Choosing AZERO’s max supply and first-year emission rate
Sep 16, 2024

After the first two phases of voting, the Aleph Zero community has decided that AZERO will get a maximum supply cap and AZERO’s inflation will decrease exponentially. Now, the next votes will be on choosing the parameters of AZERO’s max supply and first-year emission rate.
We’ve developed an AZERO Inflation Calculator to help you visualize the impact of your votes will have in these key upcoming referendums:
- AZERO maximum supply [MAX]
- AZERO first-year emission rate [FIRST-YEAR]
Using the calculator, you can explore how different parameters will affect AZERO inflation (assuming 62% of AZERO remains staked—as it is now) years into the future.
The first vote is on choosing the MAX parameter. There are 10 proposed values ranging from 380M to 920M. The winning option will be selected as the weighted median of all votes, in order to ensure a fair outcome.
In a median-based voting system where participants select a value on a scale, it’s optimal to allocate all your voting power to your most preferred option. Splitting your votes across multiple options doesn’t effectively shift the median toward your preference. Even if the current leading value is below your preference, you should still vote for your exact preferred number rather than a higher one. Voting higher (or lower) than your true preference doesn’t increase your influence and may misrepresent your actual choice—potentially leading to a less favorable outcome.
By consistently voting for your genuine preference, you maximize your impact on the final result—ensuring that the median accurately represents the collective preferences of all voters.
Test the AZERO Inflation Calculator and cast your votes to decide the future of AZERO inflation.
The [MAX] vote is now live on gov.alephzero.org and will conclude after 5 days.
The AZERO first-year emission rate [FIRST-YEAR] vote will begin shortly after this.
Read on below for the full breakdown of the mechanics and rationale behind these two critical votes.
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Mathematically speaking, the amounts of AZERO minted in subsequent eras (and in subsequent years) form a geometric series. Thus, starting from the era `N` when the AIP02 proposal goes live, the amounts of AZERO minted in eras `N`, `N+1`, `N+2`, `N+3`, … will be as follows:
c, c*lambda, c*lambda^2, c*lambda^3, …
`c` and `lambda` are the parameters that need to be chosen in the two subsequent governance votes. These parameters, while mathematically convenient, are perhaps not the most intuitive for voters. For this reason, we are proposing to instead vote on the following two parameters:
- AZERO maximum supply [MAX]
- AZERO first-year emission rate [FIRST-YEAR]
These parameters have straightforward meanings and can better simplify the process for voters. Once chosen via two separate governance votes, they will be used to infer `c` and `lambda` for the actual implementation.
High-info voting: Test and visualize potential outcomes of the [MAX] and [FIRST-YEAR] referendums before you vote
To help better inform Aleph Zero community members before voting, we’ve created an AZERO Inflation Calculator where you can check the potential impact of these specific parameters. This calculator enables you to test and visualize how your votes on AZERO maximum supply [MAX] and AZERO first-year emission rate [FIRST-YEAR] will impact the future rate of AZERO inflation and staking APR (assuming 62% of all AZERO remains staked, which is the current state). The process for both [MAX] and [FIRST-YEAR] votes will look the same, so let’s consider the mechanics of the AZERO maximum supply [MAX] case first.
We are proposing 10 concrete values for AZERO maximum supply [MAX]. The proposed values are as follows:
AZERO maximum supply [MAX] |
380M |
400M |
430M |
470M |
520M |
580M |
650M |
730M |
820M |
920M |
Once the vote is over, the winning option will be selected as the weighted median of all votes. This is best explained as follows: imagine that each voter places as many votes as they have AZERO GOV tokens, then each vote has the same weight. Such votes can then be placed in one long sequence and sorted—and the winning option will be the one in the very middle of this sorted sequence. Two remarks are needed here to help better conceptualize this process:
- To assist voters, the governance platform will display the current leading option—meaning the option that would end up being chosen if the vote ended right away;
- In the unlikely scenario that either the smallest (or largest) of the available options is chosen, the vote will be repeated with new options that are either smaller or larger than the original numbers. This will protect against the possibility that the range of options proposed in the votes did not contain the value favored by the community.
Important parting notes
We’d like to highlight that the formulas presented in this write-up are simplified in terms of their actual implementation, as we are basing emissions on real timestamps—and not on eras. Since eras don’t always last exactly 24h, it’s important to note that this may lead to minor inaccuracies. For those users who would like to inspect these details further, we’d like to refer you to the Rust implementation on the aleph-node github.
Getting ready to place your [MAX] and [FIRST-YEAR] votes
We value the input of every Aleph Zero community member immensely and have put a lot of effort into crafting a process that ensures voters are well-informed and able cast their votes smoothly and confidently. This is why we urge you to test the AZERO Inflation Calculator before voting so you can make the best choices possible for yourself and the future of Aleph Zero.
The AZERO maximum supply [MAX] vote is live and and lasts 5 days—concluding on September 23rd at 15:00 CET. The AZERO first-year emission rate [FIRST-YEAR] vote will begin shortly after this.
So, test the AZERO Inflation Calculator, discuss the options with the community, and make your voice heard in setting the future of Aleph Zero!