Creating an incentive program
A project deepening liquidity on an Aero pool pays for it with Incentives, also called Liquidity Payments: a token, an amount, and a start and end date, streamed to the Token Operators who allocate AERO Rewards to that pool. The stream runs at a constant rate, so Token Operators earn from the moment they allocate, and the creator can reclaim whatever streamed while nobody was allocating.
Incentives pay Token Operators, not liquidity providers.
Prerequisites
- The payment token is listed on the Token Registry. Only listed tokens can be used to pay incentives.
- The pool is eligible. A pool whose gauge is not active has no Token Operators earning AERO Rewards on it, so a stream there reaches nobody. The pool's overview page shows Not eligible on the Allocate card for pools that are not yet eligible.
- The wallet holds the full amount. The whole amount transfers when the program is created.
- Token, amount, and dates are decided in advance. There is no edit step after creation.
Adding incentives
Step 1: Open the pool's Incentives
On Markets, hover over the pool's row and select the Incentives link that appears. The pool's Incentives window opens and lists its current programs, each with its From and To dates, interval, and time left to stream. Select Add incentives.
Step 2: Choose the token and amount
On the Add incentives page, pick the payment token and enter the Amount. The field shows the wallet's available balance.
Step 3: Set the dates
Set From and To as a date and time in UTC. The start cannot be in the past; a future start streams nothing until it arrives. The program must run for at least 7 days. The screen shows the resulting Coverage and Amount / hour: the rate is the amount divided by the duration, held constant for the whole window.
Step 4: Acknowledge and add
Tick I understand how incentives work. A program cannot be edited, topped up, shortened, or cancelled once it is created, and tokens that stream to Token Operators cannot be withdrawn. Select Add Incentive.
Step 5: Approve and confirm
Allow access to the payment token in the wallet (Allow access to [token]), then confirm the transaction. An Incentives added message confirms the program. Add more incentives starts another program on the same pool; View portfolio opens the incentives list.
Step 6: Reclaim after it ends
Once a program has ended, a Reclaim link appears on its row. Reclaim returns the tokens that streamed during intervals when no Token Operator was allocating to the pool. It is available only to the wallet that created the program and only after the end date. Token Operators can still claim their share afterward.
Parameters
A program is defined by four values, set once at creation and fixed for its lifetime:
| Input | Controls | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Token | What Token Operators receive | Must be listed on the Token Registry. |
| Amount | Total budget for the program | Transfers in full at creation. |
| From | When streaming begins | Cannot be in the past. Can be set in the future. |
| To | When streaming ends, and therefore the rate | Rate is amount divided by duration, held constant for the whole window. Minimum duration is 7 days. |
Duration sets the rate, not the total cost. The same budget spread over a shorter window pays a higher rate for less time; spread over a longer window it pays less per hour for longer.
| Total budget | Duration | Rate (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 tokens | 7 days | 1,429 / day |
| 10,000 tokens | 14 days | 714 / day |
| 10,000 tokens | 30 days | 333 / day |
Concurrent programs remove the need to pick one duration. A short program and a long program can run on the same pool at the same time, each independent with its own token, amount, and dates.
Eligible pools and limits
Incentives reach Token Operators only on pools whose gauge is active and has an emission cap.
Reclaiming unused budget
A program streams at a constant rate for its full duration whether or not anyone is allocating to the pool. When no Token Operator is allocating, the tokens streaming during that interval have no recipient. Reclaim returns them to the creator.
- Only after the program ends. Reclaim is not available mid-program.
- Creator only. Only the wallet that created the program can reclaim.
- Partial. Reclaim reaches only the tokens that had no Token Operator to receive them. Token Operators can still claim their share after the creator has reclaimed.
If a pool's gauge is deactivated mid-program, streaming continues. With no Token Operators allocating, the remainder streams into empty intervals and becomes reclaimable once the program ends.
Common issues
- The program started before the gauge was active. The stream reaches nobody until allocations reach the pool.
- The program streamed but nothing was claimed. If no Token Operator was allocating for part of the duration, those tokens have no recipient. They become reclaimable once the program ends.
- The transaction fails. Check that the payment token is listed, the wallet has approved it, the duration is at least 7 days, the amount is at least the number of seconds in the duration, and the start is not in the past.