Veno Finance

About Veno Finance (VNO)

What Is Veno Finance?

Veno Finance is a liquid staking protocol on Cronos and zkSync Era. VNO is its native token. When users stake CRO, ATOM, TIA or ETH through Veno, they receive a yield-bearing receipt token (LCRO, LATOM, LTIA or LETH) that they can use in DeFi while it keeps earning staking rewards. VNO is the incentive and revenue-sharing token: holders lock it to earn a share of the protocol's staking commission and new VNO emissions.

This matters most for CRO holders. According to Veno's documentation, unstaking CRO on the Cronos PoS chain takes 28 days, and delegators have to choose and monitor validators themselves. Veno's pitch is that users hand this work to the protocol, receive a liquid token, and keep the option to trade or use it as collateral.

Who Founded Veno Finance? (History)

Veno's documentation describes the team as running its own node infrastructure, but it does not name founders or company officers. It does publish a team wallets page and a risk disclosure.

Documented milestones:

• The liquid staking contracts were audited by SlowMist in November 2022, and the strategy vault in August 2023.
• The protocol expanded from Cronos to zkSync Era, adding ETH staking through the Kiln staking pool.
• When Cronos zkEVM launched in August 2024, Veno began powering the zkCRO, vETH and vUSD tokens used on that network, which gave it additional revenue.
• Veno then introduced a VNO buyback and burn program funded by part of that commission.

The docs also include a guide to staking CRO with Veno from the Crypto.com Onchain wallet.

How Veno Finance Works

1. Stake A user deposits CRO, ATOM or TIA on Cronos, or ETH on zkSync Era, and receives LCRO, LATOM, LTIA or LETH at the protocol's internal exchange rate.

2. Delegate Veno delegates the underlying assets. CRO is bridged to Cronos PoS and staked with Veno's own validators. ATOM and TIA go to a published set of third-party validators, and ETH is bridged to Ethereum and staked through Kiln.

3. Compound Rewards are restaked automatically, so each liquid token becomes redeemable for more of the underlying asset over time. The token balance does not change, only the exchange rate.

4. Unstake Burning the liquid token starts a withdrawal. For CRO, the wait is up to 32 days (the 28-day chain unbonding period plus batches every 4 days). For ETH, it is usually up to about 7 days. During the wait, the user holds an NFT that represents the claim, and this NFT can be transferred or sold.

Key Ecosystem Components

• Liquid staking tokens: LCRO, LATOM and LTIA on Cronos, and LETH on zkSync Era.
• Reservoir: lock VNO for 3, 12, 48 or 96 months to earn CRO, ATOM or ETH rewards from protocol commission. It also acts as the insurance module against slashing.
• Fountain: lock VNO for the same periods to earn more VNO emissions.
• Veno Garden: farms VNO rewards on partner protocols, including Ferro, VVS Finance and Tectonic on Cronos and SyncSwap on zkSync Era. The yield can be boosted by locking VNO ("watering") and by staking partner NFTs as "helpers".
• Unstaking NFTs: tradeable claims on assets that are waiting to be withdrawn.

VNO Token Utility

According to the tokenomics page, VNO has a total supply of 2,000,000,000: 1,700,000,000 on Cronos and 300,000,000 on zkSync Era, each with its own allocation chart.

VNO is used for:

• Revenue share through the Reservoir. On Cronos, Veno aims to pass 50% of validator rewards (in CRO) to Reservoir lockers. On zkSync Era, it passes 50% of the ETH commission.
• Emissions through the Fountain. Lock multipliers are 3x, 12x, 48x and 96x for the 3, 12, 48 and 96-month vaults. Exiting early costs a penalty of 60%, 70%, 80% or 90% of the VNO withdrawn. Half of that penalty goes to the remaining lockers and half to the treasury.
• Boosting Garden farming rewards.
• Absorbing slashing losses. Reservoir lockers take on the risk of covering users if a validator is slashed.

The protocol takes a 10% fee on staking rewards on Cronos (this includes validator commission) and charges a 0.2% withdrawal fee on unstaking. On zkSync Era, the fee is 12% of staking rewards, split evenly between the Reservoir and Kiln. Under the buyback program, part of the commission from vUSD, vETH, LETH and LTIA is used to buy VNO on decentralized exchanges roughly once a quarter, and the purchased VNO is burned.

What Makes Veno Finance Unique?

Veno is built around the Cronos ecosystem, which few liquid staking providers serve directly, and it runs its own CRO validators instead of relying only on third parties. Its Reservoir combines revenue sharing with insurance: during a slashing event, which the docs call a "Drought Event", the Reservoir's revenue is paused and redirected to repay affected LCRO or LATOM holders until the losses are covered. The tradeable unstaking NFT is another feature that most liquid staking protocols lack.

How Veno Finance Differs from Similar Chains

Veno is a protocol running on existing chains, not a chain itself. Among liquid staking projects:

• Lido DAO and Rocket Pool focus on Ethereum and run their own node operator sets. Veno's ETH product uses Kiln, and its main market is CRO.
• Jito serves Solana staking, and Stader spans several chains. Veno's focus is narrower: Cronos plus zkSync Era.
• Veno pays its token holders part of the protocol revenue in the underlying staked asset (CRO or ETH), not only in its own token.

Use Cases of Veno Finance

• Earning CRO, ATOM, TIA or ETH staking yield while keeping a liquid token.
• Using LCRO and other liquid tokens as collateral or liquidity on Cronos DeFi venues such as Tectonic, Ferro and VVS Finance.
• Locking VNO to earn a share of protocol commission paid in CRO or ETH.
• Selling an unstaking NFT to exit early instead of waiting out the unbonding period.

How Veno Finance Is Secured

The staking contracts and strategy vault were audited by SlowMist (November 2022 and August 2023). CRO is delegated to Veno's own validators. ATOM and TIA are delegated to named validators such as Allnodes, Stakin and P2P.ORG, and ETH is staked through Kiln's pool on Ethereum. Slashing losses are meant to be covered first from treasury revenue and then from future Reservoir rewards. Contract addresses are listed in the docs, and the Cronos VNO contract can be checked on the Cronos explorer.

Risks and Considerations

• Slashing and validator risk: the docs note that a double-signing fault on Cronos PoS can slash 5% of the stake delegated to that node.
• Bridge and operator risk: CRO and ETH are bridged between chains, and ETH staking depends on Kiln.
• Liquid token discount: LCRO and similar tokens can trade below their redemption value when there is little liquidity.
• Long lockups: Fountain lockups last up to 96 months, and early exit costs 60% to 90% of the VNO withdrawn.
• Ecosystem concentration: demand for the product depends heavily on activity in the Cronos ecosystem.
• Team transparency: the docs do not name the team. They present the protocol "as-is", and users bear the risks themselves.

Why Veno Finance Matters

Veno is one of the main ways to stake CRO without giving up liquidity, and its tokens underpin zkCRO, vETH and vUSD on Cronos zkEVM. For CRO holders, it turns a 28-day unbonding asset into a tradeable one. For VNO holders, it offers a revenue share paid in the staked asset, with the added responsibility of acting as the protocol's insurance pool.

Where Can You Buy Veno Finance?

VNO exists on Cronos (0xdb7d0a1ec37de1de924f8e8adac6ed338d4404e9) and on zkSync Era (0xe75a17b4f5c4f844688d5670b684515d7c785e63). According to the Garden documentation, VNO liquidity pools exist on VVS Finance (Cronos) and SyncSwap (zkSync Era). It may also be listed on centralized exchanges. Always check the contract address before trading.

Storage Options After Purchase

VNO is a standard token on EVM-compatible chains, so you can store it in any wallet that supports Cronos or zkSync Era, such as MetaMask with the right network added or the Crypto.com Onchain wallet. If you lock VNO in the Reservoir or Fountain, it stays in Veno's contracts until the lock ends, so keep the wallet that controls that position secure.

Related Coins

• Cronos
• Lido DAO
• Rocket Pool
• Stader
• Jito