Pool Tokenomics

Introducing the $POOL token

Platform activity is underpinned by $POOL tokens, the ethereum asset which is at the heart of the pool service model.

$POOL token uses

$POOL tokens have numerous uses across the platform — from enabling discounts for Data Union Operators to facilitating governance, and maintaining high product standards on the marketplace.

Network Discount
$POOL can be staked by Data Union Operators (DUO) to gain discounts on the percentage fee the platform charges (5%). The more a DUO stakes in their own product smart contract, the lower the platform fee will be until it reaches a base level beyond which no further reduction in fee is possible.
Discount Token
Another part of the token economic model is Pool’s buy-and-burn system. When users purchase data products from the platform, a smart contract, initially deployed by the Pool project, automatically deducts a 2% “token” or “community” fee from the overall spend. Because of the decentralized, autonomous and immutable nature of smart contracts, this fee is effectively non-custodial and no longer belongs to Pool. It will be set up in such a way as to automatically “burn” $POOL tokens in the larger ecosphere via decentralized token exchanges.
This combination gives the $POOL token the dynamics of a “discount token”, where fundamental value grows as utility on the platform increases.
Governance
The third driver of the token will be its facility as a governance token. At first Pool will be governing a protocol affecting scores of DUOs and thereby hundreds of thousands and soon, millions of end users. Progressively, Pool will seek to democratise protocol decisions such as GoPES, BLIPS (see tech whitepaper annex) and even Pool’s 5% fee. DUOs will be able to vote on such outcomes by staking $POOL tokens.
DUO Staking
Finally, to maintain high product standards and delivery, DUOs will need to stake $POOL tokens within their product’s smart contract. This stake effectively acts as an escrow against poor performance (as finally determined by the Pool internal governance board), and the more a DUO stakes, a number which will be displayed to buyers, the more a product is likely to be viewed by buyers as trustworthy.

$POOL ICO

Pool’s revenue model

By enabling the creation of new, high quality and fairly sourced data streams, Pool will earn a percentage from the inflow of tens and eventually hundreds of millions of dollars in data and retail sales as outlined above. Pool will be structured as a foundation and therefore have no equity shareholders, so this revenue will be directed back towards growth of the overall ecosystem.

Revenue generated within the Pool ecosystem is distributed between the community as follows. The first three are for growth, and the last is for value accrual: