Overview
Token Flows is a free learning site that teaches token engineering, the practice of designing how a project's token economy works with engineering methods, then testing the design with models and simulations1. Its course is written for developers, entrepreneurs and anyone interested in blockchain technology2, and the lessons are free to read or watch3.
Token Flows focuses on Cardano and its eUTxO model, a way of tracking coins as separate digital notes rather than running account balances. The site's About page says token engineering isn't well known on Cardano and sets out to build a community around it1. One article compares the eUTxO model with Ethereum's account model and explains what the difference means for token design4. The course itself was funded through a Project Catalyst Fund 11 proposal, part of Cardano's community-voted grant program, which the Catalyst record lists as complete5.
Key Features
- A five-module course from basics to incentives. The Token Flows tutorial series moves from an introduction to token engineering through market design, game theory, the token design process, and incentive design2.
- Watch or read each lesson. The modules pair videos on the Token Flows YouTube channel with written lessons on the same topics2.
- Lessons in Japanese as well as English. The course documentation has a full Japanese translation, and the course videos carry Japanese subtitles3.
- Fundraising methods explained. The incentive design module walks through ways projects raise money and attract users, such as airdrops (free token giveaways) and ISPOs, where people stake ADA with a project's pool and receive its new token instead of regular rewards6.
- A stake pool simulation case study. One Token Flows article describes a model that estimates how many blocks a pool should produce, tests how pledge (the ADA a pool's owners stake themselves) and fee settings change rewards, and compares three pools side by side7.
What to Expect
The course introduction page outlines the topics in each of the five modules, so readers can jump to the part they need2. The material is theory and diagrams: the close-out report notes that the series contains no code examples or live demos3. Programmers looking for a hands-on coding walkthrough will find more in development guides.
Beyond the course, a methods article covers planning tools for token design. These include tokenomics canvases (one-page planning worksheets), brainstorming cards, calculators for testing supply and reward scenarios, and Wardley Maps, diagrams that show where each part of a product sits in its value chain8.
Readers curious about testing a design before launch can read the site's introduction to cadCAD, an open-source Python library for simulating how token systems behave over many runs9. The stake pool model shows the same tool applied to a familiar Cardano problem7.
The Token Flows Catalyst project ran from March to November 20243. Its course and articles are free to read on the site, and the website's source files are public on GitHub10.
