How Skimflow works

Abstract

Most staking pays rewards by printing new tokens. That dilutes holders and only lasts while emissions last. Skimflow pays rewards from a real, recurring source instead: the fee charged on every trade of its own token. A 3% fee in ETH is taken on each buy and sell, routed to a vault contract, and streamed to stakers pro rata. There is no inflation and no team funding of rewards. Yield exists exactly as long as people trade.

1The problem with emissions staking

Classic staking programs advertise high APRs, but the rewards are freshly minted tokens. That has three consequences:

• Dilution. Every reward increases supply, pushing price down for everyone who is not farming.
• A countdown. Emissions run out. When they slow, the yield collapses and the capital leaves.
• Misaligned payout. You are paid in more of the same token you are trying to accumulate, not in a hard asset.

The yield looks real until you notice you are paying yourself with your own supply.

2The Skimflow model

Skimflow replaces printed rewards with earned revenue. The token, $SKIM, trades on a Uniswap v4 pool that charges a fee on every swap. That fee is not spent on marketing or held by a wallet — it is paid straight to the people who stake $SKIM.

In one line: stake $SKIM, and you become the house. Every trade pays a toll, and stakers collect it in ETH, proportional to their share of the staked pool, for as long as they stake.

3Mechanism

3.1 Fee source

The $SKIM pool uses a Uniswap v4 hook that charges 3% in ETH on every swap, on both buys and sells. The fee is taken in ETH rather than in $SKIM, so rewards are a hard asset and the token itself carries no transfer tax.

3.2 Routing

The hook's fee recipient is the Skimflow vault contract, not an externally owned wallet. Every fee therefore arrives on chain at a contract whose only job is to account for and distribute it.

3.3 Fee split

Each incoming fee is split on chain:

• 85% streamed to stakers, in ETH, pro rata by share.
• 15% to the protocol treasury, for liquidity, development, and operations.

The split is enforced by the contract, not by discretion, and is readable on the explorer.

3.4 Stake, claim, unstake

Staking deposits $SKIM and records your share. Claiming sends your accrued ETH to your wallet. Unstaking returns your $SKIM. There are no epochs, no windows, and no penalties; accrual is continuous.

4Accrual math

Rewards use a standard accumulator so that distribution is O(1) regardless of how many stakers exist. The vault tracks a running accRewardPerShare. When a fee of feeIn ETH arrives and totalStaked is non-zero:

// on each fee arrival (85% of the 3% trade fee)
accRewardPerShare += feeIn * 1e18 / totalStaked

// a staker's claimable ETH at any time
pending(user) = stake[user] * accRewardPerShare / 1e18
              - rewardDebt[user]

// on stake / unstake / claim, settle then reset the debt
rewardDebt[user] = stake[user] * accRewardPerShare / 1e18

Because accRewardPerShare only ever moves forward while you are staked, you earn exactly your share of the fees that arrive during your staking period, and nothing before or after. Depositing does not dilute past rewards, and leaving does not forfeit earned rewards.

5The $SKIM token

$SKIM is a fixed-supply ERC-20 of 1,000,000,000 tokens, minted once, with no transfer tax. Its single utility is access to the fee stream: to skim, you stake $SKIM. Demand to earn therefore translates into demand to hold and stake the token. Final allocation is published at launch; the founder allocation is staked into the same vault under the same rules as everyone else.

6Protocol treasury

The 15% treasury share is the only revenue the protocol keeps, and it is transparent by design. It funds deepening the liquidity pool, contract audits and development, and ongoing operations. It is not a hidden tax: the split is stated here, shown on the site, and enforced on chain.

7Security & trust assumptions

• Non-custodial. Staked $SKIM and accrued ETH are held by the vault and withdrawable only by their owner.
• No admin over stakes. There is no function that lets any owner pause withdrawals or move deposited funds. Exit never needs permission.
• Fixed rules. The fee split and accrual logic are set in the deployed contract; the core is designed to be non-upgradeable.
• Verifiable. The vault, the token, and every distribution are readable on Blockscout. Trust the explorer, not a dashboard.

8Risks

• Variable yield. Rewards track trading volume. In quiet markets the stream pays little or nothing. No rate is fixed or guaranteed.
• Volume dependence. The model has no yield without trades. It is not a fixed-income product.
• Smart-contract risk. On-chain code can contain bugs. Review the contracts and never stake more than you can afford to lose.
• Timing. Because accrual is continuous, rewards favour those staked when volume occurs. Staking around known large trades is possible but the accumulator limits its edge.
• Market risk. $SKIM is a volatile asset. Its price can fall regardless of fee income.

9Parameters

10Roadmap