Erik Voorhees' Venice Launches VVV Token for Decentralized AI Inference
Venice, an AI platform founded by crypto pioneer Erik Voorhees, has unveiled its VVV token on the Ethereum Layer 2 network Base, distributing half of the initial supply to its users and various AI communities. The platform, which offers private, censorship-resistant access to open-source AI models, aims to empower both developers and autonomous AI agents with decentralized and cost-effective inference capabilities.
VVV Token: Fueling the Engine of Decentralized AI
The VVV token is designed to bridge the worlds of blockchain and generative AI. It allows AI agents, bots, and developers to access Venice's API for "inference" – the ability for AI to interpret new data – without relying on traditional banking or human intermediaries. This approach, according to Venice, reduces costs and friction compared to closed-source AI platforms.
Token Distribution: A Focus on Community and Early Supporters
Of the 100 million VVV tokens created at genesis, 25 million were allocated to over 100,000 eligible Venice users based on a December 31 snapshot. Another 25 million were distributed to AI community protocol accounts on Base, including Virtuals, agents like Luna, aixbt, and approximately 200 registered Coinbase AgentKit developers. Claims for these tokens expire on March 13. There was no pre-sale of the tokens.
The remaining genesis supply is allocated as follows: 35 million VVV (35%) to Venice, with 10 million (10%) going to the team (25% unlocked upfront, the rest vesting over 24 months), 10 million (10%) to the "Venice Incentive Fund," and 5 million (5%) for liquidity.
Staking and Utility: Accessing the Venice API
Venice will provide liquidity through a public pool on the Base DEX Aerodrome. Users who stake VVV tokens will receive a yield and ongoing access to inference through the Venice API at zero marginal cost. "If you stake 1% of VVV, you get 1% of Venice's growing API capacity, indefinitely," Venice explained. "You do not pay per request." However, the token does not come with governance privileges.
Inflationary Model: Rewarding Stakers and Platform Growth
The VVV token will have an initial inflation rate of 14%, with 14 million new tokens added annually. These new tokens will be distributed to stakers and Venice based on the "Utilization Rate," a metric that measures demand for the Venice API.
Venice's Rapid Growth: 450,000 Users and Counting
Launched in May by Erik Voorhees, the founder and former CEO of ShapeShift, Venice has rapidly grown to over 450,000 registered users and 50,000 daily active users, making over 15,000 inference requests per hour. The platform offers free access to features like multiple leading open-source LLM models, PDF analysis, and image and code generation. Revenue is generated through a pro version that provides higher usage limits and access to additional features, including the topical DeepSeek platform.
The Vision: A Private, Uncensored AI for All
"In a world of growing AI integration into our daily lives, we believe it is crucial that humans are able to interact with machine intelligence without centralized surveillance and control," Voorhees said. "Our mission at Venice is to provide both technical and non-technical users with a private, uncensored, and open-source generative AI. With VVV, we are now enabling AI Agents and developers an easy path to access the same via Venice's API."