Written by the Token Tails team. Facts checked against live data on ; sources are listed at the end.
Token Tails started in March 2024 as an idea: make cat games people enjoy, and connect them to real cats in a real shelter. Today it is a set of free browser games tied to Pink Paw (Rožinė pėdutė), a cat shelter in Kaunas, Lithuania, with every on-chain payout to the shelter listed publicly.
The road between those two points was not straight. This page is the honest version: what happened, when, and what we stopped doing.
Key takeaways
- 2024: idea in March, then startup programmes (Microsoft for Startups, a Stellar Community Fund grant, Rockit x Firstpick, thirdweb, GameBCN) and a public-vote win at Technorama.
- 2025: Pink Paw joined in March; the SEI era (history).
- 2026: we retired the crypto-rewards layer, rebuilt the games, and started public on-chain payouts to Pink Paw on 7 October.
- Since 16 October 2026 Pink Paw’s own wallet receives every on-chain split payout.
Timeline
Dates are when each step happened or was announced on this blog. Programme details are as we reported them at the time.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| March 2024 | The idea for Token Tails takes shape. |
| 1 May 2024 | Token Tails joins Microsoft for Startups. |
| 21 May 2024 | A grant from the Stellar Community Fund, round SCF #26. |
| 23 May 2024 | Token Tails joins the 7-week Rockit x Firstpick accelerator. |
| 4 June 2024 | Token Tails wins the Technorama public vote. |
| August to December 2024 | Weekly game update posts on this blog, from week 1 (13 August) to update 19 (1 December). |
| 10 November 2024 | Token Tails joins the thirdweb accelerator. |
| 16 December 2024 | Token Tails joins the GameBCN accelerator. |
| 10 March 2025 | Pink Paw (Rožinė pėdutė), a cat shelter in Kaunas, joins Token Tails. |
| November 2025 | The SEI era peaks (SEI ERA · HISTORICAL): 324K+ active wallets in the peak week on SEI (Nov 2025) and 875K+ transactions in the peak week on SEI (Nov 2025). |
| April 2026 | 540K+ registered players, all time (Apr 2026, company-reported). |
| 2026 | The crypto-rewards layer is retired and the games are rebuilt: Catnip Heist, Pink Paw Knight, Moon Rave and Bad Cat Daily. |
| 7 October 2026 | The first public on-chain payouts to Pink Paw through the open-source ShelterSplit contract. |
| 16 October 2026 | Pink Paw’s own wallet now receives every mainnet split payout. |
2024: learning in public
The first year was about building a game and learning how a startup works. Our 2024 recap counted 25 game updates that year: new cats, mini-games, events and fixes, most of them written up in weekly posts. We joined several startup programmes and took part in hackathons, and the Stellar Community Fund backed our early work on Stellar with an SCF #26 grant.
2025: a real shelter, and big numbers
On 10 March 2025 Pink Paw joined. From then on the games had one named shelter with real cats, real names and real needs, instead of “shelters” in general.
Late in 2025 Token Tails was live on the SEI network, and the numbers got large: 324K+ active wallets in the peak week on SEI (Nov 2025) and 875K+ transactions in the peak week on SEI (Nov 2025). We show these as history (SEI ERA · HISTORICAL), because they describe that period, not today.
2026: rebuilt around the shelter
In 2026 we rebuilt Token Tails around one question: can anyone check that the shelter got the money? The answer became ShelterSplit, an open-source (MIT) contract that pays the shelter’s wallet and records every payout as a public event. The first payouts went out on 7 October 2026. On 16 October 2026 all mainnet splits were switched to Pink Paw’s own wallet. Token Tails created that wallet and handed it to the shelter staff, who hold the recovery phrase; Token Tails keeps a recovery backup, and we say so wherever custody comes up.
What we stopped doing and why
We dropped the crypto-rewards layer: an in-game currency meant to be traded, and reward giveaways. Cat packs are still sold, as digital pixel cats for the games. The rewards layer brought big numbers, but big numbers are not the same as people who care about cats, and none of it let a stranger check what a shelter actually received.
We also closed the old Stellar cat packs on 9 October 2026 and retired the chat-app version of the game. The old weekly update posts from that era now point here, because most of the features they describe no longer exist.
What we kept: the cats, the art, the team, and the reason we started.
What Token Tails is now
Token Tails is a set of free cat games in the browser, tied to one real shelter:
- Catnip Heist: a stealth game for two cats. Win, tap, and Token Tails sends Pink Paw a small treat (one treat per player per UTC day). No sign-up needed.
- The main game: meet your cat, visit the Shelter, and play Purrsuit and Paw Match.
- Moon Rave: $1 = 1 cat on the dance floor, by card or in USDC on Arc, for Pink Paw.
- Bad Cat Daily: snap your own cat and wreck today’s room.
Every on-chain payout to Pink Paw through ShelterSplit is public on the shelter payouts page, with a link to its transaction. Live totals are on the impact page. Separately, the founders report $40K+ donated directly in crypto and goods (Oct 2026, company-reported); that figure is a company statement and is not part of the on-chain totals.
How does the money actually move? Read how Token Tails works.
Who we are
Token Tails is run by a small private company in Lithuania (an MB, a small partnership). It is not a charity.
The team: Žygimantas (Founder, CTO), Arturas (AI Engineer), Ernest (Game Lead), Lukas (Web Lead), Domas (Graphics), Sky Wee (Business Development), Igor (Marketing) and Marcin (Legal). Two cats keep us honest: Feta, our Vibe Checker, and Kaciukas, our Nap Lead.
Pink Paw is our shelter partner: a cat shelter in Kaunas run by its own staff. We make the games; they look after the cats.
Frequently asked questions
What is Token Tails?
Token Tails makes free cat games (Catnip Heist, Pink Paw Knight, Moon Rave, Bad Cat Daily and the main game) tied to Pink Paw, a real cat shelter in Kaunas, Lithuania. Money for the shelter is paid on-chain and listed publicly.
Who runs Token Tails?
A small team behind a Lithuanian company (an MB, a small partnership). The founder is Žygimantas, who is also the CTO; the full team is on the Token Tails home page.
Is Token Tails a charity?
No. It is a private company that makes games. Gifts made through it are not tax-deductible donations; what reaches the shelter is public on the shelter payouts page.
When did Pink Paw join Token Tails?
Pink Paw (Rožinė pėdutė), a cat shelter in Kaunas, joined on 10 March 2025. Since 16 October 2026 the shelter's own wallet receives every on-chain split payout.
Check it yourself
Facts checked against live data on . Live figures change: the links below always show the current ones.
