The Tokens: CNLQ, cCNPY and CPLQ
canoLiq works with three tokens. CNLQ is the native coin of canoLiq mainnet (Canopy chain 29): it is what you stake, and the protocol does not issue it. The protocol manages the other two, cCNPY and CPLQ, and they do completely different jobs:
| CNLQ | cCNPY | CPLQ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Chain 29's native coin | Liquid-staking receipt | Governance & value-capture token |
| Supply | 100M at genesis, plus block rewards | Elastic: minted on stake, burned on unstake | Fixed: 100,000,000 CPLQ, forever |
| How you get it | Hold it on chain 29, or buy it with CNPY on Canopy's DEX | Stake CNLQ | Genesis distribution (with vesting) |
| Why you hold it | Stake it, pay network fees | Earn staking yield, stay liquid | Vote, and share in protocol value |
| How its value grows | Market price | Exchange rate rises as rewards accrue | Buyback-and-burn shrinks supply; lock boosts |
A note on names. canoLiq is a generic Canopy plugin, so its code and API call the staked coin
"CNPY" (uCNPY, totalPooledCnpy, …). On mainnet that coin is CNLQ. CNPY proper is the
native coin of the Canopy root chain (chain 1): you can stake it on canoliq.org too, and it is
swapped to CNLQ first. CPLQ is unrelated to CNLQ despite the similar name.
cCNPY — your stake, but liquid
When you deposit CNLQ you receive cCNPY. Think of it as a claim check on a growing pool of CNLQ. You are not locked in: cCNPY is an ordinary balance you can hold, send, or use elsewhere, all while the underlying CNLQ keeps earning.
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It is yield-bearing by price, not by balance. Your cCNPY balance stays the same; each unit just becomes redeemable for more CNLQ as rewards arrive. The conversion rate is:
exchange rate = total pooled CNPY ÷ total cCNPY supply -
Redeeming burns cCNPY and queues a CNLQ redemption that matures after an unbonding window, after which you claim it. See Deposit & Redeem.
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Precision: amounts are tracked in
uCNPY(micro-CNLQ, 6 decimals), so1 CNLQ = 1,000,000 uCNPY.
CPLQ — the governance token
CPLQ is a fixed supply of 100,000,000 (i.e. 100,000,000,000,000 uCPLQ at 6-decimal
precision). The entire supply is minted at genesis and handed out across distribution
buckets (community, team, DAO treasury, liquidity, …), most of them on
cliff + linear vesting schedules.
What CPLQ is for:
- Governance. Stake CPLQ to gain voting weight, then create and vote on proposals. Voting weight is snapshotted at the moment a proposal is created, which prevents last-minute "flash-stake" vote buying.
- Vote-escrow boosts. Lock your staked CPLQ for 3–24 months to multiply your voting weight (up to 4×) and earn a larger share of buyback distributions. See Vote-Escrow.
- Value capture. The protocol routes 15% of every fee into a buyback pool. Governance can spend it to buy back and burn CPLQ (reducing supply) or distribute acquired CPLQ to stakers. See Buyback.
How they fit together
CNLQ is the money. cCNPY makes staked CNLQ liquid and productive. CPLQ governs the whole system and captures a slice of its earnings. A typical participant might hold cCNPY for yield and stake CPLQ to steer the protocol — the two roles are independent.
Keep reading
- How It Works — the end-to-end walkthrough
- Tokenomics Overview
- Glossary