The ANGLE utility token stands as the cornerstone of the Angle Protocol with three main functions:
granting voting rights to the Angle DAO’s participants
serving as an incentive for Angle’s stablecoin users
facilitating the distribution of tokens held by the Protocol
The decision-making token of the Angle DAO
Angle is a decentralized Protocol governed by a DAO, whose mission is to optimize and enhance the Protocol. The Angle DAO is responsible for parameters tuning, deploying new stablecoins, accepting new collateral types for a given stablecoin, for treasury management and for protocol upgrades and integrations.
The Angle DAO is controlled by ANGLE holders through onchain votes — Angle Improvements Proposals, also known as AIP. ANGLE holders must lock their tokens to receive veANGLE tokens (voting-escrowed ANGLE tokens), enabling them to discuss, propose, and vote to upgrade the Protocol.
From the rebranding of agEUR to EURA to the launch of USDA, all decisions must be voted on in advance by the DAO and its veANGLE holders.
If you're looking for alphas, now you know where to find them!
An incentive with optimized token emissions
Beyond voting power, the ANGLE token also serves as an incentive for individuals who interact with the Protocol. New ANGLE tokens are issued each week by the Protocol to reward Angle’s stablecoins users.
ANGLE token emissions are controlled by a Liquidity Committee composed of members from the Angle Guardian Multisig.
The responsibility of the Liquidity Committee is to ensure the optimal use of ANGLE incentives for the growth of Angle stablecoins.
For instance, in April 2024, the Committee has decided to prioritize the emissions of new ANGLE tokens towards efficient single-sided incentives, like USDA lenders on Morpho Blue, while ceasing ANGLE incentives for pools such as UniV3 EURA-ETH, UniV3 EURA-USDC, Sushiswap EURA-ANGLE, and UniV3 EURA-USDC (Polygon).
As a result, new ANGLE token emissions have been reduced by 80% since April 18th compared to the initial emission schedule of the Protocol.
Today, there are around 450 million ANGLE tokens in circulation, far from the total initial supply of 1 billion planned in November 2021 when Angle Protocol was launched.
Even though the 1 billion ANGLE have already been pre-minted (though not yet in circulation), the DAO could vote to burn a significant portion of them to prevent token dilution.
A utility token with benefits
Angle Protocol generates revenue. It collects fees — in tokens — from users borrowing its stablecoins, from liquidations and it collects interest from some yield-bearing tokens held in the backing of the stablecoins. The Protocol is also occasionally eligible for airdrops by holding specific tokens that back its stablecoins or are held in its treasury.
The development of the upcoming Angle Forex Hub and the collection of fees generated through its activities could also generate revenues in the near future.
These tokens held by the Protocol belong to the Angle DAO and can be redistributed to its community — veANGLE holders — pending a governance vote.
Thus, in March 2024, 500,000 PYTH tokens (worth $275k) received by the Angle Protocol were redistributed to veANGLE holders via the Merkl Reward Hub following a governance vote.
Rewards were distributed proportionally to the veANGLE balance in holders’ addresses.
ANGLE, the governance token of the Angle DAO, empowers its community of veANGLE holders to shape the Protocol's future through proposals and voting. Beyond governance, new ANGLE emissions incentivize the adoption of Angle’s stablecoins, while being optimized to prevent excessive supply increases and token dilution. veANGLE holders also occasionally receive tokens earned by the Protocol, like the PYTH airdrop in March 2024. With the fees collected from the activities of the upcoming Forex Hub, veANGLE holders could also get a sustainable and everlasting stream of rewards! Stay tuned!
ANGLE is an ERC-20 token available on the Ethereum, Base and Linea networks. Users can get ANGLE by swapping their assets on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap and Sushiswap or on DEXs aggregators like 1inch and ParaSwap. Users can also purchase ANGLE tokens on the Gate.io centralized exchange, with more integrations to come!