Before we dive into xINIT, we need to establish INIT: the native token of Initia.
INIT is used for staking, governance, and securing Initia’s network. The token plays a central role in Initia's VIP system, where it can be staked and locked to influence reward distribution across interwoven rollups (appchains).
When users deposit INIT into Cabal, they receive xINIT, a liquid staking token that represents staked INIT within Cabal. While xINIT does not generate yield on its own, it can be used across a range of DeFi applications such as lending, borrowing, and trading.
The underlying INIT is max-locked to maximize governance power and VIP emissions. Although the underlying INIT is locked for 2 years within Cabal, users can instantly exit their position at any time using the xINIT-INIT liquidity pool.
xINIT is a bridge asset that is primarily (i) staked in Cabal as sxINIT, (ii) used as support for cabalINIT, or (iii) paired with INIT in the xINIT-INIT liquidity pool.
Staked xINIT (sxINIT) is the yield-bearing version of xINIT. Users can stake xINIT to receive sxINIT, which accrues rewards from:
**sxINIT earns the highest yield among Initia LSTs due to its integration with VIP. **Cabal is built directly on Initia L1, enabling it to capture governance bribes—a yield source unavailable to other staking solutions. Learn more about bribing..
If unstaked, sxINIT requires a 16-day unbonding period to convert back into xINIT. The unbonding period exists strictly to prevent frontrunning bribe distribution, which occurs every 14 days.