KEY FACTS: LeoDEX, a leading decentralized exchange built on protocols like THORChain and Arbitrum, will enable LEO token holders to stake their tokens (as sLEO) and earn daily USDC rewards from affiliate fees, marking a significant milestone in its LEO 2.0 upgrade launched June 25, 2025. This deflationary, revenue-backed system has already driven a surge in LEO’s price since June, fueled by a Protocol Owned LEO (POL) vault that buys and stakes LEO, auto-compounding USDC earnings. With daily trading volumes nearing $1 million, integrations like NAMI Index, and community innovations like LeoStrategy’s LSTR token yielding 330% annualized returns, LeoDEX is positioning itself as a DeFi powerhouse, offering sustainable, stake-weighted USDC rewards accessible via its user-friendly dashboard at https://leodex.io/leo.
Source: leoDex, USDC
Earn USDC by Staking LEO on LeoDEX Starting September 23
LeoDEX is set to deliver a seismic shift in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector as it prepares to launch USDC rewards on LeoDEX. Just seven days from now, on September 23, 2025, $LEO token stakers will begin earning direct USDC rewards from the platform's affiliate fees. This is a move that has already sent the LEO token soaring 500% since its LEO 2.0 upgrade in June. Not just another staking pool, but a revenue-aligned flywheel designed to reward holders while fueling LeoDEX's ambition to become the "Everything DEX" for over 1,000 cryptocurrencies.
For those unfamiliar, LeoDEX is a user-friendly interface built atop protocols like THORChain, Maya Protocol, ChainFlip, Rango Exchange, Relay, and NEAR Protocol. It simplifies cross-chain swaps, allowing seamless trades between assets like BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC without the headaches of bridges or wrapped tokens. But with this upcoming launch, LeoDEX is transcending its role as a swap aggregator to become a tokenized powerhouse, where owning LEO means owning a slice of the platform's multi-billion-dollar future.
The story begins with LEO 2.0, which went live on June 25, 2025, marking a pivotal overhaul of the token's economics. Previously plagued by inflation on the Hive blockchain, LEO's new model ditches endless minting for a deflationary, revenue-backed system. Inflation was turned off at launch, and rewards now stem entirely from buybacks funded by platform fees—primarily from InLeo (a tokenized blogging platform) and LeoDEX's booming swap volumes.
Hive community posts from mid-June highlighted the excitement around this shift. One analysis noted that LeoDEX's affiliate revenues—generated from integrations with THORChain, Maya, and ChainFlip were expected to outpace InLeo's, leading to "higher rewards for staking LEO on Arbitrum" compared to Hive-Engine alternatives. This separation ensures that LeoDEX users directly benefit from the DEX's growth, creating a virtuous cycle of more swaps resulting in more fees, which means richer USDC payouts for stakers.
At the heart of this is the staked LEO (sLEO) contract on Arbitrum, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum. Users stake LEO to receive sLEO, which accrues daily USDC rewards proportional to their stake. Harvesting is straightforward—claimable every 24 hours via the LeoDEX dashboard at https://leodex.io/leo. No complex DeFi jargon here. It is designed for accessibility, with real-time tracking of rewards and protocol-owned liquidity (POL) vaults.
In the lead-up to September 23, LeoDEX has not been idle. Since LEO 2.0's rollout, 100% of affiliate revenues have funneled into a Protocol Owned LEO (POL) vault. This transparent, on-chain mechanism buys LEO from the open market, stakes it as sLEO, and auto-compounds the USDC earnings back into more LEO purchases. As a result, LEO's price has rocketed from sub-$0.10 levels in early June to around $0.25 in August and then retraced to about $0.14 as of today. This gain is driven by this buyback pressure and anticipation of live rewards.
Daily trading volumes on LeoDEX have hit nearly $1 million in recent peaks, with heavy action trading pairs via ChainFlip. A single $200,000 USDC-to-BTC swap via ChainFlip underscored the platform's scalability, while integrations like NAMI Index (a diversified asset basket yielding USDC) and yield-bearing tokens like yTCY and yRUNE have broadened its appeal.
This pre-launch phase has also seen community-driven innovations. Enter LeoStrategy, a "MicroStrategy for LEO" entity that's launched its own token, LSTR, on Base. Up 3x since its debut, LSTR holders have enjoyed 330% annualized yields, with over 137,000 LEO added to its balance sheet in a single week through AI-powered revenue projects and derivatives. Paired with the System Income Rewards Pool (SIRP), these "perma-buyers" are devouring LEO's 30 million fixed supply, creating scarcity amid rising demand.
In a market where staking yields can swing wildly (think 5-15% APY on platforms like Binance for USDC or up to 24% on CoinDepo for stablecoins), LeoDEX's model stands out for its alignment. Rewards are not speculative; they are pegged to real affiliate fees from cross-chain swaps, ensuring sustainability. Stake-weighted distribution means whales do not dominate. Your share scales with your commitment.
As preparation for this launch heightens, LeoDEX is concluding plans to roll out perpetuals (perps) trading that "makes DEX feel like CEX," full Tron support ahead of THORChain's expansion, and enhanced security features like swap account recovery and faster confirmations. A volume-based airdrop, now in Phase 2, has distributed LEO to swappers on THORChain and ChainFlip, with claims processed glitch-free after early hiccups.
Looking ahead, expect LeoKit SDK inflows to boost rewards further, alongside events for low-volume users to earn airdrops. Integrations like NAMI's index assets—abstracting diversification into RUNE/USDC baskets- position LeoDEX as a one-stop DeFi hub.
Analysts predict this could propel LEO toward $1 by year-end, especially with LeoStrategy's Base expansion and upcoming perps maturity. As September 23 approaches, the countdown is on. Head to https://leodex.io/leo to buy and stake LEO today.
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INLEO's mission is to build a sustainable creator economy that is centered around digital ownership, tokenization, and communities. It's built on Hive, with linkages to BSC, ETH, and Polygon blockchains. The flagship application, Inleo.io, allows users and creators to engage & share micro and long-form content on the Hive blockchain while earning cryptocurrency rewards.
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