Arweave (AR) has launched a decentralized computing network AO, announcing the token economics and fair distribution plan for the AO token on 6/14.
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Arweave launches decentralized computing network AO to create innovative smart contract computing environment
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Table of Contents
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AO Token: Fair Distribution Model
Minting Mechanism and Initial Distribution
Minting Rewards and Cross-chain Incentives
Cross-chain open
Cross-chain rewards
AO Token Lock-up and Supply
Token Distribution and Ecosystem Funds
Permissionless Ecosystem Funds
Permanent Network Ecosystem Development Committee
Can I get AO?
Holding AR to get AO
Vampiric pledging ETH! Pre-cross-chain stETH to AO
Eligibility and Process
AO: A Novel Minting Method Inspired by Bitcoin
AO is a token that is 100% fairly distributed, modeled after the economic model of Bitcoin. This ensures that all participants have equal opportunities, with no pre-sale or pre-allocation, promoting fairness and accessibility.
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The minting of AO tokens began on February 27, 2024, 13:00 EST (block 1372724). During this period, 100% of minted AO tokens are distributed to Arweave token holders based on their balance every five minutes. Those holding AR on exchanges or custodians need to contact the relevant institutions to receive the tokens.
In the future, one-third (33.3%) of AO tokens will be minted every five minutes for AR token holders based on their holdings. The remaining two-thirds (66.6%) will be used to incentivize economic growth by cross-chaining assets to AO.
The initial phase of the cross-chain contract has now been activated. During this pre-cross-chain phase, user tokens will remain on their native network while users will receive AO tokens. Once the second phase of the cross-chain contract goes live, assets can be deposited into the new cross-chain contract to be used on the AO network and earn rewards.
Cross-chain rewards began on June 18, 2024, at 11:00 AM EDT. Although withdrawals can be made from the pre-cross-chain at any time, earning AO rewards will only be effective after the start of rewards distribution, which occurs daily.
AO tokens will remain locked up until approximately 15% of the total supply is minted, expected on February 8, 2025. The total supply of AO is 21 million tokens, halving every four years, similar to Bitcoin. As of June 13, 2024, 1.037 million AO tokens have been minted, making them more scarce compared to other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Solana, and Ripple.
The distribution model of AO emphasizes fairness, with about 36% of tokens minted for Arweave token holders to enhance the security of the AO base layer. The remaining approximately 64% is used to incentivize economic growth through external revenues and bridging assets. This model ensures a balanced and sustainable ecosystem development.
Developers who attract users to deposit assets into their applications will receive AO token rewards, providing a long-term source of income without the need for subsidies or external investment.
Dedicated organizations and builders will share local revenues from assets stored in bridges, supporting core protocol development, market promotion, and key infrastructure. This funding gradually decreases with the network’s minting rate.
AO token minting began retroactively to Arweave holders on February 27, 2024. Holders can check their balance by connecting their self-custody wallets to the URL ao.arweave.dev, with major exchanges determining the process for distributing AO to their users.
New AO tokens are minted every five minutes, with 33% distributed to AR holders after the pre-cross-chain starts. Here is an approximate accumulation of AO over the next 12 months based on AR holdings:
1 AR: 0.016 AO
10 AR: 0.16 AO
50 AR: 0.8 AO
100 AR: 1.6 AO
500 AR: 8.0 AO
1000 AR: 16.0 AO
AO tokens can be transferable around February 8, 2025.
During this initial period, stETH (ETH staked in Lido) can be deposited to receive AO rewards. (Not open to US residents) Pre-cross-chain assets will remain on Ethereum until the second phase of bridging goes live. The method to exchange stETH earnings for AO tokens is as follows:
Visit the minting page on the AO website.
Connect your Ethereum wallet (Metamask or Rabby).
Enter the Arweave wallet address to receive AO tokens.
Deposit stETH into the audited contract.
Sign the transaction in the ETH wallet.
AO states that its token introduces a groundbreaking minting process to reward users and developers. Inspired by Bitcoin’s innovation, AO’s model is based on fairness and equality, aiming to promote permissionless decentralized networks.
However, the AR token did not see an increase in price due to this news, following the overall market decline in recent days.
AR
Arweave
Ethereum
Bitcoin
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