Yes FUTR and its short-cycle counterpart FUTX (
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2872374.new#new) are both ERC20 tokens. Because of the way the smart contract is employed in the production process of FUTR, the proof of Ether mining is synonymous with Proof of Value mining more generally.
It's a type of mining called Proof of Value (POV) where the Ether unit is used as a form of value to create 3 separate utilities so that the utility token issued (in this case it's FUTR) is given immediate definable value via derivative utility. Here:
How Do We Convert Payment Utility Into Payee Utility On The Blockchain?
• Digital currency is created as a result of the following: Value = Utility. This process is assimilated via a Blockchain which peruses a binomial random walk to create a unique Proof-of-work algorithm (POS uses a similar function). This process creates what is called a value coeval.
• Unless V = U there can be no digital currency as double-spending, unidentifiable value etc. becomes a problem. This was Satoshi’s finding with respect to payment utility.
• In recent years there have been attempts by innovators to create a form of payee utility out of the payment utility inherent in the value coeval. The attempts have for the most part focused around recreating securitised products on the Blockchain by employing methods such as introducing token dividends, profit-sharing token buybacks etc. The problem with these mechanisms is they do not resolve the critical question which is: how do we convert payment utility into payee utility?
• A way in which payment utility can be converted into payee utility on Blockchain is as follows: we subdivide the coeval utility that produces the value on the Blockchain into three separate components: core utility, option utility and exchange utility. We then take these three forms of sub-divided utility and divide them by the value coeval that is inherent to Blockchain functionality. We do this via a smart contract which simulates a Blockchain creation without actually being an individual Blockchain (and thereby bypassing the requirement for adding additional coeval value):
Core Utility * Option Utility * Exchange Utility
_____________________________________
Value Coeval
• This discovery is significant because it allows us to create a system whereby payment utility is converted into payee utility between every individual function of payment utility separately while still conforming to Blockchain standards such as being an independent non-securitised token offering.
• In other words (CU*OU*EU)/VC = Blockchain Payee Payment Utility
• What has made this possible is the act of using Blockchain payment utility as a mechanism of “profitable payment” which thereby allows the payee to make a payment while still benefitting from the greater amount of FIAT-convertible proceeds of such a payment.
• This is because of the dynamic multiplication of the three components of Blockchain payment utility: simply, when expressed in a Blockchain (POW/POS) equations it will necessarily create an enhanced form of payment utility (Blockchain payee utility)