Tokenomics
VIRTUS Protocol is built around two tokens: VRT (the base governance and liquidity incentive token) and veVRT (the vote-escrow position created by locking VRT). Neither token was sold. There are no venture capital allocations, no private rounds, and no pre-sale.
VRT
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | VIRTUS |
| Ticker | VRT |
| Standard | ERC-20 |
| Network | Base (Chain ID: 8453) |
| Contract | 0x1CEFF1D2e0F0f0E27417C5600758EEc1606575CA |
| Maximum Supply | Unlimited |
| Supply Model | Two-phase: genesis mint + weekly emission |
| Transferability | Freely transferable |
VRT is the protocol's native token. It is used to provide liquidity, participate in governance, and may participate in protocol distributions. VRT holders can lock their tokens to receive veVRT, which grants voting power and access to protocol fee distributions.
veVRT
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Vote-Escrowed VRT |
| Ticker | veVRT |
| Standard | ERC-721 (NFT) |
| Network | Base (Chain ID: 8453) |
| Contract | 0x6Be687DF2ab94fBD7Eeb4dAc32118110967FF0ef |
| Created By | Locking VRT for a chosen duration |
| Lock Duration | 1 week – 4 years |
| Transferability | Technically transferable as ERC-721; no marketplace exists |
veVRT is not a separate token — it is a lock position. Each lock is represented as a unique ERC-721 NFT with its own locked amount, remaining duration, and decaying voting power. While veVRT is technically transferable between wallets (as any ERC-721), no exchange listing or marketplace exists for veVRT. VIRTUS Protocol does not operate, support, or promote any secondary market for veVRT positions. Any wallet-to-wallet transfer carries full counterparty risk for the sender, as no atomic payment mechanism exists. A position transferred after the holder has voted for pools forfeits the fee distributions and voting incentives for that epoch to the recipient — making transfer economically irrational in most circumstances. veVRT cannot be transferred if it has voted in the current epoch or is attached to a managed position.
Voting Power
Voting power is calculated as:
Voting Power = Locked VRT × (Remaining Lock Duration / Maximum Lock Duration)
- Maximum lock duration: 4 years = maximum voting power
- Voting power decays linearly every second as the lock approaches expiry
- Re-locking or extending the duration restores voting power to its full level
- A 1,000 VRT lock for 4 years has the same initial voting power as a 4,000 VRT lock for 1 year
Lock Mechanics
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Lock | Deposit VRT, choose lock duration (1 week – 4 years), receive veVRT NFT |
| Extend | Increase the remaining lock duration of an existing position |
| Merge | Combine two veVRT positions into one |
| Split | Divide a single veVRT position into two separate positions |
| Unlock | Withdraw VRT after lock expiry (no early exit) |
There is no early exit mechanism. VRT locked in a veVRT position cannot be withdrawn before the lock expiry date.
Supply Model
VRT uses a two-phase minting model.
Phase 1 — Genesis Mint
200,000,000 VRT minted at protocol deployment by the Deployment Wallet. This is a one-time event. The Deployment Wallet executed the genesis mint only and holds no long-term custody or spending role.
Phase 2 — Weekly Emission
Unlimited additional VRT is minted weekly in accordance with the Emission Schedule. Emission is initiated automatically by the smart contract upon completion of the Points Program. Emission parameters are hardcoded in the Minter contract and cannot be changed after deployment.
Initial Distribution
The 200,000,000 VRT genesis mint was distributed across four allocations:
| Allocation | VRT | Share | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lock & Vote | 100,000,000 | 50% | Team allocation, locked for maximum duration (4 years) as veVRT positions |
| Initial Liquidity | 50,000,000 | 25% | Supplied to VIRTUS liquidity pools to establish initial trading depth |
| Points Program | 30,000,000 | 15% | Reserved for distribution to early participants based on LP and Multichain Swap activity |
| Grants | 20,000,000 | 10% | External and internal contributors expanding protocol functionality |
Notes on Distribution
Lock & Vote (100M VRT): The full team allocation is locked as veVRT at maximum duration. The team receives distributions through the same mechanism as any other participant — voting on gauges and receiving fee distributions and voting incentives from voted pools. No unlocked team tokens exist.
Grants (20M VRT): Distributed exclusively through the VeLock Portal mechanism. All grant recipients receive veVRT with a direct lock — no unlocked VRT is sent to any individual. All transactions are verifiable on BaseScan. No grants have been disbursed to individual contributors or advisors. No advisory agreements or insider payment arrangements exist.
No sale, no airdrop, no VC allocation: VRT was not sold at any stage. No ICO, IDO, IEO, SAFT, or private placement was conducted. There is no preferential pricing for any party.
Emission Schedule
Weekly emission begins automatically after the Points Program concludes (Week 25). Emission follows four distinct phases governed by hardcoded coefficients in the Minter contract.
| Phase | Weeks | Weekly Emission | Coefficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points Program | 1 – 24 | 0 VRT | — |
| Initiation | 25 – 40 | Starting at 10,000,000 VRT, increasing weekly | ×1.03 per week |
| Elevation | 41 – 50 | Stabilized | ×1.0 per week |
| Perfection | 51 – ∞ | Gradually decreasing | ×0.99 per week |
Emission Distribution
Each week, newly minted VRT is distributed as follows:
| Recipient | Share | Mechanism |
|---|---|---|
| Gauge stakers (LPs) | 100% of base emission | Distributed to staked LPs proportional to votes their gauge received |
| Team / Treasury | Up to 5% (additional mint) | Minted on top of gauge allocation via setTeamRate — does not reduce gauge share |
| veVRT rebases | Variable (additional mint) | Minted separately to compensate veVRT holders for dilution (see Rebases below) |
Emission Coefficients Are Immutable
Emission coefficients (1.03 → 1.0 → 0.99) are hardcoded at deployment and cannot be modified by any party, including the protocol team or Emergency Council. The smart contract executes these parameters autonomously.
Rebases
All locked veVRT holders may receive rebases — additional VRT minted to counteract dilution from new weekly emissions. Rebases are conditional on a protocol-defined ratio.
How Rebases Work
Each epoch, the protocol compares the ratio of total VRT supply to locked VRT against a hardcoded threshold in the Minter contract:
- If the ratio is below the threshold (sufficient VRT is locked relative to total supply) → rebases are minted and distributed to all locked veVRT holders, proportional to their lock share
- If the ratio is above the threshold → no rebase is paid that epoch
When new VRT is emitted to gauges, the total VRT supply increases. Without rebases, all locked veVRT holders would be diluted — their % of total supply would shrink. Rebases counteract this by minting proportional additional VRT into locked positions.
Rebases Are Anti-Dilution, Not Profit
Rebases do not generate above-inflation returns. If total supply increases by 10% and a locked holder receives 10% more tokens, their proportional claim on future fees is unchanged. The rebase corrects for inflation — it does not generate new economic value.
| Participant | Rebase? | Fee Distributions? | Voting Incentives? |
|---|---|---|---|
| veVRT voter | Yes (if ratio condition met) | May receive | May receive (if deposited) |
| veVRT locker (non-voter) | Yes (if ratio condition met) | No | No |
| LP (unstaked) | No | May receive | No |
| LP (staked in gauge) | No | No | May receive VRT emissions |
Fee Distribution
The protocol charges no platform fee. All trading fees generated by liquidity pools flow entirely to participants — the protocol retains 0%.
| LP Status | Pool has active gauge voting? | Trading Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Not staked | No | 100% to LP holders |
| Not staked | Yes | 90% to LP holders; 10% to veVRT voters |
| Staked in gauge | Yes | 100% to veVRT voters |
Eligible veVRT voters may receive fee distributions from every pool they voted for during the epoch — 10% from pools where LP is unstaked, up to 100% from pools where LP is staked — plus any voting incentives deposited by third parties for those gauges. Fee distributions are claimable after each epoch closes.
External Bribes (Voting Incentives)
Any third party can deposit tokens into a gauge's bribe contract to incentivize veVRT voters to allocate voting power to that gauge. Bribes are entirely optional and provided by external parties — not by VIRTUS Protocol.
Projects that want deeper liquidity in a specific pool pay bribes to attract voter attention. Voters who allocate weight to a gauge with voting incentives deposited may receive those incentive tokens in addition to the pool's fee distributions.
Voting incentive tokens are distributed pro-rata to all voters who supported the gauge, proportional to their voting weight. Voting incentives are claimable after the epoch in which the vote occurred.
VRT Fed — Democratic Monetary Policy
At approximately epoch 100–110, when weekly emission reaches ~9,000,000 VRT per week, the VRT Fed activates. This mechanism transitions monetary policy from hardcoded coefficients to democratic governance.
Once active, veVRT holders vote each period on one of three options:
| Vote | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increase | Weekly emission rate increases by a predefined step |
| Maintain | Weekly emission rate unchanged |
| Decrease | Weekly emission rate decreases by a predefined step |
The outcome with the most voting power wins. The VRT Fed marks the protocol's transition to fully community-governed monetary policy — the founding team's role in emission decisions ends entirely.
Protocol Revenue
Protocol revenue is generated from:
- The team's veVRT positions voting on gauges (fee distributions + voting incentives, same as any participant)
- Up to 5% of weekly VRT emissions allocated to the team wallet via the Minter
Protocol revenue is used for:
- Protocol maintenance and infrastructure costs
- Ongoing development and improvements
- Strategic collaborations and advertising
- VRT buyback operations (subject to internal controls and performance considerations)
No distributions are made to VRT holders passively. Distributions flow only to active governance participants (voters) through the fee distribution and voting incentive mechanism described above.
Token Policy
| Statement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Prior tokens | VIRTUS Protocol has not launched any tokens prior to VRT |
| veVRT as separate token | veVRT is a derivative of VRT created through the locking mechanism — it is not a separate independent token |
| Future tokens | No plans to launch additional tokens. Any future related token will be publicly disclosed with full documentation prior to launch |
| Market making | No third-party market maker has been engaged. All VRT liquidity is provided organically. Any future arrangement will be publicly disclosed |
Summary
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Genesis supply | 200,000,000 VRT |
| Weekly emission start | Week 25 (after Points Program) |
| Peak weekly emission | ~10,000,000 VRT (Week 25) rising to ~15M+ during Initiation |
| Long-term weekly emission | Gradually declining at 0.99× per week (Perfection phase) |
| VRT Fed activation | ~Epoch 100–110 (~9M VRT/week) |
| Team allocation | 100M VRT, 100% locked as veVRT at maximum duration |
| Token sales | None |
| VC allocation | None |
| Protocol fee | 0% |
| Max lock duration | 4 years |
| Epoch duration | 1 week (Thursday 00:00 UTC – Wednesday 23:59 UTC) |
Contracts
| Contract | Address |
|---|---|
| VRT Token (ERC-20) | 0x1CEFF1D2e0F0f0E27417C5600758EEc1606575CA |
| veVRT — VotingEscrow (ERC-721) | 0x6Be687DF2ab94fBD7Eeb4dAc32118110967FF0ef |
| Minter | 0xDc1dE416DdaD4c9e8328F30aE88E2392d5b551f7 |
All contracts are immutable, verified, and publicly readable on BaseScan.
Legal
VRT is a governance and liquidity incentive token. It does not represent equity, debt, or profit-participation rights in any legal entity. It does not confer any claim against VIRTUS Protocol or any affiliated party. Holding VRT does not guarantee any return. Protocol participation involves significant risk including total loss of capital. See Legal Disclaimer and Legal Disclosures for the full risk disclosure.
Last updated: May 2026 — Version 1.1
© 2026 VIRTUS Protocol. All rights reserved.