At Canopy Network, we're striving for a launch that balances openness with protection, ensuring the long-term success of our project. Think of it as a "managed fair launch" - a three stage process coordinated by core contributors, ending with a permissionless, secure network. At this stage, Canopy is completely self-funded by core contributors - we’re doing it all ourselves and learning as we go. Our priorities during the managed fair launch are network security, community engagement, and sustainable growth. This post describes the launch process and how to contribute to Canopy Network during our launch.

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The Process

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While we're drawing inspiration from successful fair launches in the past, we're also aware that a completely fair launch model can leave a project vulnerable to hostile takeovers and can present other economic disadvantages. Because Canopy is Proof of Stake + Proof of Age, there are considerations that we need to prepare for. To mitigate these risks, we designed a three phase launch process:

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1. Alphanet (Estimated 8 weeks): The core team launches the network with 12 nodes, testing and ensuring stability.
2. Betanet (Estimated 4 weeks): During this phase, the network will be open to a permissioned set of validators and delegators who will test and provide feedback to the core contributors. These participants have prior experience supporting other PoS networks and can provide pointed feedback. Please see our FAQ for more information on participating.
3. Mainnet: Once Betanet testing is complete, Canopy mainnet will launch, allowing fully permissionless participation for any network participant. 

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Note: Any bugs found in Alphanet or Betanet that require a consensus breaking change could result in a regenesis decision by the core contributors to keep Canopy’s chain history as clean as possible. It is possible that Canopy will regenesis multiple times, resulting in a reset of the entire process.

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Token Distribution

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The maximum supply of the Canopy Network native token (CNPY) is 504 million. This is minted according to a hard-coded minting schedule that incorporates halvings every two years. Block times are set at 20 seconds, with an initial block reward of 80 CNPY per block. These parameters and the launch process result in the following distribution:

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Phase: Genesis

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• Genesis: 12 nodes each with 1 uCNPY controlled by the core contributors.

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Phases: Alphanet - Mainnet

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• Validator/Delegator Rewards: 95% of CNPY via the block reward.
  
  • Alphanet: Core Contributors will mint an estimated 5% of the total with the initial node set.
  • Betanet: 2.5% of total supply will be minted and distributed to validators and delegators according to staking power (including core contributors).
• DAO: 5% of CNPY via the block reward.
  
  • 50% of the DAO allocation will be granted to core contributors for their ongoing contribution.
• There are no allocations for private investors, centralised exchanges, or market makers.

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By taking a managed fair launch approach, we're confident that we can create a robust, secure, and decentralized network that will drive long-term success for our project. We're excited to get started and look forward to working with our community to build a thriving ecosystem around Canopy.

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We’ll provide more information on how to get involved as a validator or delegator as we get nearer to the public launch. Stay tuned to the official channels on X/Bluesky and join our Discord. In the meantime, we welcome contributions to Canopy’s code on Github.