RON Tokenomics: Unlocking 101
How Ronin's unlock schedule works
Key Points
As we approach an “unlock” of RON tokens we want to make sure our community understands the difference between unlocked and circulating supply. You can check the circulating RON supply on Coingecko.
RON powers the Ronin protocol, the first gaming centric chain built for and owned by gamers. Sky Mavis has not sold any RON tokens or entered into agreements for discounted RON as part of a funding round – ever.
We are approaching an “unlock” of RON tokens on 4/27 and if you’re wondering what that means for the Ronin ecosystem, this article is for you! Let’s begin with RON’s fair launch in January of 2021, and work our way to the present day.
RON’s Fair Launch
In January of 2022, we launched the RON token as a means to power Ronin – the first blockchain built and owned by gamers. We decided against conducting private token sales because we didn’t need to raise funds and we believed that the network would be better off in the long run with more tokens in the hands of community members.
At the time, there were three ways to acquire RON: earning rewards from the Katana DEX, buying from the secondary market, or receiving a shareholder allocation. At no time did Sky Mavis or Ronin Network enter into an agreement for discounted RON as part of a funding round.
See Ronin’s unlock schedule here.
While the unlock schedule provides a view of RON tokens unlocked at quarterly time periods, tokens are unlocked on a continuous basis rather than having large unlocks at a specific date every quarter for the actual implementation.
Unlocked vs. In Circulation
You might be wondering why RON’s “unlocked supply” does not match the circulating supply number you see on sites like CoinGecko. It’s because a token can be “unlocked” without being “in circulation.” For example, ~11.4M RON will be unlocked for use as RON Staking Rewards. However, stakers will not receive those rewards all at once: they must earn them over time by staking and securing the network. There can be a long delay between the day a token is unlocked and when it enters circulation.
Today, ~21% of RON is in circulation. Over the next 12 months, an additional 3% will enter circulation through RON Staking Rewards and 1.1% for Q2 Katana Liquidity Mining. Consider that the Ecosystem Fund, RON Staking Rewards, Katana Liquidity Program Rewards, and Sky Mavis itself will use their own individual allocations and emission schedules according to the specific budgets they’ve laid out which we discuss below.
The April 27th Unlock and Program Budgets
These are the recipients of the April 27th Unlock. We’ve included links to their respective budgets and schedules where possible.
Staking Rewards: Anyone, anywhere can earn RON rewards by securing the Ronin network and staking their RON. On April 27th, ~11.4M RON of these rewards will be unlocked and will flow (circulate) to stakers according to this schedule.
Katana Liquidity Mining: This program rewards liquidity providers with a variety of token rewards – including RON – for making it easier to trade through the Katana DEX. Katana liquidity mining is evaluated quarterly in order to balance inflation against liquidity needs. You can learn more about this program here.
Sky Mavis: Sky Mavis owns 30% of the RON token supply. We use our RON allocation for a variety of purposes including employee bonuses and shareholder token contracts. Sky Mavis is committed to supporting Ronin and has not sold any RON tokens or entered into agreements for discounted RON as part of a funding round – ever.
22.35% of Sky Mavis’s RON tokens belong to the Company Balance sheet and 7.65% belong to equity shareholders. Of the 7.65% allocated to shareholders, 2.68% of the total supply has been unlocked as of Apr 2023. This means the remaining 4.97%, which accounts for 49.725M RON, will be linearly unlocked until Jul 2026 (three years & three months).
Ecosystem Fund: This pool of tokens is used to support initiatives that grow the strength and size of the Ronin network in situations that fall outside the mandate of previously described pools. The majority of Ecosystem Fund allocations are vested. On April 27th, ~6M RON will go to the Ecosystem Fund.
Final Thoughts
We launched Ronin in 2021 to bring digital property rights to gamers, and introduced RON in 2022 to further that mission. RON is a key part of decentralizing our network and we understand the importance of its unlock schedule: it balances inflation with robust incentives. Sky Mavis is committed to the long term health of the network and has not sold any tokens since the inception of RON.