Berachain activated PoL Next on mainnet June 23, retiring the BGT-boost system at the core of its original Proof of Liquidity layer and replacing it with staked WBERA (sWBERA) and Emissions Return Agreements, contracts that route validator emissions to protocols demonstrating real fee generation rather than speculative yield.

Berachain's Proof of Liquidity ties validator rewards to on-chain liquidity provision. Under the original model, validators awarded BGT boosts to liquidity pools; protocols competed for those boosts with no requirement to generate on-chain revenue.

How sWBERA works

BGT no longer has a user-facing role in the incentive stack, per Berachain's protocol changelog. Reward emissions now flow in WBERA. All incentive value accrues through sWBERA, a yield-bearing token representing a staked BERA position in the Staking Vault.

sWBERA earns non-dilutive yield as the Staking Vault accumulates WBERA from incentive-auction commissions. Each token's underlying value rises automatically; rewards compound without manual claims. A seven-day unbonding period applies on withdrawal, with staked shares burned when withdrawal is queued.

Per-block rates under PoL Next are fixed at 0.4 WBERA for operators and 1.305 WBERA for the distributor, replacing the old boost curve.

Emissions Return Agreements

Emissions Return Agreements are the gating mechanism. Projects must demonstrate on-chain fee generation to qualify for guaranteed emission streams. Those that cannot are cut off from directional emissions. Teams that do qualify receive multi-month guaranteed streams, per the changelog. The arrangement replaces open competition for boosts with allocation tied to verifiable on-chain activity.

Migration and timeline

Any protocol currently farming BGT boosts must migrate. Integrators must remove BGT LST and boost dependencies from their implementations to remain eligible. BGT holders redeem through the Hub UI after the upgrade window closes, per the changelog.

Bepolia testnet received the upgrade on May 27, 2026. The team published code and two independent audits by Spearbit and Zenith on May 21 before the mainnet window opened.

Berachain's DeFi TVL stood at $58.9 million at activation, per DefiLlama.