Staking vs. Escrow - Clarification

It’s important to distinguish between staking $LBOT and holding $esLBOT. While both are part of the alignment layer, they are separate mechanisms:

Staking $LBOT

• Locking or staking $LBOT in protocol staking contracts may provide base yield, participation rewards, or access rights.

• Staked $LBOT remains liquid $LBOT and does not automatically become $esLBOT.

• Users can unstake at any time (subject to cooldowns or penalties, depending on contract design).

$esLBOT (Escrowed LBOT)

• Earned separately through emissions, strategist incentives, or vault participation.

• $esLBOT is not created automatically when staking $LBOT.

• Converting $esLBOT back into liquid $LBOT requires vesting (e.g., 180 days linear).

• $esLBOT is the token layer that grants governance power, strategist publishing rights, and utility boosts.

✅ Key Distinction

• Staking = alignment via capital lock (but still liquid LBOT).

• Escrow = alignment via time commitment (illiquid until vested).

This ensures two different forms of commitment:

• Liquidity commitment through staking.

• Time-based commitment through escrow.

Both serve the same long-term alignment goal, but operate independently.

$LBOT can be converted into $esLBOT at any given time in order to be utilized for protocol-wide and governance based utilities. $esLBOT is transferrable and can also be staked.

$esLBOT is the result of a manual conversion from $LBOT and can be converted back through linear vesting.