The Token Warrant will be for companies who might wish to issue tokens to investors as a sweetener for making an equity investment in a funding round, or perhaps to an advisor in return for services. You also dont have your tokenomics established yet either. If youre the founder of a web3 startup looking to attract venture capital investors, issuing token warrants could help you translate your protocol or dApps tokens into equity that fuels your startups growth. Scenario 1: 20% allocation of tokens for the company and insiders (founders, employees, company treasury), Scenario 2: 60% allocation of tokens for the company and insiders (founders, employees, company treasury). (In our template, available to download below, we chose to go with the pro-rata formula based on contributors allocation, meaning that the base for the calculation is not the entire token pool, but the part that is used for distribution to the core contributors. www.sec.gov Restrictions on Tokens. The SAFT and SAFTE (simple agreement for future tokens or equity) have largely fallen out of favor in the United States due to legal risk and violations of securities laws. Therefore, a detailed White Paper with a description of token use cases, tokenomics, and token distribution plans is necessary to prepare a fully-fledged SAFT. Investors then buy tokens directly from the Token SPV, which is the actual issuer and has the right to sell them under a permit received from the regulator. There are differences between token side letters and token warrants depending on the legalese. Many web3 companies develop their own crypto tokens as part of a blockchain-based project, and these companies can theoretically mint as many tokens as they want. SEFToken Inc., started the new year by announcing a new form of tokenized instrument a covered warrant. A covered warrant is an instrument, similar to an option, that gives the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying security at a certain price, up until a predetermined date. Until a token launch, there is always some non-zero chance that tokens may never be issued. Developed Nations. WebA token warrant agreement, commonly referred to as simply a token warrant and also known as a token purchase right, is a document often used by Web3 projects to attract These tokens are used, similar to game credits at an arcade or tickets at a theme park, for interacting with decentralized applications (dApp). The mechanics surrounding early-stage investment in company equity is a well-worn pursuit, honed over decades since HBS professor George Doriot raised a $3.5 million fund to invest in technology companies back in 1946. Please issue and deliver the Warrant Tokens to Holder at the network address set forth below. Understand how much negotiating leverage you have when fundraising, and whether you need founder-friendly terms or investor-preferred terms for the token side letter to close the deal. EthSign TokenTable Beta Launch. We are excited to announce WebUnless otherwise stated herein, this Token Sale Agreement governs only your purchase of Tokens. Warrant Cryptocurrency Compensation: A Primer on Token-Based Awards Consult with your legal counsel on whether the SAFT or SAFTE is appropriate for your fundraising. It held $11.5 million on crypto exchange FTX and has written that down to zero, but expects to receive some sort of compensation in the future. Cryptocurrency Emerging Countries. It gives investors the right to purchase a portion of tokens during the initial token sale, as well as fixes the price of the tokens. |. Token Warrants Investors have one alternative that, as of May 2022, is growing in popularity amongst web3 venture funds the token warrant. For the avoidance of doubt, in the event of any increase in the Total Network Tokens following a Token Launch, (i) Holder's Portion with respect to such Tokens shall be recalculated to take into account such increase. Legal Due Diligence of a Web3 startup A Web3 startup needs to prepare several legal documents and materials for its project to negotiate with venture capital firms (VCs) successfully. Learn all you need to know to fundraise with SAFTs and get a free SAFT template from Legal Nodes. Messaging app Telegram was forced to return US$1.2 billion and pay the SEC an $18.5 million penalty because its native tokens, GRAMS, were found to violate federal securities laws. Chief among these mechanisms are ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), SAFTs (Simple Agreements for Future Tokens) and token warrants, the last of which well explore in this guide. Issued on ____________, 2022 (the " Issue Date"). Welcome to Legal Nodes Playbook for Founders. "_ Fully Diluted Percentage _" means, with respect to a Holder, the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the total number of Common Stock then issuable (directly or indirectly) upon the conversion of Preferred Stock of the Company, as if converted, by (b) the total Common Stock of the Company then outstanding (assuming (i) full conversion of all Preferred Stock then outstanding, and treating for this purpose all Common Stock issuable upon exercise of or conversion of outstanding options, warrants or convertible securities, as if exercised or converted and (ii) without duplication, issuance of all shares reserved but unissued under the Company's equity incentive plan(s)). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, " Transfer " shall include entering into any short position, any "put equivalent position," "call equivalent position", option or contract to sell or purchase, or swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic or other consequences of ownership of any Tokens, in each case, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such Tokens, other virtual currencies or virtual mediums of exchange, in cash, or otherwise. For example, in the case of Maple, below, a seed investor who owns 10% of Maples equity would receive 2.6% of its tokens (10% x 26%). As soon as practicable on or after such date, and in any event within two (2) Business Days following such date of exercise, the Company shall issue and deliver, or cause to be issued and delivered, to the Person or Persons entitled to receive the same the Tokens issuable upon such exercise. require an accommodating regulatory climate for their issuance and distribution, a DevLab may not always be the most suitable vehicle for token issuance. This, in turn, can be reflected in the token sale agreement in the process of structuring the investment round or specified in the DAO Constitution, which is similar to a shareholders agreement in traditional Web2 investing. Unlike SAFTs, Either way, the important part is that the DevLab is excluded from any token matters to avoid any unnecessary regulatory risks. But, as with all things crypto (and equity, for that matter), you wont want to dive in blindly. These Warrants will be under lockup for 181 days starting from 1-SEP-2022 to | Certain Warrants of bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. are subject to a Lock-Up Agreement Ending on 1-MAR-2023. Web3 startups can use funds from the sale of SAFT to develop their project, mint their tokens, and issue their tokens to investors who have an expectation that there will be a secondary market to sell these tokens to. Use valuation benchmarks to get a sense of what valuation range makes sense. In summary, it is also worth noting that when a SAFT is used as a tool to attract investment for a Web3 startup, it should be used in conjunction with three additional tools: If any of these three criteria are missing, Web3 founders may wish to consider the SAFE + token warrant/token side letter option described above. What Is a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT)? Webtoken undertaking vow warrant warranty word word of honor guarantees nounpledge, promise agreements assurances attestations bails bargains bonds certainties certificates certifications charters collaterals contracts covenants Notwithstanding the foregoing, "Tokens" shall not include tokens created for testing purposes or any NFTs issued in the ordinary course of business in arms' length transactions. All Tokens distributed to or received by Holder pursuant hereto shall be subject to a mandatory Lockup Period. Unlike SAFTs, these token warrants typically come in the form of an optional side letter and dont guarantee the deployment of tokens - therefore avoiding the legal complications faced by its predecessor. This happens either when the Token SPV is registered or some time before the token generation event. As a founder, you want to communicate the nature of the business, and how value may accrue to either the tokens, equity, or both token and equity. Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement. Heres why: Registration of the DevLab outside of the U.S. usually means that the applicable laws will be a bit more flexible and a bit more certain; outside US jurisdiction, the risk of tokens being considered securities tends to be lower and so DevLabs are free to be partially involved in the distribution of tokens. District Metals Corp. ; has closed its previously announced brokered private placement financing pursuant to an agency agreement with PI Financial Corp. and Haywood Securities Inc. , raising | March 3, 2023 Depending on where the DevLab is incorporated, the following scenarios will unfold:. As such, Jet Token shareholders are expected to receive total mixed consideration of $105 million, or $0.72/per Jet Token share. Watch this clip from our "Fundraising for Web3 Projects" talk that covers token sale agreements and their use in more detail: If the Web3 founders of the project plan to decentralize its ownership and governance by launching a DAO in the future, it will be important for the investor to understand exactly how the members of the DAO will be selected, and how exactly the governance rights for these DAO members will be structured, as the investor is likely to apply to participate in the DAO themselves. With it, the purchaser pre-pays for tokens that havent been released yet and the company uses that money to develop the tokens. Ideally you will have thought about and planned for the following aspects of your tokens lifecycle. a clearly defined date for issuing tokens, or a specified event that will be a trigger in the SAFT for the issuance of tokens and their transfer to investors. The regulatory landscape in the US is still under development, which causes some regulatory uncertainty, particularly concerning the legal status of tokens in the U.S., as well as the high risk of tokens being considered as securities. Warrant Tokens "_ Person _" means any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, association or other entity. I co-authored this article with Joseph Perkins, Mark Janoff, and Robert Moore. If you plan to allocate a large percentage of the tokens to the company, it may be better to use the conversion rate methodology. If the DevLab is registered in the U.S. a founder should strongly consider using a standard SAFE document. Three main types of managing the pro-rata rights of the token supply: Each of the pro-rata right methods has its advantages and disadvantages for the company or the investors. in equity but in a web3 startups native tokens - an instrument that doesnt come with the same regulatory clarity? Oxbridge Announces Filing of SPAC Business Combination Agreement. District Metals Announces Closing of $3 Million Brokered Private Warrants Make sure to be clear with the investors on the value of the equity and the tokens together so that you dont end up with the wrong token side letter terms, or delay closing the deal because of misalignment on valuations. Therefore, in some cases, the token side letter may look more appealing to investors compared to the token warrant, as it will not involve any additional payments to receive tokens later. Thus, if the rules of the DAO will provide for the issuance of governance tokens for its members or the receipt of Liquidity Provider (LP) tokens by existing tokenholders who have staked project tokens, investors will want to reserve the rights to the governance/LP tokens to become DAO members and participate in the future in its governance. You should not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, trading, financial, or other advice., If youre considering fundraising options for your Web3 projects, youll most likely find yourself in one of the three following, rather common, scenarios:, Scenario 1: Youre at the beginning of developing your project and havent yet registered a token company (i.e. Blockchain technology has enabled a number of new equity types that may change the future face of startup financing. Token A simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT) is an investment contract offered by cryptocurrency developers to accredited investors. Fortunately, Pulley makes it easy to track both traditional equity and tokens in the same place., With Pulley, you can create a single source of truth that allows you to issue, track, and record all token agreements and token sales the same way you do with your equity agreements. |, Title:(please print or type full title) | Otherwise, the United States is likely to face a brain drain at a time when it can ill afford it. WebEfficient and speed After both stakeholders have signed, the SAFT token warrant agreement can be developed as a smart contract and accomplished automatically. Check out our token side letter, token warrant and simple agreement for future tokens templates. This could be done as soon as the Token SPV is incorporated. This eradicates the need for the agreement to be validated by a lawyer. The transaction contemplates an enterprise value of approximately $45 million for Jet Token, and additional earnout warrants with a Black Scholes valuation of $60 million. Heres why: in the case of the token warrant, its signatory is NOT responsible for the conversion event and thus does not sell tokens. Equity term sheets are relatively standard, and today, when funds invest in an early-stage company, they typically use an instrument such as a convertible or a SAFE note (secure agreement for future equity) the latter popularized by Y-Combinator. "_ Insider Reserved Percentage _" means the percentage of the Total Network Tokens, in the aggregate, reserved for issuance to Insiders in connection with the applicable Token Launch. Depending on the business and how it leverages the tokens into the business model, investors will value the equity and tokens accordingly. WebIts not just vanilla SAFEs anymore, its all manner of complicated token and warrant agreements. Choosing a Web3 Fundraising Document in 2023: a Playbook for While not the same, properly drafted token side letters and warrants are intended to achieve the same outcome and are used interchangeably for this article. In cases where the investor expects to get not only the future tokens, but also the shares of the company, founders should consider using a simple agreement for future tokens and equity (SAFTE) instead of a SAFT. The two primary documents used for fundraising as a crypto company are: At LiquiFi, weve observed that the SAFE with the Token Side Letter has emerged as the preferred fundraising strategy due to the flexibility and other benefits they offer to the company and the investors. For startups in the early stage of development, many investors will suggest or even expect the startup to structure their investment by signing a SAFE or other regular equity convertible instrument (Convertible Note, Advanced Subscription Agreement, etc.). You should not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, trading, financial, or other advice. Legal Nodes LTD is not an attorney or a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Crypto Fundraising with Token Side Letters or Token Warrants SAFTs are often used for seed-stage fundraising in crypto and Web3 projects. This is different from token warrants, which will usually be assigned from the DevLab to the Token SPV by the time the tokens are initially issued. This is speculative and due in part to 1) token warrants optionality, and 2) the fact that the SEC has specifically called out issues with SAFTs promise to deliver future tokens to investors. For example, say 20% of all tokens are allocated to investors. It does not take into account the specifics of all national frameworks and infrastructure of all existing blockchain protocols. Automatic vesting ensures that tokens are seamlessly moved to connected wallet addresses upon vesting, and token holders can access advanced views that help them track the projected future value of their tokens. Learn more at our website at liquifi.finance. The latter can be seen as riskier due to the unknown token allocations that have yet to be made. How do you know if your tokenomics is ready? The use of Tokens in connection with the Platform may be governed by other A SAFE is a sort of investment contract that an early-stage startup makes with an investor, in which the investor agrees to pay money now and receive shares of company stock later. "_ Transfer " means: (x) the direct or indirect sale, assignment, delegation, pledge, charge, lending, hypothecation, creation of a swap or other derivative with respect to, or transfer or disposition of, any Token or any interest, right, claim, obligation or liability with respect to any Token; or (y) a Holder entering into or becoming subject to a contract, agreement or understanding, written or oral, contemplating or relating to any of the foregoing.