Echidna Economics

Let’s examine Echidna’s token model and tokenomics to understand how you can use our protocol to your advantage!

8 min readFeb 24, 2022

Platypus is one of the most innovative protocols on Avalanche. Thanks to its single-sided AMM design, users can yield farm with their stablecoins just by depositing one currency instead of the typical pair. Farmers can also boost their yields up to hundreds of percentage points by staking PTP, further deflating the token’s supply and increasing user APRs.

But the ingenuity of Platypus’ system also has its drawbacks. Rewards boosting with PTP forces stablecoin holders to assume more risk by holding PTP with a recommended capital allocation of 50:50 stablecoins to PTP to optimise returns. PTP withdrawals are also harshly penalised with an “all or nothing” mechanism that renders staked PTP completely illiquid.

The Echidna team custom built our protocol for Platypus by emulating the simplicity and innovation of Platypus and eliminating its drawbacks. We remove all complications with capital allocation, rewards claiming, and withdrawal penalties to provide you with a streamlined process for maximising your stablecoin yield.

In this article, we will guide you through our token model and tokenomics so you have a better understanding of how our protocol operates, and how you can use Echidna to your advantage.

How Does Echidna Work?

Echidna enables stablecoin LPs to leverage our vePTP treasury to maximise their stablecoin APRs without owning PTP. Echidna aggregates PTP from the community and permanently stakes PTP into Platypus to accrue vePTP. In exchange, Echidna rewards PTP contributors with extra liquidity and income via our native token, ECD.

Token Model

Our full token model is displayed in the diagram above. The lower half (in red) is the model for liquidity providers and the distribution of PTP rewards generated by Platypus LP tokens. The upper half of the chart (in blue) represents the flow of PTP tokens and their derivatives in Echidna. Let’s first examine our PTP token model.

We have updated our rewards distribution based on protocol and market conditions. Please scroll to the bottom to refer to the most updated model.

PTP Token Model

Echidna accrues vePTP by crowdsourcing PTP and staking it permanently into Platypus. When you contribute PTP to Echidna, it becomes a yield generating asset. PTP is exchanged for ecdPTP at a 1:1 ratio.

You can earn ECD by staking your ecdPTP in Echidna. You can also lock your ECD for up to 2 years in exchange for veECD, which will allow you to vote on Echidna governance and entitle you to 5–10% of Echidna’s protocol revenue paid in PTP.

Once Platypus voting gauges are enabled, veECD holders can vote on Platypus rewards allocations via Echidna’s vePTP treasury. You can vote to allocate rewards in favor of your investments or receive financial incentives from stablecoin protocols to allocate rewards to their pool on Platypus.

Here’s a breakdown of each of our tokens and their features:

1/ ecdPTP (Echidna Platypus token)

Tokenised deposit of PTP tokens; fixed 1:1 exchange rate with PTP
Similar to cvxCRV from Convex
Stake ecdPTP to earn ECD emissions
PTP to ecdPTP conversion is not directly reversible on Echidna

2/ ECD (Native token)

Additional liquidity and income for PTP contributors
Tokenised and fungible vePTP
Can be swapped for AVAX via ECD/AVAX pool on TraderJoe
Can be staked into ECD / AVAX pool to receive emissions
Can be locked for up to 2 years for veECD

3/ veECD (vote-escrow Echidna token)

Hold to gain voting power on Echidna protocol to vote in Platypus voting gauge
Hold to earn 5–10% of Echidna protocol revenue (paid in PTP)
Voting power decays linearly over time as ECD lock period moves closer to expiration. Time lock can be renewed before expiration
Users can choose to exercise their vote or monetise voting power in the future

LP Token Model

Users can stake their Platypus LP tokens on Echidna to boost their rewards emissions via our vePTP treasury. Our devs have also created a Zap feature, which enables direct deposits of stablecoins into Platypus via Echidna. 80% of all PTP earned by Echidna will be redistributed to LP and stablecoin depositors.

We have updated our rewards distribution based on protocol and market conditions. Please scroll to the bottom to refer to the most updated model.

Rewards Distribution

Echidna’s rewards distribution is straightforward, both by design and as a byproduct of Platypus’ rewards emissions.

Stablecoin LPs receive their APR in PTP tokens.
PTP contributors receive their APR in ECD
ECD lockers receive a portion of our protocol’s revenue in PTP

As a user, you should deposit LP tokens, contribute PTP, and lock ECD to maximise your return on our platform.

Echidna distributes 80% of protocol revenue back to LP token stakers. The remaining 20% is split between our veECD holders, harvest callers, and treasury.

5–10% to veECD holders
5–10% towards team’s treasury
0.25–1% to harvest callers

PTP distributed to our treasury will be used for accruing more vePTP, liquidity for the ecdPTP/PTP pool, and financing Echidna’s operations.

ECD Tokenomics

Total Supply: 500M

Launch Method: Rocket Joe

TGE: Feb 27, 2022 6pm UTC

70% Community Rewards; of which

55% Liquidity Mining (ecdPTP stakers)

Emissions from liquidity mining will follow a logarithmic function and are pro-rated with the number of PTP tokens contributed to Echidna. This is to incentivise early PTP stakers so Echidna can build our communal vePTP treasury for current and future users.

By focusing our rewards on PTP contributors, we are able to build a stronger long term position as a yield booster and incentivise users in a way that does not over-dilute rewards, which makes Echidna more viable over the long term.

This ultimately helps Platypus retain users and TVL, which perfectly aligns with our mission.

15% Bonus rewards for secondary pools — 10% at TGE and 18 month linear vesting

Emissions for bonus rewards will be deployed discretionarily as incentives based on market conditions. This ensures Echidna has adequate liquidity on the open market for our users transact with the ECD token.

10% will unlock at TGE followed by 18 months of vesting

15% Team — 6 month cliff followed by 18 month vesting

Echidna started as a three man squad and has slowly grown to a global project of full time teammates, part time helpers, and freelancers. We are committed to growing Echidna in the long term by attracting and empowering new talent, hence our 15% allocation to current and future members of the team.

There will be no token unlocks for the first 6 months. Tokens will be vested linearly over an 18 month period afterwards.

5% Advisors — 6 month cliff followed by 18 month vesting

We have allocated 5% of our total supply to advisors. As a community driven project, it is important for us to enlist established builders and leaders in the Avalanche ecosystem to guide us on our mission.

There will be no token unlocks for the first 6 months. Tokens will be vested linearly over an 18 month period afterwards.

5% Treasury — 10% TGE followed by 3 month cliff and 18 month linear vesting

The treasury will be used to support Echidna’s operations (marketing, community rewards and events, bug bounties, partnerships etc.). 10% will unlock at TGE . Tokens will be vested linearly over an 18 month period after a 3 month cliff.

3% Rocket Joe Fundraising — Initial DEX liquidity

Echidna will launch our token via Trader Joe’s Rocket Joe platform. You can deposit AVAX for the ECD token, during which the AVAX received will become seed liquidity for the ECD / AVAX pool on Trader Joe. The deposit process also doubles as a price discovery mechanism for the ECD token, which discourages notorious bot sniping during token launches.

The tokens deployed for Rocket Joe consists of the following:

3% of tokens for launch
0.375% for bonus tokens (from secondary pool bonus rewards allocation). All participants will receive a 12.5% bonus on their deposit.

Echidna will own 50% of the liquidity seeded via Rocket Joe, which will alleviate the need to maintain market liquidity with incentives.

Deposits start at Feb 24 6pm UTC and will last until Feb 26 6pm UTC. Withdrawals are available until Feb 27 6pm UTC, after which the ECD token will become tradable.

AVAX depositors will receive LP tokens that are locked for 3 days. Afterwards, there will be a double rewards farm where you can earn both ECD and JOE tokens by staking your LP tokens on Trader Joe.

Click here for our Rocket Joe launch guide

2% vePTP holder airdrop — variable release schedule

Echidna will airdrop 2% of our total supply to vePTP holders. Snapshots will be taken at random leading up to TGE on Feb 27 6pm UTC. Token allocations are pro rated based on the mean vePTP of each holder.

Airdrop tokens are vested linearly for 12 months and are claimable at any time. You can also choose to quit vesting at any time and claim 50% of your allocation plus tokens released by vesting at the cost of forfeiting unreleased tokens.

Forfeited tokens will be compiled into a bonus pool and pro rated to users who either wait for the full 12 months or choose to quit vesting after you.

Click here for details on our airdrop

TLDR

Here’s a quick summary of the actions you should take on our platform as a user:

Stablecoin Holder — Use our Zap feature to deposit your stablecoins directly into Platypus to start earning boosted PTP rewards. Deposit some PTP to earn extra passive income with ECD

Platypus LP — Deposit LP tokens into Echidna to boost your PTP rewards without sacrificing liquidity. Deposit some PTP to boost your yield further with ECD

PTP Holder — Deposit your PTP (that would otherwise be illiquid on Platypus) into Echidna to earn ECD and increase your APR

ECD Holder — Lock your ECD to vote on PTP rewards allocation and earn a % of our protocol’s revenues in PTP. Once Platypus voting gauges are enabled, you can vote to allocate rewards in favor of your investments or receive financial incentives from stablecoin protocols to allocate rewards to their pool on Platypus