Let’s talk Tokenomics, AquaDAO, and blazing new trails.
Hey AquaFam… AquaNauts? What sounds better? We’re excited to share our tokenomics with you all but first let’s take a few steps back, address some major issues within the nonprofit sector, and then proceed to explain how AQUA’s tokenomics and incentivized systems can change charity.
The Current System is broken…
We want to be very clear, especially since our entire team comes from the nonprofit sector, we are HUGE fans of the WORK in the charity sector. It brings out the best in humanity and consistently showcases to the world what we are capable of when we choose to unite around a common cause and work together. We at AQUA just don’t like how limited the financial toolbelts are for nonprofits. We know that the key to unleashing the potential of nonprofits is more about creating new tools and toolbelts and less about squeezing every penny out of every donation by cutting corners. How we feel about the sector as a whole is summarized by Dan Pallotta’s Ted Talk (about 1 million views) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfAzi6D5FpM .
Upend an entire industry?
Can it be done? Are the lives we save worth the sacrifice and effort? Is risking our own lives worth it? How far are we willing to push the boundaries? For us at AQUA, the answers are simple. We understand what it’s like to hold dying children. We understand what it feels like to carry 40 lbs of dirty drinking water for miles. We know how it feels having to beg donors for money, run through brick walls, and shamelessly scream at the top of mountains to get people’s attention… We live it. Our families live it. Figuring out how to help more people is what keeps all of us awake in the middle of the night (it sounds cliche, but it’s true). We’ve committed our lives to solving the hardest problems… to going to lengths few will go. And that’s what led us here…
AQUA is blazing new trails…
In order to upend the industry, blaze new trails for others, and help end the world water crisis, it begins with talking about what we’re not supposed to in the charity world… the money. We’re not talking about overhead vs. programs… We’re talking about incentivizing human beings to build, create, and innovate alongside us. Very few people in this world will pass up a career with a $100,000+ salary, full benefits, etc. to work at a nonprofit for $30k a year. You’ll find people full of heart but with very little experience building teams and scaling operations on a global level. Integrating crypto and DeFi + building robust incentive systems paves the way for top talent to come to the nonprofit sector. Forming DAO’s, launching your own tokens, and building economies around them will ultimately open the floodgates for both capital and talent to come work on solving some of the world’s most pressing and solvable social issues. That trend… that movement… that's where AQUA and tokenomics come in to play.
How we think about our tokenomics…
How do you show the community that you appreciate them? How do you properly incentivize liquidity providers? How do you sustainably grow your treasury while aggressively scaling your operations? How do you make sure the people pouring their blood, sweat, and tears in to AQUA are rewarded and incentivized to build long term? How do you create a community (DAO) that’s incentivized to find solutions and build alongside you vs. just wait for the token to moon? How do we utilize NFT’s? (Yes, there will be A LOT of NFT’s) These are all questions that led to several discussions amongst our team and resulted in the follwing tokenomics.
Let’s talk about Tokens and Numbers.
Pre-DAO Token Allocations: At mint, 300,000,000 (three hundred million) tokens will be minted; we do not expect a final circulation anywhere near that number, however. Of the initial tokens minted, 60,000,000 will be set aside for pre-DAO token allocations including team rewards, LP incentives, the DAO treasury, and finally, an airdrop to all ATOM and JUNO stakers (someone say airdrop? I’m listening now ;)
The 60,000,000 tokens will be divided in to:
Team rewards: 12,000,000 AQUA will go to team rewards. We settled on this number to reward the developers/team who have put so much into AQUA. We wanted to make sure that our team was compensated in a manner that both ensures they can continue to build AQUA and ensure our DAO remains in a healthy and sustainable financial state. This allocation will be split between our leadership team and 0Complex, the blockchain consulting firm strategizing and executing AquaDAO.
LP & LP incentives: 15,000,000 AQUA tokens are being set aside from the genesis to fund and incentivize LPs on JunoSwap and on Osmosis down the road. This is to incentivize holders to LP their tokens early on as we intend to pay out lucrative rewards. Ultimately, our goal is to offer aggressive APRs to attract and retain holders. We fully understand everyone has different investment goals but we want to promote and reward those who invest in our long-term vision.
DAO treasury: The DAO will receive 25,000,000 AQUA to spend for community proposals. In addition, we will be proposing a comprehensive governance incentivization and bounty program. This is where you’ll see us incentivizing builders and top talent to come to AQUA. Our governance incentivization program will incentivize and reward people who are active in governance and to generate long-term value for the DAO. Holders will be paid AQUA tokens for successful proposals, valuable input, and consistent voting. Again, you (the community) get to help shape and mold AQUA and we’re looking forward to building alongside you all.
Airdrop: We’re also airdropping 8,000,000 AQUA to the JUNO and ATOM community for their support of our project. More details will be released “soon” :)
The DAO raise: “AquaSwap”
During our raise, tentatively in April this year, anyone will be able to buy discounted AQUA at a rate of 500 AQUA for 1 JUNO. Our goal is to raise 100,000 JUNO, or around $3,000,000 (fluctuating at all times of course). We think this number is both challenging and achievable, and will allow us to scale our operations quickly. The money the DAO receives from the “AquaSwap” will be used to seed the treasury, add liquidity to JunoSwap, fully establish our Zambia Base (Multiple drill rigs and transportation vehicles), build 100+ water wells, begin development on “AquaPad” (think launchpad for charities… and value accrual to $Aqua), and much more.
Planned raise & projected token distribution: At a raise of 100,000 JUNO, exactly 50,000,000 AQUA would be distributed to investors, leaving the total circulation at 110,000,000 AQUA.
While it’s possible the raise could be even more than this, or less, whatever remains undistributed of the 300,000,000 AQUA will be burnt, leaving the final circulation far lower.
We’re planning to move forward with the DAO no matter the amount raised — we can be successful at a $1,000,000 raise, as well as at a $5,000,000 raise.
We look forward to sharing more with the community in the coming weeks :)
Keep an eye out for updates!
We hope you’re well!
Aqua
*Tax deduction: All token “purchases” during the AquaSwap event will be tax-deductible.
