Gain. Governance topics may include protocol upgrades, fund allocation, and new partnerships.

• Restaking:

  Users can restake $KERNEL to provide shared economic security for protocols, middleware, and decentralized applications within the Kernel ecosystem.

• Reward Mechanism (Rewards):

  $KERNEL holders can earn staking rewards from partnered protocols and middleware.

Extension Function

• Liquidity Provision:

  Users can provide $KERNEL liquidity in Automated Market Makers (AMMs) to earn additional rewards.

• Insurance Mechanism (Future Use Case):

  $KERNEL staking will eventually support the insurance layer, protecting against slashing events in rsETH (LRT) and the Kernel network.

5.3 Ecosystem Use Cases

The $KERNEL token has been deeply integrated into Kernel’s core products and ecosystem:

1. Kelp LRT: $KERNEL plays a vital role in securing over $2 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), particularly through rsETH, one of the largest liquid restaking tokens on Ethereum.
2. Kernel Infrastructure: Supports over 25 ecosystem projects, including Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs), middleware, and decentralized applications.
3. Gain: Powers a tokenized reward vault managing over $200 million in TVL, offering efficient DeFi composability.
4. Collaborative Integrations: Works with leading DeFi protocols and middleware projects, further enhancing $KERNEL’s functionality and accessibility.

$KERNEL Token Listing Notice: The KERNEL token will soon be listed on Gate.io. Trading begins at 20:00 (UTC+8) on April 14, 2025. Click to trade: https://www.gate.io/en/trade/KERNEL_USDT

6. KernelDAO Development History & Current Status

6.1 Milestone Recap

Since its inception, KernelDAO has achieved significant progress in the multi-chain restaking sector, gradually building a large and vibrant ecosystem.

From the early stages, KernelDAO attracted widespread attention through its innovative multi-chain restaking concept. In 2024, the project achieved major breakthroughs in fundraising, securing a total of $10 million in funding. This round was led by top-tier funds such as Binance Labs, Laser Digital, SCB Limited, and Hypersphere Ventures. The funding not only provided strong financial support for the project’s continued development but also highlighted market recognition of its innovation and potential.

In the same year, KernelDAO launched a $40 million strategic ecosystem fund, backed by Laser Digital, SCB Limited, Hypersphere Ventures, and Cypher Capital. The fund aims to support over 45 new projects by integrating Kernel’s restaking infrastructure, further expanding $KERNEL’s use cases within the BNB ecosystem and accelerating ecosystem growth.

6.2 Current Operational Status in 2025

6.2.1 Locked Value and Asset Scale

Currently, the core products of KernelDAO are performing excellently in terms of locked value (TVL) and asset scale. Kelp, as a liquidity restaking product on Ethereum, has accumulated over $1.5 billion in TVL. This achievement is attributed to its innovative design, as Kelp accepts various ETH-based collateral to provide unified real-time liquidity for restaked assets. After depositing ETH, users receive rsETH, which can be freely traded in the market or used in over 50 DeFi integrated applications. This has attracted a large number of users, leading to a massive accumulation of locked value and making Kelp a significant force in Ethereum’s liquidity restaking sector.
Kernel has also achieved remarkable success on the BNB Chain, with a total locked value exceeding $630 million. By supporting BNB, BTC, and other reward assets as economic security, Kernel provides shared security services for over 30 protocols on the BNB Chain. This reduces the cost and complexity of setting up security for projects, attracting many to join its ecosystem, thus driving continuous growth in locked value and making Kernel one of the largest economic security providers on the BNB Chain.
Gain, as a non-custodial automated vault, also manages a significant amount of assets, with a total locked value exceeding $130 million. Gain simplifies the process for users to earn rewards by merging airdrops, rewards, and points across multiple networks into simple collectible rewards. It supports various assets such as ETH, rsETH, ETHx, stETH, and has attracted approximately 15,000 users to use its four automated vaults. This has effectively increased asset scale and provided users with a convenient way to earn rewards in the complex cryptocurrency market.

6.2.2 Partnerships and Ecological Development

Regarding partnerships, KernelDAO is actively expanding its collaboration network, having formed partnerships with many well-known projects. Notably, collaborations with Mira (AI co-processor) and YieldNest (liquid restaking) have drawn attention. Mira and YieldNest have announced plans to allocate 1-2% of their token supply to KERNEL holders. This collaborative model not only strengthens the connection between KernelDAO and its partners but also provides additional benefits to KERNEL holders, attracting more users to participate in the KernelDAO ecosystem. Additionally, KernelDAO has over 25 partners covering various fields, all collaborating with KernelDAO to drive the development and growth of the ecosystem.

In terms of ecosystem development, KernelDAO has received strong support from its ecosystem fund. The $40 million strategic ecosystem fund announced in 2024 is backed by several well-known investment firms. This fund aims to support over 45 new projects, helping them integrate Kernel’s restaking infrastructure, further enriching KernelDAO’s ecosystem’s use cases and functionalities. It promotes synergistic development between projects within the ecosystem, attracting more developers and users, creating a positive feedback loop in the ecosystem’s growth, and continuously expanding KernelDAO’s influence in the multi-chain restaking field.

Conclusion

For investors, KernelDAO presents a highly innovative and promising opportunity. Its multi-chain restaking model uniquely addresses pain points in traditional staking, and its listing on Binance has boosted both visibility and liquidity. This presents new investment potential for those closely following the project’s development, especially its efforts to overcome current challenges and expand the ecosystem.

However, investing in KernelDAO comes with risks. The high volatility of the crypto market may lead to significant fluctuations in $KERNEL’s price, potentially resulting in asset devaluation. Therefore, investors should carefully assess their risk tolerance and make informed decisions before investing in KernelDAO.