Infrared launches a new mechanism for staking and auctions, with a major upgrade to the IR ecosystem in 2026.

[Chain News] The liquid staking protocol Infrared in the Berachain ecosystem has been very active recently. Their token IR has just launched a rewards vault module, and users can now earn PoL rewards by staking IR LP tokens on Berachain. Supported trading pairs include USDT0-IR, IR-USDT0, IR-WBERA, and WBERA-IR.

What's more interesting is the subsequent planning. Infrared officials revealed that the native staking feature for IR will be launched in January 2026. At that time, users who stake IR will be able to exchange it for sIR, directly earning returns from the protocol's income. Meanwhile, the protocol will also activate a buyback mechanism, which provides security for long-term holders.

Looking ahead to the first quarter, Infrared plans to introduce a Dutch auction system—this is an interesting design. Third-party protocols can use IR to bid for the emission rights of BGT, and the funds from successful bids will be locked for one year for the subsequent development of the protocol. The entire logic is to attract more people to be active on Berachain through these incentive mechanisms, thereby increasing the demand and value of IR.