The Journey and Vision of LevX DAO
Introduction
At first glance LevX DAO seems complicated and confusing for newcomers. To be fair, confusion is understandable, as there is a lot going on and a lot to learn. However, within all the chaos there is a beautiful ecosystem that is still just in the infancy stage of growth.
Back in October of 2021 LevX DAO was bootstrapped by enticing airdrop farmers from twitter to join our discord and bring in new members for free tokens. This led to the birth of the $OHGEEZ token and, in turn, the $LEVX token. Despite the varying views on what defines a token, it is my opinion that early on these were simply “social” tokens that only held value because of the community. If you’re curious about what my statement means I suggest reading an old article I wrote on the subject HERE.
Fast forward to today, both the DAO and the token have evolved into something much larger — which I will explore more later on. First, it’s important to note that many protocols have used this aforementioned method of airdropping free tokens to bootstrap liquidity and community, all with varying degrees of success. LevX DAO has managed to create a strong community which consists of over 10k members. Although the bear market has decreased engagement, we still have many active contributors and community members who have made our discord an enjoyable place to spend time. The community shares information about new NFT and De-Fi projects, helps other members get WL giveaways, and our leaders offer opportunities for the community to earn NFTs and tokens from LevX DAOs in house and partnered projects. With regard to our projects I think it’s important to make clear for both new and old members what different projects are currently being worked on, and how everything will come together to create a cohesive system.
$LEVX + levx.io
Levx.io will be the platform that combines our social token ($LEVX) and our NFT project (Sharkpunks) on one simple application. This platform will not just be for us, it will be for all NFT projects that want to participate. At the most basic level levx.io will be similar to a decentralized Opensea with yield farming governed by ve(3,3) token economics. Levx.io will provide a new way to inject liquidity into NFT collections by incentivizing trading, farming and speculation — all of which will be powered by a VE token model. There will be two tiers of voting power. For example, if there are 10 collections listed the multiplier boost for each collection will be determined by the total veLEVX allocated towards voting for NFTs within that collection; however, there will also be competition within each collection to boost different NFTs, therefore, helping differentiate rarity and price. Essentially $LEVX emissions will be controlled by holders of veLEVX and fees from sales will go to veLEVX holders. Of course, veLEVX holders from all collections will still be distributed 33% of the ETH from Sharkpunk NFT sales as well (90,327 ETH).
Here are a few details regarding how the platform works, after which I will discuss the reasons for building said platform in the first place:
1. NFT Gauge
- Users stake NFT with a percentage of veLEVX they hold as the weight.
- The amount of veLEVX when staking is automatically voted to Gauge Controller.
- When staking an NFT, you decide the revenue sharing percentage (min 10%).
- Additional veLEVX can be added as weight by anyone.
- The owner of the NFT gets 33.3% of the inflation.
- Another 66.7% is distributed to the lockers in proportion to veLEVX amount.
- Every time a sale happens, the shared revenue goes to the lockers (except the owner of the NFT) in proportion to veLEVX amount.
2. Gauge Controller
- Only NFTGauge contracts can vote for address weights on behalf of the users.
- Sales fee (5%) is distributed to the voters within the same address in proportion to their weights.
- Every time a sale happens, equivalent amount of LEVX sold is added as weight.
Why though?
So, allow me to dive deeper into the ideals of levx.io as it relates to NFT (Art + PFP) collections.
A lot of people question the fundamentals of NFTs by saying that they’re just worthless JPEGs. This is an understandable perspective, since most NFT value can only be realized when there is sufficient attention directed toward a particular NFT collection. This attention will then bring liquidity and realized value for creators and builders.
In many cases after the initial launch hype for a NFT collection fades the liquidity dries up, and the only thing remaining are the hardcore speculators who believe in the future utility of the NFTs. These speculators are the people which bring true value to NFT projects, because they either appreciate the art or understand the future utility of the NFT they are holding. Levx.io is built for these speculators to unlock the value of their NFTs and bring attention to undervalued projects and artworks from all corners of the diverse NFT space.
Projects are supported by three fundamental pillars of value: attention, liquidity and utility. Levx.io seeks to reinforce these pillars of the semi-fragile NFT market by bringing liquidity and utility to many NFT collections. This will naturally bring more people and attention to artists who utilize levx.io. By using levx.io collectors and artists will be able to earn sustainable yield on their NFTs. They can realize asset values made up of PFP rarity + the expected value generated from future emissions. By allowing users to create yield farms from their NFTs levx.io will boost speculative liquidity back into these NFTs and create a new style of marketplace were NFTs are traded in ETH or LEVX and all fees flows back to veLEVX holders.
The thing that makes levx.io even more interesting is that it also aims to capture the De-Fi market by wrapping De-Fi positions as NFTs and giving retail users around the world a stable way to protect their net worth and earn sustainable yield made up of both $LEVX rewards and base rewards from the partnered De-Fi protocols.
Let’s keep this simple and break down the levx.io/De-Fi relationship even further.
Decentralized finance (De-Fi) can be complicated. Earning stable reliable yield requires constant attention and maintenance due to the De-Fi spaces changing so rapidly. In order for De-Fi to achieve mass adoption earning yield needs to be easily accessible to the masses.
Many companies and venture funds have taken a centralized approach to this problem by offering third-party custodial services for your crypto. For example, most major centralized crypto exchanges, such as (insert scummy Ce-Fi protocol), offer you the ability to earn yield on your tokens. The issue here is that your crypto is held in these exchanges, therefore, you don’t technically own it. If there were to be a serious liquidity crisis or legal issue you could lose your tokens. There is also very little variety in terms of the kinds of exposure and risk that you can take with your assets.
This is where Levx.io steps in — offering a completely decentralized exchange for people to easily browse and search NFT wrapped De-Fi positions, that they can afford with both competitive APR and tolerable risk. In our approach anyone can wrap a De-Fi position into a deed, so that it can be traded in NFT marketplaces on Ethereum such as levx.io. In the traditional finance space, an asset can usually only get boosted across global markets after it has been liquidated. Levx.io uses this theory to create a more liquid and easily accessible marketplace for De-Fi positions. This then helps large entities with illiquid De-Fi positions access liquidity by providing safe and sustainable yield to new De-Fi users, therein growing the De-Fi space overall.
Sharkpunks NFT
Sharkpunks is deeply connected to $LEVX and levx.io, however I believe it deserves its own section because it also has several components that differentiate it from being a simple NFT collection by LevX DAO. Sharkpunks includes both De-Fi with unique token economics as well as a game being built on zk-Sync, which is totally separated from the token farming on levx.io.
Sharkpunks Yield Farming
Since Sharkpunks is LevX DAOs in house collection it will have a 10x boost for farming on levx.io, whereas other collections will need to vote to boost their yields with veLEVX. On top of holding veLEVX in order to boost yields, holders will also get distributed 33% of the ETH from Sharkpunk NFT sales. The rest of the ETH from sales will be split between buying back Sharkpunks at 1/3 of the current mint cost and providing liquidity to LEVX-WETH pool on Sushiswap.
If you want to learn more about how Sharkpunks yield farming works and how all the funds raised go back to the community check out the two attached articles below.
Earning yield with Sharkpunks:
Sharkpunks Significant Offering of Sharks (SOS):
Sharkpunks Gaming
The other distinguishing component is the Pokémon-style Sharkpunk game that’s being built on zk-Sync. Amantino, who is the artist behind the Sharkpunks collection, has been working on this game for awhile now and it is finally beginning to take real shape. Some sneak peaks are available below.
If you’re interested in learning more about the game check out this article below which covers a recap of a twitter space with Amantino.
Swap INC
Swap Inc is another project being built by levx.eth. Swap INC is an AMM powered by ve(3,3) token economics designed to incentivize deep liquidity with cheap fees on zk-sync. Swap INC will not be governed by $LEVX holders, but there could possibly be an airdrop for veLEVX holders — so stick around and pay attention.
Swap INC is a modified fork of solidly which was created by Andre Cronje and launched on Fantom. Swap INC differs in some key areas but aims to provide the same benefits as solidity. Which means it will supply deep liquidity for certain stable and volatile pairs, as well extremely cheap swap fees. Check out the attached articles to learn more.
Introducing Swap INC:
Initial Liquidity Offering:
Zero Money
Zero Money is really just an experiment with token economics. Initially, the $zero token was airdropped to various communities and everyone got an equal amount. There is no real use or reason to hold but if you like token economics and experimentation I suggest you read the two articles attached below.
Introducing Zero Money:
Making Money a Social Public Good:
