Introduction

Thena is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and liquidity platform built on the BNB Chain and opBNB. It enables token swaps, cross-chain transfers, and liquidity management while focusing on creating a straightforward experience for users engaging in decentralized finance (DeFi). The platform’s vision is to become a “SuperApp” for DeFi users, combining many tools and services in a single ecosystem.

What is Thena (THE)?

Thena markets itself as the Ultimate Decentralized Exchange, with the goal to simplify DeFi by integrating features such as wallet abstraction, fiat on-and-off ramps, and cross-chain bridging, being a very good option for both beginners and experienced users while offering an accessible entry point for those who are new to DeFi while meeting the needs of advanced traders and liquidity providers.

Thena’s ecosystem is structured around some components:

1. THENA: A Spot DEX that supports token swaps and liquidity provision, allowing users to trade and earn passive income.
2. ALPHA (Perpetuals DEX): A dedicated platform for trading, offering up to 60x leverage across more than 270 cryptocurrency pairs.
3. ARENA: A gamified social trading platform for trading competitions designed to create and bring a stronger community engagement element and provide an interactive trading experience. It also offers growth-hacking tools for THENA partners
4. WARP (Launchpad): An upcoming initiative that will enable the launch of new projects in the Thena ecosystem, supporting early-stage investments and driving growth.

Thena integrates these components, focusing on providing a good user experience while acting as a modular liquidity layer. It addresses some of the biggest trader liquidity needs, such as stablecoins, liquid staking tokens (LSTs), tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), memecoins, and AI tokens.

The project incorporates the ve(3,3) tokenomics model, inspired by platforms like Solidly and Aerodrome. This model allows holders of vote-escrowed tokens (veTHE) to influence governance and direct incentives for liquidity pools. The goal is to create alignment among stakeholders and maintain an efficient ecosystem.

Thena’s approach positions it as a comprehensive DeFi platform, blending advanced trading options, community-driven initiatives, and support for innovative projects. By focusing on accessibility and scalability, the platform seeks to grow its presence in the BNB Chain ecosystem while providing a robust set of tools for its users.

Thena’s Development Team

Thena’s development team is formed by individuals with diverse expertise, each contributing to the platform’s growth and functionality with their unique backgrounds. The main members include Theseus, the CEO and Co-Founder, a DeFi native and self-appointed tokenomist who began his career as a consultant in web3 in early 2020 and soon transitioned to building his own systems. Theseus is actively engaged with the Thena community, emphasizing collaborative development.

0xApollo acts as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Co-Founder, bringing over a decade of experience across various industries. His screen name is inspired by the god of truth and prophecy, which reflects his passion for seeking higher knowledge and is known for his belief in living within a simulation.

Community Lead and Co-Founder, Xermes excels in transforming chaos into functional organizations. She values direct communication and combats misinformation, having been active in DeFi communities for some time. Xermes is recognized for effectively managing and organizing community interactions.

Theonysus, the Business Development Lead, and Co-Founder, has a background in economics and banking. After studying economics and working in the banking sector, he chose to join Thena to contribute to its mission. Prometheus holds the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Co-Founder, being a security-focused expert in smart contract engineering.

Hyperion, the Full Stack Developer and Co-Founder, is proficient in web development, contributing to the internal and external aspects of Thena. He has been involved in the cryptocurrency space since the inception of Bitcoin.

Lastly, serving as Strategic Advisor and Co-Founder, Morpheus is a web3 native with experience in founding and advising projects. Named after the ancient Greek god of dreams, he brings strategic insights to the team.

The team operates under pseudonyms, a common practice in the cryptocurrency and DeFi sectors, allowing members to maintain privacy while focusing on their professional contributions. Their combined expertise spans smart contract engineering, web development, strategic planning, marketing, community management, and business development. This diverse skill set supports Thena’s objective to establish a comprehensive decentralized exchange and liquidity platform on the BNB Chain.

To align the team’s interests with Thena’s long-term success, 18% of the initial token supply has been allocated to team members. This allocation is divided between vote-escrowed THE (veTHE) tokens and vested THE tokens, ensuring that team incentives are closely tied to the protocol’s performance and strategic goals.

Thena’s Ecosystem

Thena’s ecosystem is built to support various aspects of decentralized finance (DeFi) on the BNB Chain and opBNB. It combines features for token swapping, liquidity provision, leveraged trading, social engagement, and project launches into a unified platform.

Spot DEX

Thena’s Spot Decentralized Exchange (DEX) allows users to swap tokens and provide liquidity for various digital assets. The platform uses advanced routing technology to optimize trades, reducing slippage and ensuring efficient transactions. To enhance liquidity and improve price execution, Thena integrates with the ORBS Liquidity Hub, which taps into external liquidity pools. Transactions are processed directly through Thena’s Automated Market Maker (AMM) contracts if external sources don’t offer better rates.

ALPHA: The Perpetual DEX

ALPHA is Thena’s perpetual trading platform, offering leverage of up to 60x on over 150 cryptocurrency assets. It uses an “Intent-Based” trading model, where liquidity is provided by third parties known as “Hedgers” in a trustless environment. Inspired by the Request for Quote (RFQ) model, ALPHA introduces the Automated Market For Quotes (AMFQ) engine. This combines elements of traditional order books with AMMs to improve capital efficiency for both individual traders and professional market makers.

ARENA: Social Trading Competitions

ARENA is a feature designed to create engagement through social trading competitions. It enables partners to set up customizable, permissionless competitions for both spot and perpetual markets. These events encourage community participation, help build interest around specific tokens, and support the growth of project visibility.

WARP: Upcoming Launchpad

WARP is Thena’s planned launchpad initiative to support the launch of new projects within its ecosystem. By providing a platform for innovative projects to gain exposure and secure resources, WARP is expected to contribute to the ongoing expansion and adoption of Thena’s ecosystem.

Thena integrates these features to create a comprehensive and flexible DeFi platform, addressing the needs of traders, liquidity providers, and project developers alike. The ecosystem is designed to adapt to the evolving demands of the decentralized finance space while maintaining efficiency and user accessibility.

What is the $THE Token?

The $THE token is the native utility token of the Thena platform, aiding and facilitating user interactions within Thena’s ecosystem, in governance, staking, and liquidity-related activities. $THE token holders can participate in the decision-making processes of the platform, allowing them to vote on protocol upgrades, liquidity pool incentives, and other governance matters.

Beyond governance, the token can also be used in staking and participating in reward mechanisms, enabling users to lock $THE to receive vote-escrowed tokens (veTHE) for additional benefits such as increased voting power and a share in platform revenues.

The token also incentivizes user participation by rewarding those who provide liquidity and engage with Thena’s features, reinforcing its importance in maintaining a healthy and active ecosystem.

$THE Tokenomics

The total supply of $THE is capped at 310 million tokens. Around 65% of the total supply has already been minted, with approximately 53 million $THE tokens currently in circulation. The token’s distribution is designed to support the platform’s growth and adoption by allocating tokens to different groups, including the community, the development team, and ecosystem initiatives.

Initial allocations were divided as follows:

• Community Airdrops: A significant portion of $THE was distributed to DeFi users and protocols interacting with Thena’s ecosystem.
• Ecosystem Grant: Funds were reserved to support projects and initiatives that drive Thena’s growth.
• Team Allocation: Tokens were distributed to the team, split between vested tokens and locked vote-escrowed tokens (veTHE), ensuring their long-term commitment to the project.

$THE Utility

1. Governance: $THE holders can participate in the governance of the Thena platform. By locking $THE into veTHE, users gain voting power to influence decisions, such as liquidity pool incentives, platform upgrades, and protocol strategies. \

2. Liquidity Incentives: The platform uses $THE to reward liquidity providers. By staking assets in Thena’s liquidity pools, users earn $THE, encouraging active participation and enhancing liquidity across the platform. \

3. Staking and veTHE: Users who lock their $THE tokens can receive vote-escrowed THE (veTHE). Longer lock durations provide greater voting power and rewards, creating incentives for long-term engagement.

veTHE

veTHE is a locked version of the $THE token that is very important in Thena’s governance and reward system. Users who lock their $THE tokens for up to two years receive veTHE. The longer the tokens are locked, the more voting power users can gain, allowing them to have a stronger influence in governance decisions and receive a share of the platform’s revenues and other rewards.

Thena’s ve(3,3) model, inspired by Curve Finance and Olympus, is designed to encourage long-term participation. It combines incentives for locking tokens with measures to prevent dilution, ensuring that veTHE holders benefit from sustainable rewards and governance influence. This incentivizes users to remain active in the platform and actively engage and help grow it, rather than just passively holding tokens.

theNFT

theNFT is a non-fungible token from the Thena ecosystem that offers holders a number of benefits. By acquiring and staking theNFT, users can earn rewards and gain governance rights, enhancing their participation in the platform.

TheNFTs are part of Thena’s strategy to integrate NFT functionalities into its DeFi offerings, providing users with unique opportunities to engage with the platform beyond traditional token interactions.

Emission Schedule

Thena’s emissions model is structured to incentivize ongoing participation. Weekly emissions started at 2.6 million $THE tokens, with a gradual decrease of 1% per week. These emissions are primarily used to reward liquidity providers and active users, maintaining a steady flow of incentives to support the platform’s ecosystem.

The initial token distribution and emission schedule aim to balance the interests of all stakeholders, including liquidity providers, token holders, and the team. Any adjustments to emissions or additional token minting are decided through community governance.

Emission Schedule

Thena’s emission schedule is designed to incentivize liquidity provision and platform engagement. Weekly emissions began at 2.6 million $THE tokens, with a planned decay rate of 1% per week. The initial supply distribution was allocated as follows:

• veTHE Protocol Airdrop: 19% of the initial supply was dedicated to airdropping protocols that engage with Thena’s liquidity layer.
• $THE / veTHE Airdrop for Users: 25% was distributed to users of existing BNB Chain protocols and new users, selected based on behaviors promoting long-term stability, such as locking, staking, and governance participation.
• $THE / veTHE Airdrop for theNFT Minters: 9% was allocated to theNFT minters, with 40% as veTHE locked for two years and 60% as $THE.
• Ecosystem Grant: 25% was set aside to support projects aimed at accelerating Thena’s growth.
• Team: 18% was distributed to the team, balanced between veTHE (locked for two years) and vested $THE tokens (two-year vesting with a one-year cliff).
• Initial Liquidity Providers: 4% was paired with $BUSD and/or $BNB to provide liquidity at launch.

Thena’s Future Roadmap

Thena’s roadmap focuses on improving user experience, expanding its ecosystem, and driving DeFi adoption. Planned updates include new branding, a refined user interface, and the introduction of THE Smart Wallet to simplify user interactions through wallet abstraction. ARENA V1 will launch as a social platform for trading competitions, and THENA V3 will enhance the platform’s overall functionality. Cross-chain voting will enable governance across multiple blockchains, while THE Card and fiat off-ramp services aim to bridge digital assets with traditional finance.

Conclusion

Thena is a comprehensive decentralized finance platform on the BNB Chain, combining user-friendly tools with advanced features for traders and liquidity providers. Its structured ecosystem integrates spot and perpetual trading, gamified community engagement, and support for project launches. The $THE token and its derivatives serve as the backbone of governance and incentives, ensuring active participation and long-term sustainability. With a clear roadmap for 2024, Thena aims to refine user experience, expand its ecosystem, and foster broader DeFi adoption through innovative solutions and community-driven initiatives.