Berachain replaces BGT rewards with WBERA

• Berachain will complete a hard fork that replaces BGT rewards with Wrapped BERA (WBERA) as part of its PoL Next upgrade.
• The network said the new reward model simplifies its token economy, while BERA fell 7% ahead of the upgrade.
• The foundation said the transition is designed to create a more sustainable staking system centred on WBERA.

Berachain (CRYPTO:BERA) will complete a hard fork at 4 pm UTC on Wednesday that ends Bera Governance Token (BGT) emissions and replaces the network's dual-token reward model with Wrapped BERA (WBERA).

The upgrade follows the launch of the first stage of Berachain's PoL Next initiative, with WBERA emissions beginning on Tuesday before the hard fork permanently halts BGT emissions.

The Berachain Foundation said the upgrade creates "a simpler and more sustainable" token economy by replacing the BGT-based reward system with one centred on staked Wrapped BERA (sWBERA).

Following the hard fork, fixed amounts of WBERA will replace BGT as block rewards, while reward vaults and liquid staking incentives linked to BGT will be phased out, and the foundation said annual percentage rates could triple although yields may fluctuate during the initial days.

Ahead of the upgrade, BERA fell 7% over 24 hours and was down 88% over the past year, while Berachain's total value locked declined 3% to US$56 million, according to DefiLlama.

Before the upgrade, users seeking higher staking yields relied on multiple reward mechanisms and liquid staking tokens linked to BGT, making the network's incentive structure more complex.

During the past 24 hours, Berachain generated US$41 in chain fees, US$3,359 in application revenue and distributed US$14,816 in token incentives as the network prepared for the transition.

At the time of reporting, Berachain price was $0.1961.