BENQI (QI): tokenomics, risks and score
The main lending market and liquid staking provider on Avalanche, combining both functions in one protocol.
What BENQI is, and what it does
This is a DeFi protocol. It provides a financial service such as trading, lending or derivatives through smart contracts rather than through a company, so there is no account to open and no one to approve you.
What the QI token itself does: It can be staked to earn rewards, though a large part of those rewards is newly issued token rather than earned revenue.
Where it runs: Avalanche. Mechanism: Lending and liquid staking on Avalanche. It has been running since 2021, so roughly 5 years.
The facts
- TICKER
- QI
- SECTOR
- DeFi
- CHAIN
- Avalanche
- LAUNCHED
- 2021, so around 5 years of operating history
- MECHANISM
- Lending and liquid staking on Avalanche
- MAXIMUM SUPPLY
- 7.2 billion
- VALUE CAPTURE
- Staking only
- UPGRADE CONTROL
- DAO governed
- VESTING
- Complete
- LIQUIDITY BAND
- Micro cap. Thin, often a single venue or pool. Treat the quoted price as indicative only.
How the score breaks down
Each dimension is explained on the directory page, and the reasoning behind it is taught in the Academy research process.
Supply and value capture
A hard maximum supply that cannot be raised without the agreement of essentially every participant. Holders can stake to earn rewards, though much of that reward is newly issued rather than earned revenue.
Changes go through token holder governance, so control is distributed but influenced by whoever holds most. Ownership is moderately concentrated. A handful of large holders could move the market.
Where it is strong and where it is not
- Supply is capped, so holders are not diluted indefinitely
- Audited, with published reports
- Fully open source, so the code can be independently reviewed
- Vesting is complete, so there is no scheduled supply overhang
- Thin liquidity. Check order book depth before assuming you can exit
Incident history
No major exploit, collapse or regulatory action on record against this asset.
Our read
The main risk
Entirely dependent on Avalanche activity, which has been inconsistent.
Before you buy anything
Check the contract address against the project's own documentation rather than a search result or a screener link, since impersonation tokens with identical names and logos are listed constantly. Check the order book depth before assuming you can exit at the quoted price. And write down what would make you wrong before you buy, not after. The Academy thesis module covers why that single habit protects more capital than any indicator.