basil on Farcaster
$SKY launch — addressing day one concerns, then getting back to building. read that back: literally "day one"
tl;dr
- only 10% of supply was free-float at launch; it was quickly absorbed. 90% is locked & subject to cliffs/vesting.
- we’re behind a mandatory 7-day clanker vault; treasury movements begin october 2. then we’ll migrate funds into splits/teams, hedgey vesting, and publish all addresses.
- $SKY is not a trader meta. it is an alignment & incentives token for partners, council, contributors, and founders moving through our incubation pipeline.
- “NAV model” is directional guidance. dashboard + automation come after we incubate & ship projects; think quarters, not days.
- partner/council composition will broaden (esp. under-represented voices) as we scale from 30 → 64 → 100 with a real pipeline & clear roles. i have to think about effective coordination.
- fair launch doesn’t fit a network-level coordination token. we chose controlled supply, long locks, and fat contributor incentives over day-one distribution games.
1) market cap, FDV, and float
- free float at launch: 10%. that’s the only supply that could trade.
- result: it was quickly bought out; slippage is high; there isn’t much circulating supply right now.
- FDV vs market cap: with ~10% float, market cap ≈ 1/10 of FDV until more supply vests.
- next step: after the 7-day clanker lock ends on oct 2, we’ll begin treasury movements to the vesting contracts & update public dashboards/trackers so basic metrics are correct.
2) locks, cliffs, and vesting (no supply pressure)
- everyone is under a lock; no one can sell right now, except that 10% float.
- partners: 6-month cliff (hard lock), then 18-month vest.
- council: 6-month lock, then 6-month vest.
- founders: 6-month lock, then 30 months vest (longest locks).
- day-one incentives: up to 5% available for early programs (referrals, office hours, ecosystem contributions). these are *work-earned distributions*, not unlocks to dump.
3) launch mechanics (anti-snipe, no pre-announce, pricing)
we used clanker’s v4.1 anti-snipe decay (80% → 0% over ~15s) and didn’t pre-announce. that deliberately reduced sniper concentration & chart sabotage. this was going to get eaten either way.
the one thing i would change: we likely priced way too low (targeting ~30 ETH starting market cap). that let early buyers absorb a larger share of the 10% float than ideal. lesson learned; distribution would have been flatter at a higher initial price. the long locks & low float still achieve the prime objective over time: control supply; align incentives.
4) who SKY is for (and how to acquire it)
- $SKY is not designed for first-hour flips. it’s for contributors & aligned participants.
two practical ways to build a position:
- slow-accumulation (small, periodic buys to manage slippage).
- earn it through contributions (referrals, office hours, hands-on incubation help).
5) contributor incentives (how you earn SKY)
- referrals: 0.1% of supply per successful referral that graduates the program, capped at 50 total. that is a very meaningful allocation.
- office Hours / mentorship: paid in SKY for active, high-leverage help on live incubations. partners prioritized.
- ecosystem work: bounties & scoped contributions as we scale.
these are meaningful payouts (worth thousands of dollars at time of issuance), because we want real help from people who want to push the ecosystem forward with us
6) the NAV model (what it is / isn’t)
think of NAV as our north star for value capture & defense.
sequence, not promise: we’ll first get builders through the pipeline, then publish holdings/positions/addresses, then implement automation (buybacks, streaming, etc.).
realistically, the automation sits at the back of the roadmap. the immediate deliverable is incubation output, then transparency (addresses, vesting, positions).
7) partners, council, and “cabal” concerns
we’re building a pipeline, not a chatroom: ideation → prototype → GTM → distribution → token design → capital → launch → scale.
each phase needs clear owners & top-tier operators. that’s what the 30 partners represent.
diversity: critique heard. the initial network skews male because it bootstrapped from our existing (imperfect) networks under launch pressure. we will use the 64-seat council & subsequent expansion to actively recruit under-represented talent & perspectives. hold us to it.
8) why launch the token first?
the token is the product that coordinates the whole engine: it pays/aligns partners & council, rewards referrals & contributions, and ties incubation outcomes to holders.
the incubator is onchain by design; the token is the coordination layer we build around.
9) “5% take” for founders (is it predatory?)
our standard ask is ~5% of token supply for end-to-end advisory (strategy, product, token, GTM, distribution, capital, ops) with zero cash & no equity.
in our view, that’s extremely founder-friendly versus current alternative market offers. we only win if the project wins; there’s almost always no rent skim on revenue, and no equity drag
it's essentially free. you can come to us with no capital, company, or revenues & you still receive direct access to many of the highest leveraged founders here plus participation in our tailored incubation approach. it's unparalleled.
10) skin-in-the-game
founders (me & @garrett) each contributed 2 ETH to treasury & are on the longest locks/vesting. three years.
partners each contributed 1 eth. they are locked for 6-months, then vest over the following 18 months. that is FOREVER in crypto. nobody gets “free money” here... we either compound NAV or we lose it all.
11) “why not a fair launch?”
fair launches are great for some memes & communities. $SKY is a network-level coordination token that must control supply, front-load incentives, and align a hundred operators to push founders through a repeatable pipeline.
that requires locks, cliffs, and budgeted incentive buckets, not open-ended day-one distribution.
12) what happens next (near-term plan)
- 10/2: clanker 7-day vault ends; begin moving treasury → splits/teams & hedgey vesting.
- publish: addresses, schedules, and a simple public ledger of holdings/allocations.
- ship: the first cohort through the pipeline & into market.
- spin up: referral intake, office-hours calendar, and contributor bounties.
- onboard: 64 council members with set allocations via partner invites
- iterate: improve coordination, then layer in the NAV dashboard; automation comes after we’re producing.
13) a note to early traders
if you came-in via bots with no slippage warnings, the launch mechanics were not for you. SKY is built for years, not wicks. as supply unlocks slowly & liquidity thickens, price discovery will become more forgiving. right now, the design preference is alignment over churn.
if you believe in what were doing, i encourage you to build a position over time & hold. this will not be an easy token to extract from, certainly not with any real size
14) to my friends & the broader community
i know some of you were disappointed not to see your names in the first 30. please know this wasn’t about popularity or exclusion—it was about speed, alignment & making sure each critical piece of the pipeline had coverage so we could launch.
we had to make hard calls under pressure & i simply couldn’t include everyone i care about. that stings for me too. the plan from day one has been to expand from 30 → 64 → 100, and i want the people who have supported me & believed in this vision to be part of that growth.
this isn’t a closed club. the best way in is the same for everyone: contribute, refer, mentor, build. incentives are designed to reward that directly. if you want a bigger role, there will be one—i promise.
i'm sorry. ily. i have to think about coordination & that's already extremely hard at 30 deep. i am not here to heard cats, i am here to build projects.
15) closing
we’re building for three+ years, not three days. control supply, reward real work, publish everything & compound outcomes into NAV we can defend.
if you want in, help us build—there’s a clear path to earn a real stake & we would love to have you. thank you for your patience & trust. let's get back to work. https://farcaster.xyz/skycastle/0xc4e67175
