Question 1

Why is 1 sMON not 1 MON?

Accepted Answer

sMON represents a share of the total pool of staked MON. The staked MON earns yield over time in the form of more MON, so the amount of MON in the pool grows relative to the amount of sMON outstanding. As this happens, each sMON token represents more MON in the pool — holding sMON gives you both your initial stake and your share of the yield earned since. This ratio never resets to 1:1, so the value of sMON relative to MON grows continuously over time.

Question 2

What are Liquid Staked Tokens (LSTs)?

Accepted Answer

Liquid Staked Tokens (LSTs) represent ownership of staked assets — in this case, MON. LSTs let you earn staking rewards while keeping your tokens liquid, meaning you can still use them across the DeFi ecosystem instead of them sitting locked up.

Question 3

How does sMON earn yield?

Accepted Answer

sMON earns yield because it represents a share of the protocol's pool of staked MON. When MON is staked with validators on Monad, the staking rewards earned are added back to this pool. As the pool grows relative to the total supply of sMON, the value of each sMON increases. sMON can also be used in DeFi to earn extra yield on top of staking rewards.

Question 4

How does unstaking work?

Accepted Answer

Unstaking sMON queues a withdrawal request for the underlying MON. Once the unlock period completes, the MON becomes claimable back to your wallet. You can view and manage pending requests from the Stake page.

Question 5

What are the potential risks?

Accepted Answer

While staking and using LSTs can provide various benefits, common risks include volatility of staked assets and LSTs, general blockchain security risk, and smart contract risk — LSTs rely on smart contracts, and vulnerabilities can lead to losses, though audits mitigate these risks.

Question 6

Is Kintsu's code audited?

Accepted Answer

Yes — securing user funds and protocol integrity is our top priority. Kintsu uses pre-audited code from libraries like OpenZeppelin.

Liquid Staking

Liquid Staking