The Salt Wars is culminating in the distribution of initial tokens to govern Aurelius, which we are aiming to launch in July. Per the original article, $AU tokenomics were subject to adjustments in response to changing market conditions and today when looking to execute on an effective token distribution there are some adjustments that are outlined below that aim to better reward our dedicated Legion.
As the famous Intern song goes: the future is real bright (real bright).
AU Tokenomics
![](https://b3255066.smushcdn.com/3255066/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Aurelius_Updated_Tokenomics.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Recently proposed $AU tokenomics.
To align with other Cod3x chapters like Ironclad and Harbor, Aurelius needs to adjust it’s initial token decimal from 100,000 to 100,000,000. Templating this piece of information will help users understand the relationship between protocols at a glance.
Here is a table of the new AU tokenomics.
![](https://b3255066.smushcdn.com/3255066/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Aurelius_Revised_Tokenomics_Table.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Below we outline the rationale for these adjustments.
Shifting Incentives
The largest change is a -15% reduction in protocol emissions, most of which will be realized through different means of distribution including a long term bonding program and larger airdrops to Salt and Mantle users.![](https://b3255066.smushcdn.com/3255066/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Cod3X_Phones-200x300.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Onboarding through Cod3x
With the unveil of Cod3x and $CDX, an additional 2% of max supply has been shifted to create a perpetual AU staked yield stream for $CDX. Aurelius will be surfaced in the Alpha version of Cod3x and continues to inherit research and development from the Cod3x Foundation and community.Initial AU Distributions
We aim to spark a new appreciation for community-owned native protocols by greatly improving the size and reach of our initial distribution.- The first is the Salt distribution, increasing from a 5% of max supply to 10%. The distribution will be capped at 888 recipients, it will not be exactly linear but the final rank will matter. At the time of publishing every user that has earned Salt to date (684 total) would receive an allocation, however we believe introducing a cap will ensure that the distribution can target our most dedicated Legionnaires should more pioneers enter the fray.
- Mantle Rewards Station is a huge opportunity to connect with over 16,000 Mantle enthusiasts, many of whom aren’t yet aware of Aurelius. To make things exciting we want to reward 2% of the max supply distributed over four separate 10-day campaigns. The short time helps ensure it only goes to active participants and that we don’t overstay our spotlight time.
- Finally, stakers of COOK will also receive an allocation of AU totalling 1%. We are not ready to commit to any firm details other than reserving a slice for future collaborations.
Building a Protocol Reserve
The ‘POL’ bucket has been expanded to give more room for other sorts of incentive programs like bonds to strengthen AU liquidity and protocol development. Aurelius will also integrate an options token on launch to ensure that the protocol can build sufficient liquidity with excess funds being used to help expand this allocation over time through strategic AU acquisitions.![](https://b3255066.smushcdn.com/3255066/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Aurelius_Axis1.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
A new partnership with Axis
To help bring AU to life there is an allocation of 10% of AU for a liquidity generation event.
We have partnered with the experts from Bond Protocol to help launch Axis, a brand new launch infrastructure layer that will give us the tools to offer a market-first auction mechanism called ‘EMP Auctions’. These auctions are a sealed-bid system that allocates tokens to the highest bidders, with the clearing price set by the last successful bid to be filled.
10% is a large amount of the supply so we hope participants see this as an amazing opportunity to acquire more voting power through this sale at a price which suits them.
Why an EMP auction?
Superior price discovery is one of the main advantages of EMP Auctions. Since bids are private and encrypted, participants can bid their true price for the token without fear of being sniped before the auction ends. If their bid wins, they acquire tokens at the most fair price possible due to the auction’s settlement process.
EMP Auctions also remove the influence of timing on token launch results. In traditional LBP token launches, there’s often a competitive scramble where getting in at the right time is critical to secure the best price.
In contrast, EMP Auctions ensure that all winning bids placed before the auction closes are cleared at a uniform price.
Tell your friends too!
Axis implements a referral program at the smart contract level to connect auctions with bidders, acting as a decentralized marketing fee accessible to anyone who promotes and directs traffic to the AU auction.
![](https://b3255066.smushcdn.com/3255066/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/aUSD_Milestone1.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Aurelius USD
Aurelius’ primary value-add to the ecosystem is a purely DeFi stablecoin, aUSD, which has solved the scalability problem through it’s integrated lending market. In no particular order here are some of our next plays to drive more adoption:- Launch the AU campaign with Axis.
- Deploy Staking Module
- Deploy AU Liquidity
- Deeper aUSD integrations. We are pursuing $1M of aUSD liquidity across 3 DEXes so that we can get an aUSD oracle created by API3:
- Partnering with Teahouse Finance, Gamma & ICHI to offer more active liquidity management solutions.
- Launching aUSD on Merchant Moe, Mancake and FusionX.
- Continue to get aUSD paired against as many volatile assets as possible to force more market arbitrage between pools and absorb any positive growth from those counter-assets.
- Our Interest-Bearing CDP will allow Aurelius to absorb mETH, cmETH and other interest-bearing assets with no supply limits.
- One-click leverage aUSD will make a return to make it even easier to grow your exposure.
- Expanding our ve3,3 and network positions on Mantle.
- We already have the largest veCLEO position on Mantle, but expanding to include veMAN and veMOE would give Aurelius perpetual emissions and ensure aUSD can remain liquid on many exchanges.
- Staked aUSD will hit Aurelius in August, unlocking Mantle’s native interest-bearing DeFi stablecoin, with liquidation gains and yields being compounded conveniently.
- Introduction of an “Aurelius Reserve Adoption Program” targeting Mantle protocols counter-asset adoption of aUSD. Simply put, exclusive yield for protocols to speed up aUSD adoption and liquidity.
The horizon is near
We hope you can keep your place in the Salt Wars. We look forward to delivering a full launch schedule shortly. Remember, always COOK with Salt.
Aurelius