Since launching the $UMJA token in 2024, our team has watched the Umoja protocol grow at an incredible pace—yet we’ve also witnessed the $UMJA token’s price dip over the same period. This blog post introduces a new initiative called Burn & Release, designed to accelerate token distribution, remove significant future sell pressure, and help $UMJA bottom out in price so it can start climbing again—especially as protocol TVL continues to rise and $UMJA’s staking utility for yBTC becomes more valuable.

From Bootstrapping to Exponential TVL Growth

At the end of 2024, the Umoja protocol was at a crossroads:

• We could spend hundreds of thousands on centralized exchange listings and heavy marketing, hoping it would buy UMJA’s short-term price.

• Or, we could extend our runway to finalize the $yBTC product—a yield-bearing Bitcoin integration that we believed would truly solidify our protocol’s value proposition.

We chose the latter. In just a few months, the protocol’s AUM (assets under management) grew 10x, crossing $1M in TVL in under three weeks.

Our next milestones?

$5M and then $10M!!!

These are now in sight for this quarter, each pushing $UMJA’s intrinsic value up as more BTC yields are generated for $UMJA stakers. Ultimately, a strong product foundation creates organic momentum, making future exchange listings and marketing efforts far more impactful.

However, even as our protocol thrived, UMJA’s price on DEXs continued to slide, and liquidity remained low—factors that can overshadow robust protocol growth in the eyes of many retail investors.

Token Distribution: The Real Driver of Price?

A key realization we had during this journey is that “token price ≠ purely tokenomics.” Over the past few years, the market has shown that distribution and marketing are the biggest levers driving a token’s price movements—far more than clever vesting schedules or “perfect” token models.

In fact, many retail participants today favor tokens with a majority of the supply already unlocked. It removes the worry that a slow “rug-pull” might happen as founders or early investors continuously unload vested tokens. For $UMJA—which already sits at a low market price—accelerating investor vesting (and burning the original locked tokens) could effectively reset the token’s base price. If the market perceives that future sell pressure is now out of the way, it opens the door for organic demand to rise, particularly as the value proposition of staking for $yBTC continues to strengthen.

By “bottoming out,” we believe the token can find its real market floor, allowing new buy pressure to naturally push $UMJA’s price in an upward trajectory—especially as protocol metrics (TVL, Bitcoin yields) continue to climb.

What Is Burn & Release?

Burn & Release is a program that accelerates vesting for $UMJA-SEED holders while permanently removing the original locked tokens from circulation. Here’s how it works:

1. Voluntary Participation: Investors holding $UMJA-SEED (which represent unvested $UMJA on a linear schedule) can opt into “Burn & Release” on a dedicated interface.

2. Burn = Locking Tokens Forever: When an investor chooses to “burn” X unvested $UMJA-SEED, the $UMJA tokens that this investor is due at vesting.umoja.xyz become permanently unclaimable. They remain in the vesting contract, never entering the circulating supply.

3. 1:1 Exchange: As soon as the investor burns those locked tokens, they get the same number (X) of $UMJA from our existing 1.1B mint rewards allocation—no new tokens are minted. This is effectively accelerating the vesting period, giving investors immediate tokens while eliminating future vesting unlocks.

Here’s a simplified example:

Alice has 50,000 $UMJA-SEED tokens, vesting monthly until October 2025.

• She opts to “Burn & Release” all 50,000.

• Those 50,000 remain locked in the vesting contract forever (effectively “burned”).

• Alice immediately receives 50,000 $UMJA from our 1.1B token pool.

• A portion of $UMJA’s future supply is removed, reducing long-term sell pressure.

If enough token holders do this, we can eliminate up to 7–8% of $UMJA’s total supply from ever entering circulation. The result? A more concentrated circulating supply that has effectively “bottomed out.” From there, new or existing holders who believe in $UMJA’s upcoming growth narrative can drive the token’s price upwards more organically.

Why Burn & Release Will Help “Reset” the UMJA Market

1. Permanent Reduction of Future Sell Pressure: With each “burn,” we remove vesting tokens that would otherwise drip into the market over time. That means a one-time unlock replaces a prolonged trickle of sell pressure—far more appealing to new buyers who fear constant overhead dumping.

2. A “Bottomed-Out” Price: By accelerating vesting at a lower price point, we effectively shift the distribution landscape so that existing investors gain liquidity sooner, but can’t keep releasing tokens over many months. The net effect often results in a new price floor once the overhang is gone.

3. Clarity for New Investors: Many smaller buyers avoid tokens still heavily locked among seed investors and teams. Burn & Release clears the air, showing a higher percentage of supply already in circulation and fewer future unlocks to worry about.

4. Enhanced Staking Incentives: We’ve pushed $UMJA’s utility to the forefront: you can stake $UMJA to earn $yBTC—a rare offering. As our TVL continues to climb from $1M to $5M and beyond, the actual yield in BTC for $UMJA holders grows, adding strong fundamental value to the token. Once the market perceives that future sells are minimal, more buyers will confidently stake UMJA for BTC rewards, further driving demand.

The Power of $UMJA

$UMJA, Umoja’s native token, is deflationary and stakable for high-yield YVTs like $yBTC.

As Umoja’s TVL grows, staking UMJA earns more smartcoins. Thus, $UMJA’s intrinsic value rises with TVL, while its fixed supply decreases as minters burn it to redeem collateral.

TLDR: The more smartcoins minted, the more valuable $UMJA becomes.

Not only that, but staking $UMJA earns token holders governance rights and other privileges that can result in more rewards.

Looking Ahead

Burn & Release is our immediate measure to reset the $UMJA token’s distribution profile. Coupled with our upcoming marketing campaign and a potential centralized exchange listing, we believe it sets $UMJA on a healthier, more sustainable path. As the protocol’s AUM grows—and as you, our community, help spread the word about $UMJA’s “stake for $BTC” vision—we’re confident the token’s price can reflect the exponential traction happening under the hood.

**Be on the lookout on X and our blog for updates as to when Burn & Release is being rolled out at umoja.xyz so that you may participate if eligible. **

Thank you for standing by us through these crucial months. We appreciate your continued faith in $UMJA’s potential, and we’re committed to making $UMJA the go-to staking asset for Bitcoin yields in DeFi.

About Umoja

Backed by the likes of Coinbase, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Quantstamp amongst others, Umoja is a next-gen yield vault token (YVT) protocol transforming digital assets into high-yield investments, powered by DeFi’s first trade execution engine. We’re starting with $yBTC, the world’s highest-yield BTC token.

Umoja’s mission is to democratize wealth creating tools for everyone.

We're known for creating high-yield vault tokens (YVTs) to monetize top cryptos like BTC, SOL, and ETH. Umoja calls these YVTs as "Smartcoins," which combine multiple CeFi and DeFi yield strategies, adapting dynamically to market conditions.

Think of Umoja as the offspring of Yearn Finance and Ethena.

In December 2024, Umoja launched $yBTC—"yield-bearing Bitcoin"—offering a 15% to 30% APY paid entirely in BTC, free from dilution by protocol points or foreign tokens. Simple, pure Bitcoin yield.

Three Ways to Earn $yBTC 💰

1. Mint $yBTC: Deposit native BTC (soon cbBTC, FBTC, and BTC.b) to mint $yBTC.

2. Swap for $yBTC: Trade on a decentralized exchange like Uniswap to acquire $yBTC.

3. Stake for $yBTC: Stake $UMJA, Umoja's native token, to earn $yBTC and UMO (the governance token) over time.

The more $yBTC you hold, the more BTC you earn—making it a powerful incentive for believers in Bitcoin's future.

The Power of $UMJA 🦾

$UMJA, Umoja's native token, is a deflationary utility token designed for high-yield vaults like $yBTC. It's central to Umoja's growth flywheel:

1. Mint: Deposit BTC to mint $yBTC and earn $UMJA.

2. Stake $UMJA: Stake $UMJA to earn $yBTC.

3. Stake $yBTC: Stake $yBTC to earn even more yBTC.

The result? A self-reinforcing system that maximizes your Bitcoin earnings.

As Umoja's assets under management (TVL) grow, so does $UMJA's value—more TVL means more $yBTC to earn by staking $UMJA.

However, $UMJA-Bitcoin staking is a fierce contest. Stakers earn more Bitcoin in direct proportion to the amount of $UMJA they have staked in the Governance Pool. The more $UMJA-staked, the more $BTC earned.

You can now stake your $UMJA for $yBTC here.

Not only that, but staking $UMJA earns token holders governance rights (measured in non-transferable, UMO token) and other privileges that can result in more rewards.

Why This Partnership Matters

As BTC adoption surges and decentralized finance evolves, the need for sustainable and efficient yield solutions has never been greater. The partnership between Umoja and Goat Protocol is a milestone in this journey, leveraging the strengths of both protocols to maximize capital efficiency and deliver unparalleled value to BTC holders.

By integrating with Goat’s innovative vault infrastructure, Umoja ensures that our liquidity strategies for $yBTC remain cutting-edge, offering users consistent, low-risk BTC-native yields while improving the utility of idle liquidity.

Goat Protocol’s Advanced Yield Strategies

Goat Protocol brings a wealth of features that align perfectly with Umoja’s mission to empower BTC holders:

1. Dynamic RehypothecationGoat Protocol enables idle liquidity to work harder, allowing Umoja to allocate a portion of LP tokens from $yBTC’s liquidity pools on Bunni into Goat’s yield vaults. This rehypothecation strategy generates additional income streams for liquidity providers without compromising core liquidity requirements.

2. Streamlined Integration ProcessWith its plug-and-play ERC-4626 vaults, Goat Protocol makes it simple to integrate additional yield strategies as needed. This flexibility ensures Umoja can scale its solutions seamlessly as new opportunities arise.

3. Deposit Caps for Optimized PerformanceGoat Protocol’s vaults include deposit caps designed to optimize yield generation, ensuring sustainable rewards for users.

Umoja’s Rehypothecation Strategy

Integrating Goat Protocol’s vaults into Umoja’s $yBTC ecosystem is a natural next step in our BTC Yield Loop strategy. By deploying a portion of our pool’s liquidity into Goat’s vaults, we can:

• Maximize Yield Potential: Unlock additional income streams by deploying idle liquidity into secure, high-yield vaults.

• Boost Liquidity Efficiency: Optimize capital allocation for $yBTC while maintaining a robust liquidity base on DEXs like Bunni.

• Enhance BTC-Native Returns: Offer sustainable, low-risk BTC-native yields that resonate with our community and institutional stakeholders.

A Shared Vision for Decentralized Finance

This partnership reflects Umoja and Goat Protocol’s shared commitment to advancing decentralized finance by creating scalable, innovative, and user-centric solutions. Together, we’re building a framework that not only delivers better yields but also fosters greater trust and participation in the BTCFi ecosystem.

✨ The future of BTC-native yield starts here. Follow @UmojaProtocol and @GoatFiDao for the latest updates, and join us on this exciting journey!

Why This Partnership Matters

As Bitcoin surges past $100K and its market cap exceeds $2 trillion, the focus on BTCFi (Bitcoin DeFi) has intensified. The growing Total Value Locked (TVL) in BTCFi—currently surpassing $3.7 billion—underscores the vast potential for innovation in this space. Together, Umoja and Bunni are tackling a critical challenge: unlocking sustainable, BTC-native yields while enabling programmatic liquidity and enhanced capital efficiency. Bunni’s Revolutionary Approach Bunni brings a suite of advanced tools that are perfectly aligned with Umoja’s mission to empower BTC holders. Key features include:

1. Auction Model AMM:

Bunni’s novel auctioning of MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) rights optimizes LP earnings. By channeling this value back to liquidity providers, we aim to create sustainable incentives for BTC liquidity utilizing the Uniswap v4 technology.

2. Rehypothecation:

Idle liquidity, often underutilized, can now be lent or staked in yield strategies via Bunni’s rehypothecation feature. Partners like Aave, Spark, and Morpho (with billions in AUM) This provides avenues for additional yield through our existing $yBTC ecosystem, perfectly complementing our BTC Yield Loop strategy.

3. Shapeshifting Liquidity:

This feature allows users to program and automate trading strategies within liquidity pools. It opens up new ways for Umoja’s users to customize their capital allocation and maximize returns on their BTC assets.

Integrating Bunni with $yBTC: Unlocking the BTC Yield Loop

Bunni’s innovations seamlessly integrate with Umoja’s BTC Yield Loop—a strategic cycle combining DEX liquidity, lending, and staking. Here’s how Bunni enhances this model:

1. Liquidity Optimization:

By utilizing Bunni’s MEV Auction Model, $yBTC liquidity providers can capture previously inaccessible value, increasing their yield potential.

2. Idle Liquidity Deployment:

Rehypothecation allows unused pool liquidity to generate additional income through lending protocols, boosting overall APYs.

3. Dynamic Strategies:

With shapeshifting liquidity, $yBTC holders can automate trading strategies, ensuring efficiency even in volatile market conditions.

Why This Matters for BTCFi

The traditional BTC yield landscape often struggles to deliver sustainable, native returns, with many solutions relying on non-BTC rewards or complex mechanisms. Umoja and Bunni are rewriting this narrative. By integrating innovative liquidity strategies with BTC-native tools, we are:

• Empowering BTC holders with sustainable, low-risk yields.

• Enhancing liquidity efficiency through programmatic tools.

• Driving exponential growth in BTCFi adoption.

A Shared Vision for the Future

This partnership underscores our shared vision to redefine DeFi and BTCFi. Umoja’s expertise in yield-bearing smartcoins, combined with Bunni’s liquidity innovations, sets the stage for transformative growth in the space.

Stay tuned as we roll out new features, campaigns, and integrations to elevate your DeFi experience. Follow @UmojaProtocol and @bunni_xyz for the latest updates, and let’s build the future of BTCFi together.

✨ The future of BTC-native yield is here. Click here to join the journey today.

CertiK is one of the most trusted names in blockchain security, and their thorough approach ensures that projects like ours meet the highest standards of reliability and safety.

CertiK: A Gold Standard in Security 🥇

Approved and recognized by OKX, Finschia, Apple, Sei, Ripple and Sui, when it comes to evaluating protocols, CertiK stands out as the industry leader.

Their audits are renowned for their depth and precision, offering an unparalleled level of scrutiny. By diving deep into the technical architecture and identifying potential vulnerabilities, CertiK provides the peace of mind that every project needs.

For Umoja Protocol, this audit underscores the reliability of our foundation and our commitment to smart contract security.

A Green Light for Trust and Growth 🚦

Successfully completing the CertiK audit sends a clear message: Umoja Protocol is built to be secure and compliant. This milestone not only boosts confidence for our current users and partners but also strengthens our position as a trusted platform in DeFi. It’s a critical step for us to enable more adoption and growth, as it gives everyone who interacts with Umoja Protocol the assurance they deserve to know that their funds are safe with us.

Key elements of CertiK's auditing process that we went through were:

• Environment Setup: Tailored virtual environments are created to ensure Umoja’s code compiles and deploys successfully, enabling in-depth testing and hands-on evaluation of the project.

• Architecture Review: Umoja’s design and system components were analyzed to identify security-critical parts, determine relationships, and spot inherited vulnerabilities, especially in forked projects.

• Threat Modeling: A structured approach to identify potential vulnerabilities and categorize threats (e.g., spoofing, tampering, denial of service), resulting in a security checklist tailored to the project.

• Static Analysis and Formal Verification: Automated tools and mathematical methods were used to evaluate the code for insecure patterns, logic flaws, access control issues, etc. ensuring these all meet intended specifications.

• Manual Review: A detailed line-by-line inspection of Umoja’s code by experts, identifying bugs, inefficiencies, and vulnerabilities that may not be detected by automated tools.

• Unit Testing: Specific tests validated the functionality of individual components under various inputs and edge cases, providing confidence in our protocol’s behavior.

• Reporting and Remediation: Comprehensive reports outlined vulnerabilities in Umoja, potential exploits, and recommended fixes, followed by collaborative updates with Certik and Umoja’s team to improve the project's security posture.

• Final Assessment: Updated reports reflect implemented changes, offering a transparent record of the project’s improved security,made publicly available for community review.

Why Audits Like This Matter for Compliance 🔑

In today’s blockchain landscape, security isn’t optional—it’s essential. A comprehensive audit is more than just technical validation; it’s a key element in meeting industry compliance standards.

CertiK’s meticulous approach ensures that Umoja Protocol aligns with these expectations, helping us maintain credibility in an increasingly regulated environment while protecting our users and stakeholders.

Building for the Future, Safeguarding Today 🫡

While this successful audit is a huge milestone, it’s far from the end of our security efforts. Umoja Protocol is committed to ongoing monitoring and improvement to ensure our ecosystem remains safe and resilient.

We’d like to extend our gratitude to the CertiK team for their expertise and to our incredible community for your support. Together, we’re building something that stands the test of time.

Stay tuned for more updates, and check out the full CertiK audit report here.

Let’s keep BUIDLing, securely.

This collaboration is more than just a business decision— it’s a step forward in streamlining our BTC custody infrastructure to meet the demands of our protocol as we grow.

Why Cobo?

With Cobo’s custodial wallet, we can create a single BTC vault and link it to multiple deposit addresses. This means we no longer have to deal with manual sweeps or operational headaches when managing incoming transactions. All deposits are automatically consolidated into one balance, ready for use when we need it.

Cobo also gives our team the most flexibility for our workflow. Since our protocol often requires high transaction volumes and quick access to funds for trading, Cobo’s solution gives us the freedom to send funds immediately to exchanges without bottlenecks or delays.

Security We Can Trust

The bank-grade security architecture of Cobo, including automated KYC/AML compliance, ensures that our funds are safe and every transaction is monitored against industry-best standards. Their flawless track record is a critical factor in choosing them as one of our chosen custodial partners.

Advanced user permissions and approval workflows allow us to empower our team while maintaining control. From customizable transaction policies to seamless operational support, Cobo’s platform makes it easy to stay on top of every detail.

This partnership allows us to focus on what we do best—delivering a fast, efficient, and secure platform for our users. By working with Cobo, we can scale confidently, knowing our assets are protected and our processes are optimized.

Where Cobo Sits In Our User Flow

Minting yBTC on Umoja Protocol:

Step 1: Enter the amount of Bitcoin you want to deposit. All Bitcoin is institutionally custodied so you don't have to worry about facilitating a deposit.

Step 2: Once you enter the deposit amount, you will be provided with a quote amount of yBTC that you will get in exchange. The quote can be accepted by clicking the ‘Accept Quote’ button and signing the confirmation transaction via your MetaMask wallet.

Step 3: Afterwards, a modal will prompt you to deposit your Bitcoin. This is where Cobo comes into our user flow when minting yBTC. 📌

Please make sure to either scan the QR code or copy the Bitcoin address and enter it into your Bitcoin wallet so that you deposit it to the correct address. This is the address for Cobo, where your BTC will be custodied.In exchange for minting yBTC, you will also be rewarded with Umoja tokens, which you can  later stake for more Bitcoin.

Step 4: After you finalize your deposit, the minting process will take 10 to 40 minutes. You will be able to track this process and the time at which your yBTC is sent to your  wallet via the transaction tracking dashboard.

Aaaand that's it!

Once your yBTC is minted, your Bitcoin will start to earn more Bitcoin.

For more information on how to mint yBTC, watch the tutorial on HERE.

If you’re as excited as we are about this next chapter, stay tuned for more updates.

A big thanks to the Cobo team for helping us make the important move to have our users’ BTC safe and secured! 🔒

$yBTC Mint Referral Program Sign Up Form

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The program empowers our users to invite others into the Umoja ecosystem, helping us expand Total Value Locked (TVL) and foster long-term alignment through staked rewards.

What is the $yBTC Mint Referral Program?

This program incentivizes existing and new users to mint $yBTC using a referral-based reward system. By sharing unique referral links, you can earn staked $UMJA tokens and help others benefit from $yBTC’s exceptional yield opportunities.

Program Highlights

• Duration: 90 days from launch (with the potential for extension).

• Rewards: Earn staked $UMJA tokens for referrals and bonus APY for your network.

How It Works

• Share Unique Referral Links: After signing up for the program, you’ll receive a personalized referral link. Share it with your network to onboard new users to mint $yBTC.

• Earn Rewards:

  • For Referrers: Receive 1% of your referral’s minting volume in staked $UMJA tokens (capped at $500 per referral).

  • For Referred Users: They’ll enjoy 0.5% extra APY on their first $yBTC deposit for 30 days.

• Unlock Bonus Tiers: The more you refer, the greater your rewards:

  • 5 Referrals: Get a 2% APY boost on your $yBTC holdings for 60 days.

  • 10 Referrals: Unlock an exclusive NFT that grants early access to future Umoja products.

Why Join? The referral program is designed to create a ripple effect, where each referral grows Umoja’s TVL and expands our community. With user-centric incentives and easy participation, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Tracking and Transparency: We’ve made it seamless to track your progress and rewards via a dashboard to monitor your referrals, minting activity, and earned rewards in real-time.

Ready to Join? The $yBTC Mint Referral Program is more than just a rewards system—it’s your chance to shape the future of DeFi while earning tangible benefits. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow with us and make an impact.

$yBTC Mint Referral Program Sign Up Form

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With BTC recently surpassing $88,000 and its market cap climbing to $1.77 trillion, signaling a potential new bull market, Umoja Labs is excited to launch the yield-bearing Bitcoin (yBTC) on Arbitrum 0xba3e932310CD1dBF5Bd13079BD3D6bAe4570886f. This Bitcoin staking solution emphasizes compliance, low risk, and attractive yields. Through our integration, Arbitrum will emerge as a premier Ethereum Layer 2 for BTC-native yield opportunities, empowering BTC holders with new ways to grow their assets as the market rallies.

BTCFi on the Rise: Powering the Next Bull Market 📌

Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) has seen remarkable growth, with Bitcoin’s Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols now exceeding $3.9 billion. This growth highlights a trend: while Bitcoin’s market cap dominates the crypto space, only a fraction—around $100 billion—of its value flows into DeFi on EVM-compatible chains, signaling BTCFi’s potential for exponential expansion.

As BTC reaches record highs, Umoja and Arbitrum are seizing this momentum to bring BTC’s value into the DeFi ecosystem, aiming to position Arbitrum as a leading BTCFi network offering sustainable BTC-native yields.

The BTC Yield Challenge 📈

Many BTC yield options offer limited returns, with traditional yields often peaking around 1% for lower-risk options. Meanwhile, high-risk strategies may reach 20% yields by using leverage, but without any principal protection. Many options in the market also inflate returns with non-BTC rewards like NFTs or token airdrops, complicating BTC holders’ ability to monetize their holdings safely and sustainably.

Umoja & Arbitrum’s BTC Yield Loop: A Full-Cycle Solution ⭕️

To redefine BTC yield opportunities, Umoja is introducing the BTC Yield Loop—a strategic combination of DeFi tools like DEX liquidity, lending, and staking, designed to create a sustainable yield cycle for BTC holders on Arbitrum.

The BTC Yield Loop:

1. Convert BTC to yBTC: Users on Arbitrum can exchange WBTC or iBTC for yBTC, immediately accessing BTC-native yield with APYs targeted between 5% and 10%.

2. Use yBTC as Collateral: yield-bearing BTC holders can leverage it as collateral to borrow stablecoins, BTC, or other assets, creating liquidity for reinvestment to further amplify yields.

3. Reinvest and Restake yBTC: Users can stake yield-bearing BTC, generating additional capital to reenter the loop in Step 1, establishing a robust, sustainable cycle for BTC yield growth.

For institutional participants, this cycle offers BTC-native returns that enhance existing yield strategies, potentially increasing BTC earnings by over 50%.

Why Arbitrum? 💙,🧡

Arbitrum’s secure, high-speed L2 infrastructure is ideal for scaling high-yield BTC strategies, allowing users to capture BTC-native income with low transaction fees and fast processing. This Umoja launch brings powerful tools for BTC monetization as the market moves into a new growth phase, offering BTC holders innovative ways to grow their assets in the next bull market.

Stay tuned for more updates, and follow @UmojaProtocol and @Arbitrum for the latest news. ✨

Establish Stability. Experience Hypergrowth.

“Move fast and break things” might work outside financial markets, but in crypto and fintech, it can leave your protocol, community, and backers REKT.

Sustainable hypergrowth has no shortcuts. It demands a balance of responsibility, due diligence, and relentless grind to build a strong foundation before reaching for the moon—even in token launches.

Umoja’s mantra to become the world’s largest liquid staking protocol by AUM: “Establish Stability. Experience Hypergrowth.”

This approach is rare, especially when quick returns are expected post-TGE. The truth? Most tokens launched on centralized exchanges lack product-market fit and tokenomics that drive organic demand. The result? After TGE or in a bear cycle, they often lose 99% of value and liquidity, never to recover.

$UMJA’s Liquidity Roadmap

It’s easy to say a DEX-first approach is a more ethical and less risky token launch alternative than a market loan-model fueled CEX launch (and it is), but token holders may still be concerned with the token’s initial market exposure and overall liquidity as it pertains to a self-funded DEX launch.

To provide more transparency as to how $UMJA overcomes liquidity and demand concerns, I’d like to outline $UMJA’s Liquidity Roadmap, which outlines the steps being taken to deepen liquidity, drive demand, and establish sustainable protocol growth:

$UMJA’s intrinsic value grows with protocol TVL, as staking rewards are paid in $yBTC. Increased $yBTC minting leads to more $yBTC burns for BTC redemption, requiring $UMJA burns and driving deflation as price rises.

The Power of $UMJA

$UMJA, Umoja’s native token, is deflationary and stakable for high-yield LSTs like yBTC.

As Umoja’s TVL grows, staking $UMJA earns more smartcoins. Thus, its intrinsic value rises with TVL while its fixed supply decreases as minters burn it to redeem collateral.

TLDR: The more Smartcoins minted, the more valuable $UMJA becomes.

Not only that, but staking $UMJA earns token holders governance rights and other privileges that can result in more rewards.

With omni-fungible $yBTC— the highest-yield, lowest-risk BTC LST— every LayerZero-supported chain can now tap into seamless BTC staking opportunities!

The Yield-Bearing Lock-In Problem 🔒

The liquid staking token (LST) market has exploded past $37 billion, with ETH dominating at 76.8% of the total market cap through platforms like Lido, Rocket Pool, and Mantle. In contrast, SOL staking is 14 times smaller than ETH, and Bitcoin LSTs lag significantly, with just $168 million in total market cap.

Bitcoin LSTs face two core issues:

1. Diluted APYs: Unlike ETH or SOL staking, where yields come directly from native rewards, Bitcoin’s yield is limited to mining. Additional yield is often padded with protocol points or tokens outside of BTC, which users may not value, as they’re often seen as less relevant or useful.

2. Limited Cross-Network Utility: Moving yield-bearing tokens across chains remains challenging. Wrapped tokens often lack the productivity of native assets, as they’re difficult to leverage in cross-chain lending or other financial services. Institutional liquidity providers (LPs), the main liquidity sources for most networks, focus only on tokens that can both add and lock liquidity on a specific network, reinforcing this “lock-in” effect and reducing the broader utility of these tokens.

For Bitcoin LSTs to break this lock-in, they need to become productive assets with meaningful use cases across chains.

LayerZero’s Omni-chain Asset Future 💎

Backed by industry leaders like a16z and Sequoia, LayerZero enables seamless asset transfers across blockchain networks, addressing interoperability through a unified messaging protocol. With over $5 billion in cross-chain volume, LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard allows tokens like yBTC—Bitcoin’s highest-yield, lowest-risk liquid staking token—to operate across LayerZero’s supported chains without traditional bridging limitations. This breakthrough brings secure, efficient, high-yield opportunities to users across ecosystems, paving the way for a fully connected blockchain future.

How many networks does LayerZero support? 👀

LayerZero currently supports over 70 blockchain networks and has facilitated over $50 billion in asset transfers, showcasing its robust cross-chain infrastructure. By leveraging its Ultra Light Nodes (ULNs) and decentralized oracles, LayerZero enables efficient, secure interoperability across these networks, allowing users and developers to interact seamlessly with multiple blockchains, including prominent networks like Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana.

The Bitcoin Hyper-Yield Loop ➿

With a naturally omni-chain yBTC, over 70 blockchain networks across Ethereum, Solana, and even Bitcoin can get access to crypto’s highest-yielding BTC LST. Even better, Umoja is partnering with native DEXs and lending protocols across many of these chains, enabling users to swap for wrapped yBTC and borrow against it to further top-up their BTC yields.

We call this the “Bitcoin Hyper-Yield Loop” because it enables any LayerZero network to attract and lock-in $yBTC liquidity onto their networks without the token needing to be native to that network.

Stay tuned for more updates. Turn on all your notifications for @UmojaProtocol and @LayerZero!

What is Umoja?

Backed by the likes of Coinbase, Blockchain Founders Fund, and 500 Global.Umoja is a next-generation liquid staking protocol that enables the lowest risk, highest yielding liquid staking tokens (LSTs) in crypto. Umoja LSTs, often referred to as “Smartcoins” use multiple yield-generating strategies in parallel to provide dependable APYs and strong risk protection.

Umoja’s first Smartcoin is $yBTC, the world’s lowest risk, highest yield BTC LST. $yBTC provides a 5% to 10% native BTC APY, not diluted by points and foreign tokens like every other BTC LST. Even better, it’s omnichain fungible token (OFT) compatible, so it may be easily wrapped and monetized on over 70 blockchain networks!

The Value of $UMJA

The native token of the Umoja protocol is $UMJA, a deflationary governance token that may be staked for protocol revenues. Its native network is Arbitrum.

$UMJA increases in value with protocol total value locked (TVL), because the more Smartcoins minted, the higher the protocol’s revenues. Thus, the more Smartcoins stakers can stake for.

With the launch of $yBTC, $UMJA can, quite literally, be staked for BTC rewards.

$UMJA token’s utility is the following:

1. Performance Fee Rebates: Users may stake $UMJA to the Governance Pool and receive smartcoins (e.g., $yBTC) in exchange, further topping up their APYs.

2. Minter Rewards: Users receive $UMJA for minting smartcoins.

3. Governance: Users may stake $UMJA to the Governance Pool and accrue $UMO, a non-transferable governance token, in exchange. Governors may vote on protocol proposals on Snapshot.

4. Burn Fees: Smartcoin minters must burn their smartcoins, as well as a certain amount of $UMJA, to redeem their underlying collateral.

$UMJA’s token utility gives way to a strong tokenomic flywheel making it deflationary and giving it predictably increasing, intrinsic value.

How to Claim Vested $UMJA

Many of you have had the opportunity to gain exposure to $UMJA as an investor or marketing partner to the protocol. Depending on your relationship to the protocol, you may have different token vesting terms than others.

Below, you may find a tutorial on how to redeem your UMJA tokens (and view the tutorial here):

1. Navigate to vesting.umoja.xyz

2. Click on the MetaMask logo next to the $UMJA token contract at the top of the page to add the token to your MetaMask

3. Below the token contract address, click on the “View Token Locks” button

4. Find which allocation your protocol relationship falls under:

   1. Umoja Seed Round - Normal Investors

   2. Umoja Generals - Community Leader Partners

   3. Community Sale - Retail community that participated in the PAID community sale

5. Click on “View Details” within the row that your relationship falls under

6. Connect your wallet (ideally MetaMask) if you haven’t already. Make sure you are on the Arbitrum network.

7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the MetaMask icon to add the vesting token to your wallet. This is the token that is NOT the $UMJA token (e.g., for Umoja Seed Round, it’s UMJA-SEED, for Umoja Generals, it’s UMJA-GEN, and for Community Sale, it’s UMJA-PAID.

Vesting Token Name: UMJA-SEED
Vesting Token Contract: 0x014da54666fef4d35dd3b08a46ace7ee2976de4e

Vesting Token Name: UMJA-KOLII
Vesting Token Contract: 0x063a65edf38f7e11d5c2b10c937f8967613f48e5

Vesting Token Name: UMJA-PAID
Vesting Token Contract: 0x97abcff9adcee84b25891d070c2636d5fb3670a4

Vesting Token Name: UMJA-PR
Vesting Token Contract: 0xcef98bc40652a945a3f23b70163d5150793b3445

1. Once you add the vesting token to your wallet, you will find that you already have vesting tokens! We sent this out to everyone before TGE.

2. You may use your vesting tokens to redeem UMJA tokens by pressing the “Claim” button. If you are not on the Claim Page, click on the “Go to Claim Page” button and you will be redirected there.

Note: You must have ETH on Arbitrum to transact on the network. If you don’t you can bridge ETH from Ethereum to Arbitrum here or you can use an exchange like Coinbase to send Arbitrum ETH to your wallet.

TLDR - DO NOT TRANSFER YOUR VESTING TOKENS IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO. KEEP THEM PUT AND USE THEM TO CLAIM UMJA OVER TIME.

Bitcoin’s Universal Security Layer

Bitcoin is undeniably the strongest economic collateral in blockchain. Boasting a $1.3 trillion market cap, the once dormant asset can now provide security to a broader range of applications across the Bitcoin network’s growing ecosystem of applications–most notably BTCFi (Bitcoin DeFi)--- with SatLayer.

To us, and for many, SatLayer is the universal security layer that maximizes the power of Bitcoin. By deploying as a set of smart contracts on Babylon, SatLayer enables BTC stakers to secure any type of dApp or protocol as a Bitcoin Validated Service.

Restaking yBTC on SatLayer (Coming Soon!)

Soon, $yBTC holders can restake their $yBTC on SatLayer to earn additional SatLayer rewards, on top of the 5% to 10% APY earned from staking $yBTC on Umoja.

Expanding the BVS Ecosystem

Beyond the much awaited $yBTC restaking, we’re also partnering together to co-develop one or more Bitcoin Validated Service (BVS) integrations for the Umoja Protocol. This collaboration includes exploratory research into BVS designs that could enhance Umoja's security, liquidity, and overall performance. By leveraging restaking technology, SatLayer aims to improve crypto-economic security, liquidity, and user experience for our users. Additionally, Umoja’s $yBTC could play a key role in securing SatLayer’s infrastructure, creating a liquidity flywheel. This integration would also drive fees and usage to SatLayer which benefits both ecosystems.

Stay tuned for more updates. Turn on all your notifications for @UmojaProtocol and @satlayer!

BTC volatility and crypto risk have long held back mainstream adoption. With USD inflation worsening with prices rising to 21.63% from 2020 to 2024, stable cryptocurrency alternatives are more crucial than ever.

While stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and DAI have seen tremendous success, dominating a $172B market with $62B in daily volume, they are heavily biased toward EVM networks. USDC and USDT also rely on centralized collateral and control mechanisms.

But what about stable value on the world’s largest and most secure network—Bitcoin? 🤔

Introducing $USBD, a Bitcoin stablecoin by Bima, designed to bring stability, efficiency, and inclusion to Bitcoin. Backed by a Minimum Collateral Ratio (MCR) of 200% or more, USBD ensures each token is over-collateralized, providing strong protection against market volatility and promoting a decentralized store of value for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

At its core, strong Bitcoin-native collateral secures USBD. That’s why Umoja and Bima have joined forces to allow $yBTC (Umoja’s low-risk, high-yield BTC liquid staking token) to be used as collateral for minting USBD.

It goes like this 👇

Minting USBD with yBTC:

1. Supported Wallet: Connect a compatible wallet to the Bima protocol.

2. Provide Collateral: Deposit yBTC as collateral.

3. Maintain Collateralization: Ensure your collateral meets the protocol’s minimum collateralization ratio.

Since yBTC is yield-bearing, it not only supports Bima’s collateralization requirements but also lets holders borrow USBD against their Bitcoin, providing liquidity and monetization options at the same time. 🔥

We're ecstatic to be in partnership with this team, and we believe that USBD will unlock higher yields with Umoja's yBTC as collateral. 🫡

Stay tuned for more updates. Turn on all your notifications for @UmojaProtocol and @bimabtc.

This Round is all about community participation— no leaderboard, no complex tasks, just a simple, fun way to engage and earn. Here’s everything you need to know to jump in!

Bonus Round? Why? 🎰

Initially, we didn’t plan to host a Round during TGE week to stay focused on this major milestone. But following requests from the community, we’ve crafted a lightning Round that makes it easy for everyone to take part and share in the excitement. ⚡️

This is designed for simplicity and inclusivity.

The Bonus Round Rules 📋

This Round has a special approach. Here’s how it all comes together:

1. READ THE RULES OF THE FACTORY.

2. LEARN THE RULES OF THE FACTORY.

3. Points Capped At 1,000 Umojis: Everyone has the chance to receive a max of 1,000 Umojis (points). Once you hit this mark, you’ll qualify for a randomized giveaway.

4. $3000 Rewards Pool Available ($1000 will be rolled over from the botted referral contest).

5. 25 randomly selected Factory Workers will be rewarded on the leaderboard to split the base reward of $3000.

6. No voting and no leaderboard this Round.

7. You must complete Shifts to collect Umojis.

8. If you cheat or use automated methods, we will know. You’ll be removed from The Factory– no exceptions.

Simple Tasks, Big Rewards 😲

This time, you won’t need to juggle complicated challenges. The quickest path to your 1,000 Umojis includes three daily tasks:

1. Join the Daily Raids and Games– Participate in our daily events to score points and enjoy some friendly interaction. 🎲

2. Tweet About Umoja– Spread the word about Umoja by sharing your thoughts or favorite moments from the community on Twitter. 🤳

3. Learn About the Airdrop– Equip yourself with knowledge on the upcoming airdrop and help others get prepared too. 🪂

These tasks are easy and enjoyable ways. They’re the best way to stay involved while also racking up points!!! They’re designed to keep things exciting as we head into TGE.

Community-Focused, Not Competition ❌

In this Round, everyone can earn the same amount of points through active participation with no leaderboard to track. This approach keeps the focus on our vibrant community and highlights the strength and passion that make The Factory what it is. It’s a chance for all members to enjoy the experience, stay engaged, and take part in a collective celebration leading to TGE.

Ready to Get Started? 🤩

✨**The Bonus Round begins today! **✨

🗓️ OCT 28 (5PM UTC) - NOV 1 (5PM UTC).

Be sure to check in daily for tasks and game nights, and stay tuned for regular updates as we roll out each activity.

Let’s make this week one to remember!!! We can’t wait to see everyone participate, connect, and join the excitement leading up to our crazy milestone this week.

Important Note: Airdrop Snapshot Taken ❗️

The airdrop snapshot has already been taken. This Bonus Round will not impact airdrop eligibility. This is a USDC rewards competition focused on community participation, designed solely for engagement and rewards.

Just enjoy the experience. Aim for our prizes. Countdown to TGE with us! 🐻💜🤗

Umoja Labs and Bitlayer are joining forces to launch $yBTC: the most compliant, low-risk, and highest-yielding Bitcoin liquid staking token on the BitLayer network, which has already surpassed $500 million in TVL since early 2024.

The goal? To enable the highest BTC-yielding L2 in crypto.

BTCFi: The Next Crypto Macrotheme 📌

Over the past year, Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) has exploded, with its total value locked (TVL) surging 10x from $96 million to $2 billion.

Despite this, only 10% of Bitcoin’s $1.3 trillion market cap flows into EVM-based DeFi, totaling $100 billion—10x BTCFi’s current TVL.

The takeaway? As dApps secured by Bitcoin's unmatched decentralization emerge, BTCFi is poised for exponential growth.

Lending, decentralized exchange staking, and stablecoin protocols have led BTCFi growth, yet one problem remains: Monetizing Bitcoin is exceptionally hard.

The State of BTC APYs 📈

BTC yields are often scarce and misleading, with inflated APYs promising 40%+ but typically delivering just 1% in BTC, padded by rewards like NFTs or airdrops. Institutions rely on DEX liquidity and leverage, borrowing at 5% to earn up to 9% APY. Quant funds may push yields to 20%, but with high risk and no principal protection. The reality? Safely monetizing Bitcoin without long lock-ups is tough—almost impossible.

BitLayer’s BTC Hyper-Yield Loop ⭕️

To simplify BTC monetization and amplify BTCFi, BitLayer, the first Bitcoin Layer 2 based on Bitcoin finality, is partnering with Umoja to introduce a “BTC Hyper-Yield Loop” to the network.

The flywheel enables BitLayer users to earn the best, BTC-native yields in crypto, leveraging a multilateral partnership of DEXs, lending protocols, and re-staking protocols - all to make your Bitcoin earn more Bitcoin.

The flywheel consists of:

1. Swap WBTC for yBTC: Users may swap wrapped BTC for yBTC on BitLayer to earn BTC yield (5% to 10%).

2. Borrow against yBTC: Users may use their yBTC as collateral for stablecoins, BTC, and other assets. They may then monetize these assets further by on-lending them for more APY.

3. Restake yBTC: Users may restake their yBTC to earn more yield. By doing so, they have additional capital to swap in Step 1!

For institutional liquidity providers, this means earning BTC swap fees and BTC yield in parallel, adding at least 5% APY to your existing BTC monetization strategies (or, for most funds, increasing returns by 50%+).

All on BitLayer. ✨

Stay tuned for more updates. Turn on all your notifications for Umoja Labs and BitLayer.

The State of BTC APYs

BTC yields are often scarce, diluted, and misleading. Many APYs are inflated with points, foreign tokens, or complex math, promising 40%+ returns but typically delivering around 1% in BTC alongside community rewards like NFTs or airdrops.

Institutions mainly rely on DEX liquidity provision and leverage. With borrowing rates at 5%, they borrow against Bitcoin, use stablecoins for on-lending or arbitrage, and earn up to 9% APY.

Quantitative funds may push yields to 20% through advanced trading, but these strategies lack principal protection and risk significant losses in volatile markets.

The fact is, safely monetizing Bitcoin without long lock-ups is hard. 🥵

Unlocking Rare BTC Yield

What if you could add 5-10% BTC APY to your strategy by tapping into institutional-grade OTC lending? 🤯

Umoja, a next-gen liquid staking protocol, has partnered with August, an institutional capital efficiency platform, to elevate BTC yields.

This collaboration unlocks the potential of $yBTC, the highest-yield, lowest-risk BTC LST, allowing institutions to borrow against it through bilateral OTC lending agreements via August’s platform.

By leveraging $yBTC as collateral, institutions can earn 5-10% APY on their BTC while borrowing against it and on-lending stablecoins, achieving returns similar to quantitative funds with far less risk.

With August’s advanced cross-margin collateralization tools, account structures, and robust risk engine, institutions can confidently borrow against $yBTC, knowing their capital remains secure, transparent, and BTC-principal protected. 🟧 🔒

Accelerating Yield with DeFi Trade Execution

The secret behind $yBTC’s yields is Umoja’s trade execution engine (referred to as the “UTE”), enabling parallel execution of multiple yield strategies across DeFi protocols and CEXs.

By integrating with August’s DeFi interface, Umoja’s trade execution will vastly expand to support Curve, Convex, Uniswap, Aerodrome, GMX, Paraswap, 1inch as well as all of their forks on different EVM chains.

Why is this important? Because it enables Umoja to introduce higher-yield, lower-risk liquid staking tokens for virtually every blue-chip cryptocurrency, including upgraded versions of $yBTC itself.

Needless to say, the future of BTC yield is looking bright!!! ☄️😎

About Umoja

Backed by the likes of Coinbase, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Quantstamp amongst others, Umoja is a next-generation liquid staking protocol introducing Smartcoins: low-risk, high-yield LSTs supercharged by DeFi algo-trading. Umoja’s mission is to democratize wealth creating tools for everyone.

About August Digital

August Digital (previously, Fractal) is building the next generation of web3 infrastructure by bringing the prime brokerage stack on-chain through a universal margin account. August wallets enable users to interact seamlessly across all on-chain assets, optimizing capital efficiency. Their vision is to make On-Chain Finance as efficient and scalable as CeFi, bridging the gap between decentralized and traditional finance.

Three incredible rounds are behind us, and your participation has made this an unforgettable experience. As always, we’re building this together, and we couldn’t be more thankful for the support. 🐻🤗

#TheFactory started as our middle finger to predatory airdrop campaigns that make you farm for months but often leaves you with far less than what you put in. We wanted to create an engaging and rewarding experience for our community, and this round is no different.

But, there’s more at stake this time.

With our upcoming TGE (Token Generation Event) and the launch of $yBTC (the world’s first Smartcoin) just around the corner, Round 4 is a monumental occasion.

Let’s dive into what’s new:

FACTORY UPDATES

🟪 Leaderboard: Referral rewards are now separated from the leaderboard, so this round is all about hustle, grind, and grit—no popularity contests here.

🤝 Referral Contest: The Top 5 community referrers will split $1,000 in rewards. Grow, grow, grow the community! LFGrow!!!

🕹 Games: The Factory isn’t just for creators. This round, we’ve added 4 games AND a movie night as extra chances to stack Umojis.

🔗 Daily Check-ins and Raids: Hang out, vibe with us, and pile up Umojis just by checking in daily and saying “What’s up?” to the crew at The Factory.

👷‍♂️ Special Shifts: Bonus shifts may pop up anytime—make sure you’re in the announcement channel so you don’t miss any juicy opportunities!

AIRDROP ELIGIBILITY

One of the most exciting aspects of participating in The Factory is the opportunity to qualify for our upcoming airdrop! 🪂

This isn’t just any airdrop—it’s a value-aligned reward system designed to prioritize those who are actively contributing and engaging with Umoja. Whether you’re stacking Umojis or stacking your gains in our protocol with Synths, this is your chance to secure a spot.

How can you can maximize your eligibility? 👇

1. By placing a Synth: Each Umoji you earn will be added to your total protocol points balance in proportion to what you’d earn with a Synth, multiplied by ½. You must place a Synth with your same wallet connected with The Factory.

2. If you don’t place a Synth: You’re still eligible, but your points convert at a ⅕ ratio. While this keeps you in the game, engaging with Synths is the best way to maximize your rewards.

And finally...

THE RULES OF THE FACTORY (ROUND 4) 📜

1️⃣ Read the rules of The Factory (like, actually read them).
2️⃣ Learn the rules of The Factory.
3️⃣ The rewards pool will be $4000; $3000 in base rewards and $1000 in rewards for referrals

4️⃣ For every 50,000 Umojis on the leaderboard, $1,000 in rewards will be released.

5️⃣ The Top 50 will be rewarded on the leaderboard to split the base reward of $3000. 6️⃣ The $1000 for referrals will be split among the Top 5.

7️⃣NO VOTING (this round)!!!

8️⃣ You must complete Shifts to collect Umojis.

9️⃣If you cheat or use automated methods, we will know. You’ll be removed from The Factory, no exceptions.

🔟 Tell those you only consider worthy about The Factory.

We’re raising the stakes, offering more ways to engage, and setting the stage for the next big milestones—TGE and $yBTC.

With up to $4,000 in rewards and all these new Shifts, this round promises to be the best one yet.

Are you in?

Enter The Factory

Utility Tokens = Slow-Motion Rug Pulls

The hard truth is that the token listing value chain is extremely exploitative, does not work in the favor of the project, and results in a slow rug pool on the project’s community.

Memecoins overtook the ‘utility token’ narrative due to predictable underperformance and project-promise exhaustion. Instead of establishing product-market-fit and establishing natural demand for their token, projects increasingly oversold to VCs, launchpads, market makers, and centralized exchanges, leading to one foregone conclusion:

The token ain’t worth shit. 💩❌

For those that don’t know how the current token-listing value chain works, here’s a quick overview click the link in the caption below):

The use of this value-chain has been so ingrained into the Web3 ecosystem that it has fundamentally redefined what “tokenomics” means. To market makers, launchpads, and VCs, tokenomics is synonymous with, “How do you artificially pump your token price?” 😅

There is no game theory analysis.

No growth flywheels.

No long-term sustainability. It's all about “wen TGE?” 😖

This is not how the world’s largest protocols found their beginnings. WAGMI was built on vision, execution, and decentralized access and support–– not multi-stakeholder rug pulls.

Do What Matters, Not What’s Popular

It’s simply not worth paying nearly $1M for a CEX listing when that money could be better spent improving the project, rewarding the community, and providing DEX liquidity.

Most top protocols didn’t start on a CEX—they listed on a DEX first and were later listed on a CEX as their TVL and user activity grew.

Umoja will not follow what’s popular to its own end. We will do what’s best for the long-term growth of the protocol and the success of our community!

The biggest crypto secret, which memecoins understand, is that real success comes from empowering the community as the project grows and natural token demand increases.

Community strength and project growth. That’s how #WAGMI happens. 🤝

$UMJA Launch Strategy: DEX → CEX

Umoja will launch $UMJA on Uniswap on October 31, 2024, alongside $yBTC, the world's lowest-risk, highest-yielding BTC LST, allowing for natural price discovery.As protocol TVL grows, $UMJA's value will increase, as it can be staked for $yBTC, and minters must burn $UMJA to redeem collateral.

Umoja’s inaugural airdrop will also occur on TGE, giving recipients the option to:(1) redeem their tokens immediately or(2) vest them for bonus rewards.A decision must be made by November 30, 2024, or the airdrop recipient’s tokens are forfeited.

After the DEX listing, $UMJA will be listed on multiple centralized exchanges.

$UMJA Strategy: Deflation & Intrinsic Value

The only thing that gives a token value is organic demand and a strong, active community. $UMJA will be positioned as a ‘utility-token in nature, but a memecoin in community’, focusing on introducing tokenomics that create natural demand while also regularly (and sustainably) rewarding active community members that make Umoja great.

As a reminder, the $UMJA token’s utility is the following:

1. Performance Fee Rebates: Users may stake $UMJA to the Governance Pool and receive smartcoins (e.g.,$yBTC) in exchange, further topping up their APYs.

2. Minter Rewards: Users receive $UMJA for minting Smartcoins.

3. Governance: Users may stake $UMJA to the Governance Pool and accrue

   $UMO, a non-transferable governance token, in exchange. Governors may vote on protocol proposals on Snapshot.

4. Burn Fees: Smartcoin minters must burn their Smartcoins, as well as a certain amount of $UMJA, to redeem their underlying collateral.

$UMJA’s token utility gives way to a strong tokenomic flywheel making it deflationary and giving it predictably increasing, intrinsic value.

Join Us On The Path to WAGMI

Backed by the likes of Coinbase, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Quantstamp amongst others, Umoja is a next generation liquid staking protocol. Introducing to the world's first Smartcoins: low-risk, high-yield LSTs supercharged by DeFi algo-trading.

Umoja’s mission is to democratize wealth creating tools–– for everyone.*(Subject to wait 30 days!)

The crypto space has seen better days. Whilst every other protocol tries to capture mindshare from the timeline through hype and empty promises, at #TheFactory what we've built as a community is nothing like the others. It's a place for those who refuse to settle for mediocrity—those who want to cut through the noise and find real value.

In Rounds 1 and 2, the community— you— showed us glimpses of what's possible. Now, for Round 3, we're turning up the heat.

We're not rewarding everything; we're rewarding the best. The sharpest content, the most active participation, the most bullish Umojans. But, don't worry—every Umoji you accumulate still goes toward your airdrop eligibility, keeping you in the game no matter how you participate.

Round 3 Rules

In this round, we're raising the stakes to foster a more competitive, meaningful experience. The updated rules go live on Wednesday, October 2, at 5 PM UTC, and here's how they break down:

1. Complete the Airdrop Shift to become airdrop eligible. Within the shift you are required to place a Synth on Umoja.*

2. Refer friends to the Factory and recieve 1:1 Umojis, which means if they get 100 Umojis, you'll also get 100 Umojis. The more your friends contribute, the more you are rewarded.

3. $2,000 USDC to the top 50 in the leaderboard

4. $1,000 USDC in cash prizes in Round 3 Creator Contest

5. The Creator Contest winners are determined by the community vote.

6. Community voting takes place Thursday October 10 2PM UTC - Friday, October 11 2PM UTC. The winners will be announced live on the community call!

*If you're new to Synths, ask for help in our discord or telegram channels

Cash Prizes in Round 3

We're introducing a new set of cash prizes to amplify the stakes this round:

• Best "What is Umoja" Video

  • Video that includes your face: $300

  • Video that is faceless: $150

• Best "Join The Factory" Video

  • Video that includes your face: $300

  • Video that is faceless: $150

• Best Factory Lore Story Prize: $100

Judging and Community Voting

When it comes to judging, we're looking for content that isn't just high-quality but captures the essence of The Factory. Our criteria include:

• Creativity. Show us something fresh. Take an unconventional approach, and don't be afraid to challenge norms or experiment. Make a song, write a poem, do a music video. BE CREATIVE!

• Alignment. Submissions should reflect Umoja's purpose—to democratize wealth-building tools—and communicate it in a way that's clear, engaging, and authentic.

• Presentation. Great ideas need great execution. Keep your content polished and your messaging on point, whether it's a video, thread, or story. Keep the information you share RELEVANT. Don't just copy and paste.

• Impact. Does your content inspire action or curiosity? Does it leave a lasting impression? Impact is what separates the good from the great.

The Umoja team will choose the Top 5 from each category, and then it's up to the community to vote and decide on the winners.

Airdrop Eligibility

If you want to be airdrop eligible at The Factory, here's how:

1. By placing a Synth:

   Each Umoji you earn will be added to your total protocol points balance in proportion to what you'd earn with a Synth, multiplied by ½. You must place a Synth with your same wallet connected with the Factory.

2. If you don't place a Synth:

   You're still eligible, but your points convert at a ⅕ ratio. While this keeps you in the game, engaging with Synths is the best way to maximize your rewards.

Factory Guest Passes

To encourage growth and engagement, we're introducing Factory Guest Passes. These passes are a way for our community partners to bring new voices into The Factory, enriching our ecosystem with diverse perspectives and experiences.

Guest pass holders who complete a shift will be able to claim bonus partner points as a welcome gesture. This is about recognizing the value of community collaboration and showing our appreciation for everyone who contributes to Umoja's success.

Round 3 goes live on Wednesday, October 2, at 5 PM UTC.

Are you in?

Sign up for the waitlist to be notified when The Factory opens.

The best part about Round 1 was the community feedback. It's exactly what we wanted – for the community to be invested in the process and mechanics, and for those who genuinely care to help make this a better experience for everyone who takes a shift at The Factory.

Now it's time for Round 2 of The Factory!

Round 2 is focused on your voice, your opinions, and your experience. We want to know exactly how you connect with Umoja's brand mission, and we want to learn more about you in the process.

Round 2 Strategy:

Be an amazing creator:

This is your chance to showcase your creativity and insights.

• Share your best content and earn substantial rewards.

• You can get over 1000 points for your top-quality submissions.

Multiply your Umojis through referrals:

The more active friends you bring to The Factory, the more Umojis you can accumulate.

• Grow your network and multiply your earnings through referrals.

• Every time someone you referred completes a task, you get the same amount of points as a referral bonus.

Here's what's changing:

• Total Points updates: We will be sending a total points accumulated update 3x day to The Factory announcement channel.

• Rewards:

  • Umojis will be convertible to airdrop points at a 5:1 ratio - No worries though, we'll handle this on the backend.

  • The Top 10 on the leaderboard will split the base reward pool.

• Community Choice Bonus:

  • An additional $1,000 is unlocked when the community reaches 100,000 Umojis. That money is specifically for rewarding those NOT in the Top 10 so everyone can get a fair chance!

• Voting:

  • Voting ONLY occurs when the Community Choice Bonus is unlocked.

  • Voting options will be determined by community choice from the following options: a) Random 10: Randomly select 10 participants to receive the bonus. b) Random 20: Randomly select 20 participants to receive the bonus. c) Random 5: Randomly select 5 participants to receive the bonus. d) Roll over: Add the bonus to the next round's reward pool.

  • Voting will occur LIVE during the community call and results will be announced at the end of the call on September 27 2PM UTC

The Rules of The Factory

Based on the changes above, here are the new rules at The Factory:

Rule 1. LEARN THE RULES OF THE FACTORY

Rule 2. You must take Shifts at The Factory to collect Umojis.

Rule 3. There will be a community prize pool where up to $4,000 in rewards can be distributed each round.

Rule 4. The community must reach a point threshold of 30,000 Umojis (points) before the rewards pool is unlocked.

Rule 5. For every 30,000 Umojis on the leaderboard, up to $1,000 in rewards will be unlocked.

Rule 6. Each round lasts 7 days. Voting happens the Friday following when the round ends.

Rule 7. Voting:

• You need a minimum of 50 Umojis to vote

• Voting options may include: a) Random 10 participants recognized b) Random 20 participants recognized c) Random 5 participants recognized d) Roll over rewards to the next round

• Voting happens live on the Friday community calls

Rule 8. If you cheat, are a bot, or use automated methods, we will know. You'll be removed from The Factory without hesitation.

Rule 9. Your points will reset every round.

Rule 10. Umojis are converted to airdrop points at a 5:1 ratio.

Get ready for an exciting Round 2 at The Factory!

Are you in?

Get started here.