Zenpower Golden Path: Launch Strategy

Last updated 31 Dec 2025, 16:08

Document: Strategic Launch Guide for ZENCOIN and ZEN$ Ecosystem Created: 2025-12-31 Status: Approved Plan Related: DEFI_ROADMAP.md, KEY_MANAGEMENT.md

Executive Summary

This document defines the "Golden Path" - the strategic launch approach for Zenpower's dual-coin cryptocurrency ecosystem. It addresses chain selection, wallet security, bridging strategy, risk mitigation, and progressive decentralization.

Key Decisions:

Decision Choice
Canonical Chain Arbitrum (largest L2 ecosystem, DeFi composability, V4 ready)
NFT Chain Base L2 (Coinbase onboarding, existing PunkSeed/ConsentBeads)
Liquidity Chain Ethereum mainnet (deep liquidity, prestige)
Bridge Tech Native bridges (Phase 1), LayerZero (Phase 2, 6+ months)
Wallet Security Ledger Nano X + 48-hour timelock + Shamir's Secret backup
Launch TVL Cap $25,000 initial, gradual increase over 6 months
Bug Bounty 200,000 ZENCOIN (1% of supply)
Community Model "Grand Forge Opening" - everyone earns equally, no token sale

Part 1: Chain Architecture

Multi-Chain Strategy Overview

Arbitrum (Canonical) ────────────────────────────
   ZENCOIN.sol (canonical token)
   TheForge.sol (minting)
   ZenpowerGovernor.sol (governance)
   ZenpowerTreasury.sol (treasury)
   ZenFarming.sol (LP rewards)
   ZenTreasuryHook.sol (V4 swap fees)
         │
         │ LayerZero / native bridge
         ▼
Base L2 (NFT & Retail) ──────────────────────────
   ZENCOIN (bridged)
   PunkSeed.sol (identity NFT)
   ConsentBeads.sol (consent tokens)
   Retail user onboarding via Coinbase
         │
         │ native bridge
         ▼
Ethereum Mainnet (Deep Liquidity) ───────────────
   ZENCOIN (bridged)
   ZENCOIN/ETH pool
   ZENCOIN/USDC pool
   Institutional liquidity

Primary: Arbitrum (Canonical Home)

Rationale:

  • Largest L2 by TVL and ecosystem
  • Most DeFi protocols deployed (composability)
  • Battle-tested with live fraud proofs
  • Uniswap V4 priority deployment chain
  • Stylus support for future Rust contracts

Contracts to Deploy on Arbitrum:

  • ZENCOIN.sol (canonical token)
  • TheForge.sol (minting mechanism)
  • ZenpowerGovernor.sol (governance)
  • ZenpowerTreasury.sol (treasury)
  • ZenFarming.sol (LP rewards)
  • ZenTreasuryHook.sol (V4 swap fees)

Secondary: Base L2 (NFT & Retail Layer)

Rationale:

  • PunkSeed & ConsentBeads already configured for Base
  • Coinbase wallet integration for retail onboarding
  • Lower barrier for non-DeFi users
  • Gaming/social features for casual users

Contracts on Base:

  • ZENCOIN (bridged from Arbitrum)
  • PunkSeed.sol (identity NFT)
  • ConsentBeads.sol (consent tokens)

Tertiary: Ethereum Mainnet (Liquidity Layer)

Purpose: Deep liquidity pools for larger holders and institutions

Deploy via bridge:

  • ZENCOIN (bridged from Arbitrum)
  • Major liquidity pools (ZENCOIN/ETH, ZENCOIN/USDC)

Bridge Strategy

Phase 1 (Launch): Native bridges only

  • Arbitrum ↔ Ethereum: Native Arbitrum bridge (7-day withdrawal)
  • Base ↔ Ethereum: Native Base bridge (7-day withdrawal)
  • No third-party trust assumptions

Phase 2 (6+ months): Add LayerZero

  • Arbitrum ↔ Base direct bridge (faster UX)
  • Only after TVL stable and no incidents
  • Enables Optimism/other L2 expansion

Deployment Sequence

Week 0:  Deploy to Arbitrum Sepolia testnet
Week 2:  Deploy bridged ZENCOIN to Base Sepolia
Week 4:  Deploy to Arbitrum mainnet (canonical)
Week 6:  Bridge ZENCOIN to Base mainnet
Week 8:  Establish Arbitrum→Ethereum native bridge
Week 12: Create Ethereum mainnet liquidity pool
Month 6: Add LayerZero for Arbitrum↔Base direct

Part 2: Risk Mitigation

Technical Risk Controls

Conservative TVL Limits:

Day 1-30:    Max TVL $25,000
Day 31-90:   Max TVL $50,000
Day 91-180:  Max TVL $100,000
Month 6+:    Gradual increase based on security track record

Circuit Breakers (to implement):

  • Daily withdrawal limit: 10% of TVL
  • Hourly withdrawal limit: 2% of TVL
  • Auto-pause if >50% TVL drained in 24 hours

Bug Bounty Program:

Severity ZENCOIN Reward USD Equivalent
Critical 100,000 ~$10-50k
High 25,000 ~$2.5-12.5k
Medium 5,000 ~$500-2.5k
Low 1,000 ~$100-500

Total Fund: 200,000 ZENCOIN (1% of supply)

Regulatory Risk Controls

Token Classification Defense:

  • ZENCOIN earned through effort, not purchased
  • No profit-sharing or dividends
  • Governance rights only within ecosystem
  • Obtain legal opinion before launch

Geographic Restrictions:

  • US: Soft restriction (no marketing, no KYC <$10k)
  • NY, TX, AL: Full KYC if touched
  • Sanctioned countries: Hard block (OFAC list)

Recommended Legal Entity: Wyoming DAO LLC

Economic Risk Controls

Anti-Manipulation (in TheForge.sol):

  • MIN_ZEN_COST: 10 ZEN$ minimum
  • MAX_ZENCOIN_REWARD: 100 ZENCOIN per forge
  • MAX_CONCURRENT_FORGES: 3 per user
  • Backend attestation required (EIP-712)

Anti-Whale:

  • No direct purchase possible
  • All tokens earned through Forge
  • Consider: Maximum 1% supply per wallet

Part 3: The Forge Path Economics

Forge Path Efficiency

Path Reward Duration Efficiency
GOVERNANCE 3 ZENCOIN 7 days 0.43/day (highest)
CREATION 2 ZENCOIN 14 days 0.14/day
TEACHING 1.5 ZENCOIN 21 days 0.07/day
LABOR 1 ZENCOIN 30 days 0.03/day
KINDNESS 0.5 ZENCOIN 60 days 0.008/day (lowest)

Key Insight: KINDNESS is economically inefficient on purpose. People who choose it are demonstrating genuine values, making KINDNESS path a signal, not an exploitation vector.

Anti-Gaming Mechanisms

  1. Rate Limiting: Max 3 concurrent Forges
  2. Cross-Verification: Kindness Queue requires 2 confirmations
  3. Anomaly Detection: Backend pattern analysis
  4. Community Policing: Public leaderboards show who's forging what
  5. Economic Disincentive: KINDNESS is least efficient path

Part 4: Community Building (Without Capital)

The "Grand Forge Opening" (Not Token Sale)

  • Everyone starts at zero (including Prophet)
  • No pre-mine, no insider allocation
  • First ZENCOIN minted publicly, transparently
  • Early users get "Founder" badge (cosmetic only)

Developer Attraction Strategy

"Sweat Equity" Program:

  • Contributors earn ZEN$ immediately
  • ZEN$ converts to ZENCOIN via Forge
  • No special grants - everyone earns same way

Bounty-First Development:

  • Post specific tasks with ZEN$ rewards
  • Code review bounties
  • Documentation bounties
  • Security bounties

Technical Ambassador Program:

  • First 10 contributors get "Pioneer" status
  • Pioneer status = 2x Forge rate for first year
  • Pioneers become Ethics Board candidates

Press Strategy

Lead with: "The game that pays you to be kind"

  • Frame as gaming innovation, not crypto
  • Lead with Kindness Queue, MUD world, companions
  • Crypto is infrastructure, not headline

Part 5: Progressive Decentralization

Stage 0: Prophet Control (Launch - 3 months)

  • Prophet holds all admin keys
  • All actions public with 48-hour delay
  • Community observes but cannot control
  • Focus: Stability, bug fixing

Stage 1: Shared Oversight (3-6 months)

  • Ethics Board elected (5 seats)
  • Ethics Board can veto (not propose)
  • Prophet retains execution authority

Stage 2: Shared Control (6-12 months)

  • Governance proposals enabled
  • Prophet becomes one vote (large but not controlling)
  • Treasury requires 2-of-3 multisig

Stage 3: Community Control (12-24 months)

  • Prophet admin keys transferred to DAO
  • Prophet remains as single signer on multisig
  • All changes require governance vote

Stage 4: Full Decentralization (24+ months)

  • Prophet renounces special roles
  • Multi-sig becomes 3-of-5 community members
  • Prophet becomes regular token holder

Part 6: Launch Phases

Phase 0: Pre-Launch (January 2026)

Tasks:

  • Run Slither static analysis
  • Run Mythril symbolic execution
  • Deploy to Base Sepolia testnet
  • Set up bug bounty program
  • Obtain legal opinion (token classification)
  • Procure hardware wallets
  • Document Shamir's Secret distribution

Success Criteria:

  • All Slither high/medium findings addressed
  • 100+ fuzz test iterations pass
  • 10+ external testers on testnet
  • Legal opinion received

Phase 1: Soft Launch (February 2026)

Actions:

  1. Deploy to Base mainnet
  2. Enable KINDNESS Forge path only (lowest risk, 60 days)
  3. TVL cap: $25,000
  4. Announce via community channels

Success Criteria:

  • 10+ successful Forge completions
  • No critical bugs
  • Positive community sentiment

Rollback Plan: Pause contracts, return ZEN$ via off-chain mechanism

Phase 2: Governance Launch (March 2026)

Actions:

  1. Deploy Governor and Treasury
  2. Transfer admin to timelock
  3. Open Ethics Board nominations

Success Criteria:

  • First proposal passes with quorum
  • 5+ Ethics Board candidates

Phase 3: Liquidity Launch (April 2026)

Actions:

  1. Deploy ZenFarming
  2. Bridge to Ethereum mainnet
  3. Create ZENCOIN/ETH pool
  4. Enable LP farming

Success Criteria:

  • $50k+ TVL in pools
  • 20+ LP addresses
  • Price discovery without manipulation

Phase 4: Full Ecosystem (Q3-Q4 2026)

Actions:

  1. Ethics Board seated
  2. All Forge paths enabled
  3. Bug bounty fund replenished
  4. Consider external audit if TVL > $500k

Part 7: Immediate Action Items

  1. Procure Hardware Wallets: Ledger Nano X + Nano S Plus
  2. Set Up Shamir's Secret: Distribute 5 shares securely (see KEY_MANAGEMENT.md)
  3. Run Security Analysis: Slither + Mythril on all contracts
  4. Deploy Testnet: Base Sepolia with full contract suite
  5. Legal Opinion: Engage crypto counsel for token classification
  6. Bug Bounty Setup: Create program page, fund allocation plan
  7. Community Announcement: "Grand Forge Opening" coming Q1 2026

The Builder's Dilemma: Resolution

The concerns addressed by this strategy:

  1. Technical failure risk - Conservative TVL limits, circuit breakers, bug bounty
  2. Regulatory/legal exposure - Legal opinion, geographic restrictions, DAO LLC
  3. Economic design failure - Anti-manipulation in contracts, Forge path economics
  4. Solo founder burden - Progressive decentralization, Ethics Board, Shamir's backup

The Golden Path Resolution:

Risk Mitigation
Transparency 48-hour delays make everything public
Limited downside $25k initial TVL cap
Community jury Bug bounty and dispute resolution
Succession Shamir's Secret + Ethics Board backup
Shared control 24-month path to full decentralization

Critical Files

File Purpose Chain
/opt/zenpower/contracts/src/ZENCOIN.sol Hard currency token (21M cap) Arbitrum
/opt/zenpower/contracts/src/TheForge.sol ZEN$ -> ZENCOIN mechanism Arbitrum
/opt/zenpower/contracts/src/ZenpowerTreasury.sol 48-hour timelock treasury Arbitrum
/opt/zenpower/contracts/src/ZenpowerGovernor.sol DAO governance Arbitrum
/opt/zenpower/contracts/src/amm/ZenFarming.sol LP rewards Arbitrum
/opt/zenpower/contracts/src/amm/ZenTreasuryHook.sol V4 swap fees Arbitrum
/opt/zenpower/apps/punk-contracts/PunkSeed.sol Identity NFT Base L2
/opt/zenpower/apps/punk-contracts/ConsentBeads.sol Consent tokens Base L2
/opt/zenpower/docs/tokenomics/TOKENOMICS.md Economic design -
/opt/zenpower/docs/status/DEFI_ROADMAP.md DeFi roadmap -
/opt/zenpower/docs/security/KEY_MANAGEMENT.md Wallet security -

"What if being kind was the optimal strategy?" - You're about to find out.