Emissions Overview
Quai supply changes over time from two sources: genesis unlocks and mining emissions. Two updates shape the current supply trajectory:- The Singularity Fork reduced future genesis unlocks by 1,667,159,984 QUAI (81.1% of future unlocks), shifting the vested baseline from 3,000,000,000 QUAI to 1,332,840,016 QUAI.
- SOAP funds open-market QUAI buybacks that are burned (100%). At ~180,000,000 QUAI/year, that is about 13.6% of the current post-fork baseline (~1.33B QUAI) burned annually.
Rethinking Token Emissions
Traditional cryptocurrencies use fixed emission schedules. Bitcoin’s 21 million cap is the best-known example. While predictable, fixed schedules can create artificial scarcity that creates boom-bust cycles as supply continues regardless of changing demand. A rough analogy: fixing the money supply 100 years in advance, as if the Federal Reserve had to lock in policy today, is similar to fixed token emissions. It imposes mathematical predictability at the expense of market responsiveness. For a store-of-value token, long-term value creation requires inflation to remain below network growth. The best case is strong demand expansion with controlled supply growth, so value can compound over time without excessive speculative stress.Network Value Theory & Emission Design
Network systems often follow two growth phases:- Early stage: explosive n² expansion from network effects
- Mature stage: slower n×log(n) expansion from efficiency gains
- Price discovery: market value is set by utility and demand
- Network hashrate: security reflects real usage and confidence
- Token utility: true consumption of the network drives durable value
- Adaptive supply: protocol reacts to changing conditions
- Efficient allocation: capital and rewards move where they are most productive
- Reduced volatility: less abrupt supply shocks than rigid, fixed-release models
Genesis vested baseline moved from 3,000,000,000 QUAI to 1,332,840,016 QUAI at the Singularity Fork.
SOAP Buyback and Burn
With SOAP active, merge-mining subsidies from selected parent chains (BCH/LTC/DOGE/RVN) are routed to a protocol address, converted to QUAI on the open market, and then burned or routed to long-term staking rewards. The result is continuous, market-driven buy pressure on QUAI. In practice, this is the short version:- External chain subsidy is captured at the protocol level through AuxPoW commitments.
- Quai buys QUAI using that subsidy.
- The flow reduces net supply growth and creates a stronger long-term security budget for miners through staking-weighted support.
Legacy Tokenomics (Pre-SOAP / Pre-Singularity Fork)
Legacy Tokenomics (Pre-SOAP / Pre-Singularity Fork)
Genesis Allocations: Legacy Baseline
Legacy baseline before SOAP and the Singularity Fork: 3,000,000,000 vested QUAI.
Unlock Schedule
| Team | 1 year cliff, monthly unlock over 36 months (years 1-4) |
| Investment Rounds | |
| - Seed 1 | 25% at TGE, 1 year cliff, monthly unlock over 36 months |
| - Seed 2 | 1 year cliff, 25% at cliff, monthly unlock over 36 months |
| - Strategic | 25% at TGE, 1 year cliff, monthly unlock over 36 months |
| Development Company | 25% at TGE, 6-month cliff, monthly unlock over 42 months |
| Foundation Reserve | 2% at TGE, 6-month cliff, monthly unlock over 66 months |
| Community Incentives | 15% at TGE, 6-month cliff, monthly unlock over 42 months |
| Testnet & Earn Program | Earn Program Wave 1 & Testnet Rewards: 100% available at TGE Earn Program Wave 2 & 3: 25% on first distribution, monthly unlock for 24 months Remaing allocation burned |
| Exchange/Market Making | 100% available at TGE |
This is the legacy model used in docs before SOAP and Singularity Fork updates.
Foundation (33%)
Purpose: Maximize adoption of the Quai protocol. 2% released at TGE with a 6-month cliff, followed by monthly unlocks over 66 months to fund future innovations, partnerships, and ecosystem growth.Community Incentives (23%)
Purpose: To encourage and reward active participation and contribution from the community. 15% released at TGE with a 6-month cliff, followed by monthly unlocks over 42 months, with predefined criteria to ensure fair distribution.Team (16%)
Purpose: To reward and retain talented team members. Tokens have a 1-year cliff followed by monthly unlocks over 36 months (years 1-4) to attract and retain top talent committed to the project.Investment Rounds (14%)
Purpose: To provide capital for development and growth.- Seed 1 Investors (10%): 25% released at TGE with a 1-year cliff, followed by monthly unlocks over 36 months.
- Seed 2 Investors (2%): 25% released at 1-year cliff, followed by monthly unlocks over 36 months.
- Strategic Investors (2%): 25% released at TGE with a 1-year cliff, followed by monthly unlocks over 36 months to align with entities providing strategic value.
Development Company (6%)
Purpose: To fund ongoing protocol development. 25% released at TGE with a 6-month cliff, followed by monthly unlocks over 42 months to support sustainable development efforts.Testnet & Earn Program (5%)
Purpose: To incentivize participation in the testnet phase for debugging and optimizing the network. 100% available at TGE with approximately 70M tokens to be burned, ensuring a well-tested network before full deployment.Exchange Liquidity (2%)
Purpose: To provide liquidity on exchanges for the project’s token. 100% available at TGE to enable easy trading and fair pricing, crucial for attracting new users and investors.Emission Mechanics (Optional)
Emission Mechanics (Optional)
Quai supply comes from genesis unlocks and mining emissions, and can be reduced by SOAP buyback and burn.For deeper dives: