Across rewards are ACX Incentives for Staked LP Tokens

From LP deposit to a staked reward position

The Across reward workflow moves through five stages: create an LP position, receive pool tokens, approve the distributor, stake and monitor accrual.

Across Pool deposits and the reward contract both operate on Ethereum mainnet, chain ID 1. Once the HubPool mints an LP token, a fresh wallet with no existing allowance signs two more transactions: an ERC-20 approval and the stake. Both amounts must be above zero. Eligible assets have included LP positions associated with WETH, USDC, DAI, USDT, WBTC and ACX, yet eligibility follows the enabled LP-token contract rather than the underlying ticker alone. The Rewards view should match the token address minted by the pool. A similarly named asset from another chain isn’t interchangeable.

1. Choose the HubPool asset and review its available withdrawal liquidity before depositing.
2. Supply the asset and wait for the Ethereum receipt that mints the LP token.
3. Open the Rewards view and match the balance to the displayed eligible LP-token contract.
4. Approve the AcceleratingDistributor for the exact amount that you intend to stake.
5. Submit Stake, then confirm the staked balance, unclaimed ACX and multiplier as three separate fields.

That sequence starts ACX accrual. Holding LP tokens unstaked preserves their pool-fee exposure, but the distributor balance stays at zero and earns no emissions.

Staking adds ACX emissions to pool-fee yield

Staked Across LP tokens combine two return streams: utilization-based pool fees in the deposited asset and pro-rata ACX emissions from the configured reward pool.

The pool-fee component comes from bridge activity. Across splits each transfer’s protocol fee between two roles: LPs receive the LP fee and relayers receive compensation for destination gas, capital time and fill risk. ACX emissions form a second stream, paid through the distributor’s single immutable reward token. An unstaked Across LP token retains pool economics but gets no distributor emissions. A Balancer Pool Token such as the wstETH/ACX BPT follows Balancer and Lido pool economics; Aura and Velodrome incentives keep separate accounting. Across rewards include such positions only when their exact LP-token contract is enabled. Choose the payout token and accounting method that fit the position.

Claim timing determines the reward multiplier

Claim timing determines the multiplier applied to newly accumulated base rewards, while each eligible LP token keeps its own configurable curve and clock.

The contract begins a funded position at 1x and raises the multiplier linearly toward the maximum configured for that LP token. Its clock uses the weighted average deposit time rather than the wallet’s first interaction. Pool configurations can set different maximums and ramp durations, so a remembered figure from another LP token isn’t a reliable input. Claiming a positive ACX balance returns the position’s average deposit time to the current Ethereum timestamp.

Multiplier math at claim time

The multiplier changes the ACX payout calculated from base accrual; it doesn’t multiply the underlying HubPool balance or the pool fees already earned.

Inputs that change

The subject is unpacked Across setup. All four changing inputs in this hypothetical example are a 2x cap, a 100-day ramp, 50 elapsed days and 1,000 base ACX.

Concrete result

The elapsed fraction is 50 divided by 100, or 0.5. Applying that fraction to the interval between 1x and 2x produces a 1.5x multiplier. Multiplying 1,000 base ACX by 1.5 gives a claimable result of 1,500 ACX. The multiplier therefore contributes 500 ACX in this example. Actual base accrual changes with the pool’s emission rate, the wallet’s share of staked LP tokens and any configuration update.

Additional deposits move the multiplier clock

Adding LP tokens updates the position’s weighted average deposit time, so a larger top-up moves the multiplier clock farther toward the present.

Before accepting a top-up, the AcceleratingDistributor accounts for rewards earned by the existing balance. It then combines two quantities: the previous stake and the new deposit. Their relative sizes determine the revised timestamp. A small addition to a large position moves the clock modestly, while doubling a position moves it much closer to the deposit date. The contract stores four user fields for each LP token: cumulative balance, average deposit time, accumulated reward per token and outstanding rewards. Positions in separate pools keep separate records even when one Ethereum address owns all of them.

Partial unstaking follows another path. The contract accounts for rewards and reduces the cumulative balance, but it leaves the remaining position’s average deposit time unchanged. Removing the entire balance makes the multiplier view return its 1x floor. A later stake then starts from a newly calculated deposit time. This distinction lets an LP reduce exposure without automatically surrendering the clock attached to the balance that remains staked.

Staggered additions therefore create a timing decision: increase productive capital now or protect a mature multiplier until the next planned claim.

Live APY follows utilization, emissions and ACX value

Live Across APY combines a fee rate driven by HubPool utilization with an ACX rate driven by emissions, stake share and token value.

The pool-fee side measures utilization, written as U, on a scale from 0 to 1. Across applies an Aave-style two-slope curve with four route parameters: the base rate, the slope below the kink, the slope above the kink and the kink threshold. The curve steepens after utilization crosses that threshold. Its annualized rate converts into a weekly rate using 52 periods before the transfer-level LP fee is calculated. If a relayer takes repayment on the origin chain, that transfer’s LP fee is exactly 0 because no crosschain rebalancing is required.

The reward side starts from the pool’s ACX emission per second, divides it across total staked LP tokens and applies each wallet’s multiplier. ACX uses 18 decimal places, although the interface converts base units into readable token amounts. More staked capital lowers each unchanged position’s pro-rata emission share. A governance update through the Across DAO can also alter a pool’s base emission or multiplier settings. Snapshot decisions and the enabled state of the distributor therefore affect future accrual without rewriting pool fees already earned.

A high displayed rewards APY can fall when ACX loses value, emissions decline or more LP tokens enter the same reward pool. Compare both return streams separately.

Exit choices preserve different parts of the position

That said, Across exit actions separate claiming, unstaking and pool withdrawal, letting an LP choose which state changes to combine in a single Ethereum transaction.

A reward claim transfers the full outstanding ACX balance for the selected LP token and resets that position’s multiplier clock to 1x. The contract doesn’t offer a partial ACX claim. A partial unstake returns the requested LP tokens during the same successful Ethereum transaction and preserves the remaining balance’s average deposit time. There is a 0-day contract-level unbonding period, although receiving the underlying HubPool asset requires a later pool withdrawal. That withdrawal also relies on enough liquid capital being available in the selected pool.

The exit function combines two operations in one call: it unstakes the full LP-token balance and withdraws all outstanding ACX. The transaction emits three relevant events for indexers: Unstake, RewardsWithdrawn and Exit. OpenZeppelin Multicall support also lets a wallet batch compatible actions for several LP tokens into one transaction, while every pool retains independent accounting. Ethereum gas is paid in ETH rather than deducted from the ACX payout.

The final choice follows the intended exposure: claim and restart the multiplier, remove part of the LP balance or exit before redeeming the underlying pool asset.