📊Token Supply Distribution
Comprehensive breakdown of the VRTX token supply allocations and emissions.
The native and cryptographically-secure, fungible protocol token of Vertex Protocol (ticker symbol – VRTX), is a transferable representation of attributed utility functions specified in the protocol code of the Vertex Protocol.
VRTX functions as a utility token within the Vertex ecosystem, while affording users several advantages. The utility of VRTX orients around providing an incentive structure that encourages long-term participation in the health and development of the ecosystem.
Within the scope of its primary objectives, the VRTX token rewards different levels of commitment to the protocol under the consideration that net-positive contributions to the protracted growth of the DEX outweigh any perceived benefits resulting from short-term perspectives.
The utility of VRTX within the scope of DEX includes:
Staking VRTX as means to contribute to the safety of the Vertex ecosystem.
Rewarding variable levels of contributions and commitments to the protocol over the long-term. Rewards are designed to incentivize ongoing participation by contributors who either transact or trade on the protocol, perform off-chain marketing, or provide referral activities.
Staked VRTX is required to participate in the protocol's incentive program as both an indicator of a user’s commitment and assurance of standards. Beyond this requirement, staking VRTX generates a user score, known as voVRTX, that also plays a significant role in incentivizing security and long-term commitment to the protocol.
For a detailed overview of the VRTX token’s functions within Vertex Protocol, please refer to the updated Tokenomics section here.
09/11/2024: Stage 1 of VRTX Vertical Program was recently announced as the first chapter in a series of upgrades to the VRTX Tokenomics over the coming weeks and months. Please refer to the blog post below for an overview of the Vertical Program. Updates will continue to be relayed publicly and reflected in the VRTX documentation accordingly.
Vertex Token Supply & Distribution
Details of the VRTX token supply and distribution are examined thoroughly below.
Total VRTX Supply: 1,000,000,000
There will be a total of 1,000,000,000 VRTX tokens, where 90.85% of tokens will be distributed over a period of 5+ years. The total VRTX supply is fixed.
Once the total supply of 1 billion VRTX tokens is distributed, no more VRTX tokens will be introduced into the supply.
Vertex tokens will be distributed seven months after the mainnet launch on November 20th, 2023 -- marking the conclusion of the Vertex LBA.
An initial trading rewards program coincided with the launch of Vertex on Arbitrum mainnet in April 2023 – representing 10.0% of the total VRTX supply. The 10.0% of the VRTX tokens were exhausted in the Initial Token Phase that officially concluded on November 8th, 2023 (end of Epoch #7).
November 8th, 2023: Epoch #8 of the Vertex Trade & Earn Rewards program officially began, marking the first Epoch of the Ongoing Incentives Phase. The Ongoing Incentives Phase will run for the next 6+ years, with each Epoch composed of 28-day intervals throughout the period.
For more details on the Vertex Trade & Earn program, please refer to the docs section here.
Total VRTX Token Supply Allocation
Annual VRTX Token Distribution Schedule
An examination of the annualized VRTX token distribution is displayed in the table below.
VRTX Token Allocations -- Categories & Descriptions
Descriptions of each yearly distribution category of the VRTX supply are available in the section below.
For a full breakdown of the VRTX emissions over the full emissions schedule, organized by allocation category and monthly emissions, please refer to the Google Sheet below.
Monthly VRTX Token Allocation Emissions Breakdown:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iLKBY7uoiYpa7lVzYuCK6HRCOJw-u4mnUR1CcD_OW3s/edit?usp=sharing
Ongoing Incentives: The Ongoing Incentives represent the protocol’s emissions as part of the Vertex Trade & Earn Rewards program.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 34.0% (340 million VRTX)
The Ongoing Incentives emissions will taper over time throughout the monthly emissions schedule.
VRTX tokens accrued via the Ongoing Incentives Phase of the Trade & Earn program are claimable 3 days after a given epoch ends. Any rewards that remain unclaimed for the subsequent 30 days will be returned to the Protocol Treasury.
Initial Token Phase: The Initial Token Phase consists of the inaugural 7 Epochs of the Vertex Trade & Earn rewards program that launched in April 2023, and concluded on November 8th, 2023. The 10.0% of the VRTX supply earmarked for the Initial Token Phase was a one-time allocation of VRTX tokens -- accruable to early Vertex users as trading rewards.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 10.0% (100 million VRTX)
The VRTX rewards are allocated to traders according to the Trade & Earn program parameters described in the Trade & Earn section of the docs.
Early Investors: The Early Investors comprise the participants in the Vertex seed round fundraise of $8.5 million from 2022.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 8.8% (88 million VRTX)
Vesting occurs over a timeline that broadly matches 2 - 3 years from project inception.
Initial VRTX Liquidity (The Vertex LBA): The Initial VRTX Liquidity is the 1.0% of the VRTX token supply unlocked at Genesis and earmarked as incentives for the Vertex LBA participants.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 1.0% (10 million VRTX)
Future Contributors: The Future Contributors allocation is a reserve for future team growth and incentives for continued participation by team members. Once vested, it will be put into the Protocol Treasury for potential use, but will not necessarily enter circulation. VRTX tokens allocated for the Future Contributors category do not begin vesting until Year 2.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 5.0% (50 million VRTX)
Ecosystem Development: The Ecosystem Development allocation consists of a VRTX token reserve supporting Vertex’s long-term ecosystem growth. At Genesis, 1% of the Ecosystem Development's VRTX allocation unlocks (10 million VRTX). The remaining 8% of the VRTX tokens earmarked for Ecosystem Development vest linearly at 2.67% per year from Years 1 --> 3.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 9.0% (90 million VRTX)
Once vested, VRTX for Ecosystem Development is put into the Protocol Treasury as a capital base of resource provisions for third-party projects building on top of or integrating Vertex Protocol.
Vested VRTX from the Ecosystem Development category is held in the Protocol Treasury -- meaning it will not necessarily enter circulation but may potentially be re-staked to generate additional Protocol Treasury reserves.
Please refer to the info box under the "Protocol Treasury" category below for more details, as the framework described also applies to the Ecosystem Development allocation.
Advisory: The Advisory allocation is composed of 0.5% of the total VRTX supply and begins vesting in Year 1. The VRTX tokens earmarked for the Advisory allocation will be utilized for third-party services that provide long-term benefits to the growth, security, and sustainability of Vertex Protocol -- including but not limited to Code Audits, Bug Bounties, and other services provided by third parties.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 0.5% (5 million VRTX)
Protocol Treasury: The Protocol Treasury is the pool of VRTX where distributions of VRTX tokens held in the Protocol Treasury will be facilitated through the Foundation.
At Genesis, 5% of the total VRTX supply (50 million VRTX) will unlock for the Protocol Treasury with the remainder vesting linearly from Years 1 --> 3.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 11.7% (117 million VRTX)
The Protocol Treasury functions as a strategic reserve to be deployed across a variety of uses, including but not limited to:
Operational Costs
Opportunistic Fundraising
Ongoing Costs
VRTX tokens in the Protocol Treasury may be staked to generate further treasury reserves and diversify treasury holdings.
Retained revenues from Vertex Protocol will be used to fund further development and to promote and encourage use of the protocol by the community.
01/31/2024: On occasion, the protocol team may elect to engage in open market or privately negotiated transactions in the VRTX token. These actions will be used to manage treasury needs or other strategic initiatives, including opportunistic purchases and sales based solely on the market price of VRTX. Such action will be considered on a forward-looking basis, and may include purchases or sales of VRTX tokens either through spot or derivative instruments. Purchases and sales may occur directly or through third-party intermediaries for the benefit of the Vertex Protocol.
Transactions in VRTX tokens by the protocol team may be designed to create economic incentives for third parties providing services to Vertex Protocol. VRTX tokens acquired in such transactions may be staked either by Vertex Protocol or other third parties with rewards accruing to either Vertex Protocol or to the third parties. Vertex Protocol may also stake VRTX tokens held in the Protocol Treasury directly. In this regard, any VRTX tokens staked for these purposes are expected to reduce the total amount of rewards available to the community as a whole. Periodic updates regarding our strategic initiatives will be provided to the community.
Founding Team: The Founding Team allocation represents the core Vertex team’s VRTX holdings. Team allocations vest over a timeline that broadly matches 2 - 3 years after Vertex Protocol’s inception on mainnet in April 2023.
VRTX Supply Allocation = 20.0% (200 million VRTX)
VRTX Token Emissions
The VRTX token emissions (i.e., annualized inflation rate) gradually decrease every year following the Token Genesis Event (The Vertex LBA) until a capped total of 1 billion VRTX tokens have been distributed.
Once the 1 billion VRTX token supply is reached, no more VRTX issuance will occur.
You can find a monthly emissions breakdown for the total VRTX supply in the Google Sheet below.
VRTX Token Contract Addresses:
By using the Vertex Protocol of holding the VRTX token, users acknowledge that they have read, understand, and accept the risks described in both the Vertex Statement of Risk and Terms of Use.
VRTX does not in any way represent any shareholding, ownership, participation, right, title, or interest in Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates, or any other company, enterprise or undertaking, nor will VRTX entitle token holders to any promise of fees, dividends, revenue, profits or investment returns, and are not intended to constitute securities in any jurisdiction.
VRTX may only be utilised on the Vertex Protocol, and ownership of the same carries no rights, express or implied, other than the right to use VRTX as a means to enable usage of and interaction within the Vertex protocol. The secondary market pricing of VRTX is not dependent on the effort of the Vertex team, and there is no token functionality or scheme designed to control or manipulate such secondary pricing.
VRTX is designed to be utilised, and it is highlighted that VRTX:
(A) does not have any tangible or physical manifestation, and does not have any intrinsic value (nor does any person make any representation or give any commitment as to its value);
(B) is non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for cash (or its equivalent value in any other digital asset) or any payment obligation by Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates;
(C) does not represent or confer on the token holder any right of any form with respect to Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates, or their revenues or assets, including without limitation any right to receive future dividends, revenue, shares, ownership right or stake, share or security, any voting, distribution, redemption, liquidation, proprietary (including all forms of intellectual property or license rights), right to receive accounts, financial statements or other financial data, the right to requisition or participate in shareholder meetings, the right to nominate a director, or other financial or legal rights or equivalent rights, or intellectual property rights or any other form of participation in or relating to Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates;
(D) is not intended to represent any rights under a contract for differences or under any other contract the purpose or intended purpose of which is to secure a profit or avoid a loss;
(E) is not intended to be a representation of money (including electronic money), payment instrument, security, commodity, bond, debt instrument, unit in a collective investment or managed investment scheme or any other kind of financial instrument or investment;
(F) is not a loan to Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates, is not intended to represent a debt owed by Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates, and there is no expectation of profit nor interest payment;
(G) and does not provide the token holder with any ownership or other interest in Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates. Notwithstanding VRTX distribution or payment, users have no economic or legal right over or beneficial interest in the assets of Vertex Protocol or any of its affiliates.
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