INTRODUCING: THE AVALAUNCH VESTING MARKETPLACE

Avalaunch has been busy and in the coming months will release a number of new features and products in an effort to expand as well as optimize its native offerings. Avalanche is evolving and we have every intention of growing right alongside it.  

Stressing utility and flexibility for XAVA holders is a priority and initially, the team is excited to release its vesting marketplace and token dashboard. Beginning with the Deepwaters IDO, this new offering will enable IDO participants to trade their locked/vesting tokens with other users in an open marketplace inside of an experience optimized for flexibility and usability. In other words, buyers can acquire the right to claim tokens when they unlock as if they had participated in the IDO regardless of whether they actually did or not. 

The Avalaunch Vesting Marketplace introduces several fundamental shifts for both users of the platform and the projects launching on it:

1. IDO participants can now deploy more sophisticated strategies that involve retaining select portions of their locked tokens, while offering others up for sale on the marketplace — oftentimes at a discount to the buyer.
2. The vesting marketplace is of tremendous value to projects launching on Avalaunch as it allows buyer and seller to transact off the order books and without an impact to price. Additionally, these locked tokens can now be transferred to holders who presumably have a longer-term interest in the project. Prior to the marketplace, a user might sell these tokens as soon as the unlock simply because it was the only option. Now, they can trade them well before the unlock, freeing up capital while simultaneously putting the tokens into the hands of holders with an extended time horizon on the project. This is a win-win-win for buyer, seller and the project.
3. The IDO occurs at the very beginning of a project and doesn’t allow future supporters an opportunity to participate. The marketplace affords projects a brand new ability to engage and excite fresh users well after the IDO and a platform for these users to acquire a position in the earliest opportunity available, well after it has occurred.
4. IDO participants are only offered a limited allocation based on sale size and registration numbers. Now, if they are especially bullish on a particular project they can acquire additional discounted tokens.

The Vesting Marketplace is a first for all of crypto, giving way to new market dynamics that benefit both project and user while allowing Avalaunch to continue to establish itself as a market leader with respect to functionality and usability.

TOKEN VESTING, LIQUIDITY & MARKET DYNAMICS

Crypto is a space where early stage companies are traded; giving rise to great speculation and volatility versus traditional markets where far more mature assets comprise a given exchange’s tradable assets. Risk tolerance among individuals varies greatly and crypto, generally speaking, is an ongoing fight for liquidity where moving in and out of positions can materially impact price and sentiment. Vesting tokens are often released in relative bulk, often creating chaos at the moment of release causing unlocks to often be bearish events.

Ideally, token distribution schedules should be timed with anticipated demand, however, investors require firm dates where they can expect to receive tokens. The result is quite challenging for projects as they hope to offset inflation with fundamental developments.

Token vesting, in essence, is a process by which tokens are released gradually over time instead of being issued all at once. This mechanism is intended to align the interests of issuers and investors by ensuring that tokens are distributed in a controlled and strategic manner. 

Ideally, token vesting is meant to encourage long-term engagement and prevent market saturation, however, this is often not the case. A token vesting marketplace can redistribute tokens into the hands of longer-term participants before tokens are “in the wild.” Avalaunch has developed a platform that allows token holders to buy and sell token vesting schedules, enabling them to trade the right to receive tokens in the future.

Avalaunch’s vesting marketplace is a tool to incentivize long-term engagement that enables token holders to trade their vested tokens, which can result in a more liquid and efficient market. For projects, these marketplaces offer a new way to engage and attract supporters by incentivizing long-term investment. 

For token holders, a crypto token vesting marketplace offers a new opportunity to trade their vested tokens to mitigate against risk, free up capital or realize returns in favorable market conditions. For supporters seeking to take a position, they are too often forced to bid up the market with high slippage or negotiate risky OTC deals with prohibitive fees.

For launching projects, offering a fully audited, cost free, state-of-the-art vesting tool and claim portal can be as advantageous to launching projects as it is to users. The Avalaunch marketplaces aims to add market efficiency for launched projects and broader token support. It can prevent supply shock, add liquid flexibility for holders and offer new opportunities for those with longer investment horizons. Avalaunch believes that a trading marketplace for vested tokens can ultimately take the sting out of a growing circulating supply while offering participants a novel way to unlock value.

AVALAUNCH VESTING MARKETPLACE: UNDERSTANDING THE FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITIES

Avalaunch presents a public-facing dashboard for users to realize value from their vesting positions that allows token holders to buy and sell token vesting schedules, offering them a way to trade the right to receive tokens in the future.

Here are some of the key features and functionalities:

1. Token vesting schedules: The dashboard displays the IDO token vesting schedules available for trade, including:

- Unlocked Value—tokens which have been or are currently claimable

- Implied Value—the total value of an allocation, both claimable and vesting.

- The duration of the vesting period and the release schedule.

- Total Token Position—both unlocked and vesting

2. Trading functionality: a user-friendly platform for buying and selling vested tokens in real-time with order matching and settlement.

3. Price discovery: The marketplace will not use algorithms to determine price but user supply and demand to ensure fairness and efficiency.

4. Transparency: The Avalaunch marketplace provides users with a clear and transparent view of their balances and positions in order to make informed decisions.

LET’S USE A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE TO TIE IT ALL TOGETHER. 

A user participates in an IDO that vests over a period of 1 month, with two unlocks (one at TGE and one 30 days later), creating 2 vesting portions. They decide that they want to participate in the first unlock, but would like to put the remaining portion up on the marketplace. Because the unlock occur in the future and not having immediate access to the tokens creates additional risk, the claim to these tokens should be offered at some discount to make it attractive to potential buyers.

At this point, anyone can come to the marketplace and purchase these tokens, or more specifically, the right to claim them once they unlock in 30 days. Buyers on the marketplace do not need to KYC or have participated in the IDO. Once they acquire the tokens on the marketplace, they will show up in their token dashboard, available to claim at unlock, as if they had participated in the IDO. In this example there were only 2 vested portions, however if there were more, they could offer up any combination of future unlocks to fit their specific strategy.

WRAPPING UP

The above was a simple introduction to the Vesting Marketplace, it’s features and implications for projects and users. We have released user guides for step-by-step instructions and will be talking more about it in the coming days and weeks.

With a user-friendly interface, demand based price discovery and secure trading functionality, a token vesting marketplace is an essential tool for Avalaunch for launching projects and participants. Beginning with Deepwaters, Avalaunch believes that the functionality of a marketplace and the convenience of a robust dashboard will slowly become a staple in a growing list of forthcoming products and services. Avalaunch looks forward to sharing more detailed instructions and information as the launch date draws nearer.

USER GUIDE: VIDEO TUTORIAL