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Emission Mechanics

Emission mechanics define how new $ON tokens are created and distributed to network participants over time. Orbinum implements a declining 10-year emission schedule that transitions the network from inflationary bootstrapping to a sustainable fee-driven economy.

Emission Overview​

Orbinum's emission system operates through two parallel revenue streams:

Block Emissions (Inflationary)

  • New tokens minted every block according to predetermined schedule
  • Distributed to miners (80%) and validators (20%)
  • Declines over 10 years to approach zero inflation
  • See Block Emission Schedule below for detailed annual breakdown

User Fees (Non-Inflationary)

  • Fees paid by users for AI inference services
  • Distributed to Orbit owners (2%), miners (63.7%), validators (17.64%), and stakers (14.7%)
  • Grows with network adoption and usage
  • See User Fee Distribution below for split details

Block Emission Schedule​

Annual Emission Curve​

Total mining allocation: 400,000,000 $ON distributed over 10 years.

YearAnnual EmissionDaily EmissionPer Block (~6s)Cumulative
1215,000,000 $ON~589,041 $ON~0.68 $ON215M
2140,000,000 $ON~383,562 $ON~0.44 $ON355M
3100,000,000 $ON~273,973 $ON~0.32 $ON455M
490,000,000 $ON~246,575 $ON~0.29 $ON545M
570,000,000 $ON~191,781 $ON~0.22 $ON615M
650,000,000 $ON~136,986 $ON~0.16 $ON665M
735,000,000 $ON~95,890 $ON~0.11 $ON700M
825,000,000 $ON~68,493 $ON~0.08 $ON725M
920,000,000 $ON~54,795 $ON~0.06 $ON745M
1015,000,000 $ON~41,096 $ON~0.05 $ON760M

Note: Remaining 40M $ON reserved for years 11+ with minimal tail emissions (<1% annual inflation).

Emission Calculation​

Per-block emission calculated as:

Block Emission=Annual EmissionBlocks per Year\text{Block Emission} = \frac{\text{Annual Emission}}{\text{Blocks per Year}}

Where:

  • Blocks per Year = 365.25 × 24 × 60 × 10 = 5,259,600 blocks
  • Block time = ~6 seconds

Declining Inflation Rate​

Inflation rate decreases exponentially:

YearInflation RateEconomic Phase
1N/A (Genesis)Emission-Driven
265% declineEmission-Driven
328% declineHybrid
420% declineHybrid
513% declineHybrid
10<2% declineFee-Driven

Distribution Mechanisms​

Per-Block Distribution​

Every block, newly minted tokens are distributed:

Block Emission (100%)
├─ 80% → Miners (quality-weighted across all Orbits)
└─ 20% → Validators (consensus and quality evaluation)

Example (Year 1 block):

  • Total emission: 0.68 $ON
  • To miners: 0.544 $ON
  • To validators: 0.136 $ON

Orbit-Level Allocation​

The 80% allocated to miners is distributed across Orbits based on three factors:

1. Activity Weight (40%)

  • Request volume and frequency
  • Measures actual network usage per Orbit

2. Fee Generation (30%)

  • Total user fees collected by Orbit
  • Rewards economically productive Orbits

3. Quality Score (30%)

  • Average quality of miners in Orbit
  • Incentivizes maintaining high standards

Calculation:

Orbit Allocation=Total Miner Emission×(0.4×ActivityTotal Activity+0.3×FeesTotal Fees+0.3×QualityTotal Quality)\text{Orbit Allocation} = \text{Total Miner Emission} \times \left( 0.4 \times \frac{\text{Activity}}{\text{Total Activity}} + 0.3 \times \frac{\text{Fees}}{\text{Total Fees}} + 0.3 \times \frac{\text{Quality}}{\text{Total Quality}} \right)

Within-Orbit Distribution​

Within each Orbit, miner emissions are distributed by quality-weighted share:

Miner Share=Miner Quality ScoreTotal Orbit Quality Score×Orbit Emission\text{Miner Share} = \frac{\text{Miner Quality Score}}{\text{Total Orbit Quality Score}} \times \text{Orbit Emission}

Example (NLP Orbit with 100 miners):

  • Orbit allocation: 10 $ON per block
  • Top miner quality score: 95/100
  • Total Orbit quality score: 7,500
  • Top miner share: (95/7,500) × 10 = 0.127 $ON

Higher-ranked miners earn exponentially more through both higher quality scores and preferential request routing.

User Fee Distribution​

User fees complement block emissions and grow with network usage.

Fee Split Model​

Every inference fee is distributed immediately among participants:

  • 2% → Orbit Owner (infrastructure commission)
  • 65% → Miner (63.7% of total after owner cut)
  • 18% → Validators (17.64% of total after owner cut)
  • 15% → Stakers (14.7% of total after owner cut)

See Incentives → for complete breakdown of how each participant earns from fees, or Economic Model → for user-friendly overview with visual diagram.

Revenue Composition Over Time​

The mix of block emissions and user fees evolves as the network matures through three distinct phases:

Economic Phases →

The protocol transitions from emission-driven (Years 1-3) to hybrid (Years 4-7) to fee-driven (Years 8+), with revenue composition shifting from ~90% emissions to ~80% fees over 10 years. See the Economic Phases documentation for complete breakdown with typical miner income examples.

Emission Security​

Anti-Gaming Mechanisms​

Quality Weighting

  • Prevents Sybil attacks (multiple low-quality miners)
  • Rewards performance over quantity
  • Validator consensus required for scores

Time-Weighted Scores

  • Exponential moving averages prevent gaming
  • Consistent performance required over time
  • Single lucky result doesn't skew rankings

Validator Stake-Weighting

  • Higher-stake validators have more influence
  • Economic security through skin-in-the-game
  • Slashing for dishonest evaluation

Emission Governance​

DAO Controls:

  • Adjust Orbit emission weights via governance proposals
  • Emergency pause capability for critical issues
  • Timelock period before changes take effect

Immutable Parameters:

  • Total supply cap (1B $ON)
  • Annual emission schedule
  • Base distribution splits (80/20 miner/validator)

Sustainability​

The declining emission schedule ensures a smooth 10-year transition from emission-driven to fee-driven economy. By Year 8+, the network operates primarily on user fees (<2% annual inflation), similar to Ethereum post-merge.

Economic Model → provides reflections on long-term sustainability and comparison with other networks.

Next Steps​