SporkDAO Token Economics & $SPORK Rewards

Joshua Lapidus
ETHDenver
Published in
8 min readJun 22, 2021

SporkDAO Rewards & Token Economics

SporkDAO has been birthed to complete the evolution of ETHDenver from a wholly owned, centrally controlled entity to a Member-owned digital cooperative. $SPORK is the incentive alignment mechanism that will be used to govern SporkDAO along with being the unit of account for calculating distribution of profits to SporkDAO members should that time come.

Introduction to SporkDAO

SporkDAO is formed as a Colorado Limited Cooperative Association (LCA). The State of Colorado has a flexible cooperative law framework and is often referred to as the “Delaware for cooperatives”. This approach and jurisdiction were selected specifically to utilize a legal structure which supports sustainable benevolence on behalf of SporkDAO Members and self-determination under the law.

SporkDAO also holds three wholly owned subsidiaries (aka “Prongs”) which hold specific roles in the SporkDAO ecosystem.

  1. ETHDenver, LLC: The yearly #BUIDLathon hosted over the week prior to Presidents’ Day Weekend in Denver, Colorado USA.
  2. ColoradoJam, LLC: A technology sandbox & incubator created in collaboration with Governor Jared Polis’ office to explore and pilot blockchain & Web3 technology inside the state infrastructure.
  3. Bufficorn Ventures, LLC: A community grants & investments vehicle providing post-hackathon thru seed stage capital.

The totality of the ecosystem is designed to create more sustainable value accrual for the SporkDAO community as well as less dependency on sponsorships for the ETHDenver event.

Purpose

Having engaged over 40,000 participants from 100+ countries over 4 years, ETHDenver (and now SporkDAO) has one of the largest, most engaged communities in the world. Both purposes are designed to expand the reach and influence of SporkDAO through a “Big Tent & Blank Canvas” community. Our community welcomes people from all walks of life to be free to express their unique creativity…with as few economic and geographic barriers as possible.

SporkDAO has two main purposes:

  1. To realize the vision of Colorado becoming a destination of choice for Web3 innovation while also becoming the “First Digital State” as announced by Governor Jared Polis in February 2021.
  2. To merge the greater Web3 community with Colorado by providing access to world-class events, experiences, swag, and value creation.

Membership

Membership in SporkDAO is open to individuals and groups from all over the world.

Membership is triggered by one of a few potential activities:

  • Attendance and/or contribution at an SporkDAO, ETHDenver, or ColoradoJam event
  • Purchase of ETHDenver and/or SporkDAO SWAG/Merch from Bufficorn.com/Metafactory.io
  • Grant contribution to Bufficorn Ventures and/or ColoradoJam

Other than the above activities, there are no membership fees or dues to maintain Membership in SporkDAO.

Members, however, must register themselves and/or their organization with SporkDAO and agree to the Bylaws and Community Standards as set forth by the Board of Stewards. This process will happen annually prior to each ETHDenver event installation.

Name & Design

A Spork is the most utilitarian instrument in the known world. It can be used to eat, dig, attack, defend, fork code, and, mostly notably, #BUIDL.

Bufficorns, PegaBufficorns, MegaPegaBufficorns, and BuffiGWEI all choose the spork as their tool of choice when collaborating to #BUIDL the decentralized future. Thus the name $SPORK, for the Community Token.

$SPORK is designed as a Cooperative Patronage Rewards token used as a means of incentivizing stakeholders to engage in certain patronage activities deemed valuable by SporkDAO. $SPORK tokens are a unit of account to determine the amount of patronage profits a Member is entitled to if/when they are declared by the Commons.

Supply & Distribution

Contract Addresses:

Matic $SPORK: 0x9CA6a77C8B38159fd2dA9Bd25bc3E259C33F5E39
Mainnet $SPORK: 0xb624FdE1a972B1C89eC1dAD691442d5E8E891469

$SPORK has a capped supply of 528,000,000. This number is in honor of Denver being the mile-high city at 5,280 feet above sea-level. Yes, we memed the supply number. :)

$SPORK allocations will be split between a historical distribution that covers the previous 4 years of ETHDenver events and future distributions to cover at least the next 10 years of community activities.

Circulating supply following the SporkDAO Launch Party Completion will be 47% (248,160,000 $SPORK).

53% (279,840,000 $SPORK) will be maintained in the SporkDAO treasuries for future allocations as described below.

The community may choose to modify the distributions laid out here based on factors currently unknown to the Stewards who have crafted this blueprint.

Historical Rewards Distribution

34% of the total supply of SPORK will be distributed to historical patronage from the 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 ETHDenver event installations.

$SPORK (as % of Total Supply)

2018 — 10% (52,800,000 $SPORK)
2019 — 9% (47,520,000 $SPORK)
2020 — 8% (42,240,000 $SPORK)
2021 — 7% (36,960,000 $SPORK)

Stakeholders & contributors that fall within the following categories will receive $SPORK: Sponsors, Swag Merch Buyers & Event Vendors, Volunteers & Stewards, Attendees & Speakers, and Teams who submitted projects.

The 34% (or 179,520,000) $SPORK will be distributed across those categories in the following waterfall:

  • Sponsors 14% (25,132,800.00 $SPORK)
  • Swag/Merch Buyers & Event Vendors 14% (25,132,800.00 $SPORK)
  • Volunteers & Stewards (i.e. founders, organizers, super volunteers) 15% (26,928,000.00 $SPORK)
  • Attendees & Speakers 20% (35,904,000.00 $SPORK)
  • Teams who submitted projects 15% (26,928,000.00 $SPORK)
  • Bufficorn Ventures & ColoradoJam 20% (35,904,000.00 $SPORK)
  • Community Discretionary Fund 2% (2,513,280.00 $SPORK)

Note: although Bufficorn Ventures and ColoradoJam did not exist during early installations of ETHDenver, the Board of Stewards has determined that these entities will receive an allocation to ensure a better chance at success. We’re doing something similar with historical Swag / Merch sales and putting most of those tokens towards the NFT Art Bazaar and Launch Merch sales.

$SPORK allocated to historical contributors must be claimed by 2/27/22 which is directly following the 2022 installation of ETHDenver & ColoradoJam. Unclaimed $SPORK will be absorbed back to the SporkDAO treasury.

ColoradoJam & Bufficorn Ventures

Colorado Jam & Bufficorn Ventures received 6.8% (35,904,000.00 $SPORK) of the total supply to act as their initial rewards treasuries. This amount will be divided equally between both entities and, as mentioned above, comes from the rewards they would have gotten had they existed back in 2018. The initial treasuries are intended to help them bootstrap into existence by attracting some core talent and partners from the community.

Both entities will also receive $SPORK on an ongoing basis, as explained below in the Forward Looking $SPORK Rewards section.

Opolis & Exit to Community

Opolis is receiving 10% (52,800,000 $SPORK) of the total supply in recognition that its core team has largely been responsible for seeding the original capital necessary to fund event operations, executing the event in the past, and has covered any cash shortfalls in order to keep the event free. John Paller, the Founder & Executive Steward of ETHDenver, is also the Founder of Opolis.

SporkDAO Launch Party & NFT Art Bazaar Patronage

The SporkDAO Launch Auction & Bazaar has a goal of raising at least $2M in funds to support investments, hiring of full-time staff, community development and other activities. It will also assist in subsidizing the ETHDenver 2022 event to maintain low economic barriers (free attendance & virtual events) to participation.

5% (26,400,000 $SPORK) of the total supply is set aside for the SporkDAO Launch Party NFT Auction & Art Bazaar sales.

  • ~2% (10,560,000 $SPORK) to the merch / swag & NFT creators / artists
  • ~2% (10,560,000 $SPORK) to purchasers / collectors of merch / swag & NFTs
  • 1% (5,280,000 $SPORK) BONUS (pro rata) to those who spend more than 5.28 ETH on the NFT Auction/Bazaar & Metafactory swag/merch purchases

For purchasers, each “Mile” you see listed next to an NFT or merch represents 5,280 $SPORK. For example, if you see an item that lists 2 Miles of $SPORK as Rewards you’ll receive 10,560 $SPORK.

$SPORK is not being sold directly or indirectly to anyone. It has no economic value aside from the voting rights & patronage profits distributions for Members holding $SPORK.

Full Distribution Schedule

For the complete waterfall of distributions see the Full Distribution Schedule here.

Forward-Looking Distributions

In order to properly align the incentives of SporkDAO community stakeholders and ensure a sustainable ecosystem, a % of $SPORK Rewards total supply has been earmarked by the Board of Stewards for each event year.

The SPORK emissions will begin 6% in 2022 and realize a reduction in allocation of the following schedule:

$SPORK Emissions (as % of Total Supply)

2022–6% (31,680,000 $SPORK)
2023–5% (26,400,000 $SPORK)
2024–5% (26,400,000 $SPORK)
2025–4% (21,120,000 $SPORK)
2026–4% (21,120,000 $SPORK)
2027–3% (15,840,000 $SPORK)
2028–3% (15,840,000 $SPORK)
2029–2% (10,560,000 $SPORK)
2030–2% (10,560,000 $SPORK)
2031–1% (5,280,000 $SPORK)

Each year’s allocation will be divided across the following Stakeholder patronage:

  • Sponsors — 14%
  • Merch / Sales — 14%
  • Stewards / Volunteers — 15%
  • Attendees / Speakers — 20%
  • Buidlers (aka ‘hackers’ who submit qualified projects) — 15%
  • Bufficorn Ventures — 10%
  • Colorado Jam — 10%
  • DAO Discretionary Tokens — 2%

Claiming Historical Rewards

If you participated in ETHDenver in the past in the aforementioned ways, we will send you an email with a Link Drop where you’ll be able to input your ETH address and claim your $SPORK. If you do not have an ETH address, please review these steps on how to set up Metamask.

What if you realized you attended or spoke at or submitted a project, but never gave ETHDenver your email? Visit the SporkDAO Community website and fill out the Proof of Contribution form in the “Tokens” section. SporkDAO Stewards will review your information and determine your eligibility based on what you submit and our ability to verify your participation/contribution.

Those not receiving their $SPORK allocations during the June 26th drop, and who subsequently fill out the Proof of Contribution form, will receive their $SPORK Rewards during a secondary drop at the end of July if their requests are able to be accommodated.

Governance

As ETHDenver evolves to the broader SporkDAO, it is important to ensure that governance is set up in a way that includes a methodology for the maximum number of people to participate in the big decisions at the SporkDAO macro level as well as at the Prong Level.

Governance will occur in the following ways:

  • SporkDAO major decisions will be captured via Gnosis Safe Snap to allow all $SPORK holders to voice their opinions on big, directional decisions.
  • For ColoradoJam & Bufficorn Ventures, Moloch DAOs hosted on DAOHaus will be utilized. For those interested in being more intimately involved with a specific Prong, you will be able to stake $SPORK to join and govern that DAO.

Specific governance protocols will be announced in the coming weeks following the SporkDAO Launch Party completion.

Conclusion

SporkDAO boasts one of the largest, most diverse, global communities. We’re a “Big Tent & Blank Canvas” bringing thousands of new souls to the decentralized future every year. ETHDenver is, and always will be free to attend while we continue to break down economic barriers to participating ethereally from the Metaverse.

The Stewardship looks forward to seeing the community grow by wielding our $SPORKs together.

#BUIDL

#BUIDL

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Joshua Lapidus
ETHDenver

Founding Steward of @Opolis @SporkDAO | PNoun 1 Co-Founder @Rainbow_Rolls @PublicNouns #BufficornBUIDLBrigade | Staff Comedy Writer @TheRugNews