DeFi-focused Layer 2 Katana Launches Mainnet With $200 Million in Pre-Deposits

The Katana Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on innovating decentralized finance (DeFi), announced on Monday the public mainnet launch of its Katana blockchain, with support from GSR and Polygon Labs.

Katana has already attracted over $200 million in pre-deposits since its public reveal less than a month ago, according to DeFiLlama. The blockchain is designed to address some of DeFi’s most persistent problems: low liquidity, unreliable yields, and capital constantly flowing out of the system.

Katana Prelaunch TVL

To address these, the team will employ tools such as VaultBridge, which earns yield from Ethereum-based assets, and chain-owned liquidity (CoL), which enables Katana to retain its transaction fees for long-term funding for the network. Katana is also offering token rewards to users who provide liquidity on apps like Morpho and Sushi.

“Users should not have to understand or even think about blockchains,” Marc Boiron, a co-contributor to Katana, told The Defiant. “The experience should be so seamless that they simply know they own digital assets, assets that can earn yield, be traded, or used, without needing to worry about wallets, networks, gas fees, or any of the underlying complexity.”

Katana’s native token, KAT, can also be earned through liquidity mining. While the token is currently non-transferable, an exchange listing is expected by February 20, 2026, according to a release viewed by The Defiant. Users will also be able to lock KAT to receive vKAT, which will yield staking rewards.

Meanwhile, when users bridge assets like USDC, ETH, WBTC, or USDT to Katana, those deposits are automatically allocated to yield-generating strategies on Ethereum. The yield is then returned to the Katana network and distributed to users and developers, according to the project’s website.

The launch is part of a larger trend in DeFi to move away from short-term, unsustainable rewards and towards simpler systems that generate steady, long-term returns. Boiron said the blockchain is also engineered to meet the needs of institutional players, which sometimes go overlooked.

“Institutions want to participate directly in crypto on-chain, but the current state of fragmented liquidity across chains and platforms makes it nearly impossible for them to operate at the scale they require,” Boiron told The Defiant. “Without deep, unified liquidity, large transactions face slippage, inefficiency, and excessive risk.”

Boiron explained that Katana makes it easier to move large amounts of money by putting more liquidity in fewer, easier-to-use places. “This is essential not just for enabling institutional involvement, but for unlocking the next phase of growth in DeFi, where global capital markets can interact seamlessly with on-chain infrastructure,” he added.

Katana launches with support for core DeFi apps, along with integrations from asset providers including Agora, Jito, ether.fi, and Universal. Future development will focus on scaling liquidity, onboarding institutional capital, and building infrastructure that prioritizes capital efficiency.

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