what's katana?
Katana is a DeFi lending and borrowing protocol that enables users to earn yield on both their collateral and loans. The platform integrates with Yearn Finance vaults, allowing users to use yvvb tokens as collateral while earning rewards. Key features include a "get paid to borrow" mechanism, revenue sharing with active users, and partnerships with major DeFi protocols like SushiSwap, Morpho Labs, and Turtle protocol. The platform offers 100%+ APRs on certain pools and distributes rewards in multiple tokens including their native $KAT token. Built on Polygon with VaultBridge technology, Katana recycles treasury profits and yield back to users, creating a sustainable liquidity flywheel. The project has already donated $200k into Katana Yearn vaults and has upcoming developments planned for October 2025, with SushiSwap teasing major announcements.
Katana integrated Spectra Finance for token trading, also partnered Jumper for KAT incentives.
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x.com/katanaLaunches Season 1 incentive program with Binance Wallet Earn on 2026-03-03, distributing 50M KAT tokens to users who bridge USDC and deposit at least 100 vbUSDC in the Morpho vbUSDC vault.
Released portfolio UI updates that display Morpho vault positions with earned interest, Sushi LP positions with range, size, and unclaimed fees, and borrow positions with health and utilization metrics.
Featured in Yields of the Week report by Nomatic Capital alongside withAUSD.
vKAT voting rewards can be claimed in multiple tokens including KAT, USDC, WETH, and WBTC, with users able to choose their payout mix.
Participates in a panel discussion on AI x DeFi alongside Avalabs, Hypernest, and Metis, covering liquidity design, execution layers, and autonomous systems.
Distributes app revenue fees to vKAT voters, who also earn vote incentives and exit fees.
Redistributes vKAT exit fees (penalties from early unlockers) to remaining vKAT voters.
Distributed 1.15M KAT tokens as rewards during Shogun Season.
Reached $10.8M in deposits during Shogun Season via Jumper Exchange routes.
Joined Immunefi's security ecosystem with an $80,000 bug bounty program and gained access to Immunefi's full platform including bounties, audits, audit competitions, onchain monitoring, PR reviews, and brand protection.
Delayed token transferability from February 20, 2026 to March 2026 due to a contract upgrade, keeping KAT and vKAT balances and deposit earnings unchanged.
Integrates native yield into CEX Earn programs, supporting hundreds of millions in Productive TVL and enabling earning directly from exchange accounts before token transferability.
Launched Telegram Yield Bot that automates strategies across the Katana ecosystem, enabling ETH deployment into Yearn, Morpho, and Sushi strategies directly through Telegram.
Launched Season 1 Onchain Quests, allowing users to complete onchain actions like swaps and deposits to earn XP and badges.
Integrated with Atomic Wallet to provide users default access to Katana's yield and liquidity features.
Enabled KAT token claims for users who deposited in Katana Vaults through Lombard Finance.
Held Katana Summit at Consensus HK 2026 with over 1,000 attendees, featuring a keynote, 4 panels on DeFi and institutional capital, and a new program preview. Hosted a panel on 2026-02-09 with GSR, MF, and Auros Global.
Integrated with Spectra Finance for principal token and yield token trading, offering a fixed yield position on the USDC vault with 8% yield and 4% borrow cost. Launched KAT rewards on Spectra MetaVaults on February 17, 2026.
Runs "Shogun Season" incentive program with Jumper Exchange, distributing $270,000 in KAT through Yearn Finance's USDC vault, ending 2026-03-05.
Recorded $1.2B DEX volume during Q4 2025.
Reached $45 million in total value locked in liquidity pools during the OKX wallet bonus event.
Monthly USDC rewards program of $20,000 for top 25 participants ends after February 2026.
Released a new Yield Token modeling tool.
integrated with Rango Exchange's multi-chain hub, enabling cross-chain routing across over 80 chains
Powers settlement and execution for Bluff, an onchain sportsbook that processed approximately $5B in wagered volume during its Pre-Launch phase over 8 weeks.
Activity on Katana makes users eligible for the Espresso Systems airdrop.
Partners with thedefiedge to promote its unified DeFi interface and long-term liquidity strategy.
Stablecoin market cap increased by 8% over a 7-day period ending December 17, 2025.
Onchain activity increases chances of securing whitelist spots for the NFT mint. Additional information about an NFT flywheel mechanism is coming soon.
The project becomes the newest addition to the Polygon Agglayer ecosystem, discussed in L2BEAT Talk episode 2 with Marc Boiron and Ignatius Widjaja.
Whitelist access for the mint is available through the Katana ID campaign, which is now extended to December 31.
Extended vault boosting program incentives, offering 41% APY on USDT, with yields on $1B FDV ($0.10 per token); Y4ppers and pre-depositors receive vKAT allocations. Offers vKAT airdrop to POL stakers. TGE scheduled by March 31, 2026.
Users are instructed to prepare for the vKAT Armory.
Aegis expands YUSD stablecoin utility integration across Katana platform alongside LFJ and Rho Labs.
SushiSwap V3 runs an active yield farming campaign on Polygon for vbUSDT-vbETH pool with 277% APR and $313,040 TVL through January 7, 2026.
The Genesis NFT launches as a stakeable NFT that links users to the liquidity engine across AggLayer VaultBridge, with mint proceeds strengthening the Treasury and holders earning returns from network activity supported by $KAT token.
Katana held a Korean Meetup in Seoul with Head of DeFi EauDoon presenting, and more community events are planned.
Campaign with rubyscore_io extended, giving additional opportunities to access the NFT whitelist.
Users are directed to obtain Katana ID and complete Ruby badges tasks ahead of an upcoming drop event.
November revenue totaled $345K (down 25%) with TVL at $424.6M maintaining 95% productive capital, while transaction fees grew 7% to $19.9K marking the fourth consecutive month of growth. Yearn generated $68.5K revenue (up 5.3%) capturing 83.8% of app revenue, while SushiSwap revenue dropped 81% to $13.2K, and median fees remained at $0.000602.
Marc Boiron (CEO of Polygon and contributor) delivered a keynote at Stable Summit discussing rebuilding L2 design around concentrated DeFi liquidity and the vKAT flywheel mechanism for institutional-scale stablecoin functionality.
The new Katana app will be powered by TrailsHQ, offering 1-click functionality for earning boosted yields on the platform.
The boost program receives an extension that increases yield earnings across all vaults, with USDC/USDT vaults currently offering approximately 40% APY plus KAT points and additional yield rewards.
Morpho holds over $303m TVL across 5 markets on Katana, while SushiSwap holds over $120m with USDC/USDT pool offering 21.93% APR including KAT rewards.
The KAT vault boosting program is being extended, allowing Yearn Finance vault token holders to continue earning native Katana L2 yield, VaultBridge donations, and boosted KAT rewards.
NFT mint is approaching soon.
Integrated Morpho protocol, dTRINITY DeFi, and Yearn Finance, enabling USDC borrowing with ETH or WBTC collateral and incentives in ETH, MORPHO, USDC, and KAT during Shogun Season.
Katana leverages Polygon CDK OP-Geth, a variant of OP Stack with zk proofs, for enhanced interoperability on Agglayer.
Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal discusses his pride in having Katana - described as "the DeFi Super App" - built on Polygon in an upcoming podcast interview releasing this week.
Katana reaches $426.7m in overall TVL, with Turtle chain contributing $159m (37.2% of total).
LINK/ETH liquidity pool goes live on SushiSwap with $KAT farming incentives, and $KAT token is valued at $0.10 per token (1B FDV) for pre-TGE DeFi calculations.
Genesis NFT stakers earn yield from the mint treasury through the DeFi engine.
Katana sponsors advertisement slots in a weekly crypto podcast roundup discussing market topics including L1 valuations, liquidity, and industry developments.
Mint occurs in 2 days offering free NFT and whitelist spot access.
Mint proceeds fund an NFT Treasury, and holders can stake their NFTs to earn yield generated by the treasury.
PEPE/ETH trading pair goes live on SushiSwap on Katana with yield farming opportunities available.
TVL exceeds $430M; RubyScore ID expires December 10, Yapper campaign Season 1 potentially ending same date. Launched Season 2 questing program with 7.5M $KAT rewards, up from 2.5M $KAT in Season 1.
LINK/ETH trading pair goes live on SushiSwap on Katana with yield farming opportunities available.
Katana's Institutional & Protocol BD representative participated in a panel at Vault Summit discussing credit as infrastructure for DeFi alongside Morpho Labs co-founder.
NFTs will use the ERC-6220 Ethereum standard allowing composable and equipable features, with the mint scheduled for this month.
Implements ve(3,3) tokenomics with vKAT token mechanics, including direct emissions, pool fee earnings, LP yield boosting, and avKAT auto-compounding. vKAT holders earn fees from voted markets, voting incentives, and exit fees from unstaking via 45-day cooldown or instant withdrawal, with vKAT granting voting power on bi-weekly emissions.
Katana has not yet had its Token Generation Event and is expected to TGE in 2026.
Multiple revenue streams power the flywheel: VaultBridge revenue, sequencer fees, AUSD treasury returns, and chain-owned liquidity returns.
VaultBridge has routed over $95k in yields back to users, with vbTokens integrated across Morpho, SushiSwap, and Yearn Finance for monetization on the ecosystem.
WETH supply on the platform delivers 21% rewards according to a weekly portfolio strategy update from hgETH.
All Katana V3 Vaults and VaultBridge are not affected by a recent incident, with different codebases providing security separation.
Katana Warriors NFTs can be staked to earn DeFi yield directly from the chain itself, with NFT distribution prioritizing active Katana users who interact with apps and socials.
Season 1 allocates 2.5M $KAT as rewards for onchain activities including borrowing, lending, swapping, staking, and creating memecoins. Completing tasks on RubyScore provides guaranteed whitelist access for the Katana Warriors NFT mint in December.
Infinit Labs integrates with GateWeb3 to reach 43M+ users, expanding access across multi-chain deployments including Katana, Mantle, and Base.
TGE phase is active with KAT token not yet launched, and yield farming is available through Merkle platform based on theoretical $1B FDV.
INFINIT V2 features new integration with Katana and Plasma, with users utilizing the platform to complete Katana ID minting processes.
Total Value Locked (TVL) reaches $444M across the protocol's integrated applications including Sushi and Morpho.
NFT mint scheduled for December (within 3 days). NFTs are DeFi-enabled with confirmed staking functionality allowing holders to stake NFTs and earn yield from the protocol's DeFi activities.
Partnership with rubyscore_io offers whitelist spots for NFT to users who complete ecosystem trainings.
NFT mint whitelist allocation operates through Rubyscore warriors system with specific requirements: 15 on-chain activity points on Katana (1 point per transaction), maintaining minimum $10 liquidity in one of 5 vaults, and achieving badge level 4 through tasks across Yearn and Sushi platforms.
BTC.b goes live with over 330 BTC deposited on-chain and integration into Sushi and Morpho. Foresight prediction markets launch with KAT rewards distributed based on participation size and duration rather than only prediction accuracy.
Foresight prediction markets go live with KAT rewards based on participation size and duration, not just prediction accuracy. Lombard's BTC.b launches on Katana with integration into Sushi and Morpho, with over 330 BTC.b already on chain and native minting/redemption available.
Whitelist spots for the upcoming NFT collection are allocated based on active platform usage as proof of alignment with the project.
Protocol-level integration with Lombard Finance and Foresight confirmed, with revenue streams including VaultBridge yield, $AUSD yield, chain-owned liquidity yield, and sequencer fees. Withdrawals settle in approximately 3 hours using ZK finality.
Partnership with Ruyui Studios confirmed for NFT artwork creation as the collection prepares for launch.
Katana WETH supply provides 18% rewards as reported by hgETH weekly strategy update.
NFT collection utilizes ERC-6220 standard enabling NFTs to equip, store and combine other NFTs as modular items, with founder confirming the NFTs include DeFi value providing additional benefits for active users.
October network revenue grows 27% month-over-month reaching nearly $500K, with median transaction fees at $0.0004 (3.2x cheaper than Solana).
Top 25 leaderboard participants receive USDC rewards while top 250 participants receive $KAT token rewards after the Token Generation Event.
NFTs launch soon with whitelist applications now open via Telegram form for community members who join both Telegram and Discord channels.
Application fees grow 82% month-over-month as Yearn, Morpho, and Sushi hit new highs on the platform, with VaultBridge and AUSD treasury donations now reactivated.
TrailsHQ launches as a universal intents platform with Katana integration, enabling 1-click cross-chain and cross-wallet token experiences alongside Circle CCTP and Foresight integrations.
TVL reaches $583M (up 10% in October), entering top 15 chains with 99.9% productive capital efficiency. Network revenue totals $436K with usage-based fees increasing despite yield compression.
A yield farming strategy combines Yearn.fi USDT vault as collateral earning 40%, borrows USDC on Morpho with users getting paid ~2% to borrow, then deposits USDC into Yearn vault earning 40%.
Rainbow app announces support for Katana network, enabling users to bridge assets and access stablecoin yields directly within the app.
Allora Mainnet integrates with Katana, providing builders access to an intelligence layer with AI-enabled use cases and predictive price feeds.
Infinit Labs deploys agentic strategies on Katana yielding 32.03% for stablecoins and 14.43% for delta-neutral ETH across Spectra Finance, SushiSwap, and Hyperliquid. Gate Wallet partnership provides 1-click strategy access to 40M+ users.
vKAT governance voting with fee earning capability launches soon.
Katana's TVL reaches $458M, ranking third among 2025 new chains behind Plasma ($3B) and HyperliquidX ($1.9B).
Beyond Tech integrates with Katana's yield infrastructure to route native Bitcoin into cross-chain markets, vaults, and lending pools without wrapping, powered by LayerZero.
DefiLlama publishes comprehensive 30-page research report on Katana. Native stablecoin AUSD backed by U.S. Treasuries generates yield for DeFi participants.
Katana backs Tria project, which achieved $66.7M oversubscription in their Legion Sale ahead of upcoming $TRIA token generation event.
Incubated project Kensei launches 94% APR $KAT reward program for Kitsu token holders.
BTC.b will expand to Katana network according to Lombard Finance's roadmap, alongside Megaeth and Solana integrations.
VaultBridge distributes over $100k in yield revenue to boost borrows and LPs on Morpho, Sushi, and Spectra, increasing APY for DeFi users.