Puffer Unveils Major Reward Program With Merkl To Boost DeFi Liquidity

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is crypto’s most tangible use case today, making finance more transparent, inclusive, and efficient. Building on this foundation, Puffer — a decentralized platform offering a unified scaling solution that integrates liquid restaking, based rollups, and preconfirmation services —is taking bold steps to revolutionize Ethereum's infrastructure.

To further its mission, Puffer recently announced the launch of its $PUFFER governance token, with a significant portion being distributed through an airdrop running from October 2024 to May 2025. For updated Season 2 of this airdrop, Puffer has partnered with Merkl — the leading incentive distribution platform — to efficiently manage the allocation of $PUFFER via tokenized Puffer Points to participants engaged in various DeFi activities.

Boosting DeFi Engagement: The Puffer Reward Program

Puffer envisions a decentralized financial ecosystem that empowers users, fosters innovation, and upholds Ethereum's core principles. Puffer has always striven to preserve what they believe to be Ethereum's most important value - decentralization. Through the updated Season 2 of the airdrop via the Puffer Reward Program, participants can earn tokenized Puffer Points by engaging in various activities, such as staking, lending, and providing liquidity with pufETH.

Key highlights of the program include:

• Earning opportunities: Puffer Points are ERC20 tokens that will vest over time and can be redeemed for $PUFFER tokens at the end of the program.

• Broad protocol integration: Participants can engage through staking & restaking activities on platforms such as Pendle, Zircuit, Karak, CyberConnect, and others, as well as in lending markets like Morpho and ZeroLend. Users can also earn rewards by providing liquidity on Balancer, Curve, Uniswap pools, and GammaSwap.

• Cross-chain participation: While all rewards will be distributed on Ethereum, the program includes activities on Base, BNB and more in the future.

This multi-faceted program creates a vibrant ecosystem, encouraging participants to leverage a wide range of DeFi tools to earn rewards and drive liquidity.

Merkl’s Role in Powering the Puffer Program

Launching a program of this magnitude demands precision, transparency, and a seamless user experience. That’s where Merkl comes in—an industry leader in incentive distribution, trusted by top Web3 projects such as Uniswap, Optimism or Trust Wallet.

As Puffer’s strategic partner, Merkl brings its full suite of capabilities to ensure the success of this reward program:

• Point calculation and distribution: Merkl will handle the calculation and distribution of Puffer Points across all participating protocols and users, ensuring transparency and accuracy.
• Vesting smart contracts: Merkl is developing smart contracts to stake Puffer Points, incorporating sophisticated vesting mechanisms for optimal token flow.
• A comprehensive front-end experience: To simplify user engagement, Merkl is building a dedicated interface where participants can:
  • View available opportunities and participating protocols
  • Claim and vest points
  • Monitor their progress across chains and assets

By consolidating all program activities in one user-friendly platform, Merkl eliminates friction and empowers users to maximize their rewards with ease.

Driving Growth and Liquidity Together

The partnership between Puffer and Merkl represents a significant milestone in DeFi incentive programs. Puffer’s cutting-edge approach to restaking and Merkl’s unmatched expertise in reward distribution form a powerful combination that promises to drive liquidity, incentivize participation, and expand the horizons of decentralized staking.