HiIQ is a staking system designed to encourage IQ token holders to become long-term holders who lock up their IQ tokens and get involved in the long-term governance of the IQ token and its ecosystem of dapps. The HiIQ system also allows IQ token holders to receive greater utility and access to IQ dapps. Stakers earn IQ tokens and have a say in governance with their voting power based on their HiIQ balance.^[1][4] As of August 2023, IQ holders have locked up a record 1.2 Billion IQ, resulting in a total of over 4 Billion HiIQ.^[5]

Overview

HiIQ launched on August 4, 2021. The HiIQ staking system allows IQ holders to choose how long they want to lock up their IQ and the number of IQ tokens they would like to stake. The greater the amount of IQ locked and the greater the length of time the tokens are locked the greater the HiIQ balance of the staker. A user's HiIQ balance determines their voting power on governance proposals involving the IQ token and IQ ecosystem. Users also receive IQ token rewards in proportion to their HiIQ balance. 3 million IQ tokens are minted daily for HiIQ users.^[1]

HiIQ is a vesting and yield system based on the Curve veCRV mechanism. Users may lock up their IQ for up to 4 years for four times the amount of HiIQ (e.g. 100 IQ locked for 4 years returns 400 HiIQ). HiIQ is not a transferable token nor does it trade on liquid markets. It is more akin to an account-based point system that signifies the vesting duration of the wallet's locked IQ tokens within the protocol. The HiIQ balance linearly decreases as tokens approach their lock expiry, approaching 1 HiIQ per 1 IQ at zero lock time remaining.^[1]

To participate in IQ staking with HiIQ, it is necessary to have IQ on Ethereum (ETH) and have sufficient Ether for gas fees.^[2]

As of August 2023, IQ holders have locked up a record 1.2 Billion IQ, resulting in a total of over 4 Billion HiIQ.^[5]

Halvening Model

In October 2022, IQIP-14: New IQ Tokenomics for the New IQ.wiki Platform, a proposal of setting up new tokenomics for the IQ token, went through with the majority of votes. The community voted in favor of a halvening model like Bitcoin and FXS which provides higher initial emissions to incentivize early adopters and gradually lowers emissions to ensure long-term sustainability. With this new model, IQ emissions would sustainably decrease over time until they dipped below 1 IQ minted per month in August of 2050 ensuring that the maximum supply cap of 21 billion tokens is never reached. Previously, the IQ token used a constant inflation model which could lead the IQ token to hit its maximum supply cap in January of 2027, and then all IQ emissions would have to stop.^[4]

Under the new IQ token emissions model, 3 million IQ are minted each day for HiIQ stakers. This tripled rewards for IQ stakers for the next 12 months starting from October 2022. 350,000 IQ are minted each day to provide rewards for editors and curators who contribute to IQ.wiki. 4,333,333 IQ are minted and used to acquire Ethereum, stablecoins, and other assets for the BrainDAO treasury. As part of these changes, it was also proposed to create a rule where up to 25% of incoming assets to BrainDAO from bonds and the TWAMM can be used by IQ.wiki to grow and develop the IQ ecosystem. 250,000 IQ are minted each day to incentivize liquidity for the IQ token. 1,000,000 IQ are minted each day and are allocated to the upcoming gauges system. 3 million IQ are minted each day and allocated to the IQ.wiki company which is responsible for growing IQ.wiki and the IQ ecosystem as a whole.^[4]

IQ.wiki

As long as the IQ token is integral to IQ.wiki, IQ token holders who stake their tokens with the HiIQ staking system, vote on governance decisions involving both the platform and the IQ token itself. After the beta period, IQ.wiki plans on introducing HiIQ Brain Pass NFTs for IQ stakers which will provide several benefits including the ability to edit on IQ.wiki. Users will also be able to acquire the NFTs by purchasing them with IQ tokens.

IQ GPT

IQ GPT is an AI-powered search engine developed by IQ.wiki for researching and analyzing crypto news, real-time price data, trading volumes, market capitalization, and other key market data. IQ GPT is available to all IQ token holders who’ve staked over 100,000 HiIQ. IQ GPT is powered by the IQ token and pulls reliable data from various sources such as IQ.wiki’s content database, The Associated Press News, CoinGecko, Flywheel DeFi, CoinNess, and InvestHK.^[3]

For early access to IQ GPT, a user needs to maintain a HiIQ balance of 100,000 HiIQ. The HiIQ balance is based on the amount of IQ staked in addition to the amount of time it's locked for which naturally decreases over time.^[3]

In addition to early access to IQ GPT, IQ stakers will also in the future have access to premium features.^[3]