A deep dive into $ATHER tokenomics and the Ather collective

This analysis is based on research I have conducted as a community contributor and investor. While it reflects insights gathered from SipherPeek, the Director of Community and R&D, and other sources, it does not officially represent Ather Labs. This is part of my master’s thesis on investing. As always, do your research, not financial advice.

One of the most powerful aspects of $ATHER tokenomics is its buyback and burn mechanism, which is supported by multiple revenue streams.

This mechanism simultaneously generates purchasing pressure and reduces supply, positioning ATHER for increased value. I’ll delve into this in more depth later in the article, but it’s worth noting that this feature sets $ATHER apart from other crypto gaming projects, especially those without a balanced Web2 player base.

While official tokenomics data will be released closer to the $ATHER TGE price, this analysis provides an 80% picture of where the ATHER price is heading.

Summary of the $SIPHER incentive structure

Here is a summary of the original $SIPHER tokenomics published in 2021. Full details can be found here: Sipher Tokenomics on the concept.

The total supply of $SIPHER is 1 billion tokens and currently 124 million pieces were minted on the chainmainly from public sales and liquidity rewards. The team and the VC do they delayed the transfer of powers from the original schedule. This was a strategic decision because releasing tokens without a finished product or robust market presence would likely lead to zero.

Token Distribution Overview:

• Incentives and marketing in games: 30.4% ($304,000,000 SIPHER) – Only a petite portion was minted or used.
• Team and advisors: 25% ($250,000,000 SIPHER) – closed.
• Foundation and reserve: 14% ($140,000,000 SIPHER) – closed.
• Seed sales: 11.3% ($113,000,000 SIPHER) – closed.
• Strategic sales: 5% ($50,000,000 SIPHER) – closed
• Promotion and partnership: 0.3% ($3,000,000 SIPHER)
• Auction and liquidity rewards: 10% ($100,000,000 SIPHER) – a significant part was distributed to players in 2021-2022.
• Public sale: 4% ($40,000,000 SIPHER).

Updated vesting schedule:

Vesting for the team and VCs will begin three months after its global launch. The vesting period and distribution percentage remain unchanged. Team tokens will be acquired 24 monthswhile seed investor and VC tokens will be acquired 18 months.

By delaying vesting, the interests of the team and investors are directly tied to the success of the project after the global launchespecially with the upcoming bull market in 2025.

Team cash position

As of 2021, Ather Labs has raised at least $56.6 million to finance game development and cover operational and marketing costs. This is also supportive 140–170 employees in three offices in Vietnam. Here’s a breakdown of their fundraising efforts:

• Ather Labs initial funding: Raised $6.8 million in Q4 2021 in a 100% token-based VC funding round with no equity sales.
• Sipher public token sales: In December 2021, USD 42 million was raised in an IBCO offering (initial curve bond offering).
• Sipherian Surge NFT Sale: Minted at a price of 0.1 ETH, it collected at least 1,000. ETH (~$4 million), including royalties.
• Sipherian Flash Dutch Auction: Prices ranged from 0.9 to 0.1 ETH, which allowed to obtain another 1,000. ETH (~$4 million), including royalties.

Despite the bear market challenges, Sipher at least remains robust three years of runway. Ather Labs benefits from lower operating costs in Vietnam, where salaries and office space are cheaper compared to projects in Western regions or Singapore.

A team’s cash position plays a key role in tokenomics. The Ather Labs vault is powered by cash and $ETH wallets. That means they are is not under pressure to raise more funds or inflate the token price. The team is also not encouraged to sell tokens on unfavorable terms to novel investors.

It’s worth noting that Ather Labs does he rejected several private sale offers. Some Liquid Venture Funds acquired $SIPHER on decentralized exchanges, and Sipher-controlled wallets also repeatedly purchased SIPHER worth around $0.15. Seed investors like Nansen AI CEO ASwanevikconsistently accumulated $SIPHER on chain.

Supply shock:

Cryptocurrency markets typically dislike low circulating supply and high fully diluted valuations (FDV). However, these factors become advantages during bull markets. With Sipher’s current market cap of just $15 million and a ranking of over 1,300 on CoinGecko, even a petite enhance in attention can lead to a significant enhance in prices in the right conditions.

That being said, there are risks. Low circulation also means that future token unlocks will result in selling pressure. In a bear market, holders of liquid tokens tend to be the first to exit, and regular unlocks deplete liquidity over time.