What is Ampleforth Governance Token (FORTH)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Governance Role

FORTH empowers decentralized governance of the Ampleforth protocol, where holders vote on proposals (e.g., parameter tweaks, treasury allocations) or delegate voting rights. This ensures community-driven evolution without centralized control. Introduced in April 2021, FORTH formalized the protocol’s shift to a DAO structure, prioritizing transparency and collective stewardship (Ampleforth Documentation).

2. Tokenomics & Supply Mechanics

FORTH has a fixed supply of 15 million tokens, preventing inflationary dilution. Unlike AMPL (which adjusts supply daily), FORTH’s static supply preserves holder influence. Its non-custodial design resists seizure or freezing, aligning with decentralization principles.

3. Ecosystem Integration

FORTH governs the Ampleforth ecosystem, including:
- AMPL: An elastic-supply asset targeting stable purchasing power via daily rebasing.
- Derivatives: SPOT (low-volatility asset) and stAMPL (high-volatility tranche) are created when users deposit AMPL into the Rotation Vault. FORTH oversees mechanisms like the Funding Rate, which redistributes value between SPOT and stAMPL holders to maintain equilibrium (Ampleforth Twitter).

Conclusion

FORTH is the decentralized governance layer for Ampleforth’s innovative elastic money protocol, balancing stability (via AMPL/SPOT) and volatility (via stAMPL) through community-led decisions. How might FORTH’s governance adapt to emerging DeFi primitives while preserving its core value of censorship resistance?