Comparison
Boost campaign vs points program
A boost pays real assets inside a fixed window; a points program pays a claim on a future token. Boosts move TVL faster and cost a known amount. Points cost no cash and can shape behaviour over months. If you have a date to hit, run a boost. If you have a token to launch and time to spend, points do work a boost can't.
Where they actually differ
| Dimension | Boost campaign | Points program |
|---|---|---|
| When users get paid | Daily, on-chain, while the campaign runs — claimable the same day | At TGE, on a date and multiplier that usually aren't fixed yet |
| What users receive | Real assets at a known value (USDC, USDT, the vault's own asset) | A score whose worth depends on the eventual valuation and allocation |
| Cost certainty | Capped budget, computable before you start | Dilution — the real cost is only known once the token trades |
| Who it attracts | Depositors who want cash yield, including capital that won't take token risk | Farmers positioning for a TGE; much stronger if you're pre-token |
| What can be verified | Wallet-level on-chain attribution a third party can recompute | A ledger the team usually maintains off-chain |
When points are the better call
You have a token you intend to launch and no cash you want to spend — points are the only way to use future equity as an incentive today. They also beat a boost when you're shaping repeated behaviour over months across several products, rather than buying deposits into one vault, and when your treasury is tight enough that dilution is honestly cheaper than cash.
When a boost is the better call
You have a date — a listing, an audit, a raise, a vault that needs depth before it's usable — and the TVL has to be there by then. You need a result you can show outsiders and that they can recompute themselves. Or your audience holds stablecoins precisely because it doesn't want token risk, which describes most of the capital sitting in stablecoins.
What actually happened
Questions
Can we run both?
Yes, and most partners eventually do. The usual sequence is a boost first to create verifiable momentum and a public number, then points layered on to retain the wallets the boost brought in. Points alone into an empty vault is the hard version — there's nothing yet to make the score feel worth accumulating.
Don't boost depositors leave when the rewards stop?
Some do, and any honest answer says so. Across Barker campaigns roughly 24% of TVL has stayed after rewards ended. What matters is which wallets stay, and that part is visible: attribution is per wallet, so retention is measured rather than asserted.
Compare another path
Run your own campaign
Design a boost campaign or launchpool in minutes — self-serve — or talk to us about target TVL, timing, and chain.