CoinDesk 2025-06-30 17:00:00

Katana Mainnet Goes Live as Pre-Deposits Hit $180M

Self described 'DeFi-first' layer-2 blockchain Katana has launched its mainnet after receiving $180 million in pre-deposits. Deposits flooded in after Katana was revealed to the public less than a month ago. DefiLlama data shows that deposited jumped from $75M to $180M between June 1 Depositors will receive randomized reward NFTs called Krates, as well as a share of 70 million KAT tokens, Katana's native token. Upon launch, yield farmers will be able earn more KAT by staking on platforms like Morpho and Sushi. The blockchain aims to solve one of DeFi's largest problems: Liquidity. A lack of liquidity can lead to a multitude of issues including slippage, inefficient pricing and unsustainable yields. Some of the mechanisms Katana will use to solve that the issues is VaultBridge, which is a product that enables yield generation on deposited assets on Ethereum, as well as chain-owned liquidity (CoL), which allows Katana to retain 100% of net sequencer fees and convert them into liquidity reserves. "Katana represents the endgame for how blockchains create value in DeFi," Marc Boiron, co-contributor of Katana said in a press release. The launch coincides with yield farming incentives including token rewards for liquidity providers on Morpho and Sushi. Despite being based on Ethereum, Katana is blockchain agnostic so users can generate a yield on blockchains like Solana through Katana's collaboration with Jito, a liquid staking protocol.