Railgun (RAIL)

Tokenomics & Utility

The RAIL token is a standard ERC‑20 on Ethereum and acts as the governance token for the Railgun DAO. Separate chain deployments historically used chain‑specific governance tokens (RAILPOLY on Polygon and RAILBSC on BNB Chain), but the main governance weight accrues to RAIL on Ethereum, which also governs Railgun on Arbitrum. Holding RAIL is not required to use the privacy system. (docs.railgun.org)

Key points in Railgun tokenomics:

• Supply: RAIL has a fixed maximum supply of 100,000,000 on Ethereum. Polygon and BNB Chain tokens have their own supply caps and governance scopes. (docs.railgun.org)
• Governance: One RAIL locked equals one vote in the on‑chain governance process. Proposals require sponsorship, quorum, and on‑chain execution, with no admin keys. Voting can be delegated. (docs.railgun.org)
• Protocol deductions: Each shield and unshield interaction takes a 0.25% protocol deduction that goes to the DAO treasury. Over time, stakers who qualify as Active Governors can claim periodic allocations funded by treasury assets. (docs.railgun.org)
• Active Governor Allocation: Every two weeks, 2% of treasury tokens are made claimable by Active Governors, proportionate to their locked RAIL share, rewarding ongoing participation. (docs.railgun.org)

Because governance is tied to protocol usage, some observers watch activity levels, code upgrades, and DAO votes as inputs that may influence interest in the ecosystem and, by extension, long‑term views about RAIL price trends. The protocol’s structure—fees flowing to the DAO and rewards to active participants—is central to Railgun tokenomics. (docs.railgun.org)