TOWNS (Towns Protocol) is Binance's latest decentralized social protocol project, aimed at building a new community communication platform for the Web3 era. The project is developed by Here Not There Labs (HNT Labs), with a core team from well-known companies like Houseparty, Skype, and Microsoft, possessing extensive experience in social products. TOWNS combines on-chain member verification, end-to-end encrypted chat, and programmable community spaces, being hailed as 'the Discord of Web3.'

Core Functions and Features

  1. Decentralized Group Chat Protocol:

    • On-chain Ownership: Ownership of each community (called 'Towns') is stored on-chain and supports transfer, sale, or DAO/multi-signature holding.

    • End-to-End Encryption: All chat content is encrypted to ensure privacy and security.

    • Programmable Space: Community owners can customize rules, such as setting access keys, rewarding contributors, or integrating NFT/DAO transactions.

  2. Technical Architecture:

    • River Protocol: A dedicated messaging protocol based on Layer-2 Base that supports real-time communication and a decentralized node network.

    • Smart Contracts: Manage community creation, member permissions, and economic models.

    • Node Network: Distributed nodes handle message verification and storage, ensuring system stability.

  3. Ecological Integration:

    • NFT and Game Integration: Supports direct trading of NFTs in chat, building a small decentralized market within the community.

    • DAO Governance: Participate in protocol upgrades and fund management through on-chain voting.

    • Staking and Mining: Users can stake tokens to earn rewards or gain access.

  4. Financing and Market Performance:

    • Financing Situation: Cumulative financing of $46 million with investors including a16z, Coinbase Ventures, Benchmark, etc.

    • Revenue: The platform generated over $35 million in real revenue, with $3.5 million in fees used to buy back and burn tokens.

Token Model (TOWNS)

Token Basic Information

  • Token Name: TOWNS

  • Token Standard: ERC-20

  • Initial Supply: 1 billion tokens (some sources mention 1.0128 billion tokens due to timing differences).

  • Launch Date: August 5, 2025, launch on Binance Alpha, supporting trading pairs such as USDT, USDC, BNB, etc.

  • Initial Circulation: Approximately 2.109 billion tokens (accounting for 20.83% of total supply).

Token Distribution Plan

Distribution Category Ratio Explanation: Community reserve 43.14% for future ecological development, rewards, and protocol upgrades. Team 21.46% for the development team and core members, unlocked in phases. Investors 13.74% including institutions like a16z and Coinbase Ventures, with a lock-up period. Airdrop 9.87% for early user rewards, approximately 1 billion tokens allocated to 400,000 points users. First-year node incentives 7.9% to incentivize node operators to maintain the network, allocated in the first year. Node inflation 1.27% for long-term node operation rewards. Public investors 2.62% for the public sale portion (some sources mention).

Inflation and Burn Mechanism

  • Initial Annual Inflation Rate: 8%, linearly decreasing to 2% over 20 years.

    • Calculation Formula: Annual Inflation Amount = Current Total Supply × Annual Inflation Rate (first year 800 million tokens, second-year 8% of 1.08 billion tokens which is 86.4 million tokens).

  • Burn Mechanism: A portion of platform fees is used to buy back and burn tokens, reducing circulation and stabilizing long-term value.

Token Use Cases

  1. Node Delegation:

    • Users can stake TOWNS tokens delegated to node operators to support network operation.

    • Delegated tokens must be locked for 30 days to ensure node stability.

  2. Space Address Authorization:

    • Manage access permissions and rules for chat spaces.

  3. Governance Participation:

    • Major decisions such as protocol upgrades and fund usage are determined through DAO voting.

  4. Points and Rewards:

    • Holders can receive airdrops, unlock premium features, and earn community rewards.

    • Early users can exchange points for tokens (approximately 1 point = 0.25 TOWNS).

  5. Ecological Functions:

    • Used for paying NFT transaction fees, participating in DAO voting, staking, and mining.

Airdrop Details

  • Airdrop Ratio: 9.87% of total supply (approximately 1 billion tokens).

  • User Base:

    • Approximately 400,000 points users, with over 1,000 points users making up the top 75%.

    • Expected average token acquisition of 2,500 tokens (based on 4 billion points exchanged for 1 billion tokens).

  • Market Value:

    • Pre-market trading price approximately $0.049/token, airdrop value approximately $120 (10,000 points).

Project Highlights and Prospects

  • Technical Advantages: Combines the high performance of Layer-2 with the security of decentralized nodes, providing an experience similar to centralized applications.

  • Ecological Expansion: Supports multidimensional integration of NFTs, games, DAOs, etc., aiming to become the infrastructure of Web3 communities.

  • Community Driven: Promotes user participation and ecological growth through DAO governance and airdrop incentives.

  • Market Potential: As a Binance Launchpad project, it enjoys traffic and credibility backing but needs to pay attention to the long-term impact of inflation on token value.

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