Vana (VANA)

Vana (VANA) is a decentralized Layer 1 blockchain enabling user-owned data sovereignty, monetization, and collective AI innovation through secure data transactions and tokenized incentives.

What Is Vana (VANA)?

Vana (VANA) is a decentralized protocol dedicated to data sovereignty, transforming user-owned data into a new digital asset class within the global AI economy. By leveraging blockchain technology, Vana empowers individuals to control, monetize, and collectively manage their data, fostering a user-owned AI ecosystem.

Launched in 2024, Vana operates as an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to restore individual control over personal data and enable user-owned AI through private and secure data transactions at both individual and collective levels. In an era where artificial intelligence derives significant value from user data, Vana ensures that data creators—individuals—capture a fair share of the value generated while enabling researchers to access unique datasets.

As of January 2025, Vana has received $20 million in funding and has supported over 1.3 million users.

An Overview of the Vana Ecosystem

Key components of the Vana network | Source: Vana docs

The Vana ecosystem addresses key challenges in integrating user-owned data into AI applications:

Data Liquidity: Data Liquidity Pools (DLPs) incentivize, aggregate, and cryptographically verify valuable data, liberating it from centralized platforms to advance AI development.
Non-Custodial Data: Vana makes data portable and non-custodial, allowing users to log in with their wallet and access their data seamlessly, similar to managing digital assets.
Open Infrastructure: Originating as an MIT research project in 2018, Vana is entirely open source and operates as a permissionless, decentralized network.

Vana’s Core Features

DataDAOs: Decentralized organizations that pool user-contributed data, allowing individuals to collectively own, manage, and monetize their data for AI and other applications.
Proof of Contribution: Mechanism to ensure data quality within DLPs, rewarding high-quality data contributions and maintaining data integrity.
Validators: Participants responsible for maintaining the security, integrity, and functionality of the Vana Layer 1 blockchain, ensuring proper validation and recording of data transactions.

How to Stake $VANA to Earn DataDAO Rewards

Staking $VANA tokens in DataDAOs is a key way to actively participate in the Vana ecosystem while earning rewards. By staking, you contribute to decentralized data liquidity, support innovative DataDAO projects, and grow your holdings through consistent incentives.

Why Stake in DataDAOs?

Staking in DataDAOs benefits all participants in the Vana ecosystem:

For the Ecosystem:

Drives decentralized growth and scalable network participation.
Enhances liquidity and visibility for competitive DataDAOs.

For DataDAO Creators:

Enables monetization of DataDAOs by attracting stakers.
Provides treasury control for operational funding and incentivizing data contributors.

For Vana Stakers:

Offers consistent rewards based on your stake and staking duration.
Allows you to support DataDAOs that align with your values and goals.

For Data Contributors: Recognizes and rewards high-quality data contributions that fuel the ecosystem.

Steps to Stake $VANA in DataDAOs

Step 1: Select a DataDAO

Browse the DataHub dashboard to choose a DataDAO you wish to support. Consider factors like its purpose, goals, and performance metrics.

Step 2: Stake Your $VANA Tokens

Allocate your desired amount of $VANA tokens to the DataDAO. A minimum of 10,000 $VANA is required to qualify for rewards. The more you stake, the higher the DataDAO's ranking in the ecosystem.

Step 3: Top 16 DataDAO Rankings

Rewards are distributed every 21 days (one Rewards Cycle) to the top 16 DataDAOs. Rankings are based on the total $VANA staked, incentivizing competition and quality.

Step 4: Earn and Claim Rewards

Your rewards are proportional to:

The amount of $VANA staked.
The duration of your stake (longer commitments increase your multiplier effect).
The total stake in the DataDAO you are supporting.

Rewards vest over 21 days at the start of the next Rewards Cycle. You can claim vested rewards incrementally or all at once at your convenience.

Reward Distribution After Staking VANA

To balance incentives, rewards are split evenly between stakers and DataDAO creators:

50% goes to $VANA stakers directly.
50% is managed by DataDAO creators for treasury uses, such as operations and contributor incentives.

Maximize Your Rewards

How to maximize rewards from $VANA staking | Source: Vana docs

Longer Commitments: Extend your staking duration to increase your multiplier effect and maximize rewards.
Smart Staking: Choose DataDAOs with high performance and potential to optimize your earnings.

VANA Token Use Cases and Tokenomics

The VANA token serves as the native utility token within the Vana ecosystem, playing a pivotal role in its operations.

$VANA Token Utility

Network Security: Validators stake $VANA to secure the blockchain, ensuring reliable transaction validation and operational stability.
Transaction Fees: $VANA is used to pay for all network transactions, including data-related operations and smart contract executions.
DataDAO Staking: Users stake $VANA in DataDAOs to support valuable data contributions, with staked tokens determining the top DataDAOs eligible for rewards.
Data Access Currency: Accessing datasets managed by DataDAOs typically requires $VANA, facilitating seamless exchange and interoperability across the ecosystem.
Governance: $VANA holders participate in the decentralized governance of the Vana Network, voting on proposals and influencing key decisions.

VANA Token Distribution

VANA token allocation | Source: Vana docs

The total supply of 120,000,000 $VANA tokens is distributed as follows:

Community: 44.0% allocated to fostering participation and rewarding contributors in the Vana Network.
Ecosystem: 22.9% dedicated to grants and rewards that drive long-term growth of the Vana network.
Core Contributors: 18.8% allocated to the team responsible for the development of the protocol.
Investors: 14.2% allocated to early supporters with a 4-year vesting schedule.

VANA Token Vesting Schedule

Vana vesting schedule | Source: Vana docs

The VANA token vesting schedule is carefully structured to ensure long-term sustainability and alignment among contributors, community members, investors, and ecosystem participants. By implementing staggered release schedules and lock-up periods, the Vana Network promotes steady ecosystem growth and avoids sudden market disruptions.

Category	Allocation	Initial Release at TGE	Lock-up Period	Vesting Period	Fully Unlocked
Core Contributors	22,560,000 $VANA tokens	0%	12 months	Over 48 months (4 years)	60 months (5 years from TGE)
Community	52,800,000 $VANA tokens	20.3% (10,728,000 tokens)	None	Over 36 months (3 years)	36 months
Investors	17,040,000 $VANA tokens	0%	12 months	Over 36 months (3 years)	48 months (4 years from TGE)
Ecosystem	27,480,000 $VANA tokens	4.8% (1,319,040 tokens)	None	Over 48 months (4 years)	48 months

Vana’s Roadmap and Phases

VANA emissions are structured to align with the network’s growth trajectory, distributed across four 6-month phases:

Phase 1: Build Data Liquidity (0-6 months)

Focus: Bringing data contributors and DataDAOs; incentivizing DataDAOs and onboarding users.
Emissions: Directed to DataDAO creators and early data contributors to bootstrap adoption.

Phase 2: Accelerate AI Innovation and Applications (6-12 months)

Focus: Encouraging the creation of AI agents with collectively owned models.
Emissions: Incorporating fee revenue to fund emissions; rewards for high-value data contributors and developers creating new AI applications.

Phase 3: Decentralization and Governance (12-18 months)

Focus: Transitioning to community governance and increasing user rewards.
Emissions: Tapering emissions, relying more on transaction fees; enabling community-driven control over rewards and key parameters.

Phase 4: Network Expansion (18-24 months)

Focus: Driving ecosystem sustainability and improving cross-DLP integrations.
Emissions: Shifting to demand-driven rewards with steady-state deflation.

Conclusion

Vana represents a significant advancement in integrating user-owned data and AI, offering individuals a groundbreaking opportunity to control, monetize, and collectively manage their data across decentralized platforms. By combining blockchain technology, privacy-preserving mechanisms, and tokenized incentives, Vana enables participants to unlock the value of their data while fostering collaboration through DataDAOs and decentralized governance. Its innovative approach to data sovereignty and community engagement positions the protocol as a key enabler in the evolving AI-driven economy.