$VEE Token in a Nutshell
Empowering the SmartNFT Ecosystem: How $VEE Token Drives Innovation for Major Brands like VISA
TL;DR
In 2015, Reeve Collins, after selling Tether to Bitfinex, co-founded BLOCKv with Lukas Fluri and Gunther Thiel, aiming to revolutionize digital asset tokenization. Their innovation, vAtom, designed for tokenizing collectibles and tickets, led to a successful $20 million ICO in 2017. The strategic acquisition of BLOCKv Solutions by SmartMedia Technologies (SMT) in October 2022 consolidated BLOCKv's technology and the VEE token at the core of SMT's tech stack. This integration has propelled significant partnerships with major brands such as Vodafone, NBA, Pepsi, and X Games. In January 2024, SMT announced a major partnership with VISA, leveraging BLOCKv technology to serve VISA's 80 million merchants globally. As of May 2024, SMT has rebranded vAtom to SmartNFT Protocol and introduced a new roadmap that includes the launch of SmartNFTLabs. This initiative underscores their commitment to expanding the integration of BLOCKv technology and the $VEE token within the broader Web3 developer ecosystem.
START HERE!
Before you dive into that document, take 7 minutes to watch the following short videos and grasp the core concepts behind BLOCKv without requiring any technical knowledge.
SmartNFTs vs LegacyNFTs
A LegacyNFT (ERC-721) is a tokenID on a smart contract that the owner controls with his wallet. Usually, the NFT points to a JSON file on IPFS to store the NFT data (image and attributes). The owner’s wallet will display the image and show the attributes; the owner can transfer the NFT to another person or a marketplace. That’s about it.
A SmartNFT (formerly known as a vAtom) is a tokenID on the SmartNFT Protocol managed off-chain by BLOCKv. Advanced NFT data can be stored inside that protocol to give extra dynamic properties, for example, the Geo Location of the NFT or the real-world asset it can be redeemed for. With a brain attached to the NFT, it can now react to events and actions like interactions on a social network and update its data accordingly to predefined terms. Instead of only viewing a simple image and attributes, the owner can have an advanced dynamic experience with 3D content and a dynamic HTML page displayed inside the NFT (quiz, game, sweepstake, you name it…).
Because SmartNFTs are by default off-chain, their cost is very low (2 cents in USD) and doesn’t consume any gas fee or force legal compliance nightmares. But SmartNFTs are also interoperable; the owner can decide to mint the SmartNFT into a LegacyNFT on one of the supported blockchains to get an ERC-721 instead. That LegacyNFT can be manipulated like any regular ERC-721 NFT, viewed inside MetaMask or sold on OpenSea. But at any time, the owner of the LegacyNFT can swap it back for the SmartNFT to get the full experience.
The easiest way to get familiar with SmartNFTs is to have a look at some of the campaigns run by many of the Fortune 500 companies over the past 5 years.
Key Points
Metrics
45 Million SmartNFTs Created
9.8 Million Wallets Created
520 Million Transactions
324 Million VEE Consumed
Selling Points
Web 2.5 for an easy transition of Web2 businesses into Web3
Focus on user engagement
Scale with real cost control
Key Features
Allow Off-chain and On-chain SmartNFTs
AR Scavenger Hunt
Blockchain Agnostic
Digital Goods
Digital Out-of-home Integration (DOOH)
Distribution Multi-Channels: Text Message, Email, Social, QR Code
Economy of Engagement (Loyalty)
Geo-Drops
Real World Assets (RWA) / Phygital
Redeemable
Reward Social Sharing and Engagement
Partnerships: Reel Brands Use Cases
(Links to Relevant Press Releases or Blog Posts)
Bagatelle
Ebay Motors
GoodLife Fitness
Gucci
Infosys
Lavazza
P&G
Tide
Yahoo!
VISA Partnership
Announcement
The partnership between Smart Media Technologies and VISA was announced by VISA on their website and SMT on Linkedin in January 2024 and relayed by Paul Barron Network on Youtube (103,000 views) bringing a lot of newcomers into VEE.
Reeve Collins also made a reel on Instagram providing some additional details:
SMT will be VISA's Web3 Loyalty Wallet Provider on a Global Level
This is huge for SMT as VISA has over 80 million merchants globally that are going to roll out their technology
They worked very diligently for two years to make this happen; this absolutely does not happen overnight
It’s going to bring Web3 into mainstream adoption
People interacting with this technology are not going to know that it’s Web3; it’s just a term for digital objects in the wallet
VISA merchants will give loyalty rewards, a next generation style of rewards and points that are more interactive and engaging and interoperable
People are going to be able to easily exchange rewards from one merchant for points of a different merchant
It’s going to bring loyalty rewards to the next generation
With a market cap of 550 billion USD, VISA is the 14th largest company in the world.
What the partnership means for $VEE
80 million merchants will be able to create SmartNFTs using the SmartNFT Protocol created by BLOCKv Solutions and acquired by Smart Media Technology to build their technology.
All the conditions that apply to any SmartNFT created on the protocol are going to apply to SmartNFTs created by those merchants or any other partnership between SMT and other brands.
Read the Tokenomics to understand the implications for VEE.
Merchants using the VISA integration with SMT
Roadmap
Q2.24: Launch of SmartNFT Labs
Q2.24: VEE Tokenomics v2
Q3.24: Developer Portal v2
Q3.24: Update to Token Staking Feature
Q4.24: SmartNFT Blockchain Update
Q4.24: New Fungible and Non-Fungible Token Features
Utility Token Details
Ticker: VEE
Max Supply: 3,646,271,241
Circulating Supply: 3,646,271,241 (100%)
Exchanges
DEXes
CEXes
Currently not listed on any CEX
Bittrex: was listed until exchange closed in 2023
Was listed on OKX and if I recall correctly on Poloniex back in the days
Tokenomics
Update expected in Q2.24
Cost: Creating a SmartNFT costs $USD 0.02, paid in VEE based on the current token market price.
Payment Options: Creators have the option to pay in $USD. The equivalent amount of VEE is then purchased on the open market to facilitate ease of use.
Staking Benefits: By staking VEE, participants can share 50% of the fees generated from SmartNFT creations with other stakers.
$VEE Ecosystem
Smart Media Technologies
Manages major accounts like VISA and Vodafone
Primarily an advertising firm with roots in the ad industry
150 employees including
Tyler Moebius: CEO
Gunther Thiel: CTO and BLOCKv Co-Founder
Reeve Collins: BLOCKv Co-Founder
Lukas Fluri: BLOCKv Co-Founder
BlockV
Founding Team
Lukas Fluri: Co-Founder and current CEO
Reeve Collins: Co-Founder
Gunther Thiel: Co-Founder
Location: Zug, Switzerland
Developer Portal: Previously abandoned in 2019; refresh expected in Q3.2024
Social Media: Youtube, Telegram, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Discord, Reddit
SmartNFTLabs
Website (placeholder until Q2.24)
Dedicated to developers working with the SmartNFT Protocol
Team: Currently unknown
Expected to be functional in Q2.2024 as per the new roadmap
Vatom
CEO & Founder: Eric Pulier
Head of Product: Ashish Vaid, a veteran from the early days of BLOCKv
Platform in development with several components
Wallet: Vatom app on mobile
Studio: Manages SmartNFTs campaigns
Marketplace: For SmartNFTs, akin to OpenSea
Virtual Spaces: Conceptualized as a type of Metaverse
API
Current Uncertainties: It remains unclear whether both BLOCKv and SmartNFTLabs will offer a DIY platform. More information is anticipated in the coming months.
Understanding the VEE ecosystem
In a recent interview from March 2023, Reeve Collins delves into the creation of BLOCKv and SMT and discusses how the token VEE integrates into the ecosystem.
Below are some interesting excerpts along with their timestamps for reference:
25:26 | In 2015, Reeve had just sold Tether to Bitfinex and wanted to create a technology to tokenize things like collectibles and tickets, as NFT wasn't even a term back then.
26:21 | They called it vAtom instead of NFT because NFT was too nerdy, and vAtom meant Virtual Atom—the equivalent of physical atoms but in the digital world.
26:27 | They wanted vAtoms to be highly programmable, not just JPEGs on the blockchain. They raised a couple million dollars and built the tech up to 2017 when the ICO craze started, and they called it BLOCKv.
27:43 | They did an ICO in October 2017, raised 22 million dollars, and the VEE token was born.
28:32 | BLOCKv delivered on its promises and the technology is still in use today. They failed at marketing because they didn't realize that marketing mattered a lot more than the tech to have a high valuation.
28:55 | VEE didn't 20X because they failed at marketing and it was also the end of the ICO bubble.
29:55 | The success of the organic growth of Tether without any marketing framed them in the wrong way to succeed with a high ICO valuation. It was all about organized groups to pump their token price back then, and they didn't do that at all.
30:39 | Instead of doing marketing, they built some amazing tech.
31:30 | To leverage the tech, one of the brains of BLOCKv (Eric Pulier) started Vatom.com and Reeve started Smart Media Technologies (SMT).
31:42 | SMT is today the largest Enterprise Web3 platform and has deals with the biggest enterprises in the world. They provide an infrastructure wallet and the ability to create NFTs and Metaverse environments. They are leading the charge in the Web 3.0 movement for large brands and organizations to connect to their consumers on a one-to-one level through the wallet.
32:17 | Web 1 and 2's killer app was email and in Web 3 it's the wallet. Instead of sending you annoying marketing emails, in Web 3 brands can send you cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
33:00 | NFT "JPEGs" were mostly hype and speculation, but they drove a lot of awareness in the space and now people know what a wallet is.
33:51 | Before that, only gamers understood the value of a digital inventory, now everyone does, and brands can use this shift in consumer behavior to deliver value directly in their wallets.
34:12 | Brands are going to directly market to consumers instead of paying billions of dollars to middlemen like Google, Facebook, and Apple.
35:14 | The future of loyalty programs is with programmable NFTs that brands send to your wallet and give you value, like a discount on a product if you share it with five friends.
36:27 | NFTs are not dead, but NFT 1.0 (selling JPEGs) might be.
36:44 | If you get an NFT from a brand that represents something like a pair of Nike shoes, even if you don't like it, you can still trade it for something else or put it on a marketplace. You can't do that with basic loyalty points.
38:39 | Centralization offers a ton of value but can be corrupt, fraudulent, etc., but it has ease of use.
39:13 | Decentralization is further away, first people are going to log in to websites and have a custodial wallet with all their "stuff."
39:53 | Web 3 version 1.0 is centralized companies deploying decentralized technology.
40:38 | Loyalty programs and ticketing and all this stuff don't need to be decentralized.
40:44 | Consumer behavior has shifted since Covid, and now people understand wallets and QR codes. Scan something and instead of going to a website, you're going to receive a digital asset (NFT) that has some value.
41:09 | First, people are going to get used to receiving valuable digital stuff from brands they value.
42:02 | Those digital assets are interoperable; they can work on any decentralized blockchain.
42:24 | Web/Mobile was the millions of apps and billions of websites opportunity, Web 3 is the trillion objects opportunity.
43:05 | NFT is not over, we just scratched the surface of the use case.
44:46 | Digital assets don't have to be centralized; they can sit on Amazon or on a blockchain, depending on their creator's will.
45:12 | You may not want to use a blockchain because your use case doesn't require assets to be publicly verified and you don't want to pay the extra amount of money for gas. Right now, most of those use cases do not need a blockchain to work.
45:35 | In the future, we are going to see a lot more use cases where blockchain and decentralization matter.
54:22 | The Metaverse is going to be immersive and 3D, but it's probably a decade away.
54:34 | Metaverse 1.0 is going to be a small enhancement to websites, from 2D to 3D with shared experiences.
58:40 | Tyler Moebius is the CEO of Smart Media Technologies (SMT) and the brain in execution; SMT has been pushing NFTs since the beginning of 2018, before NFT was a thing in a period where there was no revenue, no money, and no profit; it was a lost leader.
59:25 | Tyler had a profitable digital ad agency (for outdoor lifestyle brands) with a full-stack tech (analytics). They also bought a television media company that was profitable. A third company called VatomLabs built on top of BLOCKv was added into the mix.
1:00:34 | With profits from the two other companies, they believed that VatomLabs' new tech could shift how brands engage with their consumers on a one-to-one level, but it took a lot more time for that to take off.
1:00:54 | They didn't participate in NFT 1.0 and never thought that gambling with NFTs was going to be the first use case. Reeve didn't buy any Bored Apes.
1:01:12 | They thought the first use case was going to be loyalty and ticketing. The latter could exist today, but Ticketmaster and Live Nation's monopoly prevents it.
1:02:53 | The NFT 1.0 craze did a great service because it brought a ton of new entrants into the crypto space, while before that, the only people buying were from finance. Now we have gamers, artists, and collectors that don't even care about finance but want to participate.
1:03:29 | SMT is going extremely well now, and they are about to announce a partnership with one of the largest credit card companies in the world (aka VISA).
1:03:51 | They see a massive shift now with big brands and agencies that understand that Web 3 is where they have to build, but they need a wallet and the right technology.
1:04:16 | SMT has built a massive proprietary stack that is built on top of the BLOCKv protocol.
1:04:23 | SMT still uses VEE, the token they issued during the ICO, to power their technology. There is a ton of utility in the token they've created because all of those massive companies are utilizing it.
Timeline
May 2025: New version of BLOCKv website released with new Roadmap
Jan 2024: VISA announce Partnership with Smart Media Technologies
What happened between April 2019 and January 2024?
The BLOCKv team was absorbed by Smart Media Technologies and worked to improve the SmartNFT Protocol, creating amazing campaigns for many large brands, including Fortune 500 companies. For a more in-depth look, I suggest reading SMT's LinkedIn history.
Feb 2023: SMT and VISA are Founding Members of the Open Wallet Foundation [1] [2] [3]
Oct 2022: Smart Media Technologies Acquires BLOCKv Solutions
Jun 2021: Vatom.com is launched
Apr 2019: SmartNFT Exchange Opened
Mar 2019: 10 Millionth SmartNFT Minted
Jan 2019: January Update
Dec 2018: 2019 Forecast
Nov 2018: InCrowd Conference
Oct 2018: October Update
Oct 2018: Announced New DJ Sasha Partnership
Oct 2018: Official Launch of BLOCKv Platform
Aug 2018: CTO Announced on BLOCKv Platform
Jul 2018: Q2 Update
May 2018: May Update
Apr 2018: Announced Alienware Partnership
Mar 2018: BLOCKv Developer Portal in Beta
Mar 2018: March Update
Mar 2018: Announced DJ Sasha Partnership and Review
Feb 2018: Integrates Bancor Protocol
Feb 2018: Announced VIKTRE Partnership
Feb 2018: February Update
Jan 2018: Recap of A360 and TNABC Conferences
Dec 2017: First Community Event Follow-Up
Oct 2017: AMA with Reeve Collins
Oct 2017: First Community Event
Sep 2017: ICO Explained
Sep 2017: First Presentation of BLOCKv
Tech Stack
5 Layers
User Interface Layer: Flexible and interactive way to present SmartNFTs to the user inside their wallet.
Blockchain Abstraction Layer: Off-chain SmartNFTs can be minted on one of the supported blockchains.
Transactional Layer: Define all the actions and their conditions users can take with SmartNFTs.
Autonomous Logic Layer: Attach a brain to SmartNFTs to program logic and state changes based on various conditions.
Metadata Layer: Advanced off-chain data structure to store all the properties of SmartNFTs and expand their capabilities beyond legacy NFTs (ERC-721).
Blockchains compatible with SmartNFT Protocol
Ethereum
Polygon
Solana
Capser
Binance
SmartNFT Chain
ICO
Date: October 2017
Hard Cap: 40 million USD
Raised: 21.6 million USD (54%)
Repartition of VEE:
Pool A: 35% allocated for Public Sale
Pool B: 25% allocated for the Team and Advisors
Pool C: 25% for incentivizing the developer community and partners
Pool D: 15% for the Innovation Fund, locked for 6 years (the lock-up period has now ended)
Token Details:
Platform: ERC-20 on Ethereum
Nature: Utility token, not classified as a security
ICO Measures: Implemented KYC and accepted only ETH
ICO Price: USD 0.0213 per VEE
Additional Information:
ETH Rate During ICO: USD 307.31
Final Token Price: USD 0.0212549801639181
Initial Supply: Initially set at 36.4 billion but reduced to 3.64 billion for simpler calculations
Valuation Cap: The 40 million USD hard cap for 35% of the tokens aimed to keep the overall valuation below 135 million USD
Advisors: Source
David Drake
Token Analysis
Holders: 9,988
Large Holders > 0.2% supply: 53
Top 10 addresses: 1.6B VEE or 44.57%
Top 100 addresses: 2.9B VEE or 78.83%
Note 1: That address received 90 million VEE from Bitfinex 400 days ago and has been selling some on Uniswap over the last 200 days, still holding 60 million VEE. It has been inactive for the last 105 days.
Note 2: That address is an outlier among the top holders; all the VEE was bought from OKX, Bittrex, and Bitfinex over 2000 days ago, moved there, and has remained untouched since.
Pool A Analysis
The ICO collected 21.6 million USD and recorded 2,377 transactions.
2353 days ago, the Deployer contract created 1.276 billion VEE to distribute to participants.
Some numbers
Top 10 addresses received 440 million VEE.
Next 20 addresses received 239 million VEE.
Next 50 addresses received 217 million VEE.
All other addresses received a total of 434 million VEE.
269 addresses received at least 500,000 VEE each.
The largest buyer received 87 million VEE.
Pool B Analysis
Tokens have been distributed to 5 addresses by the Pool B contract.
Each address has received 182 million VEE for a total of 910 million VEE.
0x2f09079059b85c11DdA29ed62FF26F99b7469950
Still has 111.3 million
Added 11 million in liquidity to Uniswap
Sent 60 million to 0xda559...5db0df3
0x3634acA3cf97dCC40584dB02d53E290b5b4b65FA
Still has 10.3 million
Sent 60 million to 0xda559...5db0df3
Holds 5,000 at 0xe3bcd...1a95669
Staked 25 million 79 days ago
Sent 50 million to 0x02d27...ffe634 198 days ago and now has them staked
Sent 32 million to 0xbb976...573f37d over the last 200 days and added them in liquidity in Uniswap
Got back 10 million from Uniswap 59 days ago
0x768D9F044b9c8350b041897f08cA77AE871AeF1C
Balance is 0
Sent 60 million 0xda559...5db0df3
Sent 610,000 to 0x67b37...41e729c which is OKX, 2305 days ago
Sent 1.6 million 0x06158...be5d218 which is Bitfinex, 1130 days ago
Sent 15.25 million 0x12ee8...18fafe3 which is Bittrex, 1130 days ago
Sent 47 million to 0xe9903d...77278a6 which is Bitfinex, 962 days ago
Sent 57.8 million to 0xe2995...f6add2a to use an MEV Bot
0xb96De72d3fee8c7B6c096Ddeab93bf0b3De848c4
Balance is 0
Sent 60 million to 0xda559...5db0df3
Holds 30 million to 0x0c4f...524c3c3 which is an active address
Holds 92 millions at 0xb86f9...e868cd0 since 575 days
0x2f97bfD7a479857a9028339Ce2426Fc3C62D96Bd
Balance is 0
Sent 146.5 million to 0xda559...5db0df3
Holds 11 million to 0x0c4f2...524c3c3 which is an active address
Sent 25.4 million to 0xc9766...c7ea064 which is BlockV Deployer and have been dispatched to various addresses in 2483 transactions 2335 days ago
The 5 addresses have sent a total of 386.5 million VEE to 0xda559...5db0df3, which now holds 377,000 VEE and that address had the following activity:
1600 days ago: Sent 217 million to 0xdefe6...13ea4de which is the biggest VEE holder, ranked 1st.
1620 days ago: Sent 60 million to 0xed1ef...f0dd80a which then dispatched it to many other addresses, many of which are still holding.
1876 days ago: Sent 30 million to 0x4de48...4853287 which then dispatched it to many other addresses, many of which are still holding.
2305 days ago: Sent 82 million to 0xaa4fe...ff167c4. From there, 78 million moved from address to address up to 0x4adf4...9677825 which is Galaxy Digital, the 12th biggest holder. They haven’t moved any tokens to this day.
To summarize the distribution of 910 million VEE:
Still Held by the Team: 536.3 million (58.9%)
217 million stored in the biggest holder, ranked 1
133 million held in 2 other addresses
111.3 million held in the first address
75 million staked (some now unstaked but still held)
Partners and Advisors: 168 million (18.4%)
90 million sent to various addresses (possibly advisors?)
78 million sold to Galaxy Digital, still holding
Sold or Added as Liquidity on Exchanges: 153.3 million (16.5%)
64.5 million moved to exchanges
57.8 million moved to an MEV Bot
31 million on Uniswap
Various: 52.4 million (5.7%)
25.4 million sent to the Deployer, purpose unclear
27 million scattered across various addresses
Galaxy Digital received their tokens from Pool B, indicating they did not acquire them during the ICO. The specifics of their investment for the 78 million VEE in 2018 are unclear. They have never moved a single token and are not participating in staking. As per the company's records, they valued their VEE holdings at approximately 17.3 million USD in 2018
Pool C Analysis
Tokens have been distributed to 5 addresses by Pool B contract.
Each address received 182 million VEE, for a total of 910 million
All addresses in that pool have transferred all their tokens to the same address 0xc499C...51cC506. The current balance of that address is 7.5 million VEE. The address remains active to this day.
Significant movements from 0xc499C...51cC506:
45.5 million were sent to Bitfinex over 442 days ago through 0x2d5cc33...80d2f78.
400 million was moved to addresses ranked 6, 7, 8, and 9.
50 million was moved to address ranked 14 to stake and was unstaked 102 days ago, but no tokens have moved since that date.
Millions of tokens have been sent to Uniswap or an MEV Bot using addresses like 0x7cf17...8cd5fcb.
To summarize the distribution of 1,020 million VEE
Still held by the team: 457.5 million (50%)
Sold or added as liquidity on exchanges: 562.5 million
An excess of 110 million over 910 million came from Pool D
Pool D Analysis
Tokens were distributed to 3 addresses by Pool D contract.
Each address received 182 million VEE, for a total of 546 million
0x4311F6F65B411f546c7DD8841A344614297Dbf62
Balance is still 182 million
0x3b52Ab408cd499A1456af83AC095fCa23C014e0d
Balance is 172 million, because 10 million have been sent to address ranked 16
0x728D5312FbbdFBcC1b9582E619f6ceB6412B98E4
Balance is 0
110 million were sent to the same address used for Pool C 0xc499C...51cC506
72 million were sent to the address ranked 16.
To summarize the distribution of 546 million VEE
Still held by the team: 354 million (64.8%)
Sent to 0xc499C...51cC506: 110 million (see Pool C)
Token Analysis Recap
35% of VEE was sold to 2,353 addresses during the ICO (1.276 billion VEE).
19.6% of VEE from Pool B and C was added as liquidity or sold on exchanges (715 million VEE).
15.4% of VEE are in Pool C for developer and partner incentives and are still available (562.5 million VEE).
14.7% of VEE is still held by the team (536 million VEE).
11.95% of VEE are in Pool D for the innovation fund and are still available (436 million VEE).
4.6% of VEE went to advisors/investors like Galaxy Digital (168 million VEE).
Seven years after the token launch, the team, advisors, and private investors still hold between 67.9% and 77.3% of their initial distribution from Pool A. Additionally, 50% of Pool C and 81.3% of Pool D remain untouched.
Of the 715 million tokens moved to exchanges:
21.45% are from Pool B
78.55% are from Pool C, aligning with its purpose to incentivize partners. Listing a token on an exchange requires providing sufficient liquidity to maintain market operations. Although VEE is no longer listed on any centralized exchanges (CEX), it was previously available on platforms like Bitfinex, OKX, and Bittrex.
The team has effectively preserved their stake and maintained the integrity of Pools C and D while dedicating seven years to product development. With a significant reserve of tokens still available for incentives, the upcoming rollout of the 2024 roadmap featuring a new portal and SmartNFTLabs is poised to enhance the attractiveness for developers and partners alike.
Thank you for reading this article,
Cheers,
Kumaly.