BrainDAO is the governing DAO of the IQ ecosystem. BrainDAO's mission is to build a more intelligent future through the IQ token, which powers a knowledge ecosystem including applications such as IQ GPT, an AI agent for blockchain knowledge, IQ.wiki, the world's largest cryptocurrency and blockchain encyclopedia, IQ.social, an AI-powered social forum for crypto news and insights, and the upcoming Agent Tokenization Platform, a platform enabling users to create tokenized agents that can operate autonomously. The DAO is collectively made up of all IQ token stakers and governs the token.^[8]

Overview

BrainDAO was formed in December of 2021 with the mission of building a more intelligent future through the IQ token. The DAO manages the IQ token which powers the IQ ecosystem, consisting of several products: IQ GPT an AI agent for blockchain knowledge, IQ.wiki, the world's largest cryptocurrency and blockchain encyclopedia, IQ.social, an AI-powered social forum for crypto news and insights, and the upcoming Agent Tokenization Platform, a platform enabling users to create tokenized AI agents that can operate autonomously. BrainDAO also acts as the treasury of the IQ token and is governed by IQ stakers. BrainDAO is led by Galaxy Brain Navin Vethanayagam and Chief Brain Officer Cesar Rodriguez who manage BrainDAO's team of designers, engineers, and project managers. ^[3]

IQ AI Vision

In October 2024, BrainDAO proposed to establish IQ as the native token for a new AI-driven ecosystem, IQ AI. The IQIP 20 proposal introduced having AI agents directly on the blockchain to simplify complex DeFi tasks, address chain fragmentation, and optimize user experiences in liquidity, lending, and trading. With a new tokenomics model that includes burning IQ for deflationary benefits and reverting to the 2022 emissions schedule, this initiative aimed to accelerate growth while rewarding stakers and contributors.

On December 12, 2024, IQ announced its Agent Tokenization Platform (ATP) that simplifies DeFi with AI superagents. ATP represents an integration of conversational AI with advanced blockchain features. The platform's superagent capabilities enable the analysis of vast data points across assets, chains, and yield strategies, offering customized solutions for users with varying levels of expertise. These agents can autonomously own assets and perform on-chain actions, unlocking new avenues for innovation across decentralized ecosystems.

Navin Vethanayagam, the Chief Brain of IQ commented:

DeFi has the potential to reshape financial systems globally, but its complexity limits mass adoption With ATP, we're building a platform where builders can create autonomous agents that are capable of simplifying DeFi with simple conversational UIs. Unlike other agent tokenization platforms which have excelled in entertainment, ATP is laser-focused on letting users create and manage transformative autonomous DeFi AI superagents.

IQ.wiki

On October 11, 2022, BrainDAO launched IQ.wiki, the world's largest cryptocurrency encyclopedia. IQ.wiki is the flagship decentralized application of the IQ ecosystem. In February 2023, IQ.wiki became one of the first decentralized applications to integrate artificial intelligence. The AI integration allows large pages like the wiki on the Bored Ape Yacht Club to be summarized in seconds. In February 2024, IQ.wiki was launched in Korean and Chinese after experiencing a growing demand for IQ.wiki to expand beyond just the English language. In addition, IQ.wiki added ranked lists to its functionality where the team covers not only the top cryptocurrencies but also their founders, date founded, and respective blockchains. IQ.wiki’s rankings combine CoinMarketCap’s price data, such as price and marketcap with in-depth wiki articles covering categories from stablecoins to AI. IQ.wiki's interface also features an Events page, providing detailed information about conferences, hackathons, and other crypto and blockchain-focused events around the world. ^[15] For more information on IQ.wiki see the IQ.wiki page. ^[4]

IQ Token

In October 2024, the IQ community voted to implement IQIP-20 with overwhelming support. IQIP-20 proposed establishing IQ as the native token for the new IQ AI ecosystem. The proposal introduced AI agents directly on the blockchain to simplify complex DeFi tasks, address chain fragmentation, and optimize user experiences in liquidity, lending, and trading. With a new tokenomics model that includes burning IQ for deflationary benefits and reverting to the 2022 emissions schedule, this initiative aimed to accelerate growth while rewarding stakers and contributors. ^[16]

The IQ token will serve as the governance and utility token for the new Agent Tokenization Platform (ATP), which allows users to create tokenized agents that can operate autonomously. Unlike previous models, ATP agents operate independently, owning assets, performing on-chain actions, and continuously enhancing their capabilities through tokenized ecosystems. In the same way that Ethereum users pay transaction fees in ETH to use the network, users of IQ’s AI agents will pay transaction fees in IQ. A portion of each fee will be burned, while the rest will go to IQ stakers.

To support the IQ AI vision, BrainDAO proposed reverting to the initial 2022 emissions schedule with halvings every four years, similar to Bitcoin. While this means higher emissions in the short term, the increased adoption of the Agent Tokenization Platform (ATP) will eventually lead to more IQ being burned than minted, leading to the IQ token becoming deflationary over time. To accommodate short-term emission increases, the maximum IQ supply will be raised to 60 billion, significantly below the original 100 billion cap. Even without token burning, the supply would remain under 54 billion by 2100. [51]For more information see the IQ token page.^[11][12]

IQ GPT

IQ GPT is an AI agent for blockchain knowledge developed by the IQ team. IQ GPT focuses on providing real-time and contextually relevant information within the blockchain domain. It caters to various use cases, including learning, development, and trading activities, with the ability to streamline research processes and filter out irrelevant data.

In 2023, IQ GPT integrated contents and data sets from platforms such as IQ.wiki's extensive database, Etherscan, DeFiLlama, Frax Docs, Binance Academy, DeFi Protocol Documentations, The Associated Press News, CoinGecko, Flywheel DeFi, BlockBeats, InvestHK and CoinNess.

In late 2023, the BrainDAO team introduced the IQ GPT Chat, designed to support Telegram and Discord communities involved in cryptocurrency, DeFi, NFTs, and related topics. Upon its initial launch, users were onboarded through a waitlist system. However, those staking IQ tokens (HiIQ holders) with a minimum of 100,000 HiIQ balance were allowed early access and could bypass the waitlist. ^[6]

In 2024, IQ GPT introduced a series of innovative features to enhance its functionality and user engagement. In January, it launched web integrations, enabling any webpage to incorporate IQ GPT as an interactive chatbot. By April, it expanded its capabilities with Custom Knowledge Training, allowing projects to fine-tune the AI using their specific documentation and datasets. In May, the platform added the /price feature, letting users check token prices directly within Telegram groups, and broadened accessibility by supporting four languages: English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. June saw the introduction of the Teams feature on IQGPT.com, which facilitated collaborative customization by allowing multiple administrators to manage and tailor IQ GPT settings for their community, ensuring seamless knowledge sharing and alignment with community goals. To boost user engagement, July brought two daily features: Fact of the Day, offering insights about a project sourced from its IQ.wiki page, and Today’s Discovery, delivering fascinating blockchain and crypto facts. By December, IQ GPT had integrated with over 180 crypto communities, reaching more than 2 million users across Telegram and Discord, solidifying its role as a versatile and widely-used AI assistant in the cryptocurrency space.e.[3][6]

In 2025, IQ GPT will relaunch as a tokenized agent with its own independent token, introducing tokenomics that allow direct community governance.

IQ.social

IQ.social is an AI-powered social forum for crypto news and insights. IQ.social was launched by BrainDAO in November 2023 and is powered by the IQ token. The platform is a part of the IQ ecosystem, featuring IQ GPT, IQ.wiki, and the upcoming Agent Tokenization Platform (ATP).

The platform is governed by HiIQ stakers who curate and rank all of the articles submitted to IQ.social. IQ.social was announced and launched in November 2023.

IQ stakers can add articles and vote for the content of interest by liking an article. If a pending article receives two or more votes and has a HiIQ score of over 100k, it automatically gets published on the homepage of the platform. The HiIQ score of an article is determined by the total HiIQ balance of the users who favored the article. For more information see the IQ.social page.^[11]

Treasury

BrainDAO manages a portfolio of Ethereum, IQ tokens, stablecoins, blue chip NFTs, and other digital assets By September 2022, the BrainDAO treasury amassed over $2 million in Wrapped Ethereum and over $5 million in total assets. By February 2023, BrainDAO's treasury had reached a value of over $15 million. ^[9] The IQ token is backed by the BrainDAO treasury and the treasury is fully governed by IQ token stakers. In October 2023, the BrainDAO’s treasury has acquired 2,100,000 sFRAX through Frax Finance’s ERC4626 staking vault. BrainDAO's treasury has been diversifying its portfolio, including holdings of other sFRAX stablecoins through the Time-Weighted Average Market Maker (TWAMM) on Fraxswap, along with other notable assets such as sfrxETH, cvxFPIS, cvxFXS, sDAI and more. By November 2023, BrainDAO's treasury had reached a value of over $20 million. By December 2024, BrainDAO's treasure accumulated more that $44 million in assets. ^{[7] [17]}