(a) Problem the project solves

Venice is a private, uncensored AI platform that removes surveillance, censorship, and per-request payment friction from AI inference. The platform provides access to more than 100 AI models across text, image, code, video, audio, music, and speech with zero data retention. Prompts and responses are stored on the user's own device rather than on Venice servers. (Source: Launch post, Product docs, Moonwell governance proposal)

(b) Operational priorities

Venice.ai, Inc. funds ongoing development and operations through Pro subscription revenue at $18 per month and API revenue, combined in July 2026 with a $65 million Series A equity financing at a $1 billion valuation led by Dragonfly. The company turned profitable in the first quarter of 2026 with annualized run-rate revenue above $70 million. A portion of platform revenue funds a programmatic VVV buy-and-burn program, and the company has executed a scheduled series of emissions reductions targeting a net deflationary token. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, GeekWire Series A coverage, TheStreet Series A coverage, Programmatic buy-and-burn update)

(c) High-level project overview

VVV is an ERC-20 token on Base, deployed January 27, 2025 at contract address 0xacfE6019Ed1A7Dc6f7B508C02d1b04ec88cC21bf. Holders stake VVV for emissions-based yield and lock staked VVV (sVVV) to mint DIEM, Venice's API credit token. Each staked DIEM provides $1 per day of Venice API credit, giving stakers ongoing private inference access without per-request charges. The pre-DIEM Utilization Rate access model was retired on August 20, 2025 when DIEM launched. (Source: VVV landing page, DIEM launch post, Current tokenomics FAQ, Moonwell governance proposal)

(d) Primary token functions

The token's primary functions are staking for yield, locking staked VVV to mint DIEM for ongoing Venice API compute credit, and liquidity provisioning on Base DEXs. VVV carries no governance rights. (Source: Launch post, VVV landing page, Current tokenomics FAQ)

(e) Control surface reliance

VVV has no tokenholder governance. The VVV token contract is a minimal, immutable ERC-20 whose single privileged function, mint(), is restricted to the contract owner. The owner is the staking contract at 0x321b7ff75154472B18EDb199033fF4D116F340Ff, an ERC1967 UUPS proxy. The staking contract is owned by a 4-of-6 Gnosis Safe multisig at 0x2D8CB8DC596daD0e1E34E2042E7ae6Df93B11524, which controls staking contract upgrades, the staking rewards pause function, and the emissions schedule. Venice has announced no plan to transition control to tokenholder governance. (Source: Launch post, Moonwell governance proposal)

(a) IP ownership & control

Not applicable. No DAO exists, and no IP is owned or controlled by a DAO.

(b) Contract/admin powers

No DAO executor exists. All contract and administrative authority sits with Venice.ai, Inc. through the following onchain structure. The VVV token contract at 0xacfE6019Ed1A7Dc6f7B508C02d1b04ec88cC21bf is a minimal, immutable ERC-20 built on Solmate with a single privileged function, mint(), restricted to the contract owner. The token contract owner is the staking contract at 0x321b7ff75154472B18EDb199033fF4D116F340Ff, an ERC1967 UUPS proxy currently implementing StakingV2 at 0xe37A7920dbc11253ac6d031C29f592f71B348DCA. The staking contract owner is a 3-of-5 Gnosis Safe multisig at 0x2D8CB8DC596daD0e1E34E2042E7ae6Df93B11524, which authorizes staking contract upgrades and the staking rewards pause function. The token contract has no blacklist functionality and is not pausable. Minting occurs only through the staking contract's emissions logic, which is governed by the 4-of-6 multisig. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, BaseScan token page, sVVV BaseScan page)

(c) Locked-token rights (conditional)

Holders stake VVV for emissions-based yield and lock staked VVV (sVVV) to mint DIEM, which provides $1 per day of Venice API credit per staked DIEM. While sVVV is locked backing minted DIEM, the staker earns 80% of the standard yield and the remaining 20% flows to Venice. A 7-day cooldown applies to unstaking. Locking confers no governance or protocol policy rights. Tokenholders cannot decide protocol changes, emissions parameters, or treasury allocations. All such decisions are made unilaterally by Venice.ai, Inc. (Source: VVV landing page, Current tokenomics FAQ, Tokenomics.com Venice page)

(d) Value accrual & holder rights

Tokenholders hold no rights over revenue distribution or the treasury. Venice.ai, Inc. directs a portion of platform revenue to programmatic VVV buy-and-burn at its own discretion, which reduces supply but confers no distribution or claim rights on holders. VVV and DIEM are utility tokens, not governance tokens, and the public buy-and-burn program does not create or imply any governance rights for holders. (Source: Programmatic buy-and-burn update, Venice is Burning)

(e) Dissolution authority

Not applicable. No DAO exists, so no dissolution authority over a DAO exists.

Blockworks note: Venice does not have a DAO or onchain governance mechanism. The launch materials state that VVV has no governance. (Source: Launch post)

(a) Entity

Venice does not operate a foundation entity. The token was issued by Venice.ai, Inc., the operating company, and no non-profit or foundation entity exists in the project's structure. Items (a) through (f) are not applicable. (Source: Terms of Service, Launch post)

(a) Entity

Venice.ai, Inc. is a Wyoming corporation with a registered office in Sheridan, Wyoming. It is the operating entity for the Venice platform and issued the VVV token at launch. (Source: Terms of Service, Launch post)

(b) IP ownership & control

Venice.ai, Inc. is the entity that owns and controls all project IP. It owns the VENICE trademark registration filed with the USPTO covering downloadable AI software and related categories, and it controls the Venice codebase through the veniceai GitHub organization. The Venice privacy proxy code is closed source and operated by the company. No subsidiary entities are publicly disclosed, and no other entity shares or holds control over the project's IP. (Source: USPTO trademark record, Moonwell governance proposal)

(c) Powers over DAO, treasury, protocol-controlled resources, and token administration

No DAO exists. Venice.ai, Inc. holds unilateral control over all protocol-controlled resources, including its own company treasury, which it directly controls. The entity is the sole link in the legal and decision-making chain; there is no DAO or other body sharing or checking this authority. The company received 35% of genesis supply, is the largest VVV holder, holds the treasury multisig containing 17.97% of total supply as of March 2026, sets the emissions schedule through its control of the staking contract, and directs platform revenue to programmatic buy-and-burn. Emissions and token administration decisions are executed through the 3-of-5 multisig described in item (e). Tokenholders hold no countervailing authority. (Source: Launch post, Moonwell governance proposal, Programmatic buy-and-burn update)

(d) Powers over Foundation

Not applicable. No foundation entity exists.

(e) Contract/admin powers

The VVV token contract is immutable and not pausable, with no blacklist functionality. Its only privileged function, mint(), is callable solely by the staking contract through its emissions logic. The staking contract at 0x321b7ff75154472B18EDb199033fF4D116F340Ff is an ERC1967 UUPS proxy upgradeable by a 3-of-5 Gnosis Safe multisig at 0x2D8CB8DC596daD0e1E34E2042E7ae6Df93B11524. The same 3-of-5 multisig controls the staking rewards pause function. Venice authored and published this control structure, including the five signer addresses, in its March 2026 Moonwell listing proposal. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, BaseScan token page, sVVV BaseScan page)

(f) Current economic arrangements and distribution policies

Venice.ai, Inc. received 35 million VVV (35% of genesis supply) at TGE, of which 10 million VVV (10% of total supply) was granted to the team with 25% unlocked upfront and the remainder streaming linearly over 24 months, ending January 2027. The separate 10 million VVV Venice Incentive Fund is controlled by Venice for ecosystem support and cannot be used to pay or grant tokens to Venice team members. Venice earns 20% of staking yield on sVVV locked to back minted DIEM. Platform revenue funds programmatic buy-and-burn of VVV, which is a supply reduction mechanism rather than a distribution to the entity. Venice.ai, Inc. completed a $65 million Series A equity financing in July 2026 at a $1 billion valuation led by Dragonfly with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Archetype, Morgan Creek, North Island Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, and Founders' Co-op. (Source: Launch post, Venice Incentive Fund FAQ, Tokenomics.com Venice page, GeekWire Series A coverage)

(a) Launch supply totals

100 million VVV were created at genesis on January 27, 2025. 92.5 million VVV (92.5%) were unlocked at TGE and 7.5 million VVV (7.5%, the streaming portion of the team allocation) were locked at TGE. (Source: Launch post, Gate Learn VVV overview)

(b) Recipient categories & use of funds

50 million VVV (50%) airdropped to Venice users and the crypto AI community on Base for adoption and distribution. 35 million VVV (35%) granted to Venice.ai, Inc. for development and growth, within which 10 million VVV (10% of total supply) was granted to the team via vesting contracts as part of that 35% company allocation. 10 million VVV (10%) allocated to the Venice Incentive Fund for ecosystem support, which cannot be used to pay Venice team members. 5 million VVV (5%) deployed as DEX liquidity. (Source: Launch post, Current tokenomics FAQ, Venice Incentive Fund FAQ, Moonwell governance proposal)

(c) Initial price per token (if applicable)

No fixed offering price was set. The token was never sold or offered to purchasers; the entire distributed supply outside the team grant, incentive fund, and liquidity allocation was distributed via airdrop, and price was established by the market only after genesis, through a public liquidity pool that Venice seeded on Aerodrome on Base at TGE, followed by same-day and subsequent CEX listings including Coinbase and Kraken. (Source: Launch post, Kraken listing announcement, Moonwell governance proposal)

(d) Ticker / market symbol

VVV. (Source: Launch post, Kraken listing announcement)

(e) Total supply & supply regime

Supply is not fixed. 100 million VVV were minted at genesis, with ongoing annual emissions paid to stakers. Emissions started at 14 million VVV per year and were reduced six times on the following schedule. 14M to 10M on August 20, 2025. 10M to 8M on October 23, 2025. 8M to 6M on February 10, 2026. 6M to 5M on May 1, 2026. 5M to 4M on June 1, 2026. 4M to 3M on July 1, 2026. Against emissions, 33,539,739 unclaimed airdrop VVV were burned on March 12, 2025, and platform revenue funds ongoing programmatic buy-and-burn with a stated goal of net deflation. Circulating supply is approximately 47 million VVV as of July 2026. (Source: Launch post, Supply-change FAQ, Venice emissions schedule on X, CryptoBriefing emissions coverage, Programmatic buy-and-burn update)

(f) Initial vesting / release schedules

The team allocation of 10 million VVV (part of the 35% company grant) was the only vested bucket, with 25% (2.5 million VVV) unlocked at TGE and the remaining 7.5 million VVV streaming linearly over 24 months, ending January 2027. This is a distinct allocation from the separate 10 million VVV Venice Incentive Fund, which is not subject to vesting and was fully unlocked at TGE for ecosystem support. The airdrop and liquidity allocations were also fully unlocked at TGE. (Source: Launch post, Gate Learn VVV overview, Tokenomics.com Venice page, Venice Incentive Fund FAQ)

• Executed airdrop: (a) Per-address source

  No public per-address allocation source (CSV/TSV/JSON, Dune table, Merkle dump, GitHub per-address file, or claim-data RPC endpoint) is published for the VVV airdrop.

(b) Covered segments and allocation method

The airdrop was executed at TGE on January 27, 2025 and distributed 50 million VVV (50% of genesis supply) across two segments. 25 million VVV went to over 100,000 Venice platform users, with eligibility requiring an active account from October 1, 2024, at least 25 points as of the December 31, 2024 snapshot at 23:59 UTC, and a Pro account to claim. Allocation was based on usage and points earned. 25 million VVV went to crypto AI community protocols and developers on Base, including VIRTUAL, AERO, DEGEN, AIXBT, GAME, LUNA, VADER, CLANKER, and MOR communities, plus a reserve for Nous Research and roughly 200 registered Coinbase AgentKit developers. The claim window expired 45 days after TGE on March 13, 2025, and all 33,539,739 unclaimed VVV were burned on March 12, 2025. (Source: Launch post, Airdrop eligibility FAQ, Airdrop burn FAQ, Airdrop expiry FAQ)

Blockworks note: No market maker agreements or native-token allocations or loans to market makers are publicly disclosed. Venice deployed its 5% liquidity allocation directly to public DEX pools on Aerodrome rather than through disclosed third-party market-making arrangements. (Source: Launch post, Moonwell governance proposal)

Blockworks note: No listing agreements, listing-related token allocations, listing lockups, or native-token listing fees are publicly disclosed. Venice has confirmed it has never paid for a CEX listing in any form. VVV trades on more than 30 markets including Coinbase (Day 1 listing), Kraken, KuCoin, Gate.io, Bybit, MEXC, and others, and on Aerodrome (SlipStream and v2), Uniswap V3, and Uniswap V4 on Base. The only disclosed token commitment related to trading venues is the 5 million VVV (5%) liquidity deployment to public DEX pools, seeded by Venice on Aerodrome. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, Kraken listing announcement, Launch post)

Blockworks note: No prior token sales, pre-sales, OTC token sales, or discounted market-maker token sales have occurred. The launch post states there were no pre-sales of any kind, and Erik Voorhees was the sole investor in the company prior to and at TGE. (Source: Launch post, The Block launch coverage)

Separately from token sales, Venice.ai, Inc. closed a $65 million Series A equity financing in July 2026 at a $1 billion valuation, led by Dragonfly with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Archetype, Morgan Creek, North Island Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, and Founders' Co-op. This was an equity round in the operating company. No token component of the round is publicly disclosed. (Source: GeekWire Series A coverage, SiliconANGLE Series A coverage)

(f) References (optional)

Blockworks note: No exploits affecting tokenholders, native token supply, staked balances, or protocol funds have occurred as of July 23, 2026. The VVV token and staking contracts have operated without a disclosed loss event since deployment on January 27, 2025. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, BaseScan token page)

(a) Regulatory, Legal & Tax Risks

VVV launched on January 27, 2025 and trades on more than 30 venues including Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, Gate.io, and Bybit, so the operative regulatory risk is continued distribution, listing maintenance, and entity operations under changing law rather than launch completion. Adverse regulatory developments in key jurisdictions could force delistings or restrict venue access. (Source: Launch post, Kraken listing announcement, Moonwell governance proposal)

The sole core entity is Venice.ai, Inc., a Wyoming corporation. Regulatory or legal changes affect the project through this single entity, including potential enforcement actions, licensing requirements, or compelled operational changes covering the platform, the API, the privacy proxy architecture, uncensored model access, or token administration. The Terms of Service expressly reserve Venice's right to restrict access where use may violate local law. The concentration of all protocol control in one U.S. operating company means entity-level regulatory action would directly affect token emissions, buy-and-burn execution, and DIEM redemption value. (Source: Terms of Service, Moonwell governance proposal)

Tokenholder tax treatment is unsettled. Staking yield, DIEM minting and daily credit accrual, burns, and a changing emissions schedule each create tax characterization uncertainty that varies by jurisdiction. Tokenholders are responsible for understanding and meeting their own tax obligations. (Source: VVV landing page, Current tokenomics FAQ, Supply-cap FAQ)

Publicly stated access restrictions include minimum-age requirements and a reservation of rights to restrict service access where local law would be violated. These restrictions create the risk that users in affected jurisdictions lose platform access, which would reduce the utility value of staked VVV and DIEM held by those users. (Source: Terms of Service)

(b) Protocol, Technology & Security Risks

The technical risk surface is concentrated in privileged staking and emissions logic rather than the token contract itself. The VVV token contract is a minimal, immutable, non-pausable ERC-20 of 23 lines of custom code built on Solmate, with mint() as its only privileged function. That mint path is owned by the staking contract, an ERC1967 UUPS proxy upgradeable by a 3-of-5 Gnosis Safe multisig. The mint function is uncapped, so compromise of the multisig or a malicious staking contract upgrade would enable unlimited VVV minting and dilution. Independent risk analysis by Anthias Labs for Moonwell identifies this owner-controlled uncapped mint path as the primary asset risk. The platform additionally depends on Base network liveness and, for downstream DeFi integrations, on DIA and Chainlink VVV/USD oracles. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, BaseScan token page, sVVV BaseScan page)

Security measures include a Trust Security audit of the token contracts, published at trust-security.xyz/venice-ai-audit, and an active bug bounty program, both disclosed by Venice in its March 2026 Moonwell proposal. Venice remediated a May 2025 platform security issue in which inference-only API keys could manipulate an API-key administration endpoint. The privacy architecture routes prompts through a Venice-controlled closed-source proxy and partner GPUs. These measures do not eliminate residual risk from privileged contract control, upgrade execution, emissions authority, multisig signer compromise, or the offchain trust boundary at the proxy and GPU partner layer, none of which an audit of contract code alone can prevent. (Source: Moonwell governance proposal, Security changelog, How Venice handles your privacy)

(c) Token Economics, Unlocks & Incentive Risks

VVV's value rests on continued demand for private AI inference, staking participation, DIEM minting demand, and Venice's ability to sustain revenue-funded burns. Annual emissions were reduced six times, from 14M at launch to 10M on August 20, 2025, 8M on October 23, 2025, 6M on February 10, 2026, 5M on May 1, 2026, 4M on June 1, 2026, and 3M on July 1, 2026, with a stated goal of net deflation where burns exceed emissions. If platform usage, subscription revenue, or compute-credit demand decline, burn volume falls, staking yield attractiveness weakens, and the token's access value and deflation trajectory deteriorate together. At 3M annual emissions, roughly 250,000 new VVV enter supply monthly, so net deflation depends entirely on revenue-funded burns exceeding that threshold. (Source: Venice emissions schedule on X, CryptoBriefing emissions coverage, Programmatic buy-and-burn update, What is DIEM?)

Monetary policy control sits entirely with Venice.ai, Inc. and not with tokenholders. VVV has no governance, and emissions, staking parameters, the yield split on DIEM-locked sVVV, and burn policy are all set through the staking contract and its 3-of-5 multisig ownership chain. Venice has changed emissions six times without tokenholder approval because no approval mechanism exists. Future changes to monetary policy, reward allocations, or fee parameters can adversely affect holders without any disclosed tokenholder voting right or veto. (Source: Launch post, Moonwell governance proposal, Current tokenomics FAQ)