Good tokenomics will not necessarily feed you for two or three years\u2014or even 30\u2014but bad tokenomics will wreck your project almost instantly. There are no universal recipes for good tokenomics, whereas bad tokenomics is obvious at a glance. Good tokenomics has been written by both professionals and amateurs; bad tokenomics is usually either copied wholesale or authored by professionals with ulterior motives.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s break this down to first principles. The series also includes two instalments:<\/p>\n
- \n
- first: \u00abFrom idea to IDO<\/a>\u00bb;<\/li>\n
- second: \u00abTo TGE and beyond<\/a>\u00bb.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are advanced addenda:<\/p>\n
- \n
- first<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- second<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- third<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And newcomers can study the free course<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Tokenomics has many facets. Four basics stand out:<\/p>\n
- \n
- economic;<\/li>\n
- technical;<\/li>\n
- legal;<\/li>\n
- organizational.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Details below.<\/p>\n
This piece also aims to show how to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Use only no-code and\/or low-code solutions.<\/li>\n
- Cover as many networks as possible (EVM is a must; non-EVM is desirable).<\/li>\n
- Do it for free or, at least, inexpensively.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Stage 00: Token-level competitor analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Economics at Stage 00<\/strong><\/h3>\n
There are no universal recipes, but this toolkit helps:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Token Terminal<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- DexCheck<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- DEX Screener<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- DeFi Llama<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- TokenInsight<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- CoinGecko<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- CoinMarketCap<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These will give you comprehensive information on competitors\u2019 tokens, helping you to analyse a niche, vector, industry, market or entire domain.<\/p>\n
Technology at Stage 00<\/strong><\/h3>\n
You can also assemble a rough technical view of your chosen segment using, for example:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Glassnode<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- Dune<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- L2BEAT<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- Scopechat<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- Cherry Pick<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You might try sector-specific dashboards such as CryptoSlam<\/a>, NFT 2.0 Aggregator<\/a> and others. Or take the reverse route: pull charts from explorers<\/a>\u2014from the general to the particular.<\/p>\n
Pretty charts alone won\u2019t solve problems, but they are useful in a SWOT<\/a> analysis.<\/p>\n
Legal aspects at Stage 00<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Recommended documentation:<\/p>\n
- \n
- SAFT.<\/li>\n
- Token warrant.<\/li>\n
- Multisig agreement<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- DAO agreement.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Implement token functions correctly and you will avoid nine out of ten problems.<\/p>\n
Stage 01: Drafting the initial tokenomics<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Economics at Stage 01<\/strong><\/h3>\n
This is harder: you need not only to look at numbers but to understand their static and dynamic relationships. Still, these tools help:<\/p>\n
- \n
- TokenTable<\/a> \u2014 tokenomics visualisation;<\/li>\n
- Garuda.AI<\/a> \u2014 an attempt to combine the above with AI;<\/li>\n
- Tokenomics Calculator<\/a> \u2014 self-explanatory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These services will be of little use if you do not understand the functions of the token, how they intersect with the technical stack, or the DAO design. Otherwise, they can help.<\/p>\n
Technology at Stage 01<\/strong><\/h3>\n
On Tokenomist<\/a> you can examine various issuance \u201cprospectuses\u201d, compare projects and get a decent formalisation both by stage and for the project overall.<\/p>\n
Legal aspects at Stage 01<\/strong><\/h3>\n
To keep documents moving in the right direction, you must not only draft them but also sign them. Use EthSign<\/a>\u2014a service I was among the first to test. It has recently risen from the ashes, hence its inclusion here.<\/p>\n
Stage 02: Auditing the tokenomics model<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Economics at Stage 02<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The list can be very long; here are a few:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Fundoria<\/a> \u2014 an app uniting several teams with tokenomics experience;<\/li>\n
- Tokenomics Hub<\/a> \u2014 a DAO of specialist consultants;<\/li>\n
- Cenit Tokenomics Simulator<\/a> \u2014 a semi-automated tokenomics simulator;<\/li>\n
- Artemis<\/a> \u2014 a service broader than today\u2019s topic, but useful for formalising data;<\/li>\n
- Token Engineering Commons<\/a> \u2014 another team of token engineers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In short, the choice is vast.<\/p>\n
Technology at Stage 02<\/strong><\/h3>\n
If you prefer fewer words and more visualisation and technical simulation, try:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Space and Tokens<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- cadCAD<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- Machinations<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Each service has its pros and cons. What they share is a level of generality that can be challenging for first-time tokenomics builders.<\/p>\n
Legal aspects at Stage 02<\/strong><\/h3>\n
At this point, focus on documentation and its production via GitBook, since you should already have baseline agreements\u2014with funds and other key contributors, as well as with users.<\/p>\n
Stage 03: Creating the token<\/strong><\/h2>\n
If you write code, you know OpenZeppelin<\/a> templates are enough to produce a solid ERC-20 smart contract in five minutes. Today we will take another route.<\/p>\n
I used to rely on CoinTool<\/a>, but its silent rebrand and lack of a redirect from the base domain are worrying. So let\u2019s turn to a close competitor\u2014Pink Sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n
First, alternatives:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Dpos.space<\/a> \u2014 recommended: maintained by Denis Skripnik and kept tidy;<\/li>\n
- Boost<\/a> \u2014 a marketplace of on-chain data, applicable to tokenomics too;<\/li>\n
- CoinFactory<\/a> \u2014 a full tokenomics factory;<\/li>\n
- Token Tools<\/a> \u2014 similar to the above;<\/li>\n
- MoonDeploy<\/a> \u2014 token creation and maintenance;<\/li>\n
- Orion Tools<\/a> \u2014 token creation on Solana.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note<\/strong>: however much I test services, each lives its own life. Please remember DYOR<\/a> when using them.<\/p>\n
If you simply need to create a token\u2014for a testnet, say\u2014try Owlto<\/a>: it\u2019s literally a one-click deploy across networks such as Unichain, Lisk and others. If you need more, read on.<\/p>\n
How to create a token<\/strong><\/h2>\n
We\u2019ll use Pink Sale. There are two ways to create a token here:<\/p>\n
- Boost<\/a> \u2014 a marketplace of on-chain data, applicable to tokenomics too;<\/li>\n
- cadCAD<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- Tokenomics Hub<\/a> \u2014 a DAO of specialist consultants;<\/li>\n
- Garuda.AI<\/a> \u2014 an attempt to combine the above with AI;<\/li>\n
- DAO agreement.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- Dune<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- DexCheck<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- Token Terminal<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- second<\/a>;<\/li>\n
- second: \u00abTo TGE and beyond<\/a>\u00bb.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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