Decentralized access to humanoid robots | NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE

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@vvvdotnetSep 27, 2025

The Spaces brought together Josh (CEO of VVV), Alex (marketing leader at Apple Arcade and VVV advisor), and Ex Machina’s co-founders Mauricio and Florent to unpack how Ex Machina uses a DAO to democratize access to humanoid robotics and physical AI investments. They outlined a clear pre-TGE path via on-chain Genesis auctions that issue non-transferable receipt tokens, enabling governance from day one, with 33% claimable at TGE and a 12‑month linear vest. Ex Machina has already secured positions in leading private robotics companies and published a shortlist spanning the US, Europe, and China (e.g., 1X, Agibot, Engine AI, Neura Robotics, Skild AI). A scored research and voting process—advised by a top-tier committee—drives allocations. Post‑TGE, a staking-based vToken model will share exit proceeds with long-term participants, complemented by new on-chain auctions and swaps. The session emphasized regulatory tailwinds for tokenized equity and machine DeFi, the shift from high-FDV/CEX listing playbooks to community-first launches, and strong synergies with VVV for distribution, research, and education. Key dates: VVV-hosted sale in 48 hours, Ex Machina’s final Genesis auction on Sept 29, and TGE targeted for late November/early December; VVV’s node round opens Oct 7–14 for passive portfolio exposure.

VVV x Ex Machina Twitter Spaces — Robotics x Web3: Vision, Mechanics, Timeline, and How to Participate

Session Overview

  • Focus: How Ex Machina uses a DAO-native structure to democratize access to private humanoid robotics and physical AI equity; how VVV will distribute the final Genesis auction; roadmap to TGE; governance, token mechanics, and long-term “machine economy” thesis.
  • Context: Ex Machina team is together in Portugal for pre-TGE coordination; conversation spans DAO infrastructure maturity, regulatory tailwinds, secondary markets for private robotics equity, and community-first distribution.

Participants (names as used or inferred from the dialogue)

  • Josh (Speaker 1) — CEO, VVV; based in New Zealand.
  • Alex (Speaker 2) — VVV advisor for marketing; Global Head of Marketing, Apple Arcade (Web2 background bridging into Web3).
  • Mauricio (Speaker 3) — Co-founder, Ex Machina; prior ecosystem roles at L1s (XRP, Cosmos) and an early builder at Peak; leads DAO design, sourcing, and execution.
  • Florent a.k.a. “Mercury” (Speaker 4) — Research analyst/co‑founder, Ex Machina; crypto since 2015; authors research reports and diligence for the DAO.

What Ex Machina Is Building

Core Thesis

  • Ex Machina is a DAO purpose-built for humanoids and physical AI.
  • Mission: Provide liquid, on-chain exposure to private humanoid robotics/physical AI leaders (e.g., Figure AI, Agility, Electronic), historically limited to VCs and large SPVs.
  • Analogy: “MicroStrategy for Robotics” — accumulate high-quality robotics equity so the token behaves like a liquid index to the sector.
  • Full-stack focus: From end-to-end humanoid platforms to AI “minds”/OS, edge compute, skills libraries, and chip innovators. The DAO specifically focuses on the “humanoid robots” vertical while covering its enabling stack.

Why Now (DAO/tooling/regulatory readiness)

  • DAO infra has matured: modular governance (e.g., Aragon), improved standards, and safer operational patterns (snapshot for off-chain signaling when needed, modular on-chain upgradability).
  • Regulatory tailwinds: Emerging clarity in the U.S. (new securities law frameworks and “tech pathways”) and increasing global openness to compliant, tokenized participation. This unlocks models like distributing exit proceeds to stakers via a V‑token scheme.

Product Architecture and Mechanics

Token and Sales Structure

  • Token name as referred to in the session: “Davis” (occasionally heard as “Deuce/Davis” in the conversation). It functions as a liquid index to the DAO’s robotics equity holdings post-TGE.
  • Pre‑TGE Genesis auctions:
    • Participants swap stablecoins for non-transferable “receipt tokens” representing future Davis tokens.
    • At TGE, 33% of the purchased tokens become claimable but remain non-transferable for trading; they are enabled for governance (snapshot voting). The remaining 67% vests linearly over 12 months.
    • Community and VCs participate on identical terms to ensure fair distribution and governance decentralization from day one.

Governance and Diligence Flow

  • Open ideation: DAO forum captures ideas and target names.
  • Research: Florent/Mercury authors deep-dive reports on the most-discussed names.
  • Scoring Committee (advisors) review: Applies a structured pre‑vote screen.
  • Weighted community vote: Members allocate preference weights across a shortlist (e.g., top 7–8 targets).
  • Deal sourcing: North Star Council (founding sub‑DAO) executes secondary market negotiations/broker relationships to secure allocations aligned with the vote.
  • Advisors/scoring committee include (as cited): Simon Dedick (Monroe Capital), Lex (Generative Ventures), Ruben (Wise3 Ventures), Martin (Peak; ex Bertelsmann Investments), Michael Ganzer (ex‑Cisco Germany CEO), among others. They score proposals, plug in networks, and open deal access.

Internal Build-Out

  • “Davis Lab/Loud” (referred to as “Davis Loud” in the talk): In‑house incubation for robotics x crypto ventures and media/startups; a hub for contributors to co‑create projects with the DAO.
  • Machine Economy Launchpad: Infrastructure to co‑own/co‑govern machine‑native ventures, and to tokenize equity/segregated portfolios on‑chain.

Investment Focus, Progress, and Pipeline

Executed Allocations

  • Figure AI (late‑stage, high valuation; cornerstone humanoid platform).
  • Agility Robotics (full‑stack humanoid robots; industrial/service focus).
  • Electronic (noted as having raised a new round; valuation cited around $6B).
  • Performance datapoint: one Chinese robotics exposure is already ~+103% within ~3 months of entry, reflecting how hot the secondary market has become.

Shortlist Under Active Consideration (examples cited)

  • 1X Technologies (Norway) — consumer/home humanoids.
  • AGiBot (China) — mass manufacturing of general-purpose humanoids.
  • Engine AI (China) — foundational AI stack for robot cognition.
  • Neura Robotics (Germany; heard as “Newer Robotics”) — cognitive humanoids; raising now.
  • Skill AI — OS/foundation models for humanoids (“the brain”).
  • Broader stack: Skill libraries, physical intelligence, edge/compute layers, and chip innovators (“etch/edge/chip” references) viewed as critical enablers the market underappreciates.

Pre‑TGE vs Post‑TGE Focus

  • Pre‑TGE: ~90% focus on Web2/hardware-core robotics leaders; limited exposure to Web3 robotics tokens (e.g., Peak mentioned in the treasury). Emphasis on builders of core tech, as humanoids are moving from pilots to commercial rollouts over the next 3–5 years.
  • Post‑TGE: Add mechanisms to support and accumulate Web3 robotics infrastructure tokens (auctions/swaps/white-labeled Genesis flows), incubate projects via sub‑DAOs, and use the Launchpad to structure tokenized co‑ownership.

Post‑TGE Staking and Rewards (V‑token model)

  • Stake Davis to mint a V‑token that confers two things:
    • Governance power multiplier that increases monthly up to 12x at 12 months.
    • Eligibility for a share of realized exit proceeds (e.g., partial distributions from equity exits) paid to V‑token holders.
  • Roadmap intent: As regulatory clarity improves, move from the V‑token indirection to direct token-holder distributions if/when permitted.

Tokenomics Rationale and “Index” Logic

  • Fundamental flywheel mirrors “crypto buys equity” (the inverse of corporates buying BTC/ETH):
    • Raising more funds → acquiring more equity → increasing the DAO’s intrinsic value.
    • Robotics equity appreciates as the sector expands (pre‑IPO momentum, secondary market heat), compounding NAV growth.
  • The DAO’s role is accumulation and governance, not value extraction: raised capital is used to buy assets, not to fund lavish ops.

Market Backdrop and Distribution Philosophy

  • Robotics is at an inflection: AI advances, dropping hardware costs, and manufacturing scale (esp. China) are converging.
  • DAO/tooling/regulation are finally “ready,” enabling on‑chain governance and compliant, global participation.
  • Community-first distribution over “high FDV, low float” patterns: Avoids CEX‑dictated, value‑extractive launches. Preference for DEX-first and fair access. Skepticism toward “Binance alpha” style listings that often produce poor post‑listing performance for retail.
  • Examples cited: Base ecosystem’s Aerodrome community‑seeding model; memetic tokenomics emerge from broad distribution plus fundamentals, not from exclusivity.

Machine Economy Thesis: Why Blockchain Matters for Robots

  • Co‑authored Ex Machina x Peak article (tagged in the session): “The blockchain standard for the machine economy,” arguing that:
    • Wallets + identity on‑chain enable robots to become economic actors (owning assets, settling payments, maintaining provenance/compliance).
    • Tokenization/fractionalization allow universal basic ownership (UBO) of machine assets (humanoids, vertical farms, drones), countering the dystopia of centralized ownership and “you will own nothing.”
    • Machine DeFi: Borrow against tokenized machine RWAs (with modeled depreciation/maintenance risk instead of crypto volatility), then compound into more productive assets. A pathway to retail portfolios of real robotized cash flows.

VVV x Ex Machina Partnership

  • Strategic fit: Both organizations prioritize early access, deep diligence, and community-led distribution in AI/DePIN/robotics.
  • VVV’s role: Distribution and diligence partner; strong marketing, BD, and research infrastructure; community “nodes” earn portfolio‑wide passive exposure via fee distributions in project tokens; more than $1.1M already distributed; low supply of nodes (~3,400); four years track record of curation and support.
  • Shared ethos: Democratize access; put community and utility before logos; enable both active and passive participation models.

Key Dates, Access, and Calls to Action

  • Final Genesis Auction (Ex Machina):
    • VVV platform sale goes live in ~48 hours from the session time; public can participate (no asset gatekeeping).
    • Ex Machina’s own Genesis sale is on Sep 29 (as cited in the talk).
    • This is the last Genesis auction; next will be Launchpad rounds closer to TGE.
  • TGE window: Late November to early December (Q4) — 33% claimable (governance‑enabled, non‑transferable), 67% vests monthly over 12 months.
  • Pre‑TGE participation: Swap stables for receipt tokens in Genesis; join governance via the claimable non‑transferable balance at TGE; take part in snapshot votes shaping the acquisition pipeline.
  • Post‑TGE: Stake for V‑token multipliers and exit‑share eligibility; broader Web3 integrations.
  • VVV platform actions:
    • Sign up: app.vvv.net
    • Discord airdrop campaign code: “the robots are coming” (lowercase was provided; case‑sensitivity not confirmed) to claim chips redeemable later for VVV’s V‑token when it TGE’s in Q4.
    • VVV Nodes: Final community round opens Oct 7 (7 days), followed by Oct 14 first‑come‑first‑serve public sale; nodes provide passive exposure to VVV’s total portfolio via revenue distributions.
  • Resources: Ex Machina will pin blogs/guides (advisor roster; final Genesis guide; machine economy thesis) and has joined the VVV Discord for Q&A.

Notable Highlights and Insights

  • Portugal’s “non‑habitual tax resident” regime helped catalyze crypto/robotics clusters; big events in Lisbon; density of hardware deployers.
  • Retail FOMO is shifting from pure memetics to “pre‑IPO robotics equity” via on‑chain indexes; secondary markets in robotics are increasingly liquid and competitive.
  • Community-backed diligence matters: open forums, expert reports, and a scoring committee help pre-filter before weighted governance signals decide sourcing priorities.
  • Philosophy: Replace “universal basic income” narratives with “universal basic ownership” of productive machine assets; align incentives so communities co‑own the machine economy rather than being displaced by it.

Quick Reference (Who Said What)

  • Josh (VVV): Emphasized democratizing access, community flywheels, distribution over exclusivity, VVV’s deal sourcing/partner ecosystem, and upcoming VVV sales and airdrop logistics.
  • Alex (VVV): Web2-to-Web3 bridge; scalable brand and subscription/growth expertise applied to Web3 launches.
  • Mauricio (Ex Machina): DAO architecture, Genesis/TGE mechanics, advisor/scoring committee process, portfolio progress (Figure/Agility/Electronic), pipeline names, post-TGE V‑token model, and community-first market stance.
  • Florent/Mercury (Ex Machina): Full-stack humanoid focus, research program and DAO reports, Genesis timeline (final auction next week; TGE in Dec), investment logic (NAV growth via equity accumulation), and the “ownership” ethic.

What To Do Next

  • Join the VVV platform (app.vvv.net) to register for the Ex Machina sale and future robotics/AI opportunities.
  • Participate in Ex Machina’s final Genesis auction on VVV (in ~48 hours from the session) and/or on Sep 29 with Ex Machina directly.
  • Read the Ex Machina articles linked in the session:
    • Advisor roster/scoring committee overview
    • Final Genesis guide (shortlist and mechanics)
    • “Blockchain standard for the machine economy” (with Peak)
  • Enter VVV’s airdrop code: “the robots are coming” in Discord; learn about the Nodes sale (Oct 7/Oct 14) for passive exposure to VVV’s broader portfolio.
  • Join both communities’ Discords for Q&A, diligence resources, and governance participation.