THE Thena Overview

Thena is the self-proclaimed ‘protocol for protocols.’ This fresh new automated market maker (AMM) has been taking on BNB Chain, pushing out innovative tech and a ‘by design’ collaborative approach to the BNB ecosystem. The crypto community was already tantalized with $THE token airdrops and the promise of emissions voting, which has led to users flocking from across the chains to check out this new DeFi project. Interest and demand were so high for Thena that the protocol saw a 1700% increase in total value locked within the first week of its deployment.

Contents

THE Basics THE Inspiration THE Technology THE Team THE Tokens and Tokenomics Tokenomics veTHE Airdrop for Protocols veTHE/THE Airdrop for Users $THE/veTHE Airdrop for theNFT Minters Ecosystem Grant Thena Team Initial Liquidity Providers Token Emissions Specifications theNFT Bootstrapping Program THE Vision Further Readings

But what is Thena? What’s so special about the protocol that has seen multiple heavy hitters in the DeFi world partner with them pre-launch? This overview will cover the basics of Thena protocol, the THE tokenomics, and what sets this project apart from its competitors.

THE Basics

Thena is a native liquidity layer and AMM with a tokenomics structure seeking to empower the most efficient protocols on BNB through its Voter Escrow (VE) token model. Simply put, AMMs are decentralized exchange (DEX) that uses algorithms to allow users to trade crypto with lower slippage. Additionally, AMMs allow Liquidity providers (LP) users to offer up their liquidity for specific token pairs to earn yields from emissions and fees. Currently, pools are incentivized with scheduled farming emissions, and because of this, liquidity providers are not driven by fee generation.

Thena fixes this issue with its demand-driven model.

THE Inspiration

Thena draws inspiration from Solidly, an AMM and liquidity layer originally built by Andre Cronje on Fantom. Solidly offered low-cost, near-zero slippage transactions for highly correlated and uncorrelated tokens. Overall, Thena is designed to improve the original Solidly experience.

Thena’s liquidity provision model takes from Curve’s model, which incentivizes token locking for VE tokens that also grant voting power over gauges and protocol fee yields, as well as the Olympus model (more commonly known as ve(3,3) tokenomics), which provides a “rebase mechanism” that helps to shield token lockers from dilution. Unlike Curve, Thena does not allow boosting APYs for individuals; instead veTHE holders increase the APY for all liquidity providers.

This model blend helps solve the “cold start” liquidity problem by enabling a free market for incentives, allowing protocols to exchange tokens for gauge votes. This reduces the cost of incentivizing liquidity and means less selling pressure on the protocol’s token, a win-win.

For more info on the theory and intricacies behind the models and ve(3.3) dynamics used, this post helps to summarize the key benefits.

On top of its blended liquidity provision model, Thena is also a hybrid AMM, combining the style of Virtual Automated Market Makers (vAMMs) with Synthetic Automated Market Makers (sAMMs). Being a hybrid AMM allows for more efficient routing between assets. The sAMM style ensures users experience lower price impact and tighter spreads on stablecoin swaps or closely aligned assets. The vAMM model optimizes for users trading volatile assets.

THE Technology

THE Team

According to their documentation, the Thena team is a collection of dedicated builders with vast experience within DeFi. Not much else is known about the team of developers besides their penchant for Greek mythology. Each ‘Diety’/developer within the Thena Discord sports a heavily Greek-influenced name and adds a simple A to the front of the project’s name. You get Athena, the goddess of battle strategy and wisdom.

Even their theNFTs are each designed and inspired by a god from ancient Greek mythology.

We do know that the Thena team heavily believes that the protocol is a “public good owned by protocols and users” and their belief in a decentralized and open-source economy. This collaborative approach may be the defining factor that sets Thena aside from its competition.

THE Tokens and Tokenomics

Thena utilizes three different tokens for various use-cases within the protocol.

$THE – A BEP-20 utility token of the protocol

$THE emissions have two key objectives
- Reach and maintain adequate liquidity to facilitate optimal trading conditions. It is emitted as farming rewards to incentivize deep liquidity
- Encourage decentralized governance. The token can be used to participate in the governance process for the continuous development of the platform, with the end goal being true decentralization.

veTHE – ERC-721 governance token in the form of a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)

veTHE is the vote-escrowed version of $THE
Users can lock their $THE tokens for up to two years to get veTHE
The longer the lock, the higher the amount of veTHE voting power received
To encourage continuous locking, the veTHE balance of users declines over time until it reaches zero after the initial locking period
veTHE positions can be increased, split up, and resold on a secondary market

theNFT – ERC-721 founders token in the form of an NFT

theNFT can be staked for revenue sharing
The staking pool receives a share of trading fees from Thena, as well as royalties from the secondary sales of theNFT

Token Address

$THE – 0xF4C8E32EaDEC4BFe97E0F595AdD0f4450a863a11

veTHE – 0xfBBF371C9B0B994EebFcC977CEf603F7f31c070D

theNFT – 0x2Af749593978CB79Ed11B9959cD82FD128BA4f8d

Tokenomics

veTHE Airdrop for Protocols

17% of the initial supply of $THE has been airdropped to protocols that ‘demonstrate their willingness to engage’ with Thena. The below projects were examined with a wide range of factors in mind, such as TVL, trading volume, and the product itself.

9.5 million veTHE was airdropped to the below protocols. The specific amount was determined by

Daily volumes of the token(s)
Amount of weekly bribes committed
Protocol-owned liquidity deployed on THENA
Willingness and capacity to build products on top of THENA
Social engagement

veTHE/THE Airdrop for Users

36% of the initial supply has been distributed to regular users of the above partner protocols, theNFT minters, and qualifying early Thenians from the community. Users were chosen based on behvaiours that promote long-term stability within their communities.

$THE/veTHE Airdrop for theNFT Minters

As THENA’s community founders, theNFT minters have been allocated a share of the initial supply as additional exposure to the long-term success of the platform. The entirety of their airdrop will be claimable right from the launch.

Airdrop to theNFT minters will comprise 60% immediately claimable $THE and 40% veTHE.

Ecosystem Grant

25% of the initial supply will be dedicated to funding a wide range of projects that aim to accelerate the growth of THENA. Shortlisted projects will receive significant backing from the core team (developer, marketing, business development, etc.). Any significant spending originating from the Ecosystem grant will require approval from veTHE holders through a snapshot.

Thena Team

18% of the initial supply will be distributed to the team to engage them in the long-term success of THENA. The team allocation has been balanced between veTHE and THE vested tokens.

Team allocation balance between THE and veTHE:

60% as veTHE locked for 2 years, relocked every week for a minimum period of 1 year
40% as THE vested for 2 years with a 1-year cliff

Initial Liquidity Providers

4% of the initial supply will be paired with BUSD and/or BNB to provide enough THE liquidity at launch.

Token Emissions Specifications

Weekly emissions: 2,600,000 THE
Weekly emissions decay: 1% (updated from 1.1% to 1%)
Weekly dev allocation: 4%
Weekly veTHE max rebase: 30%
Weekly emissions for LPs: 66%

theNFT Bootstrapping Program

Thenian NFTs (theNFT) are a limited collection of only 3,000. Each one grants you access to multiple revenue streams, exclusive delta-neutral strategies, and a dedicated role within the community.

There are 300 unique AI-engineered designs, each with a different class and powers granted by the cyber gods. Each frequency is randomly determined between 1 and 20, meaning you could be lucky enough to obtain a unique one. The design or attributes do not affect the revenue earned by each theNFT.

Thenians are a type of crossbreed inspired by a single God, or in rare cases, none, with powers and sacred items not necessarily originally belonging to them. This means a Thenian could have the soul of Zeus with the powers of Poseidon.

THE Vision

Thena is shaping up the be THE protocol on BNB Chain for collaboration and cooperation amongst the DeFi community. This mythical project is still very early, but the future looks promising.

THE Thena Overview