January is over, and we're excited to share our monthly protocol report.
Last month, an updated protocol fee allocation model was approved by the DAO.
Previously, protocol fees were used for buybacks, with 50% burned and the remaining 50% distributed to $ZFI stakers in the form of liquid $ZFI.
This model had several non-obvious drawbacks, including sell pressure on distributions, buyback front-runs, execution complexity, and indirect value flow to stakers.
The new model is simpler and designed to accelerate growth while giving $ZFI stakers more flexibility.
Starting this month, protocol fees are distributed as follows:
100% of protocol fees flow to the DAO treasury
50% of protocol fees are then distributed to $ZFI stakers, paid in USDC (monthly, pro-rata)
The remaining 50% is allocated to protocol operations and R&D under the DAO mandate
Allocating a portion of fees to protocol growth ensures Zyfai has the resources to scale faster and more sustainably. Growth accelerates the flywheel: more AUM → more revenue.
At the same time, monthly USDC distributions from protocol revenue give stakers more flexibility:
Buy and stake more $ZFI
Deposit USDC back into Zyfai
Optional automations, such as auto-converting USDC to $ZFI or auto-depositing USDC into Zyfai, may be introduced in the future. The DAO may also adjust allocation percentages through future governance proposals as Zyfai matures.
Previous report is available here:
Snapshot date: January 30, 2026
Stakers: 2,181
$ZFI staked: 16,390,427
Performance fees accrued since last buyback: $2,409
$ZFI price at the snapshot: $0.01253
Staking amount at the snapshot date in $ value: $205,372.05
50% streaming to $ZFI stakers = $1,204 USDC or 7.37% APY → Available in your staking dashboard: https://zyf.ai/staking
50% allocated to Ondefy Ltd for protocol operations and development under the DAO mandate = $1,204 USDC
If you want the highest share of rewards, timing matters.
The earlier in the month you stake, the larger your position at snapshot time.
Snapshot happens at the end of every calendar month.
If you staked in Month A, you receive yield throughout Month B.
If you unstake before the end-of-month snapshot, you are excluded from the next month's reward stream.
In January we:
Introduced Zyfai's MCP server and Capital Splitting
Went live with ERC-8004 on mainnet
Doubled down on the SDK and delivered our first integration partnership with Zoof Wallet
Got featured in Rhinestone's case study
Onboarded 9Summits to Zyfai, a leading curator with $93m TVL
Continued adding new pools and improving the UI and risk.zyf.ai dashboard
Launched the Phase 3 of the rZFI Incentives Program
In February, we'll double down on integrating Zyfai's agentic yield layer into more products, making the Zyfai Intelligence Layer accessible through multiple AI assistants like Openclaw, and bringing support for more assets and chains to the protocol.
Thanks to everyone who shared valuable feedback with us in January!
Join our Discord community and share your ideas: https://discord.gg/zyfai
Onward!
Zyfai gives you self-custodial access to autonomous low-risk DeFi. Our customizable rule-based Agents transform your idle capital into productive assets, rebalancing between curated opportunities.
The result is sustainable and risk-adjusted yield, where your capital is always working and under your control.