Introduction

Quicksilver Protocol is a liquid staking hub for the Cosmos ecosystem. Like all things in Cosmos, Quicksilver is its own sovereign network connected to all other Cosmos-SDK chains via the IBC protocol. Although it is still un-launched, mainnet is right around the corner.

Quicksilver will leverage exciting features like interchain accounts and interchain queries to add next-level flexibility for stakers. Ultimately, it aims to offer a range of different stakeable IBC assets through its chain where users can freely use their tokens while they are staked.

The Problem

Traditionally, staking usually involves a lockup of your tokens while they are staked. Once staked you can’t do anything with them, and unstaking usually involves a waiting period before your unstaked assets are liquid.

Each unique piece of the IBC family has their own token used for network security. What the ecosystem lacks is a concentrated arena for liquid staking IBC assets.

Liquid staking platforms in general are usually native to a single blockchain and only support staking for that chain. In short, usually users can only liquid stake one asset per chain, forced to liquid stake on separate networks for each token.

The Goal

Liquid staking allows users who stake their tokens do something with them while they are staked. In other words, their staked assets are liquid. Combined with the cool interchain interactions only possible with IBC, Quicksilver can introduce a multi-chain liquid staking platform for Cosmonauts.

Quicksilver will be a one-stop shop for liquid staking across the Cosmos ecosystem. It will allow the seamless integration of any IBC chain, unrestricted validator access, and more, connecting all of the IBC family so they can liquid stake their assets with ease.

How Does it Work?

Quicksilver’s design heavily relies on interchain accounts. It is unique in that assets never leave their native chains. If someone wants to liquid stake from their chain, their assets are sent to a native interchain Quicksilver deposit account, then their liquid staking derivative (qAsset) is minted on Quicksilver.

If they are already staked, they can transfer their staked assets to Quicksilver without unstaking only if their chain has enabled the Liquid Staking Module from Iqlusion. New chains that are eligible for liquid staking on Quicksilver are decided on by $QCK governance.

Stakers can delegate to any IBC validator of their of choice. While there is no validator whitelist, governance can choose to deny certain validators by vote. Users do not have to surrender their governance rights to validators when liquid staking with Quicksilver either, they always fully retain their voting ability with qAssets. The team is also looking to allow qAsset LPs (such as those on Osmosis) to vote while providing liquidity!

Stakers are minted a “receipt” (a qAsset) for their staked assets. With this, they can trade or earn yield in DeFi all while remaining staked! If the user would like to exit their liquid stake, they can either sell their qAsset at market price, or they can redeem it for the underlying stake. However, redeeming qAssets simply revert to a regular staking position, so waiting periods from that point are relative to each chain’s unstaking period.

qAssets represent their underlying staked assets. Their price slightly deviates from the underlying asset’s price, and this is because Quicksilver auto-compounds staking rewards. While rewards are socialized amongst all Quicksilver liquid stakers, so are losses from slashing.

Since qAssets are liquid, Quicksilver can build an entire native ecosystem around using qAssets in DeFi. They could be used as collateral for loans, stablecoins, or protocols could simply find ways to offer yield on qAssets. 20% of the genesis supply is reserved for rewarding early protocols who build on the network.

Quicksilver also has a unique “Participation Rewards” feature. These are $QCK rewards reserved for liquid stakers who delegate to smaller validators that are active in their native chain’s governance. In short, Quicksilver incentivizes decentralization on all the chains it supports by rewarding stakers who delegate outside of the top validators.

Lastly, Quicksilver supports CosmWasm smart contracts, meaning Quicksilver can build its own native ecosystem! Protocols can deploy cross-chain smart contracts, and they can easily and securely interact with other IBC chains via cross-chain verifications.

“Cross-chain smart contracts will be able to retrieve data, control accounts, and make decisions based on information on other chains through these technologies. This means that protocols built using cross-chain smart contracts will become a part of Interchain DeFi, a new layer of DeFi that will supercharge assets being used in other DeFi protocols” (Quicksilver)

Partnerships

There are four chains so far supported by Quicksilver at launch, and that will be the Cosmos Hub, Juno Network, Stargaze, and Osmosis*. Being IBC-enabled and supporting interchain accounts, the opportunities for new onboardings are endless. Not only that, but imagine qAssets as stablecoin or loan collateral for any protocol within Cosmos, not just within the native Quicksilver ecosystem.

Different relationships between IBC chains and Quicksilver, as well as Quicksilver’s ecosystem and other IBC ecosystems, can all be formed thanks to Cosmos interoperability.

Tokenomics

$QCK Price: N/A

Market Capitalization: N/A

Circulating Supply: N/A

Total Supply: N/A

Learn more about the token distribution here.

What we know about $QCK is it will be used to secure the Quicksilver chain. Users will be able to stake $QCK and earn rewards, participate in governance, and it is also used to pay all gas fees on the network.

There will be a 200 million genesis supply, and this supply will double via emissions by the end of year one. Inflation rate decreases by 25% annually, and this will stop once $QCK reaches its maximum supply of 1 billion.

50% of the $QCK genesis supply will be airdropped at launch to stakers from supported chains, and airdrops will vary based on how active the staker is in governance, their validator’s performance, and whether or not their validator is decentralized. At launch, this includes $ATOM, $JUNO, $STARS, and $OSMO stakers. 20% of the genesis supply is reserved for ecosystem builders.

Conclusion

Quicksilver will be a fantastic addition to the IBC ecosystem, especially adding a new interesting layer to interchain DeFi. qAssets provide a type of flexibility for IBC stakers that isn’t offered yet, and it strives to offer a fully decentralized liquid staking hub for Cosmonauts from all over the IBC ecosystem.

Cosmos interchain accounts and the growing network of zones continues to prove the endless potential coming from IBC builders. Composability is about to have a new meaning in Cosmos, and Quicksilver will be one of the many new protocols leading this interchain Cambrian Explosion.

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