Aragon is open-source software facilitating the creation of DAOs. ANT is the platform’s governance token.

The Aragon network combines three distinct service protocols. These are: Aragon Client, Aragon Court and Aragon Chain. 

Messari describes the three protocols comprising the network. The first is the Aragon Client which provides a range of templates allowing digital communities to build powerful decentralized organization within a matter of minutes. Each DAOs build on the platform is equipped with three pre-installed features including a finance module to manage organizational funds and view transaction history/account balances. DAOs are also finished with their own native tokens (used to confer ownership rights) and custom voting parameters that allow members to cast judgement on new organizational updates and proposals.

Currently in “phase 1” of development, Aragon is actively building a native application expected to contain much of the functionality of the Aragon Client. Within the application, users will be able to build decentralized organizations via a revamped modular design platform, a blog post explained. Likewise, the application will also be outfitted with a new SDK and smart contract stack to further enhance ecosystem development.

Another core piece of functionality, the Aragon Court is designed to resolve subjective disputes that cannot be solved by the protocol’s network of autonomous smart contracts. Powered by its own native token ANJ, the court acts as a massive prediction market in which jurors are economically incentivized to vote on what they feel is the correct outcome. Per Messari, all participants within the court (plaintiffs, defendants, and jurors) are required to stake a minimum of 10,000 ANJ tokens in order to take part in proceedings. A secondary asset within the Aragon ecosystem, ANJ can be obtained by staking ANT to a platform supported bonding curve.

Within the court, individual cases are determined by the concept of plurality. Put simply, jurors who stake on the majority judgement are provided with tokenized rewards while those who vote on the minority judgement see their stake slashed. In this same vein, successful plaintiffs are rewards with the token stake put forth by the defendant, and vice versa.

The third piece of Aragon’s technological trident is the Aragon Chain which is used to process all network transactions. Built using existing Aragon smart contracts, the ledger also contains an Ethereum bridge.

In May of 2022, Aragon garnered the attention of the larger cryptocurrency community through the release of Aragon Voice, a gasless and universally verifiable voting solution built on top of the Vodcani Structure.

To date, Aragon has facilitated the creation of more than 3,800 decentralized organizations with a combined $300 million in value locked.

When was ANT created and how much was it worth?

Aragon was created in 2016 by Luis Ivan Cuende and Jorge Izquierdo. Per Linkedin, both men maintain an active role in the project with Izquidero serving as CEO of Aragon One – an organization dedicated towards supporting Aragon’s long-term growth.

 In May of 2017, Aragon’s native token ANT was released via a $25 million ICO at a price of roughly $0.90.

Data from CoinGecko shows that ANT endured a turbulent first six months of existence before rallying to a local high of around $7 in early January of 2018. Following a price correction, the token spent much of the next two years trading within a tight range. Apart from a brief rally in early 2022, the token has since been impacted by downside volatility.

How is the price of Aragon determined?

According to Messari, ANT is an inflationary asset. Monetary policy is determined through the platform’s governance framework. Upon ANT’s initial distribution, some 70% of supply was allocated to token purchasers, while a further 30% was split equally among the Aragon Foundation and various project contributors. As of September of 2022, there were a total of 40.03 million ANT tokens in circulation.

Why does ANT have value?

If Web3’s vision of a decentralized internet ultimately comes to fruition, Aragon’s ability to foster the creation of autonomous, smart-contract-powered DAOs could see the platform become a vital cog within this burgeoning ecosystem.

“By making it possible for anyone in the world to organize digitally, Aragon seeks to enable borderless, permissionless entity creation and governance,” Messari said.

Is ANT secure?

ANT is a standard ERC-20 token that compatible with a range of Ethereum wallets and exchange-based storage solutions.

Several of Aragon’s core technological components have been audited by leading blockchain development firm Consensys.

What are the main benefits of ANT?

•  Aragon enables digital communities to create powerful decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)
• Currently in development, Aragon’s proprietary application is set to contain a revamped modular design platform as well as an updated SDK and smart contract stack.
• Aragon “allows creators and managers of organizations to function in a decentralized manner, removing third parties from major operations. It claims to simplify operations while cutting administrative costs (Yahoo Finance).”

What do critics say about ANT?

In January of 2021, Aragon was hit with a wave of resignations due to an apparent lack of financial transparency, according to CoinDesk.