Cross-chain protocol Wormhole released an upgraded tokenomics plan for its native W token, introducing a strategic reserve that’s funded by both onchain and off-chain revenue.

The reserve is part of three main changes: the strategic reserve itself, introducing a 4% base staking yield for governance participants, and transitioning from annual token unlock cliffs to predictable bi-weekly unlocks starting October.

The bi-weekly unlocks, however, won’t be applicable to the Foundation Treasury, which will follow its original daily four-year schedule. Core contributor allocations will also follow their original unlock schedule, time-locked under contractual safeguards.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

Staking rewards and yields will be sourced from existing token supply and protocol revenue, with no new W minted to keep its total supply capped at 10 billion tokens.

“While staking is a variable reward, holders will be able to receive higher rewards by being active users of ecosystem applications,” said Wormhole.

The W token saw a sharp rally after news of the tokenomics upgrade, surging 15% in the last day to an intraday high of $0.10. W is still trading 93% below its all-time high of $1.61 from April 2024.