Asset Registry
The governance-managed registry that determines which assets are eligible for AQUA emissions and protocol-level pool incentives.
Overview
The Asset Registry is an on-chain governance-managed registry that determines which assets are eligible to receive AQUA emissions and protocol-level pool incentives on Aquarius.
The registry exists to improve the quality and safety of incentivized markets by ensuring that AQUA emissions are directed only toward assets that have been reviewed and approved by AQUA governance.
Asset eligibility is managed entirely through governance. Governance can approve new assets, revoke existing approvals, and determine which assets are eligible to participate in Aquarius incentive programs.
Why the Asset Registry exists
Aquarius distributes AQUA emissions to liquidity providers based on governance voting.
This helps to:
Improve the quality of incentivized markets
Reduce the risk of malicious or fraudulent assets receiving emissions
Protect liquidity providers from avoidable risks
Ensure AQUA emissions are allocated to assets that have demonstrated community support and transparency
How it works
The Asset Registry maintains a list of approved assets.
An asset becomes eligible only after a successful governance approval vote.
For a liquidity pool to receive AQUA emissions or Pool Incentives:
Every asset in the pool must be approved in the Asset Registry
Partial eligibility is not supported
If a pool contains a single non-approved asset, the pool is not eligible for incentives
This rule applies to all pool types, including:
Volatile pools
Stable pools
Multi-asset pools
Default eligible assets
To ensure continuity for core ecosystem markets, the following assets are automatically eligible and do not require governance approval: XLM, AQUA, USDC.
These assets are considered foundational ecosystem assets and form the initial set of approved assets within the registry.
All other assets must complete the governance approval process before becoming eligible.
Asset approval process
New assets are proposed through an asset listing proposal, created directly in the Asset Registry section of the app. Identify the asset by its Stellar code and issuer, or by its Soroban contract address — the asset's existence is verified on-chain when the proposal is submitted.
The application form requires:
Issuer information
Token description
Holder distribution
Liquidity
Trading volume
Audit information
Stellar asset flags
Related projects
Community references
Existing Aquarius traction
Issuer commitments
Asset proposals follow the same lifecycle, fees, and quorum as general governance proposals, and vote in the same weekly voting slots. One difference: the creator reward for approved proposals does not apply — an approved asset proposal earns no reward, while the creation and publication fees still apply. One proposal per asset at a time: while a proposal for an asset is pending or voting, a new one for the same asset is rejected.
Approval requires a successful governance vote.
Once approved, the asset is added to the Asset Registry and becomes eligible for AQUA emissions and Pool Incentives.
Asset revocation
Governance may remove an asset from the Asset Registry through an asset delisting proposal, created the same way from the Asset Registry section. A delisting proposal requires only the motivation text — the listing application fields do not apply.
Revocation may be considered when:
New risks emerge
Project circumstances change
The issuer acts maliciously
Governance determines the asset no longer meets community standards
When an asset is revoked:
The asset is removed from the registry
Pools containing the asset become ineligible for emissions
The change takes effect at the start of the next reward epoch
Governance signaling
The introduction of the Asset Registry does not change how governance signaling works.
AQUA holders may continue voting for any market on Aquarius, including markets that contain non-approved assets.
Votes for non-approved assets remain:
Visible
Counted
Tracked by the protocol
However, voting alone does not activate AQUA emissions.
A market only becomes emission-eligible when all assets in the market are approved in the Asset Registry.
This allows governance voting to continue serving as a discovery and signaling mechanism while maintaining eligibility safeguards.
Pool Incentives
Pool Incentives allow projects and third parties to provide additional rewards to liquidity providers.
To align incentive programs with governance standards, Pool Incentives follow the same eligibility rules as AQUA emissions.
A pool may receive Pool Incentives only if all assets in the pool are approved in the Asset Registry.
This creates a consistent incentive framework across the protocol.
External incentives and bribes
External incentives remain permissionless.
Projects may continue to:
Offer bribes
Commit future incentives
Encourage governance participation
However, external incentives do not affect asset eligibility.
Receiving bribes or governance votes does not automatically grant access to AQUA emissions.
Eligibility is determined exclusively through Asset Registry approval.
Registry transparency
Aquarius surfaces Asset Registry information directly in the user interface.
Users can view:
Asset approval status
Governance voting activity
Market eligibility status
AQUA emission eligibility
Pool Incentive eligibility
This provides a transparent view of how governance decisions affect incentives across the protocol.
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