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Riffdex founder Stephen Heuvel, who publishes as Melk, proposes an Audio Fungible Token (AFT) as a divisible token linked to a song, with music access, artist payments on transfers, and a market designed for those fee-charging transfers. That is a project thesis, not an established token category or a verified live service. In his September 6, 2026 account, an audit, deployment on Base, and an app were still future steps.
What is an AFT?
AFT stands for “Audio Fungible Token.” In Heuvel’s proposed design, each AFT is an ERC-20 token associated with a song. Unlike a one-of-one digital collectible, a fungible token is divisible and interchangeable with other units of the same token.
The founder’s idea is to connect a token balance to access to the associated music, and to use token transfers as the occasion for artist payments. The design also includes a market where those tokens can trade. The September 6, 2026 article describes these intended features; it does not establish that listeners can currently buy a token, unlock a song, or make a trade through a public Riffdex product.
Why does Heuvel argue for AFTs instead of NFTs?
Heuvel frames the choice around what a music token should represent. In his view, music has shared, recurring value through listening, royalties, and fandom, while NFTs are often presented as scarce collectibles. He argues that a divisible, fungible token is a better fit for the model he wants to build. That is his positioning, not a general finding about every NFT or music project.
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His comparison with creator coins follows a similar distinction. In an August 29, 2026 comparison, he characterizes a Zora coin as a tradable coin associated with a creator post, while presenting an AFT as tied to a song, transfer royalties, and access. This describes Riffdex’s intended positioning; it does not independently establish how Zora’s products currently work.
| Comparison point | Founder’s framing |
|---|---|
| What the token represents | An NFT is often framed as a scarce collectible; a creator coin as a coin associated with a post; an AFT as a proposed fungible asset associated with a song. |
| Intended role of trading | The proposed AFT market is meant to connect token transfers with artist payments and, under the stated model, rewards for fans who stake the token. |
| Market design | Riffdex says its proposed market accounts for fees charged by the AFT itself, rather than assuming the full sent amount reaches the pool. |
How are artist and fan payments supposed to work?
Heuvel says each AFT trade allocates 70% to the artist and 30% to fans who stake the token. He also describes the transfer fee as a way for the artist to earn beyond the token’s first sale. These are project claims about intended economics: the September 6 account does not provide a deployed contract address, transaction evidence, or an independent audit confirming that the split is active.
The proposal’s access mechanism is also balance-based: holding the associated token is meant to unlock the music. The account does not specify the exact balance threshold, how access is technically delivered, or what happens to access when a holder transfers or sells tokens. Those implementation details matter to listeners and token holders, but are not established by the description.
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Why does Riffdex say it needs a custom AMM?
An automated market maker (AMM) uses a pool of assets and a pricing formula to facilitate trades. Heuvel’s technical argument is that an AFT transfer takes a fee, so the pool may receive less than a trader sends. If a market assumes that the amount sent equals the amount received, he says, it could misprice a trade, charge a fee twice, or fail.
Riffdex describes its proposed AMM as calculating from the balance the pool actually receives, so the transfer royalty is collected once. This is the founder’s explanation of both the problem and his design response; the available account does not include an independent code review or transaction test demonstrating that the implementation works as claimed.
What has Riffdex built, and what remains before launch?
In the September 6, 2026 article, Heuvel reports seven working smart contracts and a green test suite. He names a token, factory, presale, fee-on-transfer-aware AMM, router, and manipulation-resistant TWAP oracle among the components. The component count, working status, and test result are founder-reported rather than independently verified.
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He also describes three protections as enforced by the code:
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- The pool opens at the presale price.
- The oracle cannot freeze a pool.
These are descriptions of intended code behavior, not a substitute for a security assessment. As of that article’s publication date, a security audit, deployment on Base, and the app remained ahead. The article does not establish whether any of those steps have since been completed or whether the app is now available.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What rights does an AFT holder actually receive?
The available account does not establish which legal rights or royalty streams back an AFT, what a holder owns or may claim, or which licenses and territories apply. A token being associated with a song, or being described as unlocking access, does not by itself answer those legal questions. Anyone considering a token would need the project’s governing terms and applicable rights documentation; those details are not provided in the founder’s account.
Is the artist-per-stream figure verified?
Heuvel’s article says artists earn roughly $0.003–$0.005 per stream, but it does not name a publisher, explain a methodology, identify a year-specific study, or provide supporting evidence for that range. It should therefore be treated as an unsourced figure in the founder’s argument, not as a verified industry-wide rate.
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