Tokenomics
Iron Fish is a Layer-1 chain based on Proof of Work. Every single Iron Fish transaction is encrypted, hiding sensitive user information on who the sender, recipient, or the amount of transaction was with an accompanying zero-knowledge proof (ZKP). Every Iron Fish wallet has a private key, public key, and a viewing key. The creator of the wallet has the ability to share out this view key and reveal their transactional history.
Our mission is for Iron Fish to be the privacy layer for all crypto, letting assets from other chains be transferred over to Iron Fish to gain the benefit of privacy. The Iron Fish community spans countries, languages, and backgrounds—including miners, engineers, and privacy advocates.
The Iron Fish Incentivized Testnet ran December 2021—February 2023 in three phases; during Phase 2, we surpassed 39m fully shielded transactions, making Iron Fish one of the largest processors of ZKPs.
Mainnet launches April 20, 2023.
Token Supply & Distribution Data
In this document, we present a breakdown of our token supply and distribution. Note that this is a high level overview — we provide visualizations as often as possible, but there is nuance within distribution that may not be within the scope of this post.
We have rounded numbers where necessary for better overall understanding.
Context & Definitions
- Genesis Block: The first block in the Iron Fish blockchain. The Iron Fish genesis block includes 42M tokens.
- Emissions Curve: The Emissions curve describes how the total supply changes over time due to token economics. For Iron Fish, every time a miner mines a block, they are rewarded with new coins that contribute to an inflation schedule, meaning that with each block the total supply of tokens increases. More on the emissions curve below.
- Circulating Supply: The total number of coins that are available for transfer (not locked up).
Emissions Curve
The mining reward (how many coins a miner is allocated for successfully mining a block) is tied to the Iron Fish emissions curve. The emissions curve starts out with 42M coins in the genesis. After the first year, the total for new coins created due to mining rewards is 1/4th of the genesis, or 10.5M coins. Every subsequent year fewer and fewer coins will be created, until a terminal supply of 256,970,400 coins is reached (roughly at year 115 post genesis).
The formula to determine how many new coins will be minted for a particular year after launch is:
Where s is the initial supply of the genesis block of 42 million coins, k is the decay factor of -.05, and x is the year after mainnet launch (starting from 0).
The Iron Fish "year" in block count is 525,600 blocks to one calendar year (assuming 60-second block times). We use the above formula to calculate the block reward using the Iron Fish "year", rounded to the nearest .125 of a coin:
Therefore, the block reward and total supply for the first few years after launch would be:
| Years after launch | Block reward (60s block times) | Total supply |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 42,000,000.00 |
| 0-1 | 20 | 52,512,000.00 |
| 1-2 | 19 | 62,498,400.00 |
| 2-3 | 18.125 | 72,024,900.00 |
The emissions curve using the block reward formula mentioned above, with a cap of 256,970,400 coins for total supply, would look like this:
The inflation graph below shows how the circulating supply is redistributed.
Unlike most Proof-of-Stake Layer-1s, Iron Fish has aggressive inflation in the first couple of years — this shifts the majority of token supply to miners and other community members more quickly.
Allocation & Supply Overview
The Iron Fish genesis block contains 42M tokens, distributed to insiders, foundation, and community members, with a terminal supply of 256,970,400 coins. We provide a deeper look at these sections later in the article.
Over time, the vast majority of coins will be in the hands of miners and community members, as shown in the terminal/final supply graph below.
Circulating Supply Breakdown over the next 4 years
This section will walk through the circulating supply of Iron Fish over the next 4 years. As previously noted above, Iron Fish's initial inflation is much more aggressive than most Proof-of-Stake Layer-1s, and rapidly tapers off. We've set it up this way to ensure that the majority of the token supply reaches the community quickly.
Relevant notes:
- For every insider (investor, advisor, employee) there is a 1-year lock-up period, meaning that no tokens can be traded or transferred by an insider for 12 months after the mainnet event.
- For every insider (investor or employee) vested tokens will become eligible for transfer monthly over a 24-month period (including the mandatory 12-month lock-up period) post mainnet.
- For every employee there is a 4 year vesting, 1 year cliff on top of the lockup schedules.
Circulating supply of Iron Fish after 12, 24, 36, and 48 months post mainnet is as follows:
Genesis Block Category Explanations
Upon mainnet launch, the genesis block will be allocated as follows. Please see the next section for descriptions of each category.
Note: All insiders have 12 month lockup, followed by an 12 month unlock period. This includes investors, employees, and advisors.
Iron Fish Foundation — 18%
The tokens allocated to the Iron Fish Foundation (founded on April 20th, 2023) are to enable the Foundation in its goal of engaging and growing the Iron Fish community, encouraging ecosystem growth, and increasing open source development. More details to come, but we will be announcing a proposal and grant system.
Testnet Airdrop — 2.25%
The Testnet Airdrop consists of 945,000 tokens distributed to eligible testnet participants.
Future Airdrops — 2.25%
These tokens are being held by the Iron Fish Foundation for future community incentivization and engagement. The Foundation is committed to distributing the airdrops impartially, within any associated parameters. While we do not currently have specifics for these airdrops, your best bet is to be an active and contributing community member.
Series Preseed — 5.1%
None of this would have been possible without the financial support and continuous mentoring of our preseed investors. Thank you 🙏.
Series Seed — 9.9%
When Iron Fish needed to grow, these investors were there to help. In this round we welcomed Electric Capital, Balaji, and other leaders in the crypto space.
Series A — 14.5%
a16z Crypto, Sequoia, and Elad Gil led our Series A. Their belief in us provided the resources to accelerate towards mainnet.
Advisors — .6%
We are thankful for our advisors' guidance and support as we've continued to grow.
Core Team — 37.4%
The Iron Fish core builders are passionate, determined people who put in hours, sweat, and, occasionally, swearing to ensure we created the strongest product possible. Iron Fish would, quite literally, not exist without them.
IF Labs — 5%
IF Labs is a wholly independent company, focused on building and maintaining the Iron Fish product. IF Labs will be able to use its portion of the genesis block to appeal to talent, incentivizing top developers to join. Guided and advised by the community, IF Labs developers and creators will expand the Iron Fish ecosystem and ensure it only grows stronger.
Future Endowment — 5%
This additional supply of tokens for the Iron Fish Foundation will help ensure continued Foundation operation. It is subject to the 12 month lockup/12 month unlock periods.