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Pricing Models for UTIL-Powered Services

Version 1.0

🔹 Purpose​

This document outlines pricing models for Matou DAO infrastructure and tools to support sustainable UTIL spending. These models are designed to be transparent, adaptable via governance, and implementable in smart contracts.

🔹 Principles​

  • Clarity: Prices and tiers are easy to understand and predict
  • Alignment: Incentivise verified contribution and prudent resource use
  • Flexibility: Enable per-use, tiered, and hybrid options
  • Stability: Treasury can adjust price bands to manage volatility
  • Interoperability: Future compatibility with local community tokens

🔹 Core Pricing Models​

1) Tiered Access (Subscriptions)​

  • Description: DAOs pay a recurring UTIL amount for bundled features and limits
  • Best for: Predictable usage and budgeting
  • Parameters:
    • Billing period: monthly
    • Feature bundles: core, governance, records, storage, comms
    • Fair-use limits with soft caps and overage pricing
  • Example tiers:
    • Starter: low seats, basic features, low storage; fixed UTIL per month
    • Growth: more seats, voting modules, moderate storage; higher UTIL per month
    • Pro: advanced modules, automation hooks, higher limits; highest UTIL per month

2) Pay‑per‑Use (Metered)​

  • Description: UTIL is spent per action or per unit consumed
  • Best for: Spiky or low-frequency usage, precise accounting
  • Common meters:
    • Transactions executed (governance actions, record writes)
    • Data stored per GB‑month and retrieval operations
    • API calls or workflow runs
    • Identity attestations issued/verified
  • Pricing forms:
    • Flat per action (e.g., 2 UTIL per vote round creation)
    • Tiered per volume block (e.g., first 1,000 API calls at X UTIL, next 9,000 at X‑)
    • Time-based compute (e.g., UTIL per minute of job runtime)
  • Smart contract hooks:
    • Prepaid credit balance decremented on use
    • Rate-limiters and spend caps per DAO/feature
    • On-chain usage receipts for transparency

3) Prepaid Credits (Locked Access)​

  • Description: DAOs prepay UTIL into an escrow that unlocks discounted access for a term
  • Best for: Budget commitment, reducing per‑use variance
  • Mechanics:
    • Lock UTIL for N days → receive discount multiplier on meters during term
    • Unused balance rolls forward or partially refunded per policy
    • Optional minimum commit thresholds for higher discounts
  • Example:
    • Lock 1,000 UTIL for 90 days → 10% discount on all meters
    • Lock 10,000 UTIL for 180 days → 20% discount + priority support
  • Smart contract hooks:
    • Time-locked vault with discount policy ID
    • Auto-revert to standard rates after expiry

4) Bundled Packages (Use-Case Packs)​

  • Description: Curated bundles for common workflows at a fixed UTIL price
  • Best for: Simplicity for specific outcomes
  • Examples:
    • Governance Pack: identity attestations + proposal + vote + archival
    • Records Pack: bulk document storage + notarisation + retrieval credits
    • Communication Pack: member messaging + announcements + moderation tools
  • Mechanics:
    • One-off spend to mint a pack access token with included quotas
    • Top-ups available at the same or discounted pack rate

5) Outcome‑Based Pricing (Milestone Triggers)​

  • Description: UTIL spends tied to successful outcomes or milestones
  • Best for: Project-based work and contribution verification
  • Examples:
    • Pay UTIL when proposal passes and is executed on-chain
    • Pay UTIL only when storage is verified replicated across providers
  • Governance ties:
    • Clear, auditable milestone definitions
    • Dispute window before spend finalisation

🔹 Hybrid Strategies​

  • Tiered + Metered: Base subscription includes quotas; overages charged per unit
  • Prepaid + Metered: Lock UTIL for discounts on metered usage
  • Bundles + Metered: Buy packs for peaks; meter for background usage

🔹 Example Price Table (Illustrative)​

FeatureUnitBase PriceNotes
Proposal creationper proposal5 UTILIncludes on-chain metadata write
Vote round executionper round8 UTILCovers tally + receipts
Identity attestationper issuance1 UTILReusable credential
Storageper GB‑month0.5 UTILRedundant storage policy
Retrievalper GB0.2 UTILBilled on download
API callsper 1,0003 UTILRate-limited per DAO

🔹 Discount & Incentive Mechanics​

  • Volume discounts: Automatic tier drops at usage thresholds
  • Loyalty: Long-term subscribers gain incremental discounts
  • Seasonal campaigns: Temporary UTIL rebates to stimulate adoption
  • Community multipliers: Approved TribalDAOs get reduced rates
  • Contribution offsets: Verified contributions can partially offset bills with minted UTIL

🔹 Governance & Treasury Controls​

  • All prices are proposal-governed and reviewed periodically
  • Treasury may anchor price bands to external references (e.g., ADA/NZD)
  • Anti-abuse protections: spend caps, allowlists, anomaly detection
  • Transparent on-chain logs for audits and cost forecasting

🔹 Implementation Notes​

  • Use policy IDs for feature gating and discount logic
  • Maintain per-DAO usage ledgers with Merkle proofs for efficient audits
  • Emit usage events compatible with analytics dashboards
  • Provide exportable billing statements (CSV/JSON) linked to on-chain receipts