Infrared (IR): Berachain's Proof of Liquidity Infrastructure
Infrared is a DeFi infrastructure protocol on Berachain that builds liquid staking, validator, and PoL vault primitives around Berachain's Proof of Liquidity (PoL) consensus to simplify PoL participation and improve efficiency. Backed by $18.75 million from Framework Ventures, YZi Labs (Binance Labs), Hack VC, Animoca Brands, and others, Infrared (IR) will soon be available on Bitget!
What is Infrared (IR)?
Infrared is a DeFi infrastructure protocol on Berachain that builds liquid staking, validator, and PoL vault primitives around Berachain's Proof of Liquidity (PoL) consensus to simplify PoL participation and improve efficiency for users and protocols.
Berachain's PoL and BGT/BERA staking are powerful but operationally complex and inefficient. Governance and gas assets are illiquid and require active management across validators, LP positions, and rewards flows. Users must juggle liquidity provisioning, LP receipt tokens, BGT emissions, validator delegation, and governance, which is operationally heavy for both retail and protocol treasuries.
Infrared addresses these issues by converting illiquid BGT/BERA and PoL positions into liquid staking tokens that can circulate in DeFi while still earning underlying rewards.
Core Innovation: Infrared is the core infrastructure layer for Berachain's PoL economy, offering liquid staking tokens (iBGT, iBERA), validator infrastructure, and automated PoL vaults that route and compound rewards. It turns Berachain's Proof of Liquidity (PoL) into a simplified experience that lets users and protocols earn PoL rewards while keeping their assets liquid and usable across DeFi.
The IR token is the governance and value-accrual token for the Infrared PoL and liquid-staking protocol on Berachain, mainly used to capture protocol fees and give holders influence over how PoL vaults and incentives evolve.
Who Created Infrared (IR)?
Infrared was founded in 2023 by a Berachain-native team led by co-founder and CEO Raito (Bear), with other key contributors including Red (Co-founder / CTO).
Raito (Bear) - Co-founder & CEO:
Co-founder and CEO of Infrared Finance. Former capital markets lead at New Order DAO, with background at TrueUSD and Redacted Cartel. Public face of the project, frequently quoted in funding and ecosystem announcements.
Red - Co-founder / CTO:
Co-founder identified in governance and proposal metadata. Berachain co-founder and MTX Studio co-founder. Involved in protocol-level design and ecosystem coordination.
Core Team:
● Full-time team of 18 people covering technology, product, business, and marketing
● Team members from Kraken, Manifold Finance, NASA, Apple, EY (Ernst & Young), Credora
What VCs Back Infrared (IR)?
Infrared has raised $18.75 million across multiple rounds from leading crypto funds.
Funding Rounds:
● Seed Round (Q1 2023): $2.5 million at $25 million FDV, led by Synergis
● Strategic Round 1 (Q3 2023): $1.0 million at $50 million FDV, led by YZi Labs (Binance Labs)
● Strategic Round 2 (Q1 2024): $1.25 million at $100 million FDV, led by Hack VC
● Series A Round (Q2 2025): $14.0 million at $200 million FDV, led by Framework Ventures
Total Raised: $18.75 million
Lead Investors:
● Framework Ventures (Series A lead)
● YZi Labs / Binance Labs (Strategic Round 1 lead)
● Hack VC (Strategic Round 2 lead)
● Synergis (Seed lead)
Notable Investors:
● Animoca Brands
● Auros
● Selini Capital
● dao5
● NGC Ventures
Major Partnerships
Berachain: Native protocol in the Berachain DeFi stack. Top 1 protocol on Berachain by TVL, peaked at $1.7 billion, currently at $244 million.
BeraSwap / BEX: Deep integration with Berachain's native DEX. Users provide liquidity to BeraSwap pools and stake LP tokens in Infrared vaults.
Berachain Validators: Integrated with Berachain's validator set and PoL architecture. Stakes routed via Infrared still secure the network and participate in governance.
Kodiak: Integration for flash loans and advanced PoL strategies via Kodiak V3.
Pendle Finance: Partnership enabling trading of iBGT/iBERA yield through Pendle's yield trading platform.
DeFi Ecosystem: Integrations across Berachain DeFi for iBGT/iBERA as collateral, LP components, and reward assets.
How Infrared (IR) Works
Infrared automates Berachain's Proof of Liquidity (PoL). You deposit tokens once, and its smart contracts handle all the staking, validator delegation, and reward conversion while giving you liquid tokens you can still use in DeFi.
Blockchain Infrastructure
Infrared operates on Berachain as a native protocol in the Berachain DeFi stack. It is deployed as ERC-20-style contracts running on Berachain's EVM-compatible environment, integrated directly with Berachain's PoL reward vaults, validator infrastructure, and precompiles.
Technical Architecture
Liquid Staking Token (LST) Contracts:
● iBGT: Liquid claim on BGT/PoL exposure, backed 1:1 by underlying assets managed by Infrared's contracts
● iBERA: Liquid staking token for staked BERA, allowing BERA holders to stay active in DeFi while earning staking rewards
● Both are standard ERC-20-style tokens on Berachain
PoL Vault and Distribution Layer:
● InfraredVault.sol: Manages staking pools, accepts LP/BGT/BERA deposits, and interacts with Berachain's PoL system to stake liquidity and accrue BGT
● InfraredDistributor.sol: Receives validator and PoL rewards, applies protocol fees, and distributes yield to vault depositors and LST holders
Validator and Reward Plumbing:
● Suite of staking contracts (IBERADepositor.sol, IBERAWithdrawor.sol, IBERAClaimor.sol) routes deposits and withdrawals via Berachain's consensus and execution interfaces
● BribeCollector.sol: Aggregates bribes and incentives from Berachain reward vaults and auctions them
User Process
1. Get LP Token or BERA: Go to a Berachain DEX (like BEX/BeraSwap) and add liquidity to a PoL-eligible pool, receiving an LP token
2. Deposit into Infrared Vault: On the Infrared app, pick the matching PoL vault, click deposit, and send your LP token or BERA to the vault contract
3. Vault Executes PoL Strategy: The vault stakes your LP token into Berachain's PoL reward system, earns BGT on your behalf, and delegates that BGT to Infrared's validator set
4. Receive Liquid Tokens: System converts your BGT into iBGT and credits you with it. If you staked BERA, you receive iBERA
5. Use in DeFi: Use iBGT/iBERA in DEXs, lending markets, structured products, or other DeFi protocols while still earning underlying staking/PoL yield
You can access the platform at infrared.finance.
Infrared Token (IR) and Economics
The IR token is the governance and value-accrual token for the Infrared PoL and liquid-staking protocol on Berachain.
Token Details
● Token Ticker: $IR
● Blockchain: Berachain (ERC-20-style token on Berachain's EVM environment)
● Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 (1 billion tokens)
Token Distribution
● Community & Ecosystem: 23.5% (235,000,000 IR) for ecosystem incentives, 20% TGE unlock, remaining 12-month linear vesting
● Investors: 21.3% (213,000,000 IR), 6-month cliff then 10% unlock, remaining 18-month linear vesting
● Team & Core Contributors: 18.0% (180,000,000 IR), 6-month cliff then 10% unlock, remaining 24-month linear vesting
● Treasury: 13.2% (132,000,000 IR), 20% TGE unlock, remaining 12-month linear vesting
● Build-A-Bera Foundation: 10.0% (100,000,000 IR), 6-month cliff then 10% unlock, remaining 24-month linear vesting
● Liquidity: 10.0% (100,000,000 IR), TGE full unlock
● Community Airdrop: 4.0% (40,000,000 IR), TGE full unlock
TGE Circulating Supply: 21.34% of total supply
Vesting Details:
● Investors: 6-month cliff, 10% unlock, 18-month linear vesting
● Team: 6-month cliff, 10% unlock, 24-month linear vesting
● Build-A-Bera: 6-month cliff, 10% unlock, 24-month linear vesting
Token Utilities
● Governance: Holders vote on protocol parameters such as fee levels, vault whitelisting, reward routing, and how iBGT/iBERA integrations expand
● Value Accrual: Infrared charges ~10% performance fee on PoL vault earnings. A portion is earmarked for IR value accrual via buybacks or distributions to staked IR
● Points Program: Users earn points by holding iBERA, claiming iBGT rewards from PoL vaults, and providing liquidity. Points drive eligibility for future token rewards/airdrops
● Fee Sharing: Holding or staking IR entitles users to a share of protocol fees (performance fees on vault harvests)
Why Infrared?
Berachain's Top Protocol: TVL Top 1 protocol on Berachain, peaked at $1.7 billion, currently at $244 million.
Automated PoL Access: Automates the full PoL workflow (LP → BGT emissions → validator delegation → yield compounding) into simplified PoL vaults.
Liquid Staking Tokens: iBGT and iBERA allow users to earn PoL rewards while keeping assets liquid and usable across DeFi. Converts illiquid BGT/BERA and PoL positions into liquid staking tokens that can circulate in DeFi while still earning underlying rewards.
Validator Infrastructure: Centralized sophisticated validator, routing, and governance logic in an audited protocol. Stakes routed via Infrared still secure the network.
Backing: $18.75 million from Framework Ventures (Series A lead), YZi Labs / Binance Labs, Hack VC, Animoca Brands, Auros, Selini Capital, dao5, NGC Ventures, Synergis.
Team: 18-person full-time team from Kraken, Manifold Finance, NASA, Apple, EY, Credora. Led by Raito (ex-New Order DAO, TrueUSD, Redacted) and Red (Berachain co-founder).
Audited Protocol: Contract audits publicly available at infrared.finance/docs/audits.
DeFi Integrations: Deep integrations across Berachain DeFi ecosystem. iBGT/iBERA used as collateral, LP components, reward assets.
Yield Optimization: Multi-layer rewards (LP yield, PoL/BGT yield, plus possible extra incentives) aggregated into a single strategy.
Infrared (IR) Goes Live on Bitget
We are thrilled to announce that Infrared (IR) will be listed in the Innovation zone.
Trading: Opens on December 17, 2025, 12:00 (UTC)
Trade IR/USDT on Bitget!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only. This article does not constitute an endorsement of any of the products and services discussed or investment, financial, or trading advice. Qualified professionals should be consulted prior to making financial decisions.
