KTON future narrative

[SasoLithops]

Hello everyone!

Another thread. Hope you don't get tired of me :)

On last few RingDAO Round Table Calls there was a discussion to set Narrative for future of KTON.

So far KTON was or was supposed to be(not sure I remember all):

1. Governance token
2. Game token (Evolution Land)
3. Token for developers who wanted to use Darwina Tech (I liked that the most, but was left just as an idea)
4. Part of Index Token Fund (We found out regulations might be too much of an issue and also there would be no development funds to support it for making it great UI/UX and in case of no revenue soon)
5. Governance token for KtonDAO
6. Another newer idea by Bear is to maybe make it a meme token. I will let him explain more in comments.

So my question to you all is:

What do you prefer it to be? And could you please give reasons why you think so, so we can discuss this further. We can also discuss this on live call if you prefer so. Just tag me in Telegram that you want to talk live. Later I can make a Google doc with all ideas so we set a final narrative by voting.

[SasoLithops]

I would use KTON to be a governance token for KtonDAO FOR NOW. I would also give it more utility in time once we get more funds in Treasury. There are many opportunities in DePIN so we could maybe buy some devices that have good ROI and maybe have it to increase Treasury and reward KTON stakers/voters. Or some similar idea. To be like a DAO that invests into RL products and earns rewards. I can explain more if requested (don't want to be too long)

[A-hogic]

Bought my first KTON at around $50 back in 2021... At the time, there was real talk about not just going back to ATH but also surpassing it with ease. The hype around KTON was amazing back then - huge staking rewards, a lot of YT videos dedicated to KTON from 333crypto, KryptosChain, Intrepid Innovations, and of course our longtime ambassador Dustin Lee. I don't really know what went wrong since then. It's been a long 4-5 years and KTON is nowhere to be seen - no exchange listings besides Gateio, no exposure on X, just years of staking and collecting RING ;)

I know I sound like a broken record, but what makes KTON unique even without any use case (imo) is its scarcity. There are only a few tokens/currencies in the world with a lower max supply. I think this is what we should focus on and sell to the people.

My simple suggestions would be:

• Create a dedicated website/subpage just for KTON (current link from RingDAO is: gov.ktondao.xyz). multiversx.com/egld is a great example - love how they focus on scarcity, which automatically gives you a reason to buy and hold this token since it is extremely limited.
• On the subpage: explain to people the concept of locking RING for up to 12 months to receive more KTON. I think this "dual" staking mechanism is pretty unique and interesting.
• More exposure and promotion on X (this applies to RING as well) - right now, literally no one is talking about RingDAO, and I mean no one.

Besides that, I agree with KTON being the governance token and also a token for developers who use Darwina tech.

If we are being honest, there's no real use case with any token... so let's not complicate things too much and just go for it :)

[A-hogic]

Hi Saso, thanks for your feedback.

You are absolutely right about not looking to the past but rather focusing on the future. I have to admit that I don't have deep enough technical knowledge about how to build something new and move forward, but from what I read from you, I get a feeling that if anyone, then you're capable of making a suggestion about the next narrative and potential use cases for kton (@sonoferin2000 and @boundless-forest - the same). So all I can do is back you guys as much as possible. Since I have accumulated more than $40k worth of KTON throughout the years, believe me, there is no one who wants KTON to succeed more than I do ;) - That's why I'm perhaps more emotionally invested and inclined to talk about price, so please forgive me.

One of the concerns I also have is time (maybe it has to do with not having enough funds to realise ideas?). I feel like we need too much time for decisions to be made. For example, the discussion for "KTON buyback and potential cbBTC buy" will be up for 3 weeks, and then additional time for voting and proposal execution - so 1 month before anything "moves forward". Could this period potentially be shortened due to the relatively small number of holders?

On the list you shared are a lot of tokenized assets which I have to be honest I didn't count in when I said there are only a few tokens with lower max supply (I know KTON doesn't have max supply but is still extremely scarce)... the tokens I had in mind are also on the list and are actually worth more than 4–5 years ago.

YFI (total supply: 36k): ATL: $740, went up to $93,000, now is at around $5,000
PANDORA (total supply: 10k): ATL: $210, went up to $32,000, now is at around $450
CORE (total supply: 10k): ATL: $3, went up to $88,000, now is at around $9,000
ULTIMA (total supply: 100k): ATL: $2,000, went up to $22,000, now is at around $4,300
... and so on.

What have they been doing better, and do these tokens have any real utility - can we do the same in the future?

@danairey - I believe there is no intention to change the current staking mechanism and Ring-Deposit locking period of 12 months to receive KTON as a reward... or is it? I completely agree this should stay the way it is. We are discussing what could be additional use cases for KTON besides staking.

Feeling optimistic again!

[SasoLithops]

Thank you @A-hogic!

Firstly for you and@danairey. I want to appologize first for my English. It is my second language and I may sometimes write something that makes sense to me but comes out differently. There is NO intention to change staking mechanism. All I actually wanted to say is we have the power to play with months, ammount and percentages if any idea that will not hurt stakers anymore is presented(probably more opportunities for this in future where more demand for KTON) YES we are only discussing what could be additional use cases for KTON besides staking. So please feel free to ask here and share your opinion anytime like you did now. I love discussions. That is the only way we can move forward. I promise as I did from start I will keep it real.

I love your input. I also don't have deep technical knowledge. But we know people that do. Like @boundless-forest And they are here to help. There are no leaders all of us are thinking together. If our ideas are good I am sure we can impliment them. We sadly just have low funds at beggining since we didn't have KtonDAO since start and did't have much in Treasury. We do have some now. Please share your ideas here too (@danairey please do too):

https://github.com/orgs/ktondao/discussions/47

As for decisions time. Very valid points. I understand your frustrations that DAOs might slow development with long decisions. We can start a new discussion on this.
I personaly feel that when basic development is in game, developers can do it without seeking approval. While if something like buyback for first time is a case(something more important) I feel we have to give time for all people that only check once a month(I also really liked your idea on more exposure on X where we can reach more holders too) or are on holidays... That is why I proposed 3 weeks(we can change that too) Then all the technical will probably take a couple of weeks(hoping we can do in 2-3 as KtonDAO doesn't have own developer I will talk to developer Echo next week). If in that time from start discussion to final day of voting some people don't check that means they don't care. DAO works for people that participate. I personally want us to move away from DAO where people just buy token and wait for a few to do all. I want us to be as much active as possible. We all invested in KTON. And every comment is wind beneth DAO wings and affects KTON future value. Imagine if we had active community of 50 people. What change we could do....

Thank you for sharing tokens. Would be good if we could do research on them, why they did so well. Can you perhaps help in sharing your findings? We could do like a list of questions for research so we see what is their model. Like for example:

1. When did they launch?
2. How often do they post?
3. What is their narrative?
4. How do they provide liquidity?
5. Where are they listed?
   ....

And then we could share among us who does which, do research and share here findings. This would bring a lot of interesting data....

Love the optimistic vibe. Appreciate you.

[SasoLithops]

@A-hogic Posted on X. Thanks to your brain;-)

https://x.com/ringecosystem/status/1978752680492159200

[A-hogic]

Hi, I did some "research" on the above-mentioned tokens using your suggested points, plus DPI, which is also a token with around 100k total supply.

---

YFI (Yearn finance)
Launched: 2020
Total supply: 36k
Current price: $4,700
Number of holders (ethscan stats): 51,829
Narrative: community‑governed DeFi suite that automates yield aggregation and strategy execution via Vaults to maximize user returns

Use-cases:

• Governance: propose and vote on protocol changes.
• Treasury control: direct Yearn funds and budgets.
• Liquidity: provide to AMMs/Vaults for fees/rewards.
• Collateral: used on some lending platforms.
• Yield: stake/lock in farms, pools, vaults.
• Community power: elect strategists/delegates.

Listings: 114 exchanges
X engagement:

• 204k followers
• average 2-3 post per week
• average 30 likes, 10 reposts

---

DPI (Defi pulse)
Launched: 2020
Total supply: 109k
Current price: $80
Number of holders (ethscan stats): 13,693
Narrative: Market‑cap weighted DeFi index token offering passive exposure to leading DeFi protocols

Use-cases:

• Index exposure: buy token for passive, market‑cap weighted exposure to top DeFi tokens.
• Mint/Redeem: create or redeem underlying basket via Set Protocol mechanisms.
• Liquidity: provide DPI in AMM pools to earn fees.
• Composable asset: used in DeFi strategies, vaults, and yield farms.
• Collateral: accepted as collateral in some lending platforms.

Listings (4): Uniswap, Sushiswap, Balancer, Quickswap
X engagement: no official profil

---

PANDORA
Launched: 2024
Total supply: 10k
Current price: $430
Number of holders (ethscan stats): 513
Narrative: NFTs

Use-cases:

• Hybrid ownership: fractionalised NFT‑like ownership with fungible token liquidity.
• Mint/Redeem: create or split linked NFT replicants (protocol feature).
• Liquidity: provide to AMM pools to earn fees.
• Composable: used in NFT marketplaces, DeFi strategies, and tokenised asset experiments.

Listings (5): XT.com, Uniswap, Bilaxy, Balancer, PancakeSwap
X engagement: no official profil

---

CORE (cVault finance)
Launched: 2023
Total supply: 10k
Current price: $8,700
Number of holders (ethscan stats): 3,544
Narrative: Layer‑1 blockchain that aims to give Bitcoin‑level security plus smart‑contract features.

Use-cases:

• Native currency: pay fees and transact on the Core blockchain.
• Staking: stake or secure network via consensus (validator/validator rewards).
• Governance: vote on protocol upgrades, treasury and ecosystem decisions.
• Collateral: used as collateral in DeFi apps on Core.
• Liquidity: provided to DEXs and AMMs on Core and cross‑chain bridges.
• Ecosystem utility: pays for on‑chain services, dApp interactions, and network integrations.

Listings (2): Uniswap, Gateio
X engagement: no official profil

---

ULTIMA
Launched: 2023
Total supply: 100k
Current price: $3,900
Number of holders (ethscan stats):
Narrative: Payment solutions

Use-cases:

• Payments: spend via crypto debit card and in‑ecosystem payments.
• Wallet: custody and on‑ramp/off‑ramp inside Ultima wallets.
• Marketplace & crowdfunding: pay/list/buy in Ultima marketplace and crowdfunding platform.
• Deflationary mechanics: supply reduction/halving mechanisms to support scarcity.
• Staking: stake for rewards and network incentives.
• Liquidity: provide to AMMs and CEX orderbooks for fees and depth.

Listings (9): HTX, MEXC, BINGX, LBANK, XT.com, Gateio, BitMart, CoinW, CoinDCX
X engagement:

• 51k followers,
• daily posts
• around 800 likes per post and 100 reposts

---

Honestly, none of the tokens listed above is something I would invest in, and I also don’t know how useful these stats actually are for deciding KTON’s future (perhaps we could point out YFI, which skyrocketed from $30 to $90,000 and is still around with almost 1 billion USD deposited in Yearn vaults). I initially mentioned them because they have similar supply to KTON and are worth more than in the past - and are on the list that you shared. I don't know how relevant narratives such as DeFi, NFTs, etc. actually still are in 2025. As Saso said, we should strive to find the next top narrative in crypto (RWAs, DePIN, PayFi, AI, ...). Love to hear also other opinions and ideas.

[SasoLithops]

Thank you for doing research and posting this.

I see many chose DEXs as main exchanges and 3 out of 5 have no X account. DPI has a lot of holders over 13.000 and is on DEXs only. Use-cases need more analysis. Not that we should copy them but maybe add some if they make sense. Maybe we could have some kind of vaults too. Let us think more and post any ideas here....

[sonoferin2000]

The emissions runway is short, and KTON is accelerating its depletion. No one is building on Darwinia, even though it was promised that development would require KTON, creating demand. That never happened. KTON isn’t being bought, burned, or used — it’s become dead weight that drains emissions. Its only functional benefit is encouraging long-term RING locks, but even that incentive has weakened. This isn’t FUD, just realism. KTON lacks a future and should be unwound.

[SasoLithops]

Hey Joe!

Appreciate as always your input. To be honest I have similar "dark" thoughts at times, had more in past. But there are only two paths, let it be or make a change to its future. It is frustrating as it is/was mostly us talking.
To be honest now there is so much negative sentiment due to past decisions. Most DAOs and their communities are optimistic and eager to build something new. Here though, it seems most of that energy is tied up in explaining or defending what came/was before. I believe we still have a chance to rise above this and pursue real change — otherwise, we risk fading into irrelevance.

[danairey]

I do not understand why kton can not just stay as it. Its use is that people lock ring to earn kton which essentially earns you more ring. The whole focus should be on ring and if ring price went up , kton goes up with it. So as things stand kton doesnt need to change , as long as the staking system doesnt change. It works perfectly and would be ever better if you could find some other type of utility for it, but thats a bonus. All the focus simply needs to go into ring dao and kton will benefit if ringdao works and the token goes up. If you guys change the staking system, you going to see both coins crash.

[SasoLithops]

Hey Dan.

Thank you for your input. It is much appreciated.
Imho if we keep it only as it is, it could slowly fade to oblivion. It is getting hard just counting on and waiting on Ring token price to go up. That is why we looking for extra utilities (like you say as a bonus).

https://github.com/orgs/ktondao/discussions/48#:~:text=We%20as%20KtonDAO%20could%20of%20course%20change%20that.
If you are refering to this, I just mentioned that we as KtonDAO have power to change things too. I didn't mean to imply we are changing anything about staking system. We are grateful for Ring from RingDAO.