Vexidus Testnet Incentive Program
Status: Program structure finalized. The reward pool is 48.54M VXS (3% of total supply) with allocations planned across all three tracks. Specific per-track amounts will be published when the funding round closes.
Why no dollar amounts? We believe in transparency. VXS does not have a market price yet, and we refuse to anchor rewards to speculative valuations. When we close our funding round, we'll publish concrete figures tied to real price discovery. Early participants who join based on the technology — not a dollar promise — are exactly the community members we want.
All rewards vest. 12-24 month linear vesting with no immediate unlocks at TGE. Milestone-based release where possible — if a project goes inactive, unvested tokens return to the pool.
Overview
The Vexidus Testnet Incentive Program rewards three types of participants who help build, secure, and grow the Vexidus ecosystem during the testnet phase:
| Track | Who | What We're Looking For |
|---|---|---|
| Validators | Node operators | Reliable infrastructure, community building, uptime |
| Builders | Developers & teams | Applications, tools, and services deployed on Vexidus |
| Community | Delegators & active users | Staking participation, governance engagement |
A dedicated pool of 48.54M VXS (3% of total supply) funds all three tracks plus the Intent-a-thon builder event and a bug bounty program. All rewards vest 12-24 months linear to align long-term incentives.
Track 1: Validator Rewards
Goal: 20-25 validators across multiple continents, stress-testing Vexcel attestation, Dragonfly Stream, and VexVisor upgrades at scale.
Qualification
- Run a Vexidus validator node for minimum 30 consecutive days
- Maintain B grade (75+) reputation score throughout
- Keep VexVisor auto-upgrade enabled (accept 90%+ of upgrades within 24 hours)
- Stake the minimum 1,000 VXS (available via testnet faucet)
Reward Factors
| Factor | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Base allocation | Equal share across all qualifying validators each month |
| Reputation grade | B = 1.0x, B+ = 1.1x, A = 1.25x, A+ = 1.5x multiplier |
| Tenure streak | 30d = 1.0x, 60d = 1.1x, 90d = 1.2x, 180d = 1.4x multiplier |
| Community builder | 5+ delegators = +10%, 15+ = +25%, 30+ = +40% bonus |
What This Rewards
- Consistency over intensity — 90 days at A grade beats 7 days of perfection
- Community building — validators who recruit delegators and grow their pool earn more
- Upgrade compliance — testnet requires everyone on the same binary; auto-upgrade is mandatory
Getting Started
- Follow the Validator Setup Guide
- Fund your validator via the testnet faucet
- Stake and begin producing blocks
- Your reputation score builds automatically — check it on VexScan
Track 2: Builder Grants
Goal: Seed the Vexidus application ecosystem with original, innovative projects across every industry.
Our Philosophy: Innovation Over Conversion
We're not looking for Ethereum dApps with a logo swap. We're looking for builders who see what Vexidus makes possible and think: "I couldn't build this anywhere else."
Vexidus is a general-purpose L1 blockchain — there is room for everyone. Finance, gaming, logistics, social, healthcare, education, creative arts. If you believe in yourself and you believe in building on a chain that was designed from the ground up to be different, there is a place for you here.
Who will build the next pump.fun — but with anti-rug protections baked into the protocol? Who will create the go-to DEX or marketplace on Vexidus? Who will be the first to use IntentVM for supply chain attestation, or VexBridge to unify assets across five chains with one signature? These are open questions, and the answers will come from builders, not from us.
We reward innovation, not imitation.
What You Can Build With
Vexidus ships production-ready infrastructure that most L1s only put on a roadmap:
| Primitive | What It Enables |
|---|---|
| VSC-7 tokens | Launch tokens with built-in metadata, reputation scoring, and automatic bridge compatibility |
| VSC-21 NFTs + VSC-55 multi-token | Collections with on-chain metadata and cross-chain provenance |
| VexBridge | Vaultless cross-chain bridge. Assets from Solana, Ethereum, BSC and more become native tokens on Vexidus — not wrapped IOUs |
| VexiDEX AMM | On-chain liquidity pools and swap routing, ready to build on top of |
| IntentVM | 1 intent, 1 signature, N operations across multiple chains. Natural language and structured input |
| VSC-88 Governance | On-chain proposals, voting, multi-sig accounts — build DAOs and community-governed projects |
| VSC-LAUNCH | Presale and escrow with anti-rug protections built into the protocol layer |
| Vexcel DAG | Attestation layer for provable data — receipts, certifications, audit trails |
| Dragonfly Stream | Mempoolless transaction pipeline — zero MEV, zero front-running, by design |
Grant Categories
We're open to any project that builds genuine value on Vexidus. Here are some areas we're particularly excited about:
| Category | Ideas That Excite Us |
|---|---|
| DeFi & Launchpads | Token launchpads with VSC-LAUNCH anti-rug protections. DEX aggregators. Lending and borrowing. Yield strategies. Payment rails. The DeFi stack is wide open. |
| Gaming & Entertainment | On-chain games with VSC-21 NFT assets. Gaming economies with VSC-55 multi-token inventories. Prediction markets. |
| Real-World Applications | Supply chain tracking with Vexcel attestations. Credential verification. Document notarization. IoT data logging. Logistics management. |
| Social & Community | On-chain social platforms. Creator economies. Tipping and micropayments. DAO tooling for communities. |
| Cross-Chain & Intent | Applications that showcase IntentVM's "1 intent, N chains" capability. Multi-chain portfolio management. Bridge-powered remittance. |
| Infrastructure & Tools | Alternative explorers. Analytics dashboards. SDKs in new languages (Python, Go, TypeScript). Testing frameworks. Wallet integrations. API wrappers. |
| Something We Haven't Thought Of | The best projects are often the ones nobody predicted. If you have an idea that doesn't fit a category, that might be exactly what we're looking for. |
How It Works
- Build first, ask later — You don't need permission to start building on Vexidus testnet. Get VXS from the faucet, use the SDK and CLI, and deploy
- Show, don't tell — Deploy a working prototype on testnet. Transactions on-chain are worth more than a slide deck
- Apply for a grant — Once you have something working, submit a brief proposal: what you built, what traction looks like, and where you're headed
- Grow with us — Top projects get ongoing support, promotion, and deeper integration with the Vexidus ecosystem
Evaluation Criteria
- Does it work? Deployed and functional on testnet. Code over promises
- Is it original? We reward projects that leverage what makes Vexidus unique — not ports of existing projects from other chains
- Does it attract users? Real on-chain activity signals genuine value
- Is the builder committed? Continued development, responsiveness, and vision for the future
- Does it strengthen the ecosystem? Projects that make Vexidus better for everyone else earn extra consideration
Grant Tiers
| Tier | For | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | Solo developers, early prototypes, experiments | VXS allocation + testnet support |
| Growth | Small teams, working products with real users | Larger VXS allocation + milestone-based funding + ecosystem promotion |
| Ecosystem | Established teams, high-impact applications | Largest allocations + partnership-level engagement + co-marketing |
Exact VXS amounts per tier will be published when the reward pool is finalized. What matters now is building.
Track 3: Community Rewards
Goal: Reward non-technical participants who contribute to network health through staking and governance.
Delegator Rewards
- Minimum: Delegate 500 VXS to any validator for 14+ consecutive days
- Reward: Proportional to
amount_delegated × days_active - Cap: No single address earns more than 2% of the delegator pool (prevents whale domination)
- Bonus: Delegating to validators outside the top 5 by stake earns a 1.2x multiplier (encourages decentralization)
Governance Participation
- Vote on VSC-88 proposals when available
- Participate in governance discussions
- No direct VXS reward for voting (prevents vote farming) — but governance activity factors into future consideration for builder grants and validator reputation
Intent-a-thon (Builder Event)
Target: May 2026 (exact dates TBA)
The Intent-a-thon is a time-limited builder event focused on IntentVM and VIP (Vexidus Intent Programs). Build applications that showcase what natural-language intents and declarative on-chain programs can do.
What We're Looking For
- IntentVM integrations -- Applications that use "swap 100 VXS for ETH" style natural-language intents
- VIP programs -- Declarative templates that compose multiple operations into reusable on-chain programs
- Cross-chain intent flows -- Multi-chain operations powered by VexBridge + IntentVM
- Novel use cases -- Supply chain, gaming, social, DeFi, identity, or anything we haven't imagined
Prize Tiers
| Tier | For | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Prize | Best overall project | Innovation, execution, real-world utility |
| Runner Up | Strong submissions | Working prototype with clear vision |
| Honorable Mention | Promising early-stage | Good concept, needs more development |
Exact VXS amounts per tier will be published when the event launches. All prizes vest 12 months linear.
How to Participate
- Build on Vexidus testnet using the IntentVM Guide and VIP Guide
- Deploy a working prototype before the submission deadline
- Submit via the Intent-a-thon portal (link TBA)
- Present to judges during demo day
Bug Bounty Program
A dedicated bug bounty pool rewards security researchers and community members who discover and responsibly disclose vulnerabilities.
Severity Tiers
| Severity | What Qualifies | Reward Range |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Consensus break, fund theft, validator compromise | Highest tier |
| High | State corruption, denial of service, bridge exploit | High tier |
| Medium | RPC crashes, incorrect balances, explorer data errors | Medium tier |
| Low | UI bugs, documentation errors, minor inconsistencies | Low tier |
Rules
- Responsible disclosure required -- report privately before publishing
- First reporter wins -- duplicate reports receive no reward
- Testnet scope -- mainnet-only bugs will be covered by a separate program
- No self-inflicted damage -- do not exploit vulnerabilities on testnet to cause disruption
Report bugs via the form on vexidus.io or contact the team directly.
Anti-Gaming Rules
We want genuine participants, not farmers.
- Snapshots: Qualification measured via random-interval snapshots averaged over the period — not cumulative totals
- Sybil resistance: Validator rewards tied to unique pubkeys with real stake. Delegator rewards require minimum amounts and duration
- Self-delegation detection: Validators delegating to themselves from multiple addresses does not count toward the community builder bonus
- Upgrade compliance: Validators who repeatedly reject VexVisor upgrades or run outdated binaries forfeit rewards for that period
- Good faith clause: The Vexidus Foundation reserves the right to disqualify participants who demonstrably game the system. We'd rather have 15 genuine validators than 25 with 10 gaming it
Timeline
| Phase | When | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| Program announced | Now | Structure and rules published. Start earning immediately. |
| Reward pool confirmed | March 2026 | 48.54M VXS (3% of supply) allocated. Per-track amounts at funding close. |
| Builder grants open | Ongoing | Apply anytime. First grants awarded on rolling basis |
| Intent-a-thon | May 2026 | Time-limited builder event for IntentVM and VIP projects |
| Bug bounty live | Ongoing | Responsible disclosure rewarded from dedicated pool |
| Mainnet snapshot | Before mainnet launch | Final qualification snapshot taken |
| Rewards distributed | At mainnet launch | VXS distributed with 12-24 month linear vesting |
FAQ
Q: How do I know my rewards are being tracked? Your validator reputation, blocks produced, delegation history, and on-chain activity are all recorded in Vexidus state. Nothing to submit — we read it from the chain. Check your status at vexscan.io.
Q: What if I start validating late? The program rewards tenure, so earlier is better. But a validator who joins on day 60 and runs flawlessly for 120 days still earns well. Quality matters more than when you started.
Q: Can I run multiple validators? Each validator must have a unique public key and genuine infrastructure. Running 5 validators on the same machine with the same IP defeats the purpose. We're testing geographic distribution and real-world network conditions.
Q: What about testnet VXS — does it carry over? No. Testnet VXS has zero monetary value. Mainnet rewards are a separate allocation distributed at launch based on testnet participation records.
Q: I'm a developer — where do I start?
- Read the docs
- Get testnet VXS from the faucet
- Use the CLI or SDK to deploy
- Submit a builder grant application when you have something working
Contact
- Validator support: docs.vexidus.io
- Builder grants: Apply via the form on vexidus.io (coming soon)
- General questions: Community channels (coming soon)