Utility

Learn more about the utility of SLAY

Governance & Decentralization

The SLAY token lies at the heart of governance and decentralization within the SatLayer ecosystem. Holders of SLAY actively shape the protocol’s evolution by proposing and voting on key governance matters. These include setting incentive parameters, funding new ecosystem initiatives that expand and strengthen the protocol. In this way, SLAY ensures that decision-making power is distributed among the community rather than concentrated in a single entity.

Value Accrual

SLAY plays an important role in value accrual for the ecosystem. A portion of the protocol’s fees, once built and enabled, is directed into the SatLayer Foundation Treasury, which grows over time as adoption expands.

SLAY holders guide how these resources are deployed, whether toward ecosystem growth, research, or new incentive mechanisms. As the Treasury strengthens, holders benefit indirectly through the sustained health and long-term value of the network.

Staking & Security for BVSs

SLAY is also fundamental to the security of Bitcoin Validated Services (BVSs). Bitcoin stakers who wish to secure these services can pair their Bitcoin with a minimum amount of SLAY, reinforcing the alignment of incentives between users, operators, and the protocol.

In return, stakers earn rewards in various forms from the protocol, along with potential additional rewards distributed directly by individual BVSs. This is done through our ongoing SatLayer Rewards Program.

Slashing

Security is further reinforced through a slashing mechanism built into our protocol. Stakers risk losing a portion of their Bitcoin and SLAY collateral if the operators they delegate to fail to uphold the security standards required by the BVSs they support.

Each BVS defines its own slashing conditions, ensuring that accountability is embedded into the system and that participants are consistently incentivized to act honestly and reliably. For more technical information about programmable slashing in SatLayer, please refer to our developer docs.

See the Whitepaper for additional information on the SatLayer Protocol here.