PASG Whitepaper

The latest version of the PASG Whitepaper can be read at passage.io/whitepaper (updated as of June 2023).

Passage (PASG) Whitepaper

1. Our Mission

Empower World Builders to Drive Interactions, Content and Audiences to Cosmos

• Passage is a platform that facilitates metaverse experiences on Cosmos!
• Passage brings tools to make accessible, tailored virtual worlds which can be streamed through a browser without hardware requirements.
• The platform utilizes the decentralized cloud computing network Akash.
• The virtual worlds are spearheaded by the internally developed game, The Strange Clan, which will drive audiences to Cosmos and Passage.
• Artists, projects, influencers, and on-chain games will bring ordinary and 3D-asset NFTs that can be used, bought, and sold on the Passage Marketplace using ATOM.

The Passage ecosystem exists on the cooperative, efficient, and interoperable Cosmos ecosystem and leverages compute power from Akash Network decloud. Passage launched the Marketplace and first tokens on the Juno blockchain.

Features of the Passage Ecosystem

• Passage provides an accessible and easy to use way for individuals, projects, and organizations to create immersive 3D-worlds and connect them with other worlds in the ecosystem.
• These worlds are accessible through a browser on almost any device. A local client will also be offered so that people are able to use their own hardware to enter the world without the streaming service.
• Passage utilizes the decentralized cloud computing network, Akash.
• The Ecosystem where the Multiplayer Action RPG game The Strange Clan is being built.

The first NFT marketplace on the Cosmos ecosystem that uses the Cosmos native ATOM as one of the main mediums of exchange.

• Marketplace launched on Juno Q1–2022.
  Launched with the 5000 minted Strange Clan NFTs, which will be followed by another 5000 NFT-characters in early Q3–2022 as well as game related NFTs.
• Several partners are lined up to bolster available NFT content.
• The Marketplace will host both game content and NFTs with viewable 3D-assets that can also be used in worldbuilding.
• The Marketplace will enable open NFT-creation similar to Ethereum’s OpenSea.

Benefits of the Passage Token

• The utility token for the Passage ecosystem (streaming and worldbuilding) with Passage token burn mechanics to be implemented in 2023.
• 50% staking rewards at genesis, which will later be augmented by fees from the Marketplace transactions.
• Worldbuilding Launch Pad — Potential allocation of new tokens for Passage stakers.
• In-world benefits for stakers (starting with The Strange Clan perks).
• Discount on Marketplace transaction fees for Passage token stakers will be implemented.
• DAO/voting rights to be implemented once the platform is ready. This will enable the community to influence how Passage is further developed and how the project funds are used.

2. Passage

Passage utilizes Unreal Engine 4 and is driven by Akash Network (AKT) for CPU- compute and, currently, AWS for GPU-compute. When Akash enables GPU-compute on their cloud, the Passage ecosystem will be one of the projects seeking to utilize the GPU capabilities of the Akash Network to fully power our worlds with their permissionless, self-sovereign and cost-effective cloud. The Passage streaming tool is operational, and some areas of the functionalities described in the section below is under development.

2.1 The Passage Team

The Passage team is employed by 3Division which is helmed by the CEO and Founder Lex Avellino. The team, consisting of 18 full time employees, enlisted contractors and partnering companies, are solely focused on the development, growth, and enrichment of the Passage Ecosystem.

The team has vast experience customizing and designing environments for major clients such as Amazon, Capitol Records, American Girl, and more. We are very familiar with what it takes to bring a product to market on schedule.

Passage has been under development for the last two years and the goal is to increase the scope and the usability in creating and connecting users to worlds.

2.2 Passage World Cost Structure

The cost and lock-up related to creating a world can be divided into three stages: world creation and development, run-time costs, and world creator staking.

World Creation and Development —

Our Passage team aids you in building your world, either by listening to your visions and working hard to create them, or by providing support and guidance for you and your team to launch your own world in the metaverse with the tools we are developing.

The costs for this endeavor are based on the scope of each project and are discussed during the initial talks. The costs are paid to the U.S.-based company, Three Division, who employs the Passage team. A library of readily available 3D-assets, built in Unreal Engine, are ready for you to deploy if you choose to build your own world or want to modify it further. The usage of the 3D-assets will come with a small usage fee that will be attributed to the creator of the asset (see Section 3 for more information).

Until the Passage tools and Marketplace are fully operational, worlds will be built by Three Division.

Run-Time Costs —

Run-time costs relate to the expenses of processing power, both GPU and CPU, from the cloud computing suppliers (Akash for CPU and AWS for GPU, with the ambition to move entirely to Akash once they are able to offer GPU-compute). The cost of streaming will be discussed on a project-by-project basis based on the individual situation and needs. A service will be offered for users to directly pay for these costs themselves through ticketing and other methods, or the worldbuilder can bear the cost and handle the cost model in their own way.

The costs for running the world are as follows:

• CPU Cloud
• GPU Cloud
• Passage infrastructure Storage
• Memory
• Bandwidth

3. The Passage Marketplace

The Passage Marketplace enables trading, viewing, and transferring of NFTs in the Cosmos Ecosystem with ATOM being one of the main mediums of exchange. At the time of writing this is the first NFT-Marketplace utilizing the native Cosmos ecosystem token.

The Marketplace enabled trading of the 5000 NFTs minted from Town 1 in the Strange Clan game (followed by the launch of an additional 5000 NFTs in early Q3-2022). The launches will be controlled at first, then later expanded as the marketplace grows. When released, the Strange Clan $YAWP token will also be used to trade the Strange Clan in-game assets.

The Marketplace uses ATOM as one of the main mediums of exchange for all transactions, but some assets will be cheaper to procure with internal tokens (for instance Strange Clan NFTs may benefit from lower transaction fees if the Strange Clan $YAWP token is used.)

The Marketplace will host both game and content NFTs with viewable 3D-assets that can also be used in worldbuilding. These can be both sold and bought as well as used with a usage fee.

The Marketplace will host four distinct subcategories that fill different needs for NFT enthusiasts, Cosmonauts, Strange Clan gamers, and Passage world users:

1. Open NFT Marketplace

Open Marketplace for trading of all variants of NFTs. Open submission of all NFTs that people wish to create and sell. Submissions will be vetted and controlled by the Passage team initially while an automated vetting-feature is being considered for the future.

2. World 3D Assets

Designers will be able to create and mint 3D-art to the Passage Marketplace which can be used by world creators to drag and drop assets when building their 3D-environments (stock library similar to Envato Elements).

• The Marketplace facilitates the purchase of NFTs that yield income when used in the worldbuilder tool.
• When the 3D asset is used in the world creation process, the user of the asset pays a fee ($PASG) and the NFT-owner gets a commission.

3. Strange Clan NFT Marketplace

All Strange Clan related NFTs will be kept in one catalog and include:

1. NFT-characters
2. NFT-items (Weapons, Armor, Accessories)
3. In-world buildings (ownership certificates for houses, inns, stores, blacksmiths, etc.)

4. Strange Clan Design Objects and Skin Licenses Marketplace

Players will have the option to buy licenses for custom 3D-content (Statues, Paintings etc.) and skins for their owned houses. The Marketplace items are created by the Strange Clan team and by community designers wanting to offer their 3D-artwork for lease (list of requirements will be made available for designers). The buyer pays a fee in $YAWP for the license to use the object/skin in-game.

3. The Passage Marketplace

• The Passage Marketplace fee is currently 3% of all transactions.
• Passage token stakers will enjoy a discount on the transaction fee ranging between 0.4–1.2%.
• Original NFT creators can set up a royalty ranging between 0–10% at the point of creation, allowing the creator to earn revenue every time the NFT is used.
• Creators/users will be able to mint NFTs at no cost in the Marketplace. (will be developed after launch)

4. What is the Passage Token and what is it used for?

The Passage token ($PASG) is the overarching utility token for all Passage worlds. The current main functions and uses of the tokens can be summarized as follows. (The use cases may be expanded as Passage grows and evolves.)

We are working with the blockchain development company VitWit to launch our sovereign blockchain by early Q3–2022.

• Targeting 100 validators at blockchain genesis
• The blockchain will initially support staking, vesting and airdrop functionality primarily utilizing the Cosmos SDK
• The key features for the blockchain will be a balance between security and efficiency to enable a high volume transaction rate with low fees
• The Strange Clan Token will be a viable candidate to launch on the Passage Blockchain

Disclaimer: The Passage token is a utility token in the Passage ecosystem allowing users to participate in streaming, marketplace activities, and other community benefits. A token holder is immediately able to use the token for its intended functionality on the network. Our token does not give the holder rights to profits and 3Division does not guarantee capital appreciation of the token.

4.1 Marketplace & Transaction Fee Capture Model

For all transactions that pass through the Passage Marketplace, a transaction fee is incurred. Half of this fee is allocated to the Passage Foundry and the other half is dedicated to a staking rewards fund. The rewards dedicated to the staking pools are converted from ATOM to PASG. This action also creates a continuous buy demand of the Passage token and will ensure that stakers will be compensated for securing the blockchain in a sustainable way.

4.2 World Streaming Fee

You can enter any Passage world using almost any device that can run a simple web browser. The world is streamed to your device via cloud compute. Akash for CPU and currently AWS for GPU, with the ambition of solely using Akash once GPU compute is offered in 2022.

The fee will go to cover the costs of the streaming session plus a mark-up that will go towards tokenburn (3% initially). The burn mechanic will be implemented in 2023. The streaming fee will be based on the real-world fiat cost, so that Passage token price appreciation will not increase the cost of using the streaming service.

Each world will be able to handle the streaming fees differently. For the Strange Clan game, the players will be able to farm and generate income in the game which in turn can be converted to $PASG to pay for the streaming (similar to “inserting a quarter”). Projects will also have the option to fund all streaming expenses through a community pool or similar approaches. A local client can also be offered by world builders so that people are able to use their own hardware to enter worlds without the streaming service.

4.3 Passage FOUNDRY

To enable the continued growth of the Passage ecosystem, a Foundry will be created with the following purposes:

• Provide incentives for liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges.
• Work to foster creativity and diversity by supporting creators through the purchase of their 3D NFT-art, as well as supporting new and innovative concepts and projects in the Passage Metaverse. Through buying 3D NFTart, we can attract 3D content creators to the Marketplace and to Passage, as well as being able to request custom art that is found lacking. This will increase the available art in the 3D-asset library, making the worlds more visually rich and expressive.
• Serve as a capital reserve for the development of the Passage ecosystem. The primary development of Passage will be supported through income generated from the initial token launch and through the continuous work with clients relating to Passage. The Foundry resources may be used to fund further development as needed and will also be the capital reserve for streaming services (such as the initial free sessions for new users and development sessions)

The Foundry’s sources of income:

• Initial allocation
• Transaction fees
• License income from Passage owned 3D-art
• Worldbuilding partnerships

The goal of the Foundry is to be the support pillar of the Passage ecosystem. Depending on available resources and the needs of the ecosystem, additional use- cases can be identified for the Foundry. With the advent of DAO governance, voting may be used to decide on the prioritized paths for the Foundry.

4.4 Staking

Passage token holders that stake their tokens earn staking rewards in accordance with the schedule in Section 5. Apart from the staking yield, stakers will also receive benefits within the Passage ecosystem.

• Will support Keplr Wallet
• Staking site to be announced
• Lock up time: 21 days
• Staking APR: Initial APR of 50% (If 80% of the circulating supply is staked, the actual APR will be closer to ~63%). The APR from the initial token allocation will be decreased by 35% every year from genesis until the end of year 5 (i.e. 32.5% APR year 2). After year 5, the staking rewards will come solely from the Marketplace transaction fees.
• Half of the transaction fees generated through the Passage Marketplace will go to the staking fund. This fund will be used to provide perpetual staking rewards to bolster the initial staking reward schedule. This provides the stakers with a sustainable source of income and gives them a vested interest in the success of the Passage Marketplace. The release of transaction fee income will begin one year after launch at the earliest, as the aim is to provide a sustainable staking reward. In the future, the DAO will be able to influence how these funds will be used (e.g. staking rewards or token burn).

4.5 Passage Staker Perks

Apart from the more traditional rewards from staking the token, all $PASG stakers will also enjoy in-world benefits for helping secure the blockchain.

The benefits are still being developed and may include:

• Potential discount on streaming Passage worlds
• Marketplace discount on transaction fees (0.4–1.2% depending on staking amount)
• Access to the Traveler’s Guild — Exclusive content from each world and potential benefits for the users when accessing them. This will vary depending on the type of world.
• Exclusive Discord & content portal for behind-the-scenes, comic series, and animations from the Strange Clan world.
• Passage token holders will have a chance of getting a whitelist spot for upcoming Passage project releases (such as Passage SPACES).
• Airdrops within the world (such as items or consumables). These will not be game critical, but will provide in-world gains for the users.

4.6 Worldbuilding Launch Pad — Potential Allocation In New Tokens for Stakers

Our purpose is for the Passage ecosystem to grow with new exciting worlds and experiences. We begin this journey by launching The Strange Clan game, and we have more exciting collaborations in the pipeline! Strange Clan will have its own token, and we expect more of these projects to follow suit and launch their own tokens.

Token launches relating to new worlds in Passage would have a distinct advantage, tapping into Passage stakers as an initial audience who already are engaged within the Passage Ecosystem. Consequently, our ambition is to make Passage stakers a priority for these potential token launches, whether that be through early buy-in options or airdrops.

4.7 World Creator Staking

In order to create a new world within Passage, the creators of the new world will lock up Passage tokens in staking. The tokens used for staking will initially be bought from the Passage Foundry. The staking system will be built so as to not restrict new world builders from entering the ecosystem. Initial structure will be a number of Passage tokens. This will later be converted to a representative value to ensure that new Worlds can be built despite value appreciation of the Passage tokens.

The World staking will enjoy the same APR as the regular staking, and the amount and lock-up period is based on the scale of the world.

4.8 DAO & Voting

In the later phases of the development of Passage, a DAO Governance mechanic will be introduced to let holders of the Passage token contribute with proposals and participate in deciding the priorities of the further development of the ecosystem

5. TOKEN Allocations and Unlock Schedules

The Passage token will have a low initial circulating supply of 168 million tokens (8%) at genesis, with the Foundry & LP and airdrop being the largest distribution event, followed by the public sale.

35% of the tokens are dedicated to the Passage Foundry, which is required for the Liquidity Bootstrapping Pool (LBP) and will also be used to provide LP-incentives.

The intention for the initial airdrops is to bolster interest for the ecosystem and create incentives to visit and engage with the Passage Marketplace.

An additional 50% of the initial airdrop amount will be available to some recipients at month 14 for stakers of the initial airdrop.

• The Passage token will have a fixed supply capped at 2 billion tokens.
• High initial inflation of 50% with a 35% reduction each consequent year until max supply has been reached after year 5. After year 5 the staking rewards will come through the Marketplace transaction fees.
• A total of 71% of the available tokens are related to staking rewards. The high APR is used to create long-term engagement through staking (21 days unbonding) and to be aligned with other Cosmos tokens and LP opportunities which offer a high yield.

Staking APR — 100% Staked:

• Year 1–50.0%
• Year 2–32.5%
• Year 3–21.1%
• Year 4–13.7%
• Year 5–8.9%
• Year 6+ — 0.0%

The total token supply excluding staking rewards amount to 580M and are unlocked over the course of 5 years.

A total of 30% of the genesis supply is sold through public and private sale as a means to fund the continued development of the project.

The slight uptick in token supply at month 14 is due to the last of the airdrops. However, reserved airdrops that are not staked until month 14 from TGE will not be claimable and subject to token burn, so the increase will be less pronounced.

5.1 Airdrops

Airdrops may be used to bolster interest and to create incentives to visit and engage with the Passage ecosystem and marketplace.

The airdrops would be distributed to people already committed to the ecosystem potentially including targeted airdrops to stakers of select tokens within the Cosmos ecosystem. Such targeted airdrops would encourage collaboration and potentially attract early adopters to the Ecosystem.

The airdrop would occur in stages:

• The first airdrops would occur to wallets directly tied to the Strange Clan Game (the first users involved in the Passage ecosystem which will provide them with initial funds for streaming). The initial airdrop for these tokens (close to genesis) would ideally amount to 2/3 of the total airdrop allocation. The remaining 1/3 would be made available at month 14 post-genesis for wallets who staked their initial airdrop for the duration.
• The second round of airdrops would be targeted to the Cosmos ecosystem where participants may be encouraged to participate in activities to become accustomed to Passage in order to receive a potential airdrop.

All unclaimed airdrops are subject to token burn which will decrease the total available supply.

5.2 Public Sale

The public launch of the Passage token is targeted to include both centralized and decentralized exchanges, which will likely be a two-step approach. (Updated June 2022)

5.3 Staking Rewards

Staking rewards in accordance with Section 4.4.

5.4 Private Sale

To strengthen collaboration with key projects and partners, as well as to secure key assets and knowledge, a Private sale will be conducted prior to the public sale. The Private sale of 20.7% of the total tokens are locked in accordance with the table in Section 5. Vested tokens earn staking rewards which are available upon claim (in accordance with the standard vesting module of the cosmos SDK).

5.5 Community Pool

The community pool funds are governed by on-chain proposals and voting. It enables the community to influence the direction of Passage. Funds are subject to a 3 year cliff due to the development headway that is needed until this time.

5.6 Passage FOUNDRY and LP incentives

The Passage Foundry will be managed by the Passage core team. To preserve the integrity of the fund, the team will prepare yearly high-level overviews of how the funds have been used. Vested tokens earn staking rewards which are available upon claim.

5.7 Team and Advisors

The team behind Passage and the advisors to the project are and should remain incentivized to keep building after a successful token sale. By locking up the majority of the allocated supply we ensure that the team and advisors have a long- term horizon for the project. Vested tokens earn staking rewards which are available upon claim.

6. How will the funds be used?

All revenue from the Private and Public token sales will be used to continue delivering on the roadmap goals (see passage3d.com).