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Protocol revenue model
How Vaelun protocol revenue is allocated across buybacks, community rewards, treasury, development and listings.
Summary
Vaelun protocol revenue comes from one source: the protocol fee charged on Cross-Chain and Private Swaps. Network gas, provider costs, bridge costs, liquidity costs and price impact are not Vaelun revenue and are not counted here.
That revenue is allocated across five destinations. The split below totals 100% and is published so it can be checked against reporting rather than taken on trust.
Revenue allocation
| Allocation | Percentage | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| VAEL buybacks | 35% | Periodic repurchases of VAEL intended to support the long-term ecosystem. |
| Community holder rewards | 15% | Reward programs for eligible VAEL holders, announced before each program begins. |
| Protocol treasury | 20% | Operational resilience, liquidity, security, audits, compliance and reserves. |
| Product development and marketing | 20% | Engineering, integrations, security work, support, documentation and growth. |
| Exchange and ecosystem listings | 10% | Listing-related expenses, integrations, market infrastructure and partnerships. |
The allocation applies to protocol revenue Vaelun actually receives. Where a routing provider retains a share of the fee a user pays, only Vaelun's share is protocol revenue, and only that share is allocated above.
35% — VAEL buybacks
Thirty-five percent of protocol revenue is allocated toward periodic VAEL buybacks intended to support the long-term Vaelun ecosystem.
This is an allocation commitment, not a price commitment. Vaelun does not promise price appreciation, guaranteed market support, a fixed purchase schedule, guaranteed burns, or any investment return.
Timing, execution method, reporting, custody of repurchased tokens, and any treatment of those tokens afterwards will be disclosed separately.
15% — Community holder rewards
Fifteen percent is allocated toward community reward programs for eligible VAEL holders.
Eligibility is not automatic and rewards are not guaranteed. Holding VAEL does not by itself entitle a wallet to a distribution.
Eligibility requirements, snapshots, distribution methods, supported wallets, exclusions, claim procedures and distribution schedules will be announced before any reward program begins.
20% — Protocol treasury
Twenty percent is allocated to the Vaelun treasury: operational resilience, liquidity requirements, security expenses, infrastructure, audits, legal and compliance costs, emergency reserves and long-term protocol operations.
The treasury is what makes it possible to block an unsafe route, pause a provider, or absorb a bad month without the protocol being unable to keep operating.
20% — Product development and marketing
Twenty percent is allocated toward engineering, product improvements, wallet and chain integrations, provider integrations, private routing infrastructure, security work, user support, documentation, education, partnerships and responsible growth initiatives.
10% — Exchange and ecosystem listings
Ten percent is allocated toward listing-related expenses, integrations, technical requirements, market infrastructure, ecosystem partnerships and the associated operational costs.
No exchange is named here and none is promised. Vaelun will name a venue only once an agreement has been officially confirmed.
Transparency and reporting
- Protocol fees collected.
- Revenue generated.
- How that revenue was allocated across the five destinations above.
- Buyback activity.
- Community reward distributions.
- Treasury usage.
- Development and marketing spending.
- Listing and ecosystem expenditure.
Vaelun intends to publish periodic summaries covering these items. They are periodic summaries, not a live feed: real-time reporting is not offered today and this page does not claim it. Reporting frequency, accounting methodology and on-chain verification details will be announced separately.