Berachain EVM L1 Mainnet Launches Feb. 6, Promises New 'Proof-of-Liquidity' Chain

Berachain's mainnet is set to launch on Feb. 6, over a year after the project released its public testnet and secured over $100 million in funding.

An Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible layer-1 (L1) blockchain called Berachain is preparing to launch its mainnet for on-chain users this week after years of development.

An X post from the Berachain Foundation on Feb. 4 confirmed the L1 mainnet is set for a Feb. 6 launch. “TGE will occur at the same time as mainnet launch,” the foundation wrote, referring to the token generation event for Berachain’s ecosystem.

From Feb. 5, users can also view the project’s tokenomics and check for airdrops farmed during the year-long testnet period, which opened in January 2024 with the codename “Artio.”

An earlier report from last May noted that Berachain’s mainnet was expected to launch in Q5 2024, following the completion of its testnet. The project also planned to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) and NFT marketplace as part of its ecosystem.

Berachain's proof-of-liquidity chain

Berachain’s EVM L1 notably utilized the Cosmos Software Development Kit (SDK) to build a blockchain consensus design dubbed “proof-of-liquidity,” a model spun from the popular proof-of-stake (PoS) network system.

According to the Berachain team, proof-of-liquidity or PoL requires users to secure the network by providing liquidity to “DeFi primitives” rather than simply staking tokens.

The new EVM L1 uses a triple token system, split across BGT for staking, with BERA as the native gas token and the stablecoin HONEY.

To earn BGT, users must fund on-chain liquidity for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols like exchanges or lenders. The token cannot be bought in open markets, only earned per the team’s design. However, users can burn BTG coins to receive BERA tokens. Burned BTG is irredeemable.

Moreover, delegated BGT deposited to validators generates HONEY stablecoin rewards through protocol fees and “bribes.”

Berachain has been in development since at least 2021, following the launch of the non-fungible token (NFT) collection called “Bong Bears.”

The NFT series and Berachain were created by a four-person team of pseudonymous co-founders identified under the monickers Homme Bera, Dev Bear, Papa Bear, and Smokey The Bera.

The team went on to raise $42 million in a private token sale in April 2023 and $100 million in a Series B round co-led by Abu Dhabi’s Brevan Howard Digital branch and Framework Ventures.