Token Design Workshop: Project Briefs
Each group will receive ONE of these scenarios. Read carefully and design tokenomics that align incentives for your specific platform.
DecentralRide: Peer-to-Peer Transportation Network
DecentralRide is a blockchain-based ride-sharing platform that connects drivers directly with passengers, eliminating the 25-30% commission that centralized platforms charge. The protocol uses smart contracts for matching, payments, and dispute resolution.
- Drivers: Provide transportation services, want higher earnings than Uber/Lyft
- Passengers: Want safe, reliable, affordable rides
- Validators: Run nodes, verify trips, resolve disputes
- Platform Team: Developers, marketing, operations (12 people)
- Investors: Seed round raised $2M at $10M valuation
- How do you incentivize drivers to join when there are few passengers initially? (Cold start problem)
- How do you prevent fake rides or collusion between drivers and passengers to earn tokens?
- Should passengers pay in tokens, fiat, or both? What creates token demand?
- How do validators earn rewards for dispute resolution without gaming the system?
- How do you balance low fees (to attract users) with token value accrual?
- What is the token used for? (Payment only? Staking? Governance?)
- How do you bootstrap liquidity in early months?
- What percentage goes to the community vs. team/investors?
- How long should the team's tokens vest?
MetaQuest: NFT Gaming with Play-to-Earn
MetaQuest is a fantasy RPG where players earn tokens by completing quests, battling monsters, and trading NFT items. The game economy features crafting, land ownership, and guild systems. The platform aims to create sustainable play-to-earn without hyperinflation.
- Players: Want to earn meaningful rewards while having fun
- NFT Creators: Artists who design weapons, armor, skins (earn royalties)
- Guilds: Organize players, own land, run in-game businesses
- Game Studio: 25-person team building the game
- Investors: Series A raised $8M, want strong ROI
- How do you prevent inflation death spiral? (Every game generates new tokens, players sell immediately)
- How do you balance early players vs. late joiners? (Early players shouldn't capture all value)
- Should tokens be earned for playing or only for winning/achieving? (Quality vs. quantity)
- How do you prevent bots and multi-accounting to farm tokens?
- What burns tokens to create deflationary pressure?
- How do guilds participate in governance without centralizing power?
- Fixed supply or infinite issuance with burn mechanisms?
- What percentage of tokens are reserved for player rewards over time?
- How do NFT sales interact with token economics?
- Should there be a separate governance token?
SocialFi: Decentralized Social Media Platform
SocialFi is a Twitter/Reddit alternative where content creators earn tokens based on engagement, and users stake tokens to curate content. No centralized moderation—communities govern themselves. The protocol uses token-weighted voting to surface quality content.
- Content Creators: Post articles, videos, memes; want monetization
- Curators: Upvote/downvote content, surface quality posts
- Community Moderators: Manage subreddit-like spaces, set rules
- Advertisers: Want to promote content to targeted audiences
- Platform Team: 8-person founding team
- Investors: Pre-seed $1M raised from crypto VCs
- How do you prevent spam and low-quality content from flooding the platform?
- How do you ensure curation is genuine and not just "vote cartels" gaming rewards?
- Should early adopters earn more than later users? (Fair launch vs. growth incentives)
- How do you prevent whales from dominating content visibility?
- What happens if advertising revenue exceeds token rewards? (Distribution mechanism)
- How do you balance creator rewards with platform sustainability?
- Do users need tokens to post, or only to curate?
- How are tokens distributed for content creation vs. curation?
- Should there be a staking mechanism for curators?
- What percentage goes to creators vs. community treasury?
RealEstateDAO: Tokenized Property Investment
RealEstateDAO allows fractional ownership of real-world properties through tokenization. The platform buys properties, issues tokens representing shares, and distributes rental income to token holders. Governance votes on which properties to acquire and how to manage them.
- Property Investors: Buy tokens to earn rental yield (4-8% annually)
- Property Managers: Local teams that handle maintenance, tenants
- Governance Participants: Vote on acquisitions, sales, major decisions
- Liquidity Providers: Enable trading of property tokens on AMMs
- Platform Team: Real estate experts, legal, tech (15 people)
- Investors: Series A $5M at $25M valuation
- How do you distribute rental income? (In tokens? In stablecoins?)
- What utility does the governance token have beyond voting? (How does it accrue value?)
- How do you prevent governance attacks where whales vote for their interests only?
- Should property tokens and governance tokens be separate?
- How do you incentivize long-term holding vs. short-term speculation?
- What happens to tokens when a property is sold? (Redemption mechanism)
- Is this a single token model or dual token (governance + property shares)?
- How much goes to property acquisition vs. team/investors?
- What percentage of platform fees are used for buybacks or burns?
- How long should investor tokens vest given liquidity needs?
SupplyChainX: Transparent Product Tracking
SupplyChainX tracks products from manufacturing to delivery using blockchain. Manufacturers, logistics providers, and retailers upload data at each step. Consumers scan QR codes to verify authenticity (fighting counterfeits). The protocol rewards accurate, timely data submissions.
- Manufacturers: Upload product data, want to prove authenticity
- Logistics Providers: Track shipments, update delivery status
- Retailers: Verify products before sale, scan inventory
- Consumers: Verify authenticity, check product history
- Validators: Run oracle nodes, verify off-chain data accuracy
- Platform Team: Supply chain experts, blockchain devs (10 people)
- Investors: Seed $3M from logistics and blockchain VCs
- How do you incentivize companies to upload data when it costs gas fees?
- How do you punish fraudulent data submissions (e.g., claiming a shipment arrived when it didn't)?
- Should consumers pay to verify products, or should manufacturers/brands subsidize?
- How do validators earn rewards without centralizing control?
- What creates demand for the token beyond speculation?
- How do you handle B2B vs. B2C use cases differently?
- Is the token used for data uploads, or is there a staking model?
- How are validators incentivized to verify data accuracy?
- What percentage of tokens go to ecosystem growth vs. team/investors?
- Should there be different token tiers for enterprise vs. consumer use?
PredictMarket: Decentralized Prediction Markets
PredictMarket lets users bet on real-world events (elections, sports, crypto prices) using tokens. The platform uses automated market makers (AMMs) for liquidity, oracle networks for result verification, and token-weighted governance for dispute resolution. No central authority decides outcomes.
- Traders: Bet on outcomes, want fair odds and fast settlement
- Liquidity Providers: Stake tokens in AMM pools, earn trading fees
- Market Creators: Propose new prediction markets, set parameters
- Oracle Reporters: Submit verified results, stake tokens as collateral
- Governance Voters: Resolve disputes, decide platform rules
- Platform Team: 12-person team (quant traders, devs, legal)
- Investors: Seed $4M from DeFi VCs
- How do you bootstrap liquidity for new markets? (Liquidity mining? Subsidies?)
- How do you ensure oracle reporters are honest? (Staking + slashing?)
- What if oracle reporters collude or are bribed to submit false results?
- How do you incentivize market creation without spam markets?
- What creates long-term token demand beyond governance?
- How do you handle legal/regulatory risk (gambling laws)?
- Do traders use the token for betting, or separate stablecoins?
- How are platform fees distributed? (Burns? Staking rewards? Treasury?)
- What percentage goes to liquidity mining vs. team/investors?
- How long should oracle reporter stakes be locked?
Instructor Note
Cut these briefs into separate cards or assign digitally. For classes larger than 6 groups, duplicate briefs—comparing different tokenomics for the same platform makes for excellent discussion.
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