NLS is the token at the centre of Nolus. It is accepted for network fees, staking it earns you a share of the fees the protocol collects, and it gives holders a say in how the protocol develops.
Utility of the NLS token
NLS supports four core functions.
Transaction and network fees
NLS is used to pay transaction and network fees, which pass from users to the validators securing the network.
Governance participation
NLS holders take part in protocol governance. By staking NLS, they can vote on proposals ranging from parameter changes to protocol upgrades.
Incentivizing decentralization
Staking NLS secures the network, and stakers receive NLS rewards in line with the defined network parameters.
Rewarding ecosystem contributors
NLS is also used to reward contributors who help the network grow.
Value accrual mechanisms
Two mechanisms tie protocol activity back to the token.
NLS token buyback
Revenue from interest-bearing margin positions covers the running costs of the Nolus ecosystem, and the fees the protocol earns are collected by the protocol treasury. Past protocol revenue funded buybacks of NLS: those tokens were removed from circulation and are held in a reserve, which governance can allocate to approved initiatives. No buyback runs automatically today.
Fee abstraction and staking rewards
A fee abstraction mechanism lets fees on the Nolus network be paid in any of the supported assets (NLS, cbBTC, HYPE, SOL, USDC, USDC_NOBLE and wETH), so there is no need to hold NLS or convert assets first. You do not choose which one pays: the app is handed a ready-made fee and charges the first accepted asset your account can cover it with, taking native NLS last, so the figure in the wallet approval will often be denominated in one of the others. The fees collected this way are distributed to delegators as staking rewards. On the home page these rewards are not a line of their own: unclaimed staking rewards and pool yield are added together into one Total Earnings figure in USD, so it will not match the claimable NLS amount shown as NLS Rewards on the Earn page.
Structure and allocation
Fifteen percent of the total token supply is allocated to staking rewards for validators and delegators. At the end of the first operational month, an initial 2.5% of the staking pool is released. Each month after that in the first year, the release percentage decreases by 0.05 p.p. month over month. In later years the reduction steps down further: 0.04 p.p. in year two, 0.03 p.p. in year three, 0.02 p.p. in year four, and 0.015 p.p. through years five to seven. From year eight the decrease is 0.0125 p.p., staying at that rate until the end of year ten.
The NLS inflation model originally followed a high-to-low emission curve over ten years, starting high and declining quickly over the first eight years before levelling off. With the passing of vote #163, the community accepted a smoother curve.
Under the current model, fewer tokens enter circulation in the early stages and emission rates increase gradually over the remaining 8.5 years. This aligns inflation more closely with ecosystem growth, so more tokens become available as the network matures. You can explore the revised curve on WolframAlpha.
Data availability
On-chain, real-time tokenomics data for NLS is public at tokenomist.ai/nolus, including circulating supply, staking participation, reward emissions, treasury inflows and value accrual to the protocol.
Where NLS lives
Network | How NLS appears there |
Nolus | The native token. Staking, rewards and governance all happen here. |
Solana | A transferred version of the same token, created when NLS is moved across the protocol's transfer channel and redeemed when it is sent back. It trades on Solana exchanges such as Raydium and Jupiter, and Jupiter marks it as verified. |
NLS held on Solana is the same value, but it is not staked and carries no voting power. To stake NLS or vote with it, move it into your Nolus account with Fund first; it lands there as native NLS, ready to stake.
Several unrelated tokens use the NLS ticker on Solana. The Nolus app recognises only the NLS issued through the protocol's transfer channel, which is the one Jupiter marks as verified, so look the token up on Jupiter and check for the badge, and confirm through the Official Nolus Channels before buying anywhere new.