Instant Distribution Agreement (IDA)

Protocols deploy IDAs for targeted, real-time liquidity mining. Instead of airdropping a lump sum, incentives are streamed directly to wallets providing liquidity in specific pools. This allows for:

• Dynamic Adjustments: Emission rates can be updated based on pool metrics.
• Precise Targeting: Rewards are directed only to desired behaviors (e.g., lending on a specific market).
• Continuous Engagement: Users are incentivized to maintain their position to keep the stream active.

Artists and creators can use IDAs to automate royalty distribution. When an NFT is sold on a secondary market with an on-chain royalty enforcement mechanism, the proceeds can be instantly split via an IDA. The agreement can distribute to multiple parties:

• Primary creator (e.g., 90% of the fee).
• Collaborators or co-creators.
• A DAO treasury for community projects. This ensures transparent and immediate payout upon each sale.

DeFi index funds or tokenized baskets use IDAs to distribute underlying asset yields to token holders. For instance, an index token representing a basket of yield-generating assets (like staked ETH, LP positions) accrues rewards. An IDA automatically calculates and streams each holder's share of the aggregated yield from all underlying assets, proportional to their index token balance, without requiring manual redemption.

An IDA is a smart contract that allows a publisher to create a distribution index for a specific token. Subscribers can then receive a continuous, real-time stream of that token proportional to their allocated units in the index. This enables automated, gas-efficient distribution without manual claims or batch transactions.

• Publisher: The entity creating and funding the distribution.
• Subscriber: An address receiving a share of the stream.
• Units: The number of shares a subscriber holds, determining their flow rate.

IDAs facilitate complex, automated value distribution patterns that are impractical with traditional transfers.

• Revenue Sharing: A DAO streams treasury revenue to token holders in real-time.
• Salary & Rewards: A protocol distributes fees to contributors based on ongoing participation.
• Royalty Payments: An NFT platform streams sales revenue to artists and co-creators instantly.
• Subscription Pools: A service splits subscription fees between infrastructure providers and content creators.

Distribution is governed by the allocation of units, which are non-transferrable on-chain entitlements.

• The publisher defines a Distribution Index (e.g., DISTRIBUTION_ID).
• Subscribers are approved to receive units for that index.
• The publisher updates units per subscriber (e.g., based on performance).
• When the publisher distributes tokens, the amount sent to each subscriber is: (subscriberUnits / totalUnits) * amountDistributed.
• Funds stream continuously until the distribution is stopped or units are revoked.

Superfluid has two core primitives. Understanding the difference is key:

• Constant Flow Agreement (CFA): Establishes a fixed, per-second flow rate (flowRate) between exactly two parties (sender and receiver). Ideal for salaries, subscriptions, or rentals.
• Instant Distribution Agreement (IDA): Distributes tokens from one publisher to many subscribers based on dynamic unit allocations. Ideal for revenue sharing, rewards, and any one-to-many distribution where shares change.

A CFA is a pipe; an IDA is a splitting manifold.

IDAs implement a clear permission structure to control fund flows.

• Publisher Control: The publisher exclusively controls the creation of the index, unit allocations, and the execution of distributions.
• Subscriber Consent: A subscriber must approve the publisher's super token before they can receive units, preventing unwanted distributions.
• Unit Management: Only the publisher can update a subscriber's units. Units are specific to the distribution index and are not ERC-20 tokens.
• Fund Safety: Distributed tokens are pulled from the publisher's Super Token balance in real-time via Superfluid's constant balance accounting.

The essential asset type for all Superfluid operations, including IDA distributions. They are upgraded ERC-20 tokens that can be streamed in real-time.

• Wrapping: Created by depositing standard tokens (e.g., DAI, ETH) into the protocol.
• Real-time Balances: A user's balance updates continuously as streams flow in and out.
• Prerequisite: An IDA Index can only distribute a specific Super Token to its subscribers.

The core data structures of an IDA that manage subscriber lists and entitlements.

• Index: A smart contract object representing a specific distribution list for one Super Token.
• Units: A non-transferable representation of a subscriber's share in the Index. When a distribution occurs, a subscriber receives (total amount distributed * subscriber units) / total units.
• Dynamic Updates: Publishers can update a subscriber's units at any time, changing their future share.

The two primary roles in an IDA.

• Publisher: The entity that creates an Index, approves subscribers, and triggers distributions. They have full control over the unit allocations.
• Subscriber: An address that has been approved by the publisher and holds units in the Index. They must have an active flow of the Index's Super Token to receive distributions, which are claimed automatically.

The on-chain process triggered by the publisher to send tokens to all subscribers.

• Single Transaction: The publisher calls distribute on the Index contract with an amount of Super Tokens.
• Gas Efficiency: The operation's gas cost is largely independent of the number of subscribers due to off-chain computation and Merkle proofs.
• Claim Mechanism: Subscribers do not need to manually claim; their real-time Super Token balance updates instantly, though the internal accounting uses a pull-based claim pattern for efficiency.

Practical applications of the IDA pattern:

• Salary & Rewards: Distribute team salaries or community rewards from a single treasury in real-time.
• Revenue Sharing: Automatically split subscription revenue or protocol fees among stakeholders.
• DeFi Yield Distribution: Distribute yield earned from a vault to liquidity providers proportionally.
• Example: A DAO could create an Index for its governance token to stream rewards to active contributors based on their weekly unit allocation.