The Ampleforth protocol is a set of instructions on the Ethereum blockchain that produces a decentralized unit of account called $AMPL. The $AMPL token is the primary building block of the Ampleforth Elastic Finance Ecosystem. It is used for lending & borrowing, for the creation of derivatives, and as collateral for a decentralized stablecoin. It is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency with an algorithmically adjusted circulating supply. It is designed to be the base money of the new decentralized economy, by providing an asset that cannot be diluted by supply inflation and remains decoupled to the price action of other cryptocurrencies—and Bitcoin ($BTC) in particular.
With Ampleforth, token holders own a fixed fraction of the total $AMPL circulating supply, rather than a fixed number of tokens. When the protocol detects that the price of $AMPL is too high, it increases the circulating supply, whereas the supply is decreased if the price is too low. This change is propagated to all Ampleforth wallets, which have their wallet balance adjusted proportionally. Irrespective of this change, $AMPL holders will still retain the same percentage of the token supply. This automatic supply adjustment process is known as a “rebase” and occurs once each day, with a positive rebase if the price goes above $1.06, and a negative rebase if it is below $0.96. The overall goal of the system is to create incentives that drive the market price of AMPL back to ~$1.