a note: $BMAID is not yet launched! this article will be updated/a comment will be added once it is; until then, don’t trust any copycats or pretenders. :)

$BMAID, or, “Based Mutual Aid”, is a token project/community to be launched on the Base network, with a focus on rendering assistance to those in need while growing the project/community in hopes of broadening those relief efforts for individuals and families combatting wealth inequality, illness, system oppression, mental/physical health challenges & disabilities, or other life challenges.

Mutual aid is different from regular charitable giving, in that it:

• Doesn’t include “means-testing” in order for recipients to be “qualified” for relief (note: this does not preclude the community doing basic due diligence on crowdfunding campaigns/recipients)

• Often encourages recipients and donors to work together for the longer term, hand in hand, versus a rigid “giver/receiver” structure.

• Focuses on broader efforts to improve circumstances for all, such as policy reform, tackling systemic inequalities, challenging unfair legislation, etc.

This is the simplest part to write: many of us are struggling, or have at least experienced financial hardship in the past. The fact that it’s a largely universal experience is unfortunate.

Not all struggle is bad - when you’re just starting out, maybe… or you hit a speed bump and need to budget a bit more closely… that is not what this project is designed to help address.

There is a meaningful difference between simply living paycheck to paycheck versus, say, raising a family of 3+ as a single dad while caring for a terminally ill bed-bound family member in a high-crime food-desert community… $BMAID takes aim more at something like the latter.

$BMAID enjoyers can be separated into three categories:

1. $BMAID holders & community members - simply, those who buy/hold/interact with the token &, if desired, vote on the onchain polls to determine the flow of relief funds.

2. $BMAID Recipients - those individuals or families in need, selected by the community, to receive relief funds directly. $BMAID Recipients are individuals or families in need of direct financial support, who have:

   1. Expressed and detailed this need by way of a crowdfunding campaign, or similar

   2. Been selected by the onchain voting process that the $BMAID holder community engages with

   3. Possess at least a passing interest in considering contribution/engagement with the project in the future, or simply “paying it forward” by way of volunteer work in their community, or similar.

3. $BMAID Team - a loose collective of terminally onchain nerds working together with Grey Seymour (@greyseymour on Farcaster, @gogokikaider on X) to build out this project.

   (We aim to keep the team as small as possible, and for the community to be the guiding force behind this project much moreso than the team… but someone’s gotta do the DEXScreener listings/prop up homepage/write stuff like this/keep it moving!)

The overarching goal of this project is to harness the fees earned from trade volume and redirect that to direct aid, with recipients determined by a fair, community-driven, iterative process.

Tokenomics/Launch/Fee Generation:

• The $BMAID token will be fairlaunched on the Base network, the leading Layer-2 network, via a popular/trusted token launcher such as Clanker, Bankr, or Cliza. (This means that the liquidity will be locked/community-provided by way of the launcher protocol’s automated setup.)

• To that end, the above chart is NOT a breakdown of tokenomics,* which will be firmly locked in place by the chosen launcher - it shows *where $BMAID Team intends to allocate the fees earned* from trade volume on the token, as disbursed by the token launcher itself.*

• a 5% stake is also set aside as a HODLer Lottery! Once every 90 days, an eligible/active holder/community member (e.g. holding more than $100 of $BMAID, has voted at least once per 90 day season) will be chosen by RNG to receive 5% of the fees earned for that period!

Voting, Fund Disbursement, Proofs:

     Once per week, 55% of the fees earned from trade volume, as disbursed by the launcher, will be distributed to either a crowdfunding campaign or an individual as selected by the community.      A DeForm page will be disseminated via a dedicated /bmaid Farcaster channel and on X, to verify holdings (must hold at least $1 of $BMAID to vote) and submit your vote. Community members may nominate any crowdfunding campaigns or individuals via the channel, the DeForm when voting, or by reaching out to the $BMAID team directly.

Disbursements will be confirmed/”proven” by posting “receipts” for these transactions, whether that’s onchain → Coinbase CEX → fiat → PayPal → recipient, OR, where possible, transactions from BaseScan confirming contribution to campaigns.

Path Forward/Milestone Goals:

Launching something like this runs the certain risk that literally no one will see this at all, and all of this prep has been in vain. It’s also totally possible and obviously preferable that it DOES get traction, in which case, it’s great to have come prepared! With that said, the team is holding off on a detailed roadmap until we see some traction on the project around launch.

Around $75-100k Market Cap, the team will plan to pay for DEXScreener listing, launch a website once $150k is reached and held for a little while, and then publish a detailed (still lite/flexible/iterative) roadmap.

We do have some pretty major goals though - want to distribute $10,000 or more in DIRECT aid, cultivate a community of volunteers who also donate their time IRL to help others, launch an onchain media/PFP collection to fund further efforts, and maybe even lobby for legislative reform if this really takes off. (that said - cart, meet horse 😉)