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Three ways in. Replicate a real project, start from a sensible template by token type, or build blank.
Real public tokenomics encoded from each project’s launch documentation. Pick one as your starting point — the chart, allocations, vesting and notes pre-fill so you can iterate from a known-good shape.
313 projects · 13 verified · 14 curated collections
% of supply allocated to team
% of supply to backers
% circulating at launch
months until 100% unlocked
THE GREATS
The protocols every tokenomics designer should study. Each defined a category and set the modern tokenomics templates that followed.
study these first
60% community-controlled, 0% public sale. Retroactive airdrop to past LPs/users. The reference design for community-first DeFi governance.
Takeaway
A 60% community split (treasury + airdrop + grants) became the de-facto standard for credibly decentralised protocols.
Reference for AMM / governance tokens with strong community alignment.
Migrated from LEND at 100:1. Existing token holders carried over their distribution; only the 18.75% ecosystem reserve was newly minted. Demonstrates a credible token redenomination.
Takeaway
Low total supply (16M) + an explicit ecosystem reserve makes per-token economics legible and keeps distribution power with governance.
Reference for protocols migrating an existing token, or low-supply governance tokens.
Pioneered vote-escrow tokenomics in August 2020. ~62% to LP emissions over 300+ years on a logarithmic curve, 30% to insiders. Locking CRV for veCRV directs gauge weights and earns 50% of trading fees — created the bribe-market meta that defined DeFi 2021.
Takeaway
Reserving 62% for LP emissions over decades and tying governance to lock duration created the most-copied tokenomics primitive in DeFi: ve(3,3).
Reference for emission-driven liquidity tokens with vote-escrow governance.
First protocol to ship a retroactive governance airdrop. ~58% to community over 4 years, distributed per-block to suppliers and borrowers in proportion to activity. 24% to founders + team. Started the entire 'liquidity mining' meta.
Takeaway
Distributing COMP via lending and borrowing activity created the entire liquidity-mining meta — and proved governance tokens could ship without an ICO.
Reference for lending protocols with usage-distributed governance tokens.
Original 'staking secures the protocol' design. SNX stakers act as collateral underwriters for synthetic asset minting (sUSD, sETH, etc.), earning trading fees in proportion to risk taken. Migrated from Havven (HAV) in 2018.
Takeaway
SNX stakers don't just vote — they actively underwrite the protocol's solvency, making the token a working-capital primitive rather than a governance accessory.
Reference for protocols where staked tokens secure or collateralise other on-chain primitives.
OG governance token, low supply (~1M). Distributed via private OTC sales over years rather than a public ICO. The original lender of last resort: MKR mints to cover bad debt; protocol surplus burns MKR.
Takeaway
A governance token where supply *changes* based on protocol health (mint to recapitalise, burn from surplus) created a far stronger economic feedback loop than fixed-supply alternatives.
Reference for ultra-low-supply governance tokens with mint-and-burn dynamics tied to protocol health.
L1 ARCHETYPES
How major L1s structured supply at genesis. Compare the foundation-stewarded model (Sui, Aptos) against fair-launch (Bitcoin via Bittensor) against ICO-era (Ethereum, Solana).
Smart contract platform. 60M from 2014 ICO ($18M raised at ~$0.30/ETH), 12M to early contributors + Ethereum Foundation, balance via mining (PoW until Sep 2022), then PoS. EIP-1559 burn since Aug 2021 made supply roughly net-zero.
Takeaway
EIP-1559 + The Merge transformed ETH from inflationary mining commodity into roughly-net-zero programmable money. The supply curve has bent twice — proof that tokenomics evolves.
Reference for L1s with ICO origins that transitioned to PoS + fee burn.
High-throughput L1. 500M initial supply, 38% to community/ecosystem, 13% to insiders, 13% to early backers, plus team + foundation. Inflation starts at 8% APY and disinflates ~15% per year toward 1.5% terminal.
Takeaway
Disinflationary issuance (8% → 1.5% over 15 years) was a deliberate counter to fixed-supply orthodoxy: prioritise validator security in early years, taper as fee revenue replaces issuance.
Reference for high-throughput PoS L1s with disinflationary supply curves.
L1 with three-chain architecture (X-Chain, P-Chain, C-Chain). 720M max supply, 9.26% public sale, 50% staking rewards, 10% foundation, 10% strategic partners, 7% team, plus early backers.
Takeaway
Subnets (custom L1s sharing AVAX security) became the model for sovereign-but-secured chains — inspired Cosmos's Interchain Security and Polkadot's parachains.
Reference for L1s with multi-chain architectures and high-throughput consensus.
L2 governance token with 56% community / 44% insider split. 4-year cliff+vest on team and investors after a controversial 1-year delay before unlocks began.
Takeaway
A large DAO treasury (42.78%) and an 11.6% airdrop established the L2 governance norm — but the 1-year cliff before insider unlocks meant the price was already known.
Reference for L2 / rollup governance tokens with a large airdrop and DAO treasury.
Pioneering L2 with a community-first split: 25% to airdrops + 25% to Retroactive Public Goods Funding. 19% each to insiders. Token-holder governance over a Citizens' House for non-financial decisions.
Takeaway
Earmarking 25% to RetroPGF made Optimism the gold standard for "tokens funding the commons" — a story other L2s have been chasing ever since.
Reference for L2 / rollup tokens that want strong public-goods-funding messaging.
First major modular data-availability L1. 1B supply. 27% public allocation, 21% R&D + ecosystem, 18% backers, 18% initial core contributors, 7% genesis drop, 6% early backers, 4% future contributors.
Takeaway
The 27% public allocation was the largest of any modern L1 — Cosmos heritage shows in the explicit public-tranche discipline.
Reference for modular DA / Cosmos-stack L1 launches.
Sharded L1 with developer-friendly tooling and account-name UX. 1B initial supply, 17.2% community grants, 14% backers, 11.4% small backers, 11.7% core, 12% Near Foundation, 10% community sale, balance to early adopters.
Takeaway
Account-names instead of hex-addresses + 17% community grants made NEAR the most developer-friendly L1 of its era — but the technical-developer focus has limited consumer-app traction.
Reference for L1 launches with explicit developer-grants tranches.
Move-language L1 from former Meta engineers. 1B initial supply. ~51% community, 19% core contributors, 16.5% Aptos Foundation, 13.5% investors. Most insider tokens locked 4 years.
Takeaway
The 51% community headline conceals foundation-paced emissions over a decade — the real "community" share circulating year one was much smaller.
Reference for L1 launches by spin-out teams with strong VC backing.
L1 launched May 2023. 10B max supply. Earmarked 50% as 'community reserve' (largest of any L1 launch on paper), 20% early contributors, 14% investors, 10% Sui Foundation, 6% community access program (CAP) at fixed sale price.
Takeaway
50% community on paper, but the foundation directs distribution. The 6% Community Access Program (CAP) tranche sold at fixed price was the only retail-accessible portion — most 'community' is foundation-controlled.
Reference for L1 launches with foundation-stewarded community reserves.
FAIR LAUNCHES
No VCs, no team allocation, no private sale. The hardest tokenomics standard to live up to and the most defensible when the market turns.
no investor overhang
Perpetuals DEX with no VC backing and an unusually low max supply (13.25M). Most tokens distributed via XVIX/Gambit migration + esGMX rewards. The fair-launch reference for derivatives.
Takeaway
Low supply (13.25M total) makes per-token economics legible to retail. Real fee revenue paid to stakers in ETH/AVAX builds genuine demand, not just inflation.
Reference for fair-launch protocols — no VCs, no airdrop campaign, pure migration-and-emissions distribution.
Perps DEX on its own L1. Genesis distribution: 31% airdrop, 38.88% future emissions/community rewards, 23.8% core contributors, 6% Hyper Foundation. No VCs — pure fair launch. The 2024 case study for community-funded growth.
Takeaway
100% to insiders + community + emissions, 0% to VCs. Did $15B+ daily volume within 6 months of launch — the strongest 2024 case for fair-launch over VC-funded.
Reference for fair-launched derivatives protocols with no private allocation.
Yield-aggregator pioneer with one of the cleanest fair launches ever. 30K total supply (one of the lowest of any DeFi token). 100% distributed via liquidity mining over 7 days. Zero VC, zero team allocation.
Takeaway
Andre Cronje's 'I have no incentive to manipulate the price' fair launch with zero pre-mine — proved tokens could ship without VCs and still command billions in market cap.
Reference for ultra-low-supply governance tokens via 100% fair launch.
Decentralised AI/ML training network. 21M max supply mirroring Bitcoin's halving schedule. 100% distributed via mining (subnet validators + miners). No VC pre-sale, no team allocation.
Takeaway
Bitcoin-cap fair launch + ML training utility — proved that 'mine intelligence' works as a primitive. Subnet 0 (root) auctions emissions to subnet operators in a free market.
Reference for ML/AI DePIN with Bitcoin-style fair-launch tokenomics.
The original meme. Fair-launch PoW fork of Litecoin — no premine, no founder allocation, no investors. ~133B supply at launch (no hard cap; 5B emitted per year forever to keep miner incentives steady). Inflated supply schedule is the design choice; effectively disinflationary as a percentage of total over time.
Takeaway
DOGE's 5B-per-year tail emission was originally a bug (an unfixed cap glitch), kept on purpose as a feature. The lesson for fair-launch founders: tail emissions punish hodlers but reward miners/validators, sustaining network security after issuance plateaus. Almost every PoW meme fork copies this pattern. The downside: no upside scarcity narrative — DOGE is forever priced as a payment unit, not a store of value.
Reference for purely-mined fair launches with permanent moderate inflation. The original "credibly neutral" meme.
THE ve(3,3) FAMILY
Vote-escrow tokenomics descend from Curve. Each successor (Pendle, Aerodrome, Velodrome) modified the design to fix specific failure modes.
Pioneered vote-escrow tokenomics in August 2020. ~62% to LP emissions over 300+ years on a logarithmic curve, 30% to insiders. Locking CRV for veCRV directs gauge weights and earns 50% of trading fees — created the bribe-market meta that defined DeFi 2021.
Takeaway
Reserving 62% for LP emissions over decades and tying governance to lock duration created the most-copied tokenomics primitive in DeFi: ve(3,3).
Reference for emission-driven liquidity tokens with vote-escrow governance.
Yield-trading protocol. Heavy initial allocation to liquidity incentives (37%), team + investors on standard vests, vePENDLE locks for governance + boosted yield. The reference vote-escrow design.
Takeaway
A 37% liquidity-incentive bucket is large by today's standards but enabled bootstrap. The vePENDLE flywheel turned into Pendle's core differentiator.
Reference for protocols using vote-escrow (ve-) tokenomics — locking PENDLE earns vePENDLE, vePENDLE directs emissions.
Base's anchor DEX, fork of Velodrome with liquid ve-NFT design. Distributes via gauge votes; veAERO holders direct emissions and earn 100% of fees on pools they vote for. Genesis distribution via airdrop to Velodrome holders + USDC/AERO LPs.
Takeaway
The post-Convex evolution of vote-escrow: ve as an NFT means voting power is liquid + transferable without unstaking penalties. Solved the wrapper-capture problem Curve created.
Reference for liquid vote-escrow + emission-based DEXes on L2s.
Original ve(3,3) DEX on Optimism. Direct fork of Andre Cronje's Solidly mechanics. Predecessor to Aerodrome. veVELO directs gauge weights and earns 100% of pool fees voted for.
Takeaway
Velodrome was the first ve(3,3) implementation to actually work — Solidly itself collapsed in months. Proved the design once team incentives were aligned.
Reference for ve(3,3)-style DEXes on L2s.
CRV-yield aggregator that captured >50% of all veCRV by 2022. Deposit CRV → receive cvxCRV (perpetually-locked + liquid). CVX holders direct underlying veCRV votes.
Takeaway
Demonstrated that any vote-escrow design will be wrapped, and the wrapper accrues the real governance. Whoever holds CVX controls CRV gauge weights.
Reference for "wrapper" protocols that capture governance from base layer.
Modular stablecoin protocol. veFXS earns 50% of total protocol revenue across the Frax stablecoin, frxETH liquid-staking, Fraxlend money market, and other products. One of the few ve copies with real cash-flow yield, not just emission-funded loops.
Takeaway
veFXS distributes real revenue (not just emissions) across a growing product set — making it one of the few cash-flow-backed governance tokens in DeFi.
Reference for governance tokens earning real protocol revenue across a product suite.
THE SOLANA DEFI PLAYBOOK
Solana’s DeFi launches share a recognisable pattern: shorter vests, points-pre-TGE campaigns, multi-season airdrops, Jupiter as the launch venue.
Solana liquid-staking + MEV infrastructure. 34.3% community (with a 10% TGE airdrop), insiders on 1-year cliff + 2-year vest. The signature Solana DeFi token launch of 2023.
Takeaway
Shorter 2-year vest (vs the EVM standard of 3) reflects Solana's faster product cycles. Pairing with Jupiter for launch-day liquidity is now the Solana playbook.
Reference for Solana-based DeFi protocols with infrastructure (validator/MEV) angles.
Solana DEX aggregator. 50% community / 50% team-strategic split. Distributed via four large airdrop seasons over 18 months rather than a single TGE event — kept community engaged through multiple vesting cycles.
Takeaway
Four airdrop seasons rather than one cliff event kept community holding through year one. Each season averaged ~1B JUP — predictable, large, recurring. Set the Solana airdrop standard.
Reference for protocols using multi-season airdrops to keep community engaged.
Solana's leading native perps DEX. 1B supply, 23.5% to community via airdrop + future incentives, 25% strategic, 25% core contributors, 17% Drift Foundation, 9.5% liquidity.
Takeaway
Pure on-chain CLOB on Solana — proved that high-throughput L1 + low-fees can host orderbook trading without dropping to L2 rollups.
Reference for Solana-native perps protocols with on-chain CLOB designs.
Solana DeFi suite combining lending, leverage, liquidity vaults. 10B supply, 31% community/airdrop, 26% core team, 26% investors, 17% reserves. Largest protocol by TVL on Solana through 2024-25.
Takeaway
Stacked lending + leveraged farming + concentrated liquidity into one product surface — captured >$3B TVL by being the easiest "deposit and earn" UX on Solana.
Reference for vertically-integrated DeFi suites on Solana.
Solana's anchor AMM, deeply integrated with Serum (now OpenBook) order books. 555M total supply, 34% to liquidity mining, 30% partnership/ecosystem, 20% team (3-year vest), rest to community.
Takeaway
First DEX to merge AMM pools with central limit order book liquidity — the design that made Solana DeFi viable when liquidity was thin.
Reference for Solana DEXes pre-Jupiter aggregation era.
Solana-native oracle aggregating data from major financial institutions. 10B supply. 52% ecosystem growth, 22% data publishers, 10% private sale, 10% protocol development, 6% community + launch.
Takeaway
Reserving 22% for data publishers (Jane Street, Cboe, Wintermute, Binance, etc.) was the design move that beat Chainlink's economics on Solana.
Reference for oracle / data-supplier networks paying suppliers in token.
L2 GOVERNANCE LAUNCHES
L2 governance tokens cluster around 12–18% TGE float, 12+36 vesting, and large foundation reserves. Each project varies the formula.
L2 governance token with 56% community / 44% insider split. 4-year cliff+vest on team and investors after a controversial 1-year delay before unlocks began.
Takeaway
A large DAO treasury (42.78%) and an 11.6% airdrop established the L2 governance norm — but the 1-year cliff before insider unlocks meant the price was already known.
Reference for L2 / rollup governance tokens with a large airdrop and DAO treasury.
Pioneering L2 with a community-first split: 25% to airdrops + 25% to Retroactive Public Goods Funding. 19% each to insiders. Token-holder governance over a Citizens' House for non-financial decisions.
Takeaway
Earmarking 25% to RetroPGF made Optimism the gold standard for "tokens funding the commons" — a story other L2s have been chasing ever since.
Reference for L2 / rollup tokens that want strong public-goods-funding messaging.
ZK-rollup L2 from StarkWare. 10B supply, 50% to ecosystem + community, 17% to investors, 20.04% to core contributors, plus 10.84% to foundation. Cairo-language smart contracts (not EVM).
Takeaway
First major ZK-rollup with novel Cairo VM (not EVM-compatible). Trade-off: better-suited for ZK proofs + provable compute, but limited dev-tool ecosystem vs zkSync/Arbitrum.
Reference for ZK-rollup L2 launches with non-EVM execution.
Native-yield ETH L2 by the Blur team. 100B BLAST supply: 33% community, 25.5% core contributors, 16.5% investors, 8% Blast Foundation, 7% Blast Points (usage rewards), 7% Blast Gold (NFT app rewards), 3% Blur Foundation.
Takeaway
The points-into-airdrop mechanic generated a $2B+ TVL ramp pre-launch but produced one of 2024's most aggressive sell-the-news patterns — token down ~70% within 4 months. Founders should know the points→airdrop incentive design front-loads speculative TVL but rarely produces long-term sticky users; the 'farm and dump' rate is well above 80%.
Reference for L2s using a points-program-into-airdrop distribution mechanic.
Move-language L2 on Ethereum (M2). 10B supply, ~22% community/airdrop, 22% investors, 22% core contributors, balance to ecosystem fund and foundation.
Takeaway
Move-on-Ethereum thesis — bring Aptos/Sui's Move VM to ETH for safer smart contracts. Standard insider-heavy 2024 launch with point-farming pre-TGE.
Reference for Move-language L2 launches.
Proof-of-Liquidity L1. 500M genesis supply. ~38% community/ecosystem, 17% airdrop, 21% core contributors, 17% private sale, plus Foundation. Three-token system (BERA gas, HONEY stable, BGT governance).
Takeaway
Proof-of-Liquidity ties validator security to DeFi liquidity provision — validators must stake LP positions, not just BERA. Most experimental L1 launch since Solana.
Reference for novel-consensus L1s with three-token economic models.
RESTAKING + LST/LRT
The 2024 restaking boom produced a wave of tokens with similar 12+36 schedules and Launchpool launches. Compare the leader (EigenLayer) against fast-followers.
Restaking protocol — pools staked ETH to underwrite Actively Validated Services (AVSs). EIGEN launched September 2024 after 2 years of tokenless growth. ~28% to investors, ~30% to early contributors, 15% to community.
Takeaway
Two years tokenless built distribution-by-product before tokenizing. EIGEN proved 'restake to earn' is a real category.
Reference for tokenless-then-launch protocols and restaking primitives.
Liquid-staking governance token. 36% to the DAO treasury, 22% to founders + early team (1Y cliff + 1Y vest), 22% to investors, 6.5% to validators. Token-holder governance over a multibillion-dollar staking pool.
Takeaway
A high (36%) DAO treasury share funded the buyback + protocol-owned-validator programmes that defined liquid-staking economics post-2022.
Reference for liquid-staking / restaking governance tokens.
EigenLayer liquid restaking. 10B supply. ~32% airdrop, 30% to investors + advisors, 20% core contributors, ~12% Renzo Foundation, ~6% Binance Launchpool.
Takeaway
Launchpool launches got founders aligned with Binance early but the price action set the modern "Launchpool-then-dump" pattern.
Reference for liquid-restaking tokens (LRT) launched via Binance Launchpool.
Liquid staking + restaking protocol. 1B supply. ~50% community/users, 27% team + future hires, 23% investors. Largest LST/LRT competitor to Lido on EigenLayer.
Takeaway
Combined LST + LRT in one product suite — captured restaking yield without users moving funds. The 50% community share is real (large user-direct airdrops).
Reference for liquid-staking + restaking dual-product launches.
Liquid-restaking + LRT-focused L2 (Swell L2). 1B supply, ~50% community, ~16% team, ~16% investors, ~18% to ecosystem programmes.
Takeaway
Combined LRT (rswETH) + own L2 in one product — the rollup is a fee sink for the token. Vertical integration play that worked for Hyperliquid; jury still out for Swell.
Reference for LRT-focused launches with own L2 rollup.
Omnichain liquid-staking + restaking infrastructure. 1B supply, ~30% community, ~25% team, ~25% investors, balance to liquidity programmes. Notable for Binance Launchpool listing.
Takeaway
Launchpool-launched omnichain LST — institutional bridge between yield-bearing assets across chains. Same Binance Launchpool dynamics: airdrop pop, then sustained drift.
Reference for omnichain LST/LRT launches via exchange Launchpool programmes.
Multi-chain liquid-staking aggregator. 150M supply, 23% community, 17.6% private sale, 17% team, plus various incentive pools.
Takeaway
Liquid-stake-anywhere thesis: same protocol on Ethereum, Polygon, BNB, Hedera, Near, Terra (RIP). Hard to dominate any single chain but captures multi-chain users wanting one wallet UX.
Reference for multi-chain LST protocols supporting many networks at once.
NFT-NATIVE TOKENS
Tokens born from or tied to NFT collections. Different distribution dynamics than pure DeFi: holder allocations, marketplace incentives, IP rights.
NFT-native community token. 70.7% to communities + liquidity at TGE — including a sweep across the entire Solana NFT ecosystem, not just Pudgy holders. 88.888B supply chosen as a meme.
Takeaway
Airdropping beyond your own community (Solana NFT holders broadly, not just Pudgy owners) bought goodwill across an entire ecosystem and made the launch feel like infrastructure, not a cash grab.
Reference for NFT-collection-backed tokens that want to embrace the wider ecosystem, not just their own holders.
NFT-backed governance token tied to BAYC ecosystem. 1B supply. 62% community + ecosystem, 16% Yuga Labs founders, 14% investors, 8% launch contributors.
Takeaway
First major attempt to spin a governance token out of an NFT collection. The 16% founder + 14% investor allocation looked aggressive for the "community" framing — set the stage for criticism every NFT-token launch since.
Reference for NFT-collection-spawned governance tokens.
Multi-chain NFT marketplace token. 1B supply. ~50% community/ecosystem, ~25% team, ~25% investors. Distributed via Diamond Pass airdrop to active traders.
Takeaway
Diamond Pass (badge tied to trading volume + activity) determined airdrop weight — solved the "Sybil farms claim everything" problem most NFT airdrops face.
Reference for NFT-marketplace tokens with usage-based airdrop distribution.
NFT marketplace + aggregator focused on professional traders. 3B supply, ~51% to community/incentives, 29% to core contributors + team, 20% to investors. Largest single retroactive NFT-trader airdrop ever.
Takeaway
Three-season airdrop programme that out-incentivised OpenSea + Rarible — captured >70% of NFT market share within 6 months. Showed token incentives can flip markets fast when product-market fit is real.
Reference for marketplace tokens distributed via trader-incentive programmes.
NFT-focused L2 + scaling solution for games. 2B max supply, 51.7% ecosystem development, 25% project development, 14% private sale, ~5% public sale, balance to founders + advisors.
Takeaway
L2 built specifically for NFT games — gas-free transactions for players. The 51.7% ecosystem allocation funded entire game studios; Gods Unchained, Illuvium, Guild of Guardians all share a treasury.
Reference for game-focused L2 launches with ecosystem-heavy allocation.
OpenSea-vampire-attack NFT marketplace. 1B supply, 38.4% trading rewards (over 2 years), 18.8% LP staking rewards, 15% airdrop to OpenSea users, 10% team, 10% treasury, etc.
Takeaway
First serious vampire attack on OpenSea. Captured market share briefly via aggressive trading rewards — but volume collapsed when emissions ran out (2024). Cautionary tale for emission-only growth.
Reference for NFT marketplace tokens with trading-reward distribution.
RWA PIONEERS
Tokenising real-world assets — invoices (Centrifuge), credit (Maple, Goldfinch), T-bills (Ondo), IP (Story). Each requires distinct compliance and distribution structures.
Tokenized RWA pioneer (US Treasuries on-chain). 10B supply. ~52% to ecosystem growth, 33% to private sale, 15% to founders + team. Token transferability gated by foundation vote.
Takeaway
Two years of non-transferability before the January 2024 vote allowed the foundation to build distribution before markets formed — Morpho-pattern applied to RWA.
Reference for RWA token launches with extended non-transferability.
On-chain RWA credit protocol — tokenises real-world assets (invoices, royalties, real estate) for DeFi pools. 425M initial supply, ~27% to early backers, 17% to core contributors, balance to community + treasury.
Takeaway
Pioneered tokenised invoice + receivables financing on-chain. The senior/junior tranche structure (Tinlake) became the template for every RWA credit pool since.
Reference for RWA credit protocols with multi-tier pool structures.
Institutional under-collateralised lending protocol. 10M total supply (low-supply governance design), ~30% to investors, ~26% liquidity mining, ~25% team, balance to public sale + foundation.
Takeaway
Tokenised institutional lending — pool delegates underwrite real-world borrowers (market makers, trading firms). 2022's credit blow-ups (Babel, Auros, etc.) tested the model live; survived with reformed underwriting.
Reference for institutional credit / undercollateralised lending tokenomics.
Under-collateralised lending to real-world businesses (largely emerging-market fintech borrowers). 114M total supply, ~28% to community/airdrop, 28% to team, 22% to backers, balance to community treasury.
Takeaway
Bet on emerging-market fintech credit as the 'real yield' vs synthetic DeFi yield. Worked through 2022 with low default rate; the model's harder to scale than crypto-collateral protocols.
Reference for under-collateralised lending protocols backed by off-chain credit.
RWA-focused L2. 10B supply, ~32% community/airdrop, ~20% team, ~25% investors, balance to ecosystem + foundation. Specializes in tokenised commodities, T-bills, and yield-bearing instruments.
Takeaway
RWA-native L2 with built-in compliance primitives (KYC at chain level via plug-in modules). Different bet from Ondo (token issuer) or Centrifuge (credit pools).
Reference for RWA-focused L2 launches.
L1 for tokenised intellectual property. 1B supply, ~32% community/airdrop, 22% team, 22% investors, ~17% ecosystem fund + foundation. Backed by a16z + Polychain.
Takeaway
Bet on tokenising IP rights as a primary RWA category alongside T-bills + real estate. Programmable IP — license fees, derivative-work royalties, automatic distribution.
Reference for IP / RWA L1 launches.
DEPIN + INFRASTRUCTURE
Tokenomics that pay suppliers — hardware operators, data publishers, indexers. The "real-yield-from-real-utility" thesis.
Proof-of-personhood network with 75% reserved for verified humans. Largest user-allocation share of any major token. Distributed via biometric verification at Orbs worldwide.
Takeaway
Setting aside 75% for users — over a 15-year emission — flipped the typical insider/community ratio. Demonstrates "tokens are credentials, not equity" thinking.
Reference for identity / personhood / DePIN tokens that want most of supply going to verified end-users over time.
Decentralised wireless network. Hotspots earn HNT for providing coverage. Migrated to Solana in 2023, introducing sub-tokens (MOBILE, IOT) for separate networks.
Takeaway
First DePIN at scale: rewarded actual hardware deployment. The HNT → MOBILE/IOT split set the modular DePIN-token pattern.
Reference for physical-infrastructure DePIN tokens with hardware-distributed mining.
Decentralised AI/ML training network. 21M max supply mirroring Bitcoin's halving schedule. 100% distributed via mining (subnet validators + miners). No VC pre-sale, no team allocation.
Takeaway
Bitcoin-cap fair launch + ML training utility — proved that 'mine intelligence' works as a primitive. Subnet 0 (root) auctions emissions to subnet operators in a free market.
Reference for ML/AI DePIN with Bitcoin-style fair-launch tokenomics.
Decentralised storage network. 2B max supply, 70% to storage providers via mining over decades, 15% to Protocol Labs, 10% to investors, 5% to Filecoin Foundation. ICO raised $257M (2017) with 2-3-year unlock.
Takeaway
Largest 2017 ICO ($257M) with extended insider unlocks (1-3 years) — set the template for "raise a lot, lock a lot, mine the rest" that defined first-gen DePIN.
Reference for storage / hardware-DePIN tokenomics with mining-distributed supply.
Solana-native oracle aggregating data from major financial institutions. 10B supply. 52% ecosystem growth, 22% data publishers, 10% private sale, 10% protocol development, 6% community + launch.
Takeaway
Reserving 22% for data publishers (Jane Street, Cboe, Wintermute, Binance, etc.) was the design move that beat Chainlink's economics on Solana.
Reference for oracle / data-supplier networks paying suppliers in token.
Decentralised indexing protocol — query layer for blockchains. 10B supply. ~35% community / curators, 23% early investors, 20% early team, 17% Graph Foundation, 4% testnet indexers, ~1% bug bounty.
Takeaway
First indexing protocol to fully tokenise its query market. Earlier than its peers and richer than its imitators — set the indexer/curator/delegator three-role design.
Reference for infrastructure-as-a-service protocols tokenising query layers.
MEME-INFLUENCED LAUNCHES
Token launches with explicit meme angles — supply numbers, mascots, narrative. From the original (Doge) to celebrity launches (Trump) to launchpads (Pump.fun).
NFT-native community token. 70.7% to communities + liquidity at TGE — including a sweep across the entire Solana NFT ecosystem, not just Pudgy holders. 88.888B supply chosen as a meme.
Takeaway
Airdropping beyond your own community (Solana NFT holders broadly, not just Pudgy owners) bought goodwill across an entire ecosystem and made the launch feel like infrastructure, not a cash grab.
Reference for NFT-collection-backed tokens that want to embrace the wider ecosystem, not just their own holders.
Memeland (9GAG) ecosystem token. 69B supply (yes, 69), 50% community/staking rewards, 14% Binance Launchpad, 11% to NFT holders (Captainz, Potatoz), 10% team + advisors, balance to treasury.
Takeaway
Web2 → Web3 token: 9GAG community + NFT holder rewards. The rare meme launch with a real distribution mechanism — pre-existing community absorbs price discovery rather than VCs.
Reference for tokens spinning out of pre-existing Web2 communities (9GAG → Memeland).
Solana memecoin launchpad. 1T supply (yes — 1 trillion). 33% public sale, 24% community/airdrop, 20% team, ~20% ecosystem + reserves. Generated >$1B in fees over 2024-25.
Takeaway
Launchpad-as-product: every memecoin spun out fuels Pump.fun's fee revenue. Token launched at peak revenue — capturing a year of accumulated fee distribution into a single TGE event.
Reference for launchpad/protocol-fee tokenomics with extreme supply.
Memecoin launched 3 days before Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration. 200M initial circulating, 1B total supply locked under CIC Digital LLC + Fight Fight Fight LLC (entities tied to Trump-family-affiliated holders). 80% locked for 1-3 years.
Takeaway
Cautionary tale for the genre: 80% locked under two LLCs ≈ 80% controlled by ~5 people. The 2025 launch peaked at $14B FDV in 24 hours, then drifted as unlocks loomed.
Reference for celebrity-launched tokens with concentrated insider holding.
The original meme. Fair-launch PoW fork of Litecoin — no premine, no founder allocation, no investors. ~133B supply at launch (no hard cap; 5B emitted per year forever to keep miner incentives steady). Inflated supply schedule is the design choice; effectively disinflationary as a percentage of total over time.
Takeaway
DOGE's 5B-per-year tail emission was originally a bug (an unfixed cap glitch), kept on purpose as a feature. The lesson for fair-launch founders: tail emissions punish hodlers but reward miners/validators, sustaining network security after issuance plateaus. Almost every PoW meme fork copies this pattern. The downside: no upside scarcity narrative — DOGE is forever priced as a payment unit, not a store of value.
Reference for purely-mined fair launches with permanent moderate inflation. The original "credibly neutral" meme.
GAMEFI + PLAY-TO-EARN
Games with token economies — from the original P2E phenomenon (Axie) to move-to-earn (StepN) to NFT-game L2s (Immutable).
Original P2E phenomenon. 270M max supply, 20% play-to-earn rewards, 21% staking, 11% private sale, 4% public sale, 21% Sky Mavis team, 8% advisors, 7% ecosystem fund.
Takeaway
First true P2E success at consumer scale — Filipino + Venezuelan users earned a living wage in 2021. The crash that followed proved emission-funded yield without sticky gameplay = ponzinomics.
Reference for play-to-earn / GameFi tokenomics with reward emissions.
Move-to-earn app on Solana. 6B GMT max supply, 30% community rewards, 16.3% private sale, 16% team (vested 4y), ~8% public sale + advisors + balance. Famous boom-bust cycle in 2022.
Takeaway
Dual-token design: GMT for governance/scarcity, GST for in-app inflation. Boom-bust cycle showed the limit of activity-mined yield without sticky engagement — same lesson as Axie.
Reference for app-native earn-to-earn tokens with dual-token (GMT gov + GST utility) design.
NFT-focused L2 + scaling solution for games. 2B max supply, 51.7% ecosystem development, 25% project development, 14% private sale, ~5% public sale, balance to founders + advisors.
Takeaway
L2 built specifically for NFT games — gas-free transactions for players. The 51.7% ecosystem allocation funded entire game studios; Gods Unchained, Illuvium, Guild of Guardians all share a treasury.
Reference for game-focused L2 launches with ecosystem-heavy allocation.
STABLECOIN PROTOCOLS
Stablecoin issuer governance + secondary tokens. Different mechanics for synthetic-dollars (Ethena), CDP-backed (Maker, Liquity), and yield-bearing (Frax).
Synthetic-dollar stablecoin protocol. 5% TGE airdrop (the famous "Shard" campaign), insiders on 1-year cliff + 3-year linear. Heavy ecosystem incentives drove rapid USDe growth.
Takeaway
A points campaign that ran for 5 months before TGE concentrated demand into one moment — the airdrop did the marketing, the team did the listing.
Reference for stablecoin / yield-bearing dollar protocols using points-then-airdrop loyalty mechanics.
OG governance token, low supply (~1M). Distributed via private OTC sales over years rather than a public ICO. The original lender of last resort: MKR mints to cover bad debt; protocol surplus burns MKR.
Takeaway
A governance token where supply *changes* based on protocol health (mint to recapitalise, burn from surplus) created a far stronger economic feedback loop than fixed-supply alternatives.
Reference for ultra-low-supply governance tokens with mint-and-burn dynamics tied to protocol health.
Modular stablecoin protocol. veFXS earns 50% of total protocol revenue across the Frax stablecoin, frxETH liquid-staking, Fraxlend money market, and other products. One of the few ve copies with real cash-flow yield, not just emission-funded loops.
Takeaway
veFXS distributes real revenue (not just emissions) across a growing product set — making it one of the few cash-flow-backed governance tokens in DeFi.
Reference for governance tokens earning real protocol revenue across a product suite.
Decentralised ETH-backed stablecoin (LUSD) protocol. LQTY is the secondary token rewarding stability-pool depositors and front-end operators. 100M total, 35% to LP rewards, 24% to investors, 23% to team, 6% to early users.
Takeaway
100% on-chain governance with no admin keys — the protocol can't be upgraded. Trade-off: no team can bail it out, but also can't rug it. The 'set and forget' stablecoin design.
Reference for over-collateralised stablecoin protocols with secondary reward tokens.
CROSS-CHAIN INFRASTRUCTURE
Bridges, messaging, and interoperability tokens. Different security models (multisig vs ZK), different distribution strategies.
Cross-chain messaging protocol. 1B supply, 23.8% airdrop (with sybil-fight controversy), 25.5% strategic partners, 23.8% core contributors, 17.5% community + ecosystem.
Takeaway
Famous for its public 'Sybil hunt' — invited users to self-report Sybils for a portion of their would-be allocation. Controversial but extracted real-Sybil data the rest of the industry now uses.
Reference for cross-chain protocol launches with Sybil-defense airdrop strategies.
ZK-proof-based cross-chain interoperability. 1B supply, ~20% airdrop, ~25% team, ~25% investors, balance to ecosystem.
Takeaway
Bet on ZK proofs as the cross-chain primitive (vs LayerZero/Wormhole multisig models). Trade-off: more secure but more expensive — practical adoption depends on ZK proving costs falling.
Reference for ZK-proof / interop infrastructure tokens.
Cross-chain liquidity bridge built on LayerZero. 1B supply. ~17.5% bonding/treasury, 17.5% liquidity rewards, 27.5% to LayerZero/team, 17.5% to investors, ~20% community, plus airdrops.
Takeaway
First cross-chain bridge to ship a token with bonded-liquidity guarantee — STG bonders absorb cross-chain slippage in exchange for emissions.
Reference for cross-chain bridge protocols with bonded-liquidity models.
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