IQ

IQ is the token behind IQ.wiki, a crypto encyclopedia, with staking on Ethereum through HiIQ and governance through BrainDAO. Tracked staking value was about $1.55 million at the 2026-08-15 survey, far below our size floor. We do not open an individual review until the protocol clears that floor: one practice advising 100 households can move $1M to $8M into a venue based on the same research, and below the size floor that book can overwhelm the exit. Size alone decides the judgment, whatever the protocol’s quality. Sustained growth will reopen the file.

Review triggers: events that reopen the verdict
• TVL sustained above the retired TVL threshold for 30 days

Watched nightly: a warning on its venues or files, or a cited document that changes, reopens the memo. The first confirmation is due 2026-11-15.

The research file

Mechanism applicability

HiIQ lets Ethereum holders lock IQ for one week to 208 weeks. The lock amount and duration determine the non-transferable HiIQ balance, governance weight and share of ongoing IQ emissions. Users can claim rewards in IQ. The surveyed record covers this locked staking contract, not the market capitalization or treasury of the wider IQ AI and knowledge ecosystem. Its tracked value therefore places it under the shared v1 rule for protocols below the size floor.

Current observation and lifecycle

The DefiLlama protocol API read on 2026-08-15 classified IQ as Services and reported approximately $1.55M in its Ethereum staking balance. The aggregate TVL field itself was zero because the value appears under the staking component. The live IQ dashboard showed active controls for locking, rewards, checkpoints and unlocking, hundreds of HiIQ holders, and a roughly 3.1-year average lock. This is an active Ethereum staking system.

Control and exit applicability

Users choose a fixed lock term and cannot treat locked IQ as available on demand. They can unlock it only after the selected term. HiIQ determines BrainDAO governance power, and community votes can change emissions, treasury use and ecosystem policy. Token inflation, reward rules, governance concentration, contract execution, and IQ market liquidity therefore affect the value users receive, even though each user signs the staking and claim transactions.

Why the class rule decides

At roughly $1.55M in tracked staking value, a $1M to $8M advised position would make up a dominant share of the system before considering a multi-year lock or market exit. The shared v1 rule for protocols below the size floor therefore decides. Reopen the individual review after the DefiLlama staking balance stays above the size floor for 30 consecutive days. Then review contract and governance controls, emissions and treasury decisions, incidents, lock-expiry and proposed-size IQ sale liquidity, legal access, and named liquid staking or governance alternatives.

Research status

This is a capacity-unproven record for IQ, not a quality rejection or approval. Reported TVL says how big the venue is, not what the client owns, who can change the rules, or how a position exits at a proposed size. The individual review opens when the protocol clears the size floor.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

• IQ — HiIQ mechanism · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: IQ lock, HiIQ balance, lock duration, governance power, staking rewards, emissions
• IQ — HiIQ staking guide · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: Ethereum, one to 208 weeks, wallet control, claim rewards, lock mechanics
• IQ — live staking dashboard · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: current lifecycle, lock, unlock, checkpoint, claimable rewards, average lock time
• IQ — live governance dashboard · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: BrainDAO governance, community proposals, treasury decisions, emissions policy
• DefiLlama — IQ survey record · secondary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: staking TVL, Ethereum, Services category, staking component, survey observation

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The layer with the most administrative power sets the position’s effective control; that describes control, not quality or suitability.