Behavioral Lock-In
participation-anchored yield model
Behavioral Lock-In is a protocol design principle where users become incentivized to maintain uninterrupted participation—such as staking, voting, or platform usage—because leaving or breaking the streak results in lost access, yield, or privileges. Unlike hard locks, this model doesn’t technically restrict withdrawals; instead, it ties benefits to consistent behavior, subtly pressuring users to remain aligned through self-selected commitment.
Use Case: A governance protocol gives bonus voting power and yield boosts to wallets that stay staked for 60+ days. If the user unstakes, they lose these bonuses and must rebuild their streak from zero. This creates behavioral lock-in without hard constraints, rewarding consistency over control.
Key Concepts:
- Reward Multipliers — Yield and access increase the longer behavior remains unbroken.
- Reset Penalty — Exiting prematurely wipes accrued benefits or tier status.
- Retention Pressure — Systemic motivation to continue uninterrupted engagement.
- Behavioral Incentives — Reward systems that respond to user actions and streaks.
Summary: Behavioral Lock-In reinforces good actor alignment without forcing users to stay. It transforms protocol engagement into a streak-based loyalty system—turning long-term participation into a strategic advantage and deepening the protocol-user relationship without coercion.