A fixed supply, released slowly.
The ArcadeUnion token has a hard maximum supply, a schedule that tapers year on year rather than stopping dead, and a distribution that rewards supporting the network and playing the games. The token contract is deployed on Avalanche and its source is public. The economy described on this page is not.
The contract
Deployed on the Avalanche C-Chain. The source is verified, so you can read exactly what it does rather than taking this page's word for it — including that the supply cap cannot be raised, that there is no pause function, and that nobody holds the role needed to mint the remaining supply.
How liquidity would be funded →
Check the address before you trust anything. Anyone can deploy a token using the same name and ticker. This is the only $ARCU contract, and nothing on any exchange or liquidity pool is issued or endorsed by ArcadeUnion.
Where the 20 billion goes.
The maximum supply is capped. Most of it is released gradually to the people who run and play the network. A treasury portion is created at the start so that liquidity can be provided from day one rather than accumulated slowly.
| Allocation | Tokens | Share of cap | How it arrives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node operators | 12,000,000,000 | 60% | Emission, daily |
| Games & player rewards | 4,000,000,000 | 20% | Emission, daily |
| Ecosystem & development | 2,000,000,000 | 10% | Emission, daily |
| Treasury & liquidity | 2,000,000,000 | 10% | Minted at genesis |
| Maximum supply | 20,000,000,000 | 100% | Hard cap |
Creating the treasury portion at the start changes when the treasury receives its tokens, not how much it receives. The proportions above are the same either way, and node operators are unaffected.
A taper, not a cliff.
A schedule that ends abruptly leaves operators profitable one day and unrewarded the next. This design reduces emission each year and then continues indefinitely at a shrinking rate, so the incentive thins out instead of disappearing.
| Period | Released | To node operators |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 4,500,000,000 | 3,000,000,000 |
| Year 2 | 3,600,000,000 | 2,400,000,000 |
| Year 3 | 2,700,000,000 | 1,800,000,000 |
| Year 4 | 1,800,000,000 | 1,200,000,000 |
| Year 5 | 1,350,000,000 | 900,000,000 |
| Year 6 onwards | ~4,050,000,000 total | ~2,700,000,000 total |
How the tail works
From year six the annual release keeps shrinking by roughly a quarter each year. Because each year is smaller than the last, the total of every future year is bounded — it adds up to the remaining supply and never exceeds the cap.
In practice that means emission continues for many years at a steadily smaller rate rather than stopping on a particular date. Over the same period the intention is that game fees, marketplace activity, tournaments and NFT sales grow into the main source of operator reward, with token emission shrinking behind them.
How each day's release is divided.
Emission is split by category every day. The treasury does not take a daily share because its allocation is created at genesis.
66.7% — Node operators
Divided between qualifying nodes according to contribution points earned that day. What earns points changes by stage, and the rules for each stage are published before it begins.
22.2% — Games & players
Reserved for in-game rewards, seasons and tournaments as games come online. Participation is proposed to be rewarded on outcomes and milestones rather than on hours logged, and capped per account, so there is nothing that pays more for being left running. Leaderboards →
11.1% — Ecosystem
Development, integrations, infrastructure and support for studios building on the network.
Rewards accrue first, unlock later.
Node rewards are proposed to build up as a claimable allowance rather than being sent out nightly. That avoids thousands of small on-chain transfers, and it lets the release be staged so that early rewards do not all become sellable on one day.
Emission begins, nothing is claimable
The treasury allocation is created and daily emission starts. Node rewards accumulate to each operator as an allowance that cannot yet be claimed.
Liquidity provided
The treasury provides liquidity on a decentralised exchange. Because no operator rewards have unlocked yet, nothing accrued can be sold at this point.
Allowance begins unlocking
Three months after liquidity is provided, accrued rewards start to become claimable.
Released gradually
Rather than the whole accrued balance unlocking at once, it is released evenly across six months, so the amount reaching the market on any given day is a small fraction of the total.
Activity that removes supply.
A capped supply with continuous emission still needs demand-side sinks. These are the proposed points where ecosystem activity would permanently remove tokens from circulation.
Node licence purchases — the largest sink
From licence 2,001 onwards, half of a node licence price is proposed to be payable in $ARCU, and every token taken that way is burned. This gives operators a way to compound rewards into more nodes, and gives the token a sink sized to the licence supply rather than to guesswork.
Because burns go to a published address, the amount removed from supply can be checked on-chain rather than taken on trust.
Game purchases
A portion of in-game spending is burned rather than recirculated.
Marketplace fees
Trading fees split between node operators and a burn.
Tournament entry
Entry fees split between the prize pool and a burn.
NFT minting
Mint revenue split between treasury, node operators and a burn.
Where it would live
The intention is to issue the token on an established network rather than building a chain first. Avalanche is the current candidate: it is inexpensive to transact on, well supported by wallets and exchanges, and it allows a dedicated network to be added later without starting again.
That ordering matters. The expensive infrastructure decision does not have to be taken on day one, and nothing about the token design depends on taking it early.
A possible later step
If the node network grows and the games generate real workload, the operators running those nodes could in time become validators of a dedicated ArcadeUnion network, with rewards continuing to be paid in the same token.
This is a direction of travel, not a commitment, and it would only make sense once there is genuine activity to justify it.
Straight answers.
Does the token exist yet?
Yes. The contract is deployed on Avalanche and its source is verified, so anyone can read exactly what it does. 2,000,000,000 $ARCU is minted and held by the treasury. The remaining 18,000,000,000 cannot be minted by anyone, including us — no address holds the minting role. The rest of this page describes a design that is still being tested.
Can I buy it?
No. There is no sale, no pre-sale, no allocation and no waiting list, and no date has been set for any of those.
Is the supply really fixed?
The design uses a hard maximum of 20 billion enforced by the contract itself. Tokens are created as the schedule releases them rather than existing up front, and the cap cannot be exceeded.
What happens after five years?
Emission continues, at a rate that keeps shrinking. The intention is that by then most operator reward comes from real ecosystem activity — game fees, marketplace and tournaments — rather than from new token supply.
How would anyone get tokens at the start?
Under this design the only initial source is node emission, together with the treasury allocation used to provide liquidity. There is no public sale of tokens in the proposal.
Is any of this a financial product?
Nothing here is an offer, an investment, or a promise of profit, return or future value. It is a published design for a prototype.
How would anyone check the figures?
Every wallet the project uses is published, so balances, burns and income can be read straight from the blockchain rather than taken from this website. The treasury is the one address that could not be published in advance — its allocation is created in the same transaction that creates the token — so it was published the day the contract was deployed. Every other wallet is published before it receives or sends anything. The transparency page sets out what is independently verifiable and what is only reported.
The other half of the design.
Token emission only matters alongside the network it pays for. The Founder Node page sets out what nodes do, what qualifies for reward and how contribution is scored.