Background
Since launch in 2021, Superfluid has revolutionized payments by enabling one-to-many real-time asset streams that are composable, flowing without capital lockups or repeated transactions. For users, Superfluid makes money flow like water, without permission, friction, or delays. Just as motion applied to a mass generates momentum that can impact with force, Superfluid accelerates capital, enhancing productivity for users and efficiency for the system as a whole.
We knew bringing a new primitive to crypto was going to be hard, and we’re thrilled that the protocol is growing in adoption, with over $750 Million in streamed volume and over 1 million streams. While many users primarily associate Superfluid with salary streams, our thesis has always been broader. We believe that Streaming is a foundational primitive for creating entirely new experiences and Superfluid’s ecosystem of live apps and use cases demonstrates this.
Continued growth of Superfluid will be driven by the ecosystem projects, built by the protocol’s developer community for their users. Superfluid DAO will enable the community to drive the protocol’s self sustaining momentum towards the protocol’s mission of creating a world where everyone earns onchain, every second.
Organization
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Superfluid DAO
- Comprised of token holders, will be responsible for Governance.
- Governing allocations in the ongoing token distribution campaign.
- Approving new protocol upgrades and supported deployments to new chains.
- Approving transferability or other major upgrades of the token itself.
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Superfluid Foundation
- Registered in Cayman Islands
- Provides the DAO with legal and admin support, representing SUP token holders’ interests in connection with contractual and legal processes.
- Fosters the growth and maintenance of the protocol’s technology and ecosystem.
- The Constitution details the governance framework of the Superfluid DAO and the Superfluid Foundation.
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Security Council
- Committee of 3 members with powers delegated to it by the Superfluid DAO and The Superfluid Foundation
- Performs certain Emergency Actions (such as responding to a security emergency) and Non-Emergency Actions (such as routine software upgrades and routine maintenance),
- Initial members are detailed in a Transparency report (work in progress) with future members elected by the DAO every 6 months
- The DAO is able to modify the Security Council’s powers or to eliminate the Security Council entirely.
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Proto DAO
- As an interim step, a small and diverse group of stakeholders will advise the Foundation and form the core of the protocol’s governance until the DAO is fully operational.
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Delegates
To foster an active and informed governance environment, the DAO will enable delegation of token holders’ voting rights to Delegates who will:
- Representation : Act as representatives of token holders who have delegated their votes, making informed decisions on their behalf.
- Accountability : Maintain transparency with the community through regular communication and reporting.
- Proposals : Assess alignment of proposals with protocol’s vision and impact on the ecosystem, gather community feedback, and provide post-vote reports explaining their decisions.
Voting
SuperfluidDAO may propose, vote on and implement Superfluid Improvement Proposals (SIPs) following the process laid out in the Constitution.
- Call for voting (lasting 7 days): SIP is submitted for discussion on Discourse with a link to voting for the SIP in Snapshot. Each SIP must be labeled as Constitutional or non-Constitutional.
- Constitutional SIPs include SIPs that affect the Constituion, Protocol Upgrades or Officially support deployment of Superfluid Protocol on a new chain.
- Non-Constitutional SIPs include requests for funds and grants.
- DAO vote (lasting 14-16 days): SIP passes if conditions i AND (EITHER ii OR iii) are met:
- More Votable Tokens voted in favor than voted against
- Constitutional SIP: at least 5% of all Votable Tokens voted in favor or voted abstain
- Non-Constitutional SIP, at least 3% of all Votable Tokens voted in favor or voted abstain
- Voting period ends: If the SIP passes, then:
- Constitutional SIP: an additional 7 days waiting period before implementation.
- Non-Constitutional SIP**:** an additional 3 day waiting period for implementation for actions related to the DAO Treasury.
SUP Token
Purpose
- SUP will be the governance token of Superfluid protocol
- Token Functionality
- Voting - All token holders can vote on general proposals like protocol upgrades.
- Rewards - To ecosystem application users.
- Staking - Stakers earn SUP rewards, and can vote on funding allocations.
- Fees - Superfluid V1 has no fees. V2 most likely will have fees which will accrue to the DAO.
- Initially non-transferable pending a DAO vote. However this restriction does not affect token holders’ governance participation.
Allocation
- Community: 60% , of which
- 35% will form the DAO Treasury and will be managed directly by the DAO
- 25% will form the Foundation treasury
- Investors and Team: 40% of which
- Investors ±15% and Team ±25%
- Following an unlock process, â…“ distributed after a one-year cliff followed by the remaining â…” sent in a linear stream over two years
Release Schedule
- 1 billion SUP will be minted at genesis.
- Inflation isn’t planned at the outset, but the DAO retains the right to mint more tokens and establish inflation mechanisms after the initial 2 years.
Streaming Programmatic Rewards
Overview
- 30% of SUP supply (of the 35% distributed to the DAO Treasury) will be distributed to users of ecosystem applications incentivising usage and adoption of the protocol, while distributing tokens to those most interested in the future of the protocol: users and application developers. Distribution will use two of the protocol’s mechanisms: Streaming Programmatic Rewards (SPR) and Reserves.
- See here for a detailed blog post on SPR.
Ecosystem Campaigns
- Ecosystem apps using or contributing to Superfluid protocol can receive a portion of the SUP supply allocated to the DAO Treasury, for distribution to their users as a SUP Ecosystem Campaign.
- Proposals to the DAO for SUP Ecosystem Campaigns should include:
- Project benefits: How the project’s interaction with SUP would drive their growth, engagement, and user value
- Superfluid benefits: How SUPs interaction with the Project benefits the Superfluid Ecosystem
- Proposed campaign parameters
- Project and team credentials
- Superfluid DAO will vote on which projects will receive SUP Ecosystem Campaign allocations and the size of allocations
- Inaugural Ecosystem Campaigns - The Inaugural list of Ecosystem Campaigns (’Season 1’) will be chosen by the Foundation based on advice from the proto DAO (before there are a critical mass of token holders).
- Future Ecosystem Campaigns - Once the DAO is fully operational and the Foundation deems there are a critical mass of token holders, on a quarterly basis the DAO will vote on new Ecosystem Campaigns.
Reserve Mechanism
- SUP allocated through SPR to users of ecosystem applications will be distributed to each user’s SUP Reserve.
- Reserves are individual smart contracts, whose upgradeability is controlled by governance. After token transferability is enabled, Reserves will have these functionalities:
- Stream - Can be withdrawn in a linear stream over up to 12 months
- Stake - Stake SUP to earn additional SUP
- Drain - Recipients can withdraw immediately 20% of their allocated SUP tokens. The remaining 80% will be transferred to Foundation Treasury as a Community Charge and distributed over time to those who have Staked.
Milestones
- Q1 2025 - Token launched, Token Distributions begin
- Q1 2025 - Inaugural Ecosystem Campaigns (’Season 1’)
- Future milestones subject to DAO votes
- Token Transferability
- Ecosystem campaign allocations (quarterly)
- Funding for protocol V2 development
- Protocol fee switch (in Superfluid Protocol V2)