At Merkl, we're on a mission to simplify incentive distribution in DeFi without compromising on precision and performance.
Today, we’re making a major leap forward: third-party contracts (staking contracts, liquidity managers,…) receiving rewards are now automatically detected, and reward forwarding to users is enabled by default when you create a campaign.
No more manual activation.
No need to input contract addresses. Merkl takes care of everything — so you can focus on the impact, not the setup.
Enjoy the smartest incentive distribution
One of the biggest advantages of using Merkl to run your incentive programs is access to the smartest distribution system in DeFi.
Merkl ensures that rewards are delivered to actual users — not just the smart contracts holding their funds. In DeFi, users rarely hold assets directly in their wallets. Instead, assets are commonly deposited into staking contracts, lending protocols, automated liquidity managers,…
This is why Merkl forwarders exist: to trace ownership through these layers and forward rewards to the real end users.
Take, for example, a campaign targeting USDA holders. USDA might be used across several Morpho markets, either as collateral or a loan token. Merkl automatically identifies the Morpho singleton contract as a forwarder and distributes rewards by iterating through all Morpho markets — regardless of which lending market USDA users are in (e.g. Gauntlet USDA, Re7 USDA, etc).
No more manual steps, forwarders are now fully automated
Forwarders aren’t new to Merkl — they’ve been powering accurate reward distribution for months.
What is new? They’re now completely automated.
Merkl now automatically detects and enables forwarders by default for all compatible campaign types. That means no more manual steps, no need to track or input third-party contracts.
The Merkl Studio interface even includes a built-in scan tool if you want to double-check whether an address matches a known forwarder pattern.
Even better, Merkl mirrors the internal logic of each protocol. If a protocol takes a fee on forwarded rewards, Merkl replicates that logic precisely.
For example, in a USDA rewards campaign where some USDA is deposited in a Pendle market, Merkl forwards rewards only to eligible stakeholders (like YT and LP holders), excludes ineligible ones (like PT holders), and automatically applies Pendle's treasury fee.
Forwarding is enabled by default for most campaign types. If you’re working with a new protocol or need custom forwarder support, our team is here to help.
A simplified experience for your users
Thanks to Merkl’s automatic smart contract detection and reward forwarding, the user experience is significantly improved. Forwarders are automatically identified and surfaced within the Merkl app as sub-campaigns, offering greater clarity and granularity on how users can participate in a rewards program.
For example, in a campaign like “Provide liquidity to a Uniswap v4 pool,” Merkl will detect forwarding contracts — such as liquidity managers like Gamma — and automatically generate a dedicated sub-campaign in the Merkl App like “Provide via Gamma v4.”
This makes it clear to users that they can earn rewards not only by interacting directly with the protocol, but also through third-party contracts identified as forwarders — giving them full visibility on all available entry points.
To conclude, with automatic forwarder detection, Merkl makes campaign creation faster, smoother, and smarter. Campaign creators no longer need to worry about technical configurations — you just define your target, launch your campaign, and let Merkl handle the complexity. The right rewards, to the right users — automatically.