Revenue Flows & Incentives

Tokenomics & Revenue Model (Conservative)

Access Threshold (unchanged)

  • Utility gate: Wallet must hold ≥ 0.1% of total KNO supply to unlock platform functions (SDK/API, deploy, domains, hosting).

  • Operational assumption: The 0.1% holding can be tied to a workspace (covering multiple seats) so adoption scales without capping total users at ~1,000 for a 1B supply.


Revenue Streams (steady-state, Years 1–3)

More grounded adoption and pricing:

Stream
Unit Economics (illustrative)
Year 1
Year 3 (base)

AI code generation

$0.05 / 100 LOC; avg request 1K LOC ($0.50)

$1.2M

$4.2M

Domains + hosting

$10/yr per .kno.codes domain (workspace-level)

$0.15M

$0.25M

Marketplace (15% take)

$40 avg ticket; 75k sales/yr by Y3

$0.45M

$0.45M–$1.0M

API overages

$0.01 per extra request

$0.6M

$2.0M

Enterprise licensing

30–80 clients; $25–60k/yr

$1.0M

$4.0M

Total

$3.4M

$10.9–$11.5M

Blended gross margin target: ~65–72% (AI inference + storage are main variables).


Value Distribution (unchanged policy)

  • 50% → Stakers (USDC/ETH real yield).

  • 25% → Buyback & Burn (deflation).

  • 15% → Builder Rewards (hackathons, bounties, milestones).

  • 10% → Ops & R&D (infra, audits, support).

At $11.2M revenue (midpoint), staker pool = $5.6M, buyback/burn = $2.8M.


Staking Tiers (recalibrated % for realism)

Tier
Stake Requirement (of total supply)
Fee Discount
Compute Priority
Marketplace Boost
Domain Credits
Yield Multiplier

Access

0.1% (utility unlock)

Builder

0.15%

5%

Std

1.0x

Pro

0.25%

10–15%

High

Featured

1/yr

1.2x

Elite

0.50%

20–25%

Highest

Premium

2/yr

1.5x

Partner

1.0%+ (verified)

30%

Dedicated lane

Co-brand

Bulk

2.0x


Yield Sensitivity (no hype, just math)

Yield to stakers depends on (i) total revenue, (ii) share routed to stakers (50%), and (iii) how many tokens are staked.

Annual yield per 1M KNO staked (USDC/ETH):

Staker Pool = 50% of Revenue ↓ / Staked Supply →

300M staked

450M staked

600M staked

$4.0M (at ~$8M revenue)

$13,333

$8,889

$6,667

$6.0M (at ~$12M revenue)

$20,000

$13,333

$10,000

$10.0M (at ~$20M revenue)

$33,333

$22,222

$16,667

Pro tier (0.25% = 2.5M KNO):

  • At $12M revenue and 450M staked → ~$13,333 per 1M → ~$33k/yr to a Pro staker.

  • At $12M revenue and 600M staked → ~$10,000 per 1M → ~$25k/yr.

  • At $8M revenue and 600M staked → ~$16.7k/yr for 2.5M becomes ~$16.7k × 2.5 = ~$16.7k? Wait—correct from the table: $6,667 per 1M at $4M pool & 600M staked → ~$16.7k/yr for 2.5M.

This keeps Pro-tier yields in the mid–five figures under base assumptions—not hundreds of thousands.

(APY depends on token price; the table avoids price assumptions and states yield in dollars per 1M tokens.)


Builder & Holder Economics (tightened)

  • Builders: realistic annual incentives from the 15% pool → $5k–$25k for active teams via hackathons, milestones, and bounties.

  • Holders (non-staked): benefit from continuous buyback & burn; can stake anytime to transition into yield tiers.

  • Access pressure: the 0.1% utility gate creates persistent token demand; tying the gate to workspaces allows multi-seat teams to scale without saturating supply.


Notes on the 0.1% Gate (practicality)

  • For mass adoption, bind the 0.1% requirement to a workspace/tenant (covers N seats), not per individual seat.

  • Optional time-locked access NFT: a wallet escrows the 0.1% and receives a non-transferable “Access NFT” for that workspace; simplifies audits and enterprise procurement.


Bottom line

  • Revenues: $3–4M in Year 1 → ~$11–12M by Year 3 (base case).

  • Staker pool at $12M revenue: $6M → ~$10–20k per 1M KNO, depending on how much supply is staked.

  • Pro-tier yields land in the $20–35k/year range under base assumptions—credible and sustainable.

  • Buyback & burn continues to contract supply, rewarding long-term holders without making unrealistic payout claims.

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