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Founders Token Distribution

Version 1.0

Overview​

Based on the allocation rates defined in the Token Economy Paper, this document defines the allocation and milestone-based vesting schedule for 1,500,000 UTIL reserved for the five founders. It explains the rationale, contextualizes the allocation against industry norms, outlines the time investment by founders over the last four years, and discusses how our mint-on-use model will naturally dilute the founders’ relative share over time.

Time investment by the five founders (past 4 years)​

The following is a conservative record of time directly invested across research, design, engineering, governance, community, partnerships, and operations.

  • Founder A: ~8,300 hours
  • Founder B: ~6,600 hours
  • Founder C: ~2,100 hours
  • Founder D: ~2,100 hours
  • Founder E: ~900 hours

= 19,968 hours x $75 median hourly rate = 1,500,000

Aggregate: ~20,000 hours of founder time over four years.

This reflects sustained weekly commitment by the founders across phases: inception, prototyping, pilots, research, contributor systems, cultural processes, treasury, and documentation.

Mint-on-use dilution and distribution dynamics​

Our token model introduces supply primarily as a function of real usage and verified contributions. As usage grows, new tokens are minted to serve the economy. This has two important effects:

  1. Relative dilution: Any fixed founder pool becomes a smaller percentage of total supply over time.
  2. Alignment with value creation: Founder incentives remain tied to enabling sustainable adoption and high-quality contributions rather than static ownership.

Related reading: see operations/tokenomics/util/utility-token and operations/tokenomics/util-distribution for how utility, issuance, and rewards operate.

Comparative context (selected references)​

  • Uniswap: Team allocation 21.51% with 4-year vesting; broad distribution across community, investors, and team with long vesting to align incentives (reference: Uniswap “Introducing UNI” distribution post).
  • Optimism: Core Contributors allocation 19% with vesting; significant community funds and retroactive public goods (reference: Optimism allocation docs).
  • Ethereum: Initial genesis included significant developer and foundation allocations; widely cited analyses place effective founder/core buckets in the mid-teens percentage range relative to genesis supply (reference: Ethereum historical allocation summaries).

These are directional comparators. Our approach is intentionally milestone-gated and designed to be further diluted by ongoing mint-on-use, emphasizing contribution.

Milestone-based vesting schedule (founders pool)​

Total founders pool: 1,500,000 tokens

Vesting milestones and percentages:

  1. Operational readiness (platform beta live, core dao governance and treasury ops functioning): 20% — 300,000 tokens
  2. Adoption milestone (e.g., 500 active communities using the platform or equivalent network activity KPI set by Governance): 40% — 600,000 tokens
  3. Sustainability milestone (1,000,000 in yearly revenue from DAO platform and services hit; approved by Treasury + Governance): 40% — 600,000 tokens

Notes:

  • Milestone definitions are outcome-based and must be ratified via governance before vesting. Quantitative targets and validation methods are set in decision plans and recorded on-ledger or in signed records.
  • If a milestone is not met, vesting is paused; unvested tokens remain locked.
  • Linear sub-vesting: Within each milestone unlock, an monthly linear stream over 6 months will be applied to smooth release.

Governance and custody​

  • Tokens are held in a 8yr time-locked, milestone-gated vesting contract controlled by governance.
  • Milestone attestations require multi-party validation (e.g., Treasury + Governance Stewards + independent reviewer) before release.
  • Any changes to milestones or cadence require a formal governance decision.

Disclosures​

  • This document describes intent and structure. Exact addresses, contract parameters, and measurement oracles will be specified in accompanying decision and implementation plans prior to TGE.