# Tokenomics

The `TMNS` tokenomics model is designed to support a high-growth payment network while preserving long-term alignment across community, ecosystem partners, team, treasury, and public market participants.

The design principle is straightforward: the largest share of token supply should support network growth, while core insiders remain meaningfully locked and aligned over time.

## Token Overview

* Token name: `Terminus Token`
* Ticker: `TMNS`
* Total supply: `1,000,000,000`
* Primary role: ecosystem incentive token
* Design priority: growth coordination without degrading payment UX

## Public Sale Snapshot

The public sale allocation is designed to give the broader market meaningful access to `TMNS` while preserving sufficient supply for long-term ecosystem growth. The role of the ICO is therefore not only fundraising. It is early ownership distribution.

The public sale design should support three outcomes:

* credible community participation,
* sufficient post-launch distribution,
* and sustainable room for future network incentives.

## Allocation Framework

| Allocation Bucket                         | Share | Purpose                                                      |
| ----------------------------------------- | ----: | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Community Incentives and Usage Mining     |   24% | Reward real payment activity and network growth              |
| Ecosystem Partners and Merchant Expansion |   14% | Incentivize integrations, distribution, and market expansion |
| Airdrop and Community Bootstrapping       |    8% | Activate early community, contributors, and aligned users    |
| Public Sale / ICO                         |   10% | Expand token distribution and fund growth                    |
| Team                                      |   15% | Long-term contributor alignment                              |
| Strategic Investors and Early Backers     |   12% | Capital and strategic support                                |
| Foundation / Treasury                     |   12% | Ecosystem development, reserves, and governance runway       |
| Liquidity and Market Making               |    5% | Support healthy market conditions                            |

## Allocation Logic

This structure is intentionally growth-heavy:

* `46%` is allocated to community, usage mining, ecosystem partners, and airdrops,
* insiders remain meaningfully aligned but do not dominate supply,
* and public market distribution is large enough to support community ownership while retaining room for ecosystem expansion.

This balance matters for a Web3 payment network. Terminus needs broad alignment more than short-term token scarcity theater.

## Vesting and Unlock Philosophy

Terminus adopts a conservative long-lock approach for core insiders.

### Suggested Vesting

| Bucket                                    | Suggested Unlock Design                                   |
| ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Team                                      | 12-month cliff, then 36-month linear vesting              |
| Strategic Investors and Early Backers     | 12-month cliff, then 24-36 month linear vesting           |
| Public Sale / ICO                         | 10-20% unlocked at TGE, remainder vested over 6-12 months |
| Airdrop and Community Bootstrapping       | phased releases tied to campaigns and retention           |
| Community Incentives and Usage Mining     | multi-year emissions tied to network growth               |
| Ecosystem Partners and Merchant Expansion | milestone-based or time-based distribution                |
| Foundation / Treasury                     | governed releases with structured transparency            |
| Liquidity and Market Making               | partially available at TGE for market support             |

The lock design is intentionally conservative because payment infrastructure takes time to scale. The token schedule should reflect the time horizon required to build merchant density, regional expansion, and ecosystem depth.

## Emission Design

`TMNS` emissions should be designed to reward useful network activity over multiple years rather than front-loading rewards too aggressively. Emission policy should favor:

* real payment activity,
* sustained contribution,
* ecosystem retention,
* and market-specific expansion goals.

This helps avoid a common failure mode in tokenized systems where early emissions create temporary volume but weak long-term alignment.

## Suggested Emission Cadence

The network should treat emissions as a strategic growth budget rather than a one-time distribution event.

| Phase               | Emission Focus                                                                |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Early Network Phase | user activation, merchant density, early partner acquisition                  |
| Expansion Phase     | new market launches, ecosystem integrations, retention incentives             |
| Maturity Phase      | governance participation, reputation staking, long-term contributor alignment |

## Usage Mining Design Principles

The usage mining system should not reward activity blindly. Instead, it should be based on weighted indicators such as:

* verified successful payments,
* number of unique active users,
* merchant-side diversity,
* transaction retention and repeat behavior,
* and market-expansion relevance.

The system should also include controls for:

* sybil resistance,
* abnormal repetition,
* low-value wash patterns,
* and partner-level abuse.

## Suggested Usage Mining Scorecard

| Signal                        | Why It Matters                             |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Verified completed payments   | anchors rewards to real behavior           |
| Unique active users           | favors breadth over repeated self-dealing  |
| Unique merchants              | encourages real commercial utility         |
| Repeat usage                  | rewards habit formation                    |
| Market expansion relevance    | supports strategic growth priorities       |
| Risk-adjusted quality filters | reduces exploitation of incentive programs |

## Treasury and Sustainability

The treasury is not simply a reserve pool. It is the capital base for network growth, ecosystem support, and governance evolution. Over time, the treasury can be used to:

* support strategic expansion,
* fund ecosystem programs,
* strengthen governance operations,
* and respond to growth opportunities across the region.

```mermaid
pie title TMNS Allocation
    "Community Incentives and Usage Mining" : 24
    "Ecosystem Partners and Merchant Expansion" : 14
    "Airdrop and Community Bootstrapping" : 8
    "Public Sale / ICO" : 10
    "Team" : 15
    "Strategic Investors and Early Backers" : 12
    "Foundation / Treasury" : 12
    "Liquidity and Market Making" : 5
```

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A["Payment Growth"] --> B["Usage Mining and Ecosystem Rewards"]
    B --> C["User and Partner Retention"]
    C --> D["Network Density"]
    D --> E["Higher TMNS Utility"]
    E --> A
```

The purpose of this tokenomics model is not merely to distribute supply. It is to build a resilient ownership and incentive structure for a payment network designed to scale across markets and over time.
