The BARK token
BARK is the token at the center of BarkSwap. It's what gets emitted as rewards, and it's what you lock to gain voting power. Understanding its two "states" makes the rest of the system easy.
BARK has two forms
| Form | What it is | What you can do with it |
|---|---|---|
| BARK (liquid) | The normal, transferable token | Hold it, trade it, provide it as liquidity, or lock it |
| veBARK (a veNFT) | BARK you've locked | Vote each week and earn fees, bribes, and the rebase |
When you lock BARK you don't get a fungible "veBARK" coin — you get an NFT (a "veNFT") that represents your specific lock: how much you locked and for how long. Each lock is its own NFT, and its voting power is baked into it. You can hold several at once.
BARK ──lock──▶ veNFT (veBARK) ──unlock when expired──▶ BARK
(liquid) (voting power) (liquid)
Where does BARK come from?
New BARK is minted every week by the Minter and streamed out as emissions — the rewards that liquidity providers earn. This is the fuel of the flywheel. The amount minted each week follows the protocol's emission schedule and typically tapers over time.
The rebase: why emissions don't dilute lockers
Here's a fair question: if new BARK is printed every week, doesn't my BARK become a smaller slice of the pie?
That's where the rebase comes in. A portion of each week's emissions is paid back to everyone who has locked (veNFT holders), in proportion to their share. It's designed to offset the new supply, so committed lockers aren't diluted by the very emissions that grow the protocol. You claim it into your veNFT each epoch — see Earn & claim rewards.
Hold BARK to stay liquid. Lock it into a veNFT to vote and earn — and collect the rebase so the weekly emissions don't dilute you.
What gives BARK value?
Unlike a pure "farm and dump" token, BARK has a built-in reason to be held and locked: locking is the only way to vote, and voting is how you capture the protocol's trading fees and bribes. The more BarkSwap is used, the more those rewards are worth — and the more valuable a vote becomes. That link between usage and the value of a locked token is the whole point of ve(3,3).
→ Next: Epochs & the weekly cycle — the clock everything runs on.