# Token

The **GOV** token is a PSP-22 token used to represent the voting power of individual AZERO-WASM accounts in governance voting.

## Smart contract address

```
TBA
```

## Token distribution

The distribution of the **GOV** token is based on the history of staking of each account. The balance of account $$A$$ is given by:

$$\mathrm{balance}*{\mathrm{GOV}}(A) = \sum*{i=1}^N \mathrm{staked}\_i(A)$$

where the summation is over all era indices $$i$$ from $$1$$ to the cut-off era index $$N$$, $$\mathrm{staked}\_i(A)$$ denotes the total staked amount of account $$A$$ in era $$i$$, including both direct staking, and staking through a nomination pool. The AlephZero Foundation's accounts are excluded from the token distribution, i.e. their balances of the **GOV** token are $$0$$.

What this formula intuitively achieves is granting governance token proportionally to the amount of staked AZERO over the whole history of the blockchain. For instance, a user who was staking 2000 AZERO for 10 days (eras) will receive the same amount of GOV tokens as a user who staked 10000 AZERO for 2 days.

### Transferability

The  **GOV** token is non-trasferable. 

### Cut-off eras

The cut-off era index $$N$$ corresponds to the last era which matters in establishing the balances of the **GOV** token for a particular governance session. The cut-off era index of each governance session is announced, and the voting itself happens a short time after the cut-off era.

## Token minting

The minter of the token is the AlephZero Foundation. The token will most often be minted shortly after the cut-off eras, which means that the balances output by the **GOV** token smart contract will be relevant only when there is an upcoming governance session.