Liquidity Mining
Liquidity mining rewards users with a protocol’s own tokens for depositing assets into its liquidity pools.
In depth
It is how new DEXs and lending markets bootstrap liquidity: pay people in governance tokens to supply capital early. Returns come on top of the trading fees the pool earns. When the token incentives end, liquidity often leaves just as quickly.
Why it matters
It explains why some DeFi yields spike at launch and collapse months later.