Bribes
Bribes reward voters who support a specific market, directing AQUA emissions toward it — funded by projects or by the protocol itself.
Bribes are one of two tools for projects growing liquidity on Aquarius — see Growing Liquidity on Aquarius for the full picture, including how bribes compare to Pool Incentives.
A bribe is a reward attached to a specific Stellar market on aqua.network/vote to incentivize voters. Voters on bribed markets receive daily payouts for as long as the market stays incentivized.
There are two types of bribes:
Protocol bribes — funded automatically from AMM trading fees, paid to voters on high-volume markets.
External bribes — submitted by anyone to boost votes for a specific pair.
Who are external bribes for?
Primarily project owners who want AQUA holders to vote for markets related to their token — but any user can create a bribe to influence markets in their interest. Bribed markets consistently attract more votes, since voters earn passive income for supporting them.
Bribes can be assigned to any Stellar market.
Since June 2026, AQUA emissions are limited to assets whitelisted in the Asset Registry. Creating bribes for non-whitelisted markets remains possible, but won't lead to any AQUA rewards for that market.
A market can carry bribes in multiple assets at once, though AQUA is the most commonly used token.
Bribed markets are marked in the UI and collected under the With Bribes tab on aqua.network/bribes.
How bribes work
Creation. A claimable balance is created with a marker for the bribed market and the reward tokens used to pay voters.
Collection. New bribes can be created until 18:00 UTC on Sundays for the following week. At 19:00 UTC on Sundays, Aquarius collects and validates all bribes for the coming week.
Distribution. Approved bribes are distributed linearly from Monday to Sunday. Snapshots and payouts happen at random times each day to keep things fair — keep your votes on the bribed market around the clock, since adjusting them can mean missing a snapshot.
Requirements and validity
Minimum bribe size: 100,000 AQUA per week (no maximum).
On collection, Aquarius performs a validity check by purchasing 100,000 AQUA from the offered tokens via a path payment — this ensures bribe tokens hold real value. The purchased AQUA plus the remaining reward tokens are distributed to voters.
Example: a bribe of 1,000 USDC with AQUA at $0.003 — at collection, 300 USDC converts into 100,000 AQUA, and voters on the market receive the 100,000 AQUA plus the remaining 700 USDC.
Rejected bribes are refunded to the sender.
Why use Aquarius bribes?
Bribes level the playing field: any Stellar market can be incentivized, with no infrastructure on your side.
No coding — bribes are created directly from the Aquarius interface; vote tracking and distribution are handled by the protocol.
Open participation — the process is permissionless for projects and individuals alike.
Guaranteed payouts — distribution is automatic; voters who lock their AQUA receive the promised rewards.
Transparency — all bribes are visible on vote.aqua.network, with payout details and schedules.
Flexibility — bribes can be paid in any Stellar asset, including your own token, and a single market can carry several bribe assets at once.
To create a bribe, follow the walkthrough: Creating Bribes.
To earn bribes as a voter, see Voting for Markets.
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