Radix deep dive continued…Part 3 of 4
Tokenomics of Radix, XRD, & EXRD
The Radix token, XRD, has the explicit purpose of securing the Radix Public Network by staking it as part of Radix’s Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) system. XRD is also the only token that is used to pay transaction fees on Radix, which are burnt. The E-Radix token, EXRD, is the Ethereum-wrapped version of the XRD token and can be swapped 1:1 on Radix’s Instabridge. (Thus far, Instabridge only supports EXRD to XRD.)
The E-Radix token will never expire, so you never have to worry about a cutoff for swapping between EXRD and XRD. It was instantiated in November 2020 on the Ethereum network, as an ERC-20 token, under contract. It was issued before XRD as a means of distributing tokens as widely as possible prior to delivering DPoS staking to the Radix mainnet. EXRD can be bought on a number of exchanges including Uniswap, KuCoin, and MEXC Global. XRD can only be bought on Bitfinex.
The Radix token has a maximum supply of 24 billion XRD. The genesis of the Radix Public Network in July 2021 saw the allocation of 12 billion XRD, with 9.6 billion being unlocked and part of the circulating supply, and 2.4 billion being indefinitely locked in the stable coin reserve. (These 2.4 billion XRD will be held for up to a 10-year period and potentially dispersed to support a systemic stabilization protocol for one or several Radix native stable coins, which may or may not require the use of the Stable Coin Reserve. Should the Stable Coin Reserve not be needed, it will be destroyed after the 10-year period.) The other 12 billion XRD is being minted by the Radix Protocol as emissions rewards to validators and delegators over approximately a 40-year period. Emissions are estimated to release about 300 million XRD into circulation a year.
The allocations of the XRD tokens that were issued at the genesis of the Radix Public Network can be found in the graphic above. Explained here are the purposes for each allocation (information on purposes is pulled from the Radix website at your convenience):
- Token Sale (October 2020): Allocated to members of the Radix Community who purchased XRD tokens at a price of $0.039 in the October 2020 Token Sale.
- Radix Community: Allocated to early Radix Community members who contributed approximately 3,000 BTC between 2013–2017 to Dan Hughes who initiated the theoretical development of the Radix project.
- Liquidity Incentives: Allocated to participants of the Liquidity Mining Program that took place between November 2020 to May 2021.
- Founder Retention: Allocated to RDX Works Ltd which has funded and developed Radix technology since 2017. RDX Works Ltd holds the tokens it retains from the instantiation of the Radix Ledger as a treasury asset of the company.
- Radix Foundation — Radix Tokens (Jersey) Limited: Allocated to Radix Tokens (Jersey) Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Radix Foundation. The objectives of the Foundation are to promote the use and development of the Radix Ledger, as well as provide education and support for the Radix community and ecosystem, and operate incentive programs, events, and more.
- Developer Incentives: Allocated to Radix Tokens (Jersey) Limited to fund grants to bootstrap the development of dApps and more on Radix.
- Network Subsidy: Allocated to Radix Tokens (Jersey) Limited to fund grants to subsidize the Radix Public Network, such as grants provided to validator node-runners.
- Stable Coin Reserve: (described in the above paragraph)
- Network Emission: (described in the above paragraph)
The Radix Ecosystem / Partners
Radix x Chainlink
- Chainlink is the industry-leading oracle network in the digital asset space today.
- Making DeFi oracles easy to access for developers allows them to use secure, accurate off-ledger data.
- This helps facilitate the development of innovative DeFi products and the recreation of traditional financial services as decentralized apps.
- The focus of the Chainlink integration will be to make its widely used price feeds available within the Radix ecosystem.
- Working with Chainlink guarantees high-quality price data, decentralized oracles, and Sybil resistant nodes.
- According to Radix, this integration unlocks lots of potential for Radix developers to build various DeFi applications such as financial derivatives that settle based on asset prices, decentralized lending products that use price feeds to issue fair market loans and maintain collateralization, asset management services that automate trades based on price movements, and much more.
Ren
- The Ren Protocol locks native assets and mints corresponding wrapped tokens on other public ledgers.
- Using Ren is how you get EXRD (on Ethereum) from XRD (on Radix).
- Bringing fully decentralized wrapping to Radix removes centralized counterparty risk and enables bridges to be built between other ecosystems, like Ethereum, helping to reduce fees and increase liquidity for both.
Radix x Copper
- Copper provides highly secure, insured, institutional crypto custody for an expanding range of digital assets.
- It acts as a gateway for institutional investors into the crypto space, offering custody, trading, prime brokerage, and more for over 100 cryptocurrencies.
- Under Radix’s vision of being a universal marketplace of digital assets, Copper is helping to build the roads and bridges that will bring tokenized assets onto the Radix network.
- Partnering with Copper gives Radix the tools to provide a quick and secure, low-friction wrapping service.
- While minting wrapped tokens is one thing, providing the infrastructure that locks native tokens in exchange for wrapped ones (and vice versa) is another. Copper’s custody platform acts as the reserve that guarantees the value of Radix-compatible wrapped tokens.
- Copper provides the compliance standards and institutional-grade infrastructure that institutional token holders require, and it is capable of offering specialized services for individuals or organizations that wish to use Radix tokens within a custodial wallet and exchange trading services. (This is not to appeal to retailers as much as it does to deep-pocketed, highly-regulated organizations.)
- As Copper expands the tokens it supports, it adds gateways from other blockchains into the Radix ecosystem.
- The Radix Wrapping Service, facilitated by Copper, opens the first link from the galaxy of tokenized assets to the Radix network, and vice versa. (Think the EXRD–XRD bridge.)
Notoros (previously Noether) DLT / Object Computing
- Notoros is a protocol for executing distributed applications in parallel using a decentralized ledger.
- The architecture can support native privacy features and cross-platform communication.
- Object Computing is a consulting company that specializes in designing and building solutions using technologies like machine learning, blockchain, the internet of things, and cloud computing.
- It is helping to onboard new businesses and decentralized applications into the Radix ecosystem while developing enterprise-focused features for Radix.
- Notoros and Object Computing are working together to develop an Ethereum-based smart contract platform for the Radix Ledger.
- By facilitating Ethereum dApps to migrate to the Radix ecosystem, smart contracts maintain their Ethereum-native versatility and move at the speed of Radix.
- Providing scale and speed to Ethereum via Radix will lower the barriers to entry and potentially create new sets of business models and use-cases.
Radix x Quantstamp
- Quantstamp is a leading security auditing service for blockchain systems, platforms, and smart contracts
- It is also known as the creator of the Chainproof system for decentralized, market-driven smart contract insurance.
- Partnering with Quantstamp will bring mass-market security to DeFi applications and assets on Radix.
- Quantstamp already audits the unlocking smart contract for the EXRD token and will be expanding into Radix’s modular smart contract developer components.
- Components audited by Quantstamp will be covered by its Chainproof insurance which will integrate into dApps that will be as easy to audit as adding modular components.
- Radix expects that the addition of Quantstamp’s security audits and automated insurance on funds managed by smart contracts will accelerate mainstream confidence in Radix DeFi applications.
