diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9d80040c..698d90a0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 - Ensure native oracle denoms are always on whitelist and registered as vote targets when updating fee abstraction params
 - Validate rewards baseDenom using sdk.ValidateDenom to enforce proper denom format (min 3 chars, valid characters, no leading digits)
 - Ensure feeTokens is not nil at genesis
+- Use `DecCoins.Validate()` on `RewardPool.ValidateGenesis` to catch malformed denom formats, duplicate denoms, bad ordering
+- Enforce denom consistency in `GenesisState.Validate` with `Params.TokenDenom`
 
 ## v7.1.0-mainnet - 2026-03-13
 
diff --git a/x/rewards/types/genesis.go b/x/rewards/types/genesis.go
index 22d1a1ea..3a7bcfd1 100644
--- a/x/rewards/types/genesis.go
+++ b/x/rewards/types/genesis.go
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package types
 
+import "fmt"
+
 // NewGenesisState constructs a genesis state
 func NewGenesisState(
 	params Params, rp RewardPool, release ReleaseSchedule,
@@ -29,5 +31,24 @@ func (gs *GenesisState) Validate() error {
 	if err := gs.RewardPool.ValidateGenesis(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return gs.ReleaseSchedule.ValidateGenesis()
+
+	if err := gs.ReleaseSchedule.ValidateGenesis(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Enforce denom consistency: all pool coins and the active schedule must use TokenDenom.
+	tokenDenom := gs.Params.TokenDenom
+	for _, coin := range gs.RewardPool.CommunityPool {
+		if coin.Denom != tokenDenom {
+			return fmt.Errorf("community pool coin denom %s does not match token denom %s",
+				coin.Denom, tokenDenom)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if gs.ReleaseSchedule.Active && gs.ReleaseSchedule.TotalAmount.Denom != tokenDenom {
+		return fmt.Errorf("release schedule total amount denom %s does not match token denom %s",
+			gs.ReleaseSchedule.TotalAmount.Denom, tokenDenom)
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/x/rewards/types/genesis_test.go b/x/rewards/types/genesis_test.go
index f15ea994..958f9791 100644
--- a/x/rewards/types/genesis_test.go
+++ b/x/rewards/types/genesis_test.go
@@ -80,6 +80,46 @@ func (suite *GenesisTestSuite) TestValidateGenesis() {
 			},
 			expectedPass: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "active schedule with mismatched total amount denom",
+			modifyFn: func(gs *types.GenesisState) {
+				gs.ReleaseSchedule = types.ReleaseSchedule{
+					TotalAmount:    sdk.NewCoin("notkii", math.NewInt(1000)),
+					ReleasedAmount: sdk.NewCoin("notkii", math.NewInt(0)),
+					EndTime:        time.Now().Add(time.Hour * 24),
+					Active:         true,
+				}
+			},
+			expectedPass: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "community pool with foreign denom",
+			modifyFn: func(gs *types.GenesisState) {
+				gs.RewardPool = types.RewardPool{
+					CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+						{Denom: "notkii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(100)},
+					},
+				}
+			},
+			expectedPass: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "both active schedule and pool with mismatched denoms",
+			modifyFn: func(gs *types.GenesisState) {
+				gs.ReleaseSchedule = types.ReleaseSchedule{
+					TotalAmount:    sdk.NewCoin("notkii", math.NewInt(1000)),
+					ReleasedAmount: sdk.NewCoin("notkii", math.NewInt(0)),
+					EndTime:        time.Now().Add(time.Hour * 24),
+					Active:         true,
+				}
+				gs.RewardPool = types.RewardPool{
+					CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+						{Denom: "notkii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(100)},
+					},
+				}
+			},
+			expectedPass: false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
diff --git a/x/rewards/types/reward_pool.go b/x/rewards/types/reward_pool.go
index 403178c8..b57e67c9 100644
--- a/x/rewards/types/reward_pool.go
+++ b/x/rewards/types/reward_pool.go
@@ -15,9 +15,8 @@ func InitialRewardPool() RewardPool {
 
 // ValidateGenesis validates the reward pool for a genesis state
 func (rp RewardPool) ValidateGenesis() error {
-	if rp.CommunityPool.IsAnyNegative() {
-		return fmt.Errorf("negative CommunityPool in distribution fee pool, is %v",
-			rp.CommunityPool)
+	if err := rp.CommunityPool.Validate(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid CommunityPool: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/x/rewards/types/reward_pool_test.go b/x/rewards/types/reward_pool_test.go
index 93a7c9e8..ad08d754 100644
--- a/x/rewards/types/reward_pool_test.go
+++ b/x/rewards/types/reward_pool_test.go
@@ -13,9 +13,73 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestRewardPoolValidateGenesis(t *testing.T) {
-	rp := types.InitialRewardPool()
-	require.Nil(t, rp.ValidateGenesis())
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name      string
+		pool      types.RewardPool
+		expectErr bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:      "initial empty pool",
+			pool:      types.InitialRewardPool(),
+			expectErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "valid single coin",
+			pool: types.RewardPool{
+				CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+					{Denom: "akii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(100)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "negative amount",
+			pool: types.RewardPool{
+				CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+					{Denom: "tkii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(-1)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "invalid denom format (starts with digit)",
+			pool: types.RewardPool{
+				CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+					{Denom: "1invalid", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(1)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "duplicate denoms",
+			pool: types.RewardPool{
+				CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+					{Denom: "akii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(1)},
+					{Denom: "akii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(2)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "non-canonical ordering",
+			pool: types.RewardPool{
+				CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{
+					{Denom: "tkii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(1)},
+					{Denom: "akii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(2)},
+				},
+			},
+			expectErr: true,
+		},
+	}
 
-	rp2 := types.RewardPool{CommunityPool: sdk.DecCoins{{Denom: "tkii", Amount: math.LegacyNewDec(-1)}}}
-	require.NotNil(t, rp2.ValidateGenesis())
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := tc.pool.ValidateGenesis()
+			if tc.expectErr {
+				require.Error(t, err)
+			} else {
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
 }