Giving Back
It’s Christmas time. Time to reflect. Time to give back.
The journey with Unstoppable hasn’t exactly been smooth. Since we started, it’s had its share of ups and downs, and it hasn’t exactly been the smooth 100x rocket ride we all dreamed of — team and community alike. What’s been even more challenging though, especially for the past 6–12 months has been that we’ve found ourselves regularly at the point where we had to decide between doing what is right and doing what is popular.
- Doing what is right means thinking long-term, staying true to our values, and never compromising on the core principles of crypto.
- Doing what is popular on the other hand means doing whatever makes the numbers go up. Be it bending to regulators, appeasing loud voices, or chasing short-term gains at any cost.
We never imagined beforehand how often these things would be at odds with each other.
Investing in a Startup
By now probably everyone knows the probabilities of a startup surviving and thriving are fairly low.
Especially in tech.
Especially especially in crypto.
So while investors on an intellectual level likely recognize that their investment going to zero is not just possible but even a probable outcome, emotions can still quickly take over when things actually don’t go according to plan.
Frustration, blame, and sometimes outright hostility often replace what should be a foundation of community, support, and mutual respect. Doing the right thing and not being willing to compromise on core values can be a tough thing and not very popular at times in these conditions.
Of course, some of this is understandable. Many people are here to make money, not just to support the tech. Some are here purely for profit. They will never understand — or accept — why a team would let something as “insignificant” as ethics, morals, or principles stand in the way of pumping a token’s price.
Especially in a bull market when XRP and ridiculous meme tokens are outperforming any project trying to build something of value by a longshot.
Wassielawyer and DonAlt said it best the other day:
Unfortunately for all our wallets, this is not us and not who we want to be.
The Present
While we set out with the best intentions — putting the community first, offering them the kind of early access typically reserved for VCs, and building a project focused on creating real products and value for the space — we are fully aware that we have yet to deliver financial returns to our investors and token holders.
Revenue sharing was one of the core promises we envisioned for the token and its holders. However, to date, we have not achieved significant revenue flow that could be distributed. We clearly underestimated how long and challenging the road to full product market fit and sustainable revenue would be. And the truth is, even today we cannot reliably predict when substantial revenue will begin to flow.
Take our upcoming mobile app as an example. We are once again faced with a difficult decision: fees or no fees? Low fees or high fees? As we know from other financial products, the best way to gain market share and adoption are no/low fees or a freemium model. Get adoption first, optimize for monetization later. On the other hand, token holders are eager to finally see revenue flows and the start of staking — it’s about time.
This puts us at yet another crossroads: Do we do what’s best for the product and its long-term success, or do we prioritize short-term investor interests, potentially at the cost of the project’s overall viability?
A Third Option
Recently, however, we realized there is actually a third option — an unique possibility enabled by two specific circumstances:
- Our decision from the beginning to bet on the crypto sector as a whole by investing the treasury in ETH and BTC, combined with a commitment to frugal spending, has ensured that Unstoppable was, is and remains well-funded.
- The challenges of the past 1.5 years have left only the most loyal part of the community and investors who are still holding the UND token.
This is the foundation of a unique decision we have now made.
We will use a significant portion of the treasury to buy back all UND tokens from the holders at a 100% profit for everyone.
If you hold at least 1 UND tokens in your wallet right now (snapshot taken at 2024–12–15 00:00 UTC), you qualify!
We have taken a snapshot of all holder balances and have scraped the entire tokensale and Uniswap pool swap history and calculated the average price every wallet paid for their UND tokens.
Every holder will be refunded this full amount in USDC, plus an additional 100% as profit.
Here’s what that means in practice:
- If you bought $1,000 worth of UND during the tokensale and still hold those tokens, we will buy them back for $2,000.
- If you bought $1,000 worth of UND on the open market and still hold those tokens, we will buy them back for $2,000.
- Any combination of the above.
While this has certainly not been part of our original plan, it is a unique opportunity that only exists at this current moment in time and allows us to achieve a few key elements:
- If you invested in Unstoppable and still hold your UND tokens, you did not lose any money.
- If you invested in Unstoppable and hold our token, you made 100% profit on your holdings.
- Token holders are no longer locked in and are free to pursue other investments during this bull market.
- Less emotions and frustrations tied to token price performance lets us focus exclusively on building and refining our product.
- The financial risk of bringing Unstoppable products to the point of generating sustainable revenue is shifted from the token holders to entirely the team.
What do you need to do?
First and foremost, there is no rush to take action! Please be cautious and stay vigilant against scams that are likely to emerge in situations like this.
Second, do not buy more UND or sell the UND you currently hold in your wallet. To claim your payout, you will need to send your UND to the designated claim contract.
If you hold UND in our mobile app, there is nothing for you to do, you already received your USDC claim as an airdrop.
If you hold UND in another wallet, head over to https://buyback.unstoppable.ooo to claim.
There’s no urgency — you will have 90 days to complete your claim (till March 15th 2025).
What about revenue sharing?
We still believe in the vision of Unstoppable as a fully community-owned project that includes revenue sharing.
Once we get to the point and achieve significant, sustainable revenue flows, both tokensale participants and snapshot token holders will be prioritized in bringing this vision to life. This means that anyone who participated in the tokensale or qualified for the buyback program will have the opportunity to take part in any future revenue-sharing initiatives launched by Unstoppable.
How were the payout prices calculated?
The payout prices were calculated based on the exact UND price in USD for every purchase made by a wallet, resulting in an average cost basis for each holder:
- Tokensale claims were valued at the original $0.19 per UND.
- Token transfers between wallets were manually reviewed and processed to ensure accuracy.
- Any wallets currently in profit (based on the market price at the snapshot time) had this market value applied as their cost basis.
- All team wallets, despite having purchased their UND publicly on the open market, have been excluded from the buyback program.
It‘s not a perfect solution
We are fully aware that this solution isn‘t perfect.
„Just“ a 100% profit isn‘t the 100x that all of us were hoping for.
Some may have preferred a YOLO approach — either zero or 100x. Others might criticize that payouts are in USDC rather than ETH. And some might point out that even with the profit, it doesn’t outperform XRP or meme coins.
However, given the circumstances, we believe this is the best possible compromise. This solution ensures that no one has lost — or will lose — money by holding UND, while transferring the execution risk entirely to the team. Holders are now protected from any downside exposure, allowing us to focus fully on the product and long-term strategic decisions without being distracted by token price performance or short-term compromises.
This significantly improves our chances of reaching the point where we have a sustainable, revenue-generating product line. When that happens, both tokensale participants and snapshot token holders will once again share in the upside.
What does this mean for the future of Unstoppable?
We remain convicted in our belief that a decentralized alternative to centralized exchanges — one that upholds the core values of crypto without making compromises — is absolutely essential in this space and still holds immense potential.
Our work continues every day, especially on the upcoming mobile app, for which we are in the middle of a ChainSecurity audit of the smart contract wallet, as well as having commissioned new designs, graphics, and a revamped website (a proper update on this will follow in the coming weeks).
While some may argue that allocating such a significant portion of the treasury and reducing our runway could lower the probability of success, we firmly believe this is the right decision. Most importantly, it ensures our most loyal supporters are not only made whole but rewarded with an additional 100% profit.
That said, this decision comes with sacrifices:
- The team will shrink, and the remaining members will take significant pay cuts.
- A smaller treasury means reduced budgets for marketing and incentives.
But even with these challenges, our focus remains clear: to deliver on the promise of Unstoppable and build something truly meaningful for the space and its users.
FAQ
I participated in the tokensale and sold my tokens. Do I still qualify?
No, you needed to hold UND tokens at the time of the snapshot to qualify. However, as a tokensale participant, you will still be considered for any future revenue-sharing programs.
I participated in the tokensale but never claimed my tokens. Do I still qualify?
No, you needed to hold UND tokens at the time of the snapshot to qualify. Like other tokensale participants, you will be prioritized in future revenue-sharing programs.
Why is this being done now?
This buyback is only possible due to a unique combination of circumstances, including rising crypto prices and a reduced UND holder count. These conditions didn’t exist a few months ago and may never occur again in the future.
Will future revenue sharing happen through the UND token?
No, the UND token is now retired. When the time comes, a new token or mechanism will be introduced. Previous UND snapshot holders and tokensale participants will be the first in line to benefit.
Why was liquidity in the Uniswap pool removed?
Liquidity was removed to prevent people who are unaware of this announcement from unknowingly purchasing UND after the snapshot.
Join us on Discord today (December 15th 2024, at 15:00 UTC) to discuss the buyback program, future plans, and any questions you may have.
