5.1 Overview and Utility Across the Avao Ecosystem

AOV is the native utility and governance token of the Avao ecosystem. It is designed to facilitate participation, coordination, and long-term alignment across all layers of the platform — including compute provisioning, staking mechanisms, governance participation, and product access.

AOV’s utility spans three interconnected layers — protocol, product, and ecosystem — reinforcing its role as a contribution-based asset.

Protocol-Level Utility

Function	Description
Governance Participation (veAOV)	AOV can be time-locked in Vaults to mint veAOV, granting voting rights over protocol parameters, ecosystem curation decisions, and grant proposal advancement.
Vault Emission Pool	Users who commit AOV to time-locked Vaults receive protocol-defined emissions from the Vault Emission Pool, distributed over a fixed, decaying schedule based on participation and utilization.
Compute Emission Pool	Users who register eligible GPU machines and stake AOV to support the Avao Compute Marketplace receive protocol-defined emissions from the Compute Emission Pool.
Compute Settlement	AOV is used as the native settlement asset for compute jobs executed on the Avao Compute Marketplace.
Gas Fees	AOV is used to pay transaction fees on Avao Chain, enabling smart contract execution and on-chain interactions across the ecosystem.

Product-Level Utility (Avao Suite)

Function	Description
Service Payments	AOV may be used as an optional payment method for certain premium Avao Suite services, subject to applicable terms.
Feature Access	Participation mechanisms involving AOV may enable access to advanced tools or early testing environments within Avao Suite.
Service Credits	AOV may be exchanged for usage-based credits related to compute, APIs, or other modular services.

Ecosystem-Level Utility

Function	Description
Launchpad Participation	AOV is used to participate in Launchpad processes. veAOV holders contribute to project curation through governance voting.
DEX Fee Utility	AOV is used to pay protocol-defined trading fees on Avao’s decentralized exchange.
Hub Curation	veAOV holders may recommend or delist projects from the Avao Hub through governance processes.
Native Settlement Asset	AOV functions as the native settlement asset across Avao’s on-chain ecosystem services.

AOV functions as a utility token designed to enable active participation across the ecosystem.

Key principles include:

• Protocol-defined incentives: Rewards are tied to active contribution and participation, not passive holding.

• Governance rights: Non-transferable and earned through time‑locked commitment, represented by vote‑escrowed AOV (veAOV).

• Functional utilities: Product-level access mechanisms such as staking, compute usage, and ecosystem curation, rather than financial entitlements.

• Transparent emissions: Incentive mechanisms are predefined, transparent, and subject to governance oversight.

• Participation benefits: Users gain functional advantages like service access coordination or usage-based fee considerations, where applicable.

By design, AOV is emphasizing real-world functionality and ecosystem utility.