What this page covers
EDMA's unit economics model is event-bound: every revenue stream activates when a verified fact becomes money. This page covers the seven revenue streams that compose per-deal platform economics, walks through a worked composite deal that touches five of them in a single transaction, and explains the recognition policy that distinguishes net certificate revenue (where EDMA acts as agent) from gross milestone and supplier-send revenue (recognized on event release).
The streams compose. A single institutional shipment can carry milestone fees, treasury interest, certificate attach fees, supplier sends, and an off-ramp — all on the same receipt, settling through the same $EDSD rail, with the same audit trail. The composite illustration below shows how a $1.5M CIF shipment generates $14,975 in platform revenue ($22,475 with optional seller instant cash-out). Volume scales the unit economics linearly; corridor maturity (attach-rate, latency, supplier coverage) shifts the mix toward higher-margin streams over time. For the fee constants behind these numbers, see Fee schedule; for how the resulting fees split between burn and treasury, see Split.
Stream-by-stream breakdown
Certificates (U1) recognize fees net (EDMA acts as agent in the transaction). The take-rate is 4 percent of the gross settlement amount, split 2 percent to the seller and 2 percent to the buyer. Planning anchors: $40 per tCO2e for carbon, $15 per MWh for REC/GO. The math is unit-agnostic because the protocol treats every certificate identically post-issuance.
Trade milestones + M1 interest (U2) recognize milestone fees on each event release (when the slice flips Locked to Unlocked $EDSD), and M1 interest accrues continuously while the first milestone deposit sits in short-duration U.S. Treasuries. The dual-revenue structure means a single shipment generates two distinct streams: predictable milestone fees on every release plus variable Treasury yield on the M1 dwell.
Supplier sends (U3) monetize B2B working capital movements inside the platform. Standard 1 percent sender fee with banded discounts (pre-paid send blocks for high-volume corridors, lower published bands as active supplier counts cross threshold metrics). Each send appears as a discrete line item on the parent PO's receipt.
$CLE (U4) is the loyalty and energy unit: 1 $CLE mints at 1 MWh of verified generation, with a $5 governance-maintained anchor and 70 percent producer / 30 percent protocol split. The protocol's $1.50 per MWh share is treated as inventory until sale (or recognized per the chosen accounting policy). $CLE's economic role is prosumer engagement and loyalty; it is not required for the ETT-to-certificate conversion path.
ESG Scoring & Assurance (U5) charges annual platform tiers plus per-score attestor review fees for CSRD, ISSB, SEC, and GRI-aligned outputs. Tier range from $500 to $20,000+ depending on organization size and feature set. FX & Off-ramps (U6) charge 25–40 basis-point spread on fiat exits, plus pass-through third-party costs. Data Products (U7) charge a flat annual subscription plus per-receipt usage for receipt exports and APIs to auditors, banks, and carriers.
A $1.5M CIF shipment on a 20/60/20 milestone schedule generates $7,500 in total milestone fees: $1,500 on M1 ($300k × 0.5%), $4,500 on M2 ($900k × 0.5%), $1,500 on M3 ($300k × 0.5%). The 0.5 percent rate applies uniformly because the $1.5M tranche size sits comfortably within the T1 cap tier ($5k cap, not engaged at this size).
The first milestone deposit ($300,000 = 20% of $1.5M CIF) sits in short-duration U.S. Treasuries for the 45-day dwell period at 5.0% APY: $300,000 × 5.0% × (45/360) = $1,875. The interest accrues to EDMA treasury (no yield to $EDSD holders) and posts to the receipt as a "Treasury Interest" line for full transparency.
500 carbon credits retired at $40 per tonne at delivery time generate $20,000 gross retirement value; at the 4 percent certificate fee (2% buyer + 2% seller), platform revenue is $800. The retirement uses the same receipt as the milestone payout, with attach and burn hashes recorded on-chain. One-Claim Ledger and Registry Mirror prevent double-claiming across routes.
Three Tier-1 to Tier-2 supplier sends of $100,000 each (paying upstream producers, packaging suppliers, logistics providers) at the standard 1 percent sender fee generates $3,000. Each send appears as a discrete line item on the parent PO's receipt with method, value date, and beneficiary hash; sends could qualify for a 0.60–0.80% program band in a mature corridor.
A $600,000 fiat exit at 30 basis points (well within the published 25–40 bps spread band) yields $1,800 in platform revenue. Third-party costs (custody, Travel-Rule compliance, banking rail) are pass-through and shown line-item; EDMA does not mark up.
Recognition policy and margin logic
Recognition policy. Certificate fees recognize net (EDMA acts as agent passing the underlying instrument through). Milestone fees and supplier-send fees recognize on event release (the moment the slice flips Locked to Unlocked). M1 interest accrues until release. Prepaid supplier-send blocks book as deferred revenue and recognize on consumption (as sends actually execute against the prepaid block). SaaS tiers recognize ratably; per-score review fees recognize on review completion.
Margin logic. Gross margin is driven by three cost categories: attestor payouts (review fees and SLA performance bonuses paid from the Attestors bucket of the treasury split), custody and FX costs (pass-through plus published spread), and infrastructure (sequencer, monitoring, audit). Policy: a fixed share of certificate and scoring revenue allocates to attestors via the bucket mechanism; per-tranche review costs are capped for trade milestones; custody and FX costs stay within published spreads. The combined effect keeps contribution margins stable as volume scales.
What finance should model quarterly. Certificates: volume by type (Carbon/REC/GO), ASPs, attach rate (apply 4 percent take rate). Trade: throughput (CIF), milestone schedule mix, average M1 dwell and APY (apply 0.50 percent plus M1 interest). Supplier flows: number and size of $EDSD sends by program band (apply 1 percent or band rate). SaaS/ESG: seats × tiers + review counts. Data: base fees + receipt volumes. FX/off-ramps: exit volumes × spread. Sensitivity: run cases on (a) M1 dwell and APY, (b) certificate ASP, (c) supplier program mix, (d) attach rate of certificates to shipments.
Continue exploring EDMA economics
For the canonical fee rates per transaction type, see Fee schedule. For how every fee splits 50/50 between burn and the five-bucket treasury, see Split. For the macro drivers that scale volume across markets, see Demand drivers. For the protocol token that pays fees and absorbs the burn, see $EDM; for the supply curve and 100M target, see Tokenomics.
