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Tokenomics
Navigate aims to accelerate app innovation by aligning the incentives of data consumers and providers. In pursuit of this vision, we are introducing the NVG8 token. NVG8 will be an ERC-20 token used to bootstrap network effects, facilitate governance, and access products and services across the Navigate ecosystem.
Ecosystem Incentives: NVG8 will be issued to users who contribute data to the Navigate Marketplace, including Navigate Data Vaults. Share data, earn NVG8. It’s as easy as that!
On-Chain Governance: Our goal is to progressively decentralize control of the Navigate Platform. We want the community to be in the driver’s seat and NVG8 is an essential component to this vision. NVG8 gives the community a voice in how their data is used and how rewards are distributed.
Ecosystem Access: NVG8 will be the medium of exchange across the Navigate Platform. Developers can use NVG8 to access data, and consumers can use NVG8 to access native apps (e.g., Navigate Maps) built on the platform.
One billion NVG8 tokens were minted on September 15, 2022 and vest over the course of 5 years. The initial allocation is as follows:
Stakeholder | Vesting Schedule |
|---|---|
3-7% Public Sale | A minimum of 30M tokens reserved for a public sale; anything over 3% will come from the Foundation's allocation |
35% User Rewards | 350M tokens reserved for contributors |
10% Advisors and Partners | 82.5M to advisors; 25% vest after a 12-month lockup, then 1/48 of allocation vest per month for 36 months. 10M can be acquired by advisors within 12 months of token minting date; vest immediately. 7.5M reserved for future partner/advisors; currently unallocated |
10% Navigate Team | 100M to the team; vest linearly over 36 months following 12-month lockup |
12.7% Presale | 127M to early backers; 25% vest after a 12-month lockup, then 2.6M vest per month for 36 months |
29.3% Navigate Foundation | 14% to vest at launch, with linear vesting following the next 59 months |
29.3% of the total supply has been reserved for the Navigate Foundation. The Foundation was established to build the Navigate platform, grow a community of contributors, transition governance of the core Navigate protocol over to the community, manage Navigate Maps, and develop the ecosystem through strategic initiatives. These initiatives can range from developer grants, new user rewards, liquidity provisioning, and more.
350M NVG8 tokens have been reserved for users who contribute data to Navigate Vaults. Leading up to our public listing, NVG8 will be non-transferable, meaning users will be unable to trade and/or stake the token. The only way to acquire NVG8 during this period of time, will be to contribute data to the platform. This approach allows us to minimize speculation while rewarding early contributors in our native token.
Note: Specific details (weightings, figures, and functions) in the below section will be periodically adjusted by the foundation and communicated publicly to optimize incentives and preserve economic sustainability.
When you contribute data to a vault, your reward will be based on the following formula:
userRewards = vaultRewardFunction * rewardsGaugewhere:
vaultRewardFunction = output of a specific vault rewards function rewardsGauge= vault agnostic modifier that increases/decreases vault rewardsLet’s break down each component.
Each vault will have a unique function that incentivizes users to contribute high-value data; we call these “Vault Reward Functions'', or “VRFs”. Our Street-Level vault, which collects footage from smartphones, dashcams, GoPros, and other devices, incentivizes the collection of highly populated areas with the following VRF:
vaultRewardFunction = coverageRewards * avgPopDensitywhere:
coverageRewards = users earn 1 NVG8 per km capturedavgPopDensity = the average population density multiplier across all images extracted from one videoLet’s walk through the above formula step by step.
Once a video has been accepted, the distance covered is calculated, and for every kilometer (km) mapped, contributors receive 1 NVG8; this is how we arrive at
coverageRewards. Images are then extracted (i.e., sampled) from the video and assigned a population density multiplier (using each image’s metadata) from the following table. These multipliers are averaged together to create avgPopDensity.Population Density Tiers | Population per Sq. Km. | Modifier |
|---|---|---|
1 | Under 999 | 0.24x |
2 | 1,000 to 1,999 | 0.31x |
3 | 2,000 to 2,999 | 0.40x |
4 | 3,000 to 3,999 | 0.52x |
5 | 4,000 to 4,999 | 0.67x |
6 | 5,000 to 5,999 | 0.88x |
7 | 6,000 to 6,999 | 1.14x |
8 | 7,000 to 7,999 | 1.48x |
9 | 8,000 to 8,999 | 1.92x |
10 | 9,000+ | 2.50x |
As you’ll notice from the table, contributors earn more NVG8 tokens for mapping highly populated areas. This is to encourage users to capture locations that are constantly changing and highly trafficked, or what can be considered high-value locations.
For now, rewards are only calculated based on the distance captured. But shortly after release, we will introduce the population density modifier as well as new variables to incentivize fresh (i.e., recent), high-quality (e.g., high definition, sunny, clear, etc.), and immersive (i.e., 360 degree) footage.
Let’s walk through an example. Imagine you biked from Midtown, Manhattan to Rye, New York and captured a 2.5-hour video. After uploading the video to Navigate, it would produce roughly ~18,000 stills covering the entire 40km route. From above, we know that 1 km equals 1 NVG8, resulting in a
coverageReward of forty (40 km * 1 = 40). We then average the 18,000 separate population density scores to arrive at an avgPopDensity of 1.92x. After adjusting for population density, you have earned 76.8 NVG8.vaultRewardFunction = coverageRewards * avgPopDensity76.8 = (40 * 1.92x)
Note: The gauge that is outlined below will go into effect in the second half of 2023. A simplified version of this gauge, set to 1 and managed by the Foundation, will be used in the interim.
Once we have an output from the VRF, we can multiply it by the rewards gauge. The gauge is a modifier that moves up or down depending on how many NVG8 tokens we have in the user reward pool. The gauge makes sure we spend the right amount of tokens based on how many tokens we have available. With more tokens available, we can afford more attractive awards and vice versa. The gauge manages this logic automatically, adjusting our “budget” dynamically.
The gauge also ensures that:
- Early contributors receive more than late adopters
- User rewards increase as platform revenue increases
- We distribute rewards in a sustainable, transparent, and programmatic way
This gauge allows us to manage the NVG8 token supply while defining unique reward functions by vault. This is particularly important, because we want Navigate to be a destination for any data type. And while different data types will require unique VRFs, all VRFs should follow a consistent distribution curve.
We plan on releasing additional details on the gauge later this year. More to come!
Continuing with our example –
When we uploaded our footage, the street-level VRF generated 76.8 NVG8 tokens. Let's say, for the sake of this example, that our reward gauge is set to a value of 1.20x.
At this point, we have what we need to calculate total user rewards:
userRewards = vaultRewardFunction * rewardsGauge 92.16 NVG8 = 76.8 NVG8 * 1.20xWe received 92.16 NVG8 tokens for our footage! As a recap, user rewards are the product of two components: VRFs and the rewards gauge. VRFs are vault specific while the rewards gauge is platform-wide and constant across vaults. Both contribute to total user rewards and both will continue to evolve as we seek feedback from the community and course correct on the best framework.
Our aerial vault incentivizes the collection of drone footage with the following formula:
vaultRewardFunction = (imageAccepted * popDensity) + ... + (imageAccepted * popDensity)Where:
imageAccepted = true if image was accepted, false otherwise (bool)popDensity = population density multiplier As you’ll notice, the Aerial VRF looks similar to our Street-Level VRF, and this is because they share the same goal: encourage users to collect footage of highly populated areas. As a result, the aerial VRF also shares the same population density table. But unlike the street-level VRF, which rewards on a per-kilometer basis, the aerial function rewards users on a per-image basis.
Imagine we uploaded five aerial images of Midtown Manhattan, New York. For this example, let’s assume the
rewardsGaugeis set to 1.20x.Inputs:
popDensity = 2.5ximageAccepted = 1rewardsGauge = 1.20xOutputs:
vaultRewardFunction: 12.5 NVG8 = (1 * 2.5) + (1 * 2.5) + (1 * 2.5) + (1 * 2.5) + (1 * 2.5)userRewards = vaultRewardFunction * rewardsGauge15 NVG8 = 12.5 NVG8 * 1.20x