Gov/en/Portal:Economy/What-You-Get: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 21:49, 3 August 2026

💡 In simple words: This page explains what you receive when you donate to WikiDeal, and what you receive when you subscribe.

Position Paper: What Do You Get When You Donate, and When You Subscribe?

Observatory Analysis: This page was drafted following analysis of how potential donors interpret "funding": what they think they are getting. Three recurring conceptual frames emerged: TIME, TRUST, and RIGHTS. Each is explored below.

Two Dimensions, Presented Separately: Donations and Subscriptions

Support for WikiDeal involves two distinct dimensions, intended to be presented separately even when they appear in the same dashboard:

Donations: funding WikiDeal is a donation. A donation can generate conditional Rewards (no guarantee), as explored in this paper.
Subscriptions: subscribing means paying a usage license for the platform. A subscriber holds an active prepaid credit and can top up their account to make payments.

The two flows are intended to remain separate: donations support the project's development, subscriptions pay for usage.

WIL: What's in a Name?

WIL	WikiDeal License
Nominal	CHF 1 = 1 month of usage
1 WIL =	1 subscription month
Rewards	Cashed out, funded by the WIL user licenses paid by users
In parallel	Karma tokens, citizen participation with an exchange network
Annual increase	Under study (draft Open Call)
Governance	One user, one vote

When someone donates to WikiDeal, they receive Credits. But what are Credits, really? The answer is more philosophical than financial. This position paper explores three distinct conceptual frames for understanding what a donor receives, and why all three are simultaneously true.

Why "WIL" as a Name Works

The name WIL (WikiDeal License) was chosen deliberately: it is a license to use the platform, the unit of the monthly and annual subscriptions. It avoids the word "token" (too crypto-speculative), "membership" (too social-club), "bond" (too financial), and "credit" (too banking). WIL sits at the intersection: it licenses future rights, it represents a contribution of trust, and it is the unit of democratic participation in WikiDeal.

In some European languages, "wil" means "will" or "desire": an intentional choice is embedded in the name. A donor exercises their will to see a more equitable digital economy exist.

Concept 1: TIME

You buy time for the project. Time is money; money IS time.

The most fundamental thing a donor provides is time. Not their own time, the project's time. WikiDeal needs months and years of development, iteration, community-building, and legal validation before it can reach the scale where it is self-sustaining.

When you donate CHF 100 to WikiDeal, you are pre-funding approximately 100 months of platform existence: 100 users' worth of one month each, paid in advance. You are saying: "I believe this project deserves the time it needs to prove itself." Your money converts directly into time: runway, capacity, possibility.

This is why 1 WIL = 1 month of usage = CHF 1. The unit is not arbitrary. It anchors the abstract (a WIL Credit) to something tangible: one human being using this platform for one month. Your donation pre-funds that usage, before those users exist.

Concept 2: TRUST

You bet that enough users will subscribe. Your contribution is a vote of confidence.

Credits generate Rewards (no guarantee*) only if enough users subscribe to the platform at WikiDeal Membership. This is the conditional nature of WIL: it is not a fixed-return bond. It is a conditional right whose value depends on collective adoption.

When you donate to WikiDeal, you are expressing trust: in the model, in the team, in the community that will build and govern the platform. You are saying: "I trust that enough people will find this useful enough to pay WikiDeal Membership for it." Your donation is a public bet on collective behavior.

This is fundamentally different from charity. Charity gives unconditionally. A donation to WikiDeal is conditional: you believe in a future where many people choose a fair platform over an extractive one. Your trust is the seed of that future.

A possible annual percentage increase on rewards is under study through a draft Open Call (not yet launched); no percentage is decided.

Concept 3: RIGHTS

You acquire conditional rights on future months paid by users.

Legally, Credits represent conditional rights on future subscription revenue. As users pay their WikiDeal Membership, that revenue flows through the distribution algorithm: Commission to the provider, Commission to the User Group, Commission to the WikiDeal platform, and then distribution to donors according to their WIL holdings and allocation choices (Cash vs Karma tokens).

These rights are conditional because they depend on users existing and subscribing. They are rights, not promises: the algorithm that governs their distribution is public and auditable by anyone. Rights already attributed are protected: the amount announced at the moment of a contribution is final, and no retroactive rule change can reduce rights already attributed. For future contributions, the parameters of the bonding curve and of the distribution algorithm can evolve prospectively through Open Calls.

Governance follows the one user, one vote principle. As the Exit to Community process unfolds, your governance rights become more meaningful: you are part of the community that decides the platform's future.

The Synthesis: TIME + TRUST + RIGHTS = WIL

A WIL Credit is simultaneously:

A unit of time: one month of one user's existence on the platform, pre-funded
A unit of trust: your conditional bet on collective adoption
A unit of rights: governance participation and conditional claim on future revenue

No single frame is sufficient. The financial frame (rights) explains the mechanism. The temporal frame (time) explains the meaning. The social frame (trust) explains why it works as a community-building tool instead of a financial instrument, in line with the Exit to Community path.

What You Don't Buy

For clarity, it is equally important to state what WIL is not:

Not a share in Ynternet.org Foundation (which has no shareholders)
Not a security regulated by FINMA (based on the current legal analysis, see the fiscal study)
Not a guaranteed fixed-return instrument
Not a speculative token to be traded on exchanges
Not a Donation without any return (Rewards (no guarantee*) exists)

See also: Why Fund WikiDeal · Subscriptions · Glossary · FAQ for Donors

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{KidsIntro|This page explains what you receive when you support WikiDeal.}}
+{{KidsIntro|This page explains what you receive when you donate to WikiDeal, and what you receive when you subscribe.}}
-== Position Paper: What Do You Buy When You Fund WikiDeal? ==
+== Position Paper: What Do You Get When You Donate, and When You Subscribe? ==
-'''Observatory Analysis:''' This page was drafted following analysis of how potential funders interpret "funding" — what they think they are getting. Three recurring conceptual frames emerged: TIME, TRUST, and RIGHTS. Each is explored below.
+'''Observatory Analysis:''' This page was drafted following analysis of how potential donors interpret "funding": what they think they are getting. Three recurring conceptual frames emerged: TIME, TRUST, and RIGHTS. Each is explored below.
-WIL — What's in a Name?
+=== Two Dimensions, Presented Separately: Donations and Subscriptions ===
+Support for WikiDeal involves two distinct dimensions, intended to be presented separately even when they appear in the same dashboard:
+* '''Donations''': funding WikiDeal is a donation. A donation can generate conditional [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Rewards|Rewards]] (no guarantee), as explored in this paper.
+* '''Subscriptions''': subscribing means paying a usage license for the platform. A subscriber holds an active prepaid credit and can top up their account to make payments.
+The two flows are intended to remain separate: donations support the project's development, subscriptions pay for usage.
+WIL: What's in a Name?
 {| class="wikitable"
 |-
 | WIL
-| WikiDeal Contribution Licence
+| WikiDeal License
 |-
 | Nominal
@@ Line 17: / Line 23: @@
 | 1 subscription month
 |-
-| Types
+| Rewards
-| Rewards / WIL tokens
+| Cashed out, funded by the WIL user licenses paid by users
+|-
+| In parallel
+| [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Karma-Tokens|Karma tokens]], citizen participation with an exchange network
 |-
 | Annual increase
@@ Line 24: / Line 33: @@
 |-
 | Governance
-| 1 WIL = 1 vote
+| One user, one vote
 |}
-When someone backs WikiDeal, they receive Credits. But what are Credits, really? The answer is more philosophical than financial. This position paper explores three distinct conceptual frames for understanding what a funder is buying — and why all three are simultaneously true.
+When someone donates to WikiDeal, they receive Credits. But what are Credits, really? The answer is more philosophical than financial. This position paper explores three distinct conceptual frames for understanding what a donor receives, and why all three are simultaneously true.
 === Why "WIL" as a Name Works ===
-The name '''WIL''' (WikiDeal Contribution Licence) was chosen deliberately. It avoids the word "token" (too crypto-speculative), "membership" (too social-club), "bond" (too financial), and "credit" (too banking). WIL sits at the intersection: it licenses future rights, it represents a contribution of trust, and it is the unit of democratic participation in WikiDeal.
+The name '''WIL''' (WikiDeal License) was chosen deliberately: it is a license to use the platform, the unit of the monthly and annual subscriptions. It avoids the word "token" (too crypto-speculative), "membership" (too social-club), "bond" (too financial), and "credit" (too banking). WIL sits at the intersection: it licenses future rights, it represents a contribution of trust, and it is the unit of democratic participation in WikiDeal.
-In some European languages, "wil" means "will" or "desire" — an intentional choice is embedded in the name. A funder exercises their will to see a more equitable digital economy exist.
+In some European languages, "wil" means "will" or "desire": an intentional choice is embedded in the name. A donor exercises their will to see a more equitable digital economy exist.
 === Concept 1: TIME ===
 ==== You buy time for the project. Time is money; money IS time. ====
-The most fundamental thing a funder provides is '''time'''. Not their own time — the project's time. WikiDeal needs months and years of development, iteration, community-building, and legal validation before it can reach the scale where it is self-sustaining.
+The most fundamental thing a donor provides is '''time'''. Not their own time, the project's time. WikiDeal needs months and years of development, iteration, community-building, and legal validation before it can reach the scale where it is self-sustaining.
-When you back WikiDeal with CHF 100, you are buying approximately 100 months of platform existence — 100 users' worth of one month each, paid in advance. You are saying: "I believe this project deserves the time it needs to prove itself." Your money converts directly into time — runway, capacity, possibility.
+When you donate CHF 100 to WikiDeal, you are pre-funding approximately 100 months of platform existence: 100 users' worth of one month each, paid in advance. You are saying: "I believe this project deserves the time it needs to prove itself." Your money converts directly into time: runway, capacity, possibility.
-This is why 1 WIL = 1 month of usage = CHF 1. The unit is not arbitrary. It anchors the abstract (a WIL Credit) to something tangible: one human being using this platform for one month. Your funding is a pre-purchase of that usage, made possible before those users exist.
+This is why 1 WIL = 1 month of usage = CHF 1. The unit is not arbitrary. It anchors the abstract (a WIL Credit) to something tangible: one human being using this platform for one month. Your donation pre-funds that usage, before those users exist.
 === Concept 2: TRUST ===
@@ Line 46: / Line 55: @@
 Credits generate [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Rewards|Rewards]] (no guarantee*) only if enough users subscribe to the platform at WikiDeal Membership. This is the conditional nature of WIL: it is not a fixed-return bond. It is a '''conditional right''' whose value depends on collective adoption.
-When you back WikiDeal, you are expressing trust — in the model, in the team, in the community that will build and govern the platform. You are saying: "I trust that enough people will find this useful enough to pay WikiDeal Membership for it." Your funding is a public bet on collective behavior.
+When you donate to WikiDeal, you are expressing trust: in the model, in the team, in the community that will build and govern the platform. You are saying: "I trust that enough people will find this useful enough to pay WikiDeal Membership for it." Your donation is a public bet on collective behavior.
-This is fundamentally different from charity. Charity gives unconditionally. Funding WikiDeal is conditional: you believe in a future where many people choose a fair platform over an extractive one. Your trust is the seed of that future.
+This is fundamentally different from charity. Charity gives unconditionally. A donation to WikiDeal is conditional: you believe in a future where many people choose a fair platform over an extractive one. Your trust is the seed of that future.
 A possible annual percentage increase on rewards is under study through a draft [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Annual Value Increase|Open Call]] (not yet launched); no percentage is decided.
@@ Line 54: / Line 63: @@
 === Concept 3: RIGHTS ===
 ==== You acquire conditional rights on future months paid by users. ====
-Legally, Credits represent '''conditional rights''' on future subscription revenue. As users pay their WikiDeal Membership, that revenue flows through the distribution algorithm: Commission to the provider, Commission to the [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:User Groups|User Group]], Commission to the WikiDeal platform, and then distribution to funders according to their WIL holdings and allocation choices (Cash vs WIL tokens).
+Legally, Credits represent '''conditional rights''' on future subscription revenue. As users pay their WikiDeal Membership, that revenue flows through the distribution algorithm: Commission to the provider, Commission to the [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:User Groups|User Group]], Commission to the WikiDeal platform, and then distribution to donors according to their WIL holdings and allocation choices (Cash vs Karma tokens).
-These rights are conditional because they depend on users existing and subscribing. They are rights — not promises — because the algorithm that governs their distribution is public, immutable, and auditable by anyone. You cannot be cheated by a rule change that you did not consent to: the [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Bonding Curve|bonding curve]] and the distribution algorithm are fixed.
+These rights are conditional because they depend on users existing and subscribing. They are rights, not promises: the algorithm that governs their distribution is public and auditable by anyone. Rights already attributed are protected: the amount announced at the moment of a contribution is final, and no retroactive rule change can reduce rights already attributed. For future contributions, the parameters of the [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Bonding Curve|bonding curve]] and of the distribution algorithm can evolve prospectively through [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Open-Calls:Main|Open Calls]].
-Rights also extend to governance. Each WIL Credit carries a vote in WikiDeal's community governance. As the Exit to Community process unfolds, your governance rights become more meaningful — you are part of the community that decides the platform's future.
+Governance follows the one user, one vote principle. As the Exit to Community process unfolds, your governance rights become more meaningful: you are part of the community that decides the platform's future.
 === The Synthesis: TIME + TRUST + RIGHTS = WIL ===
 A WIL Credit is simultaneously:
-* '''A unit of time''' — one month of one user's existence on the platform, pre-funded
+* '''A unit of time''': one month of one user's existence on the platform, pre-funded
-* '''A unit of trust''' — your conditional bet on collective adoption
+* '''A unit of trust''': your conditional bet on collective adoption
-* '''A unit of rights''' — governance participation and conditional claim on future revenue
+* '''A unit of rights''': governance participation and conditional claim on future revenue
-No single frame is sufficient. The financial frame (rights) explains the mechanism. The temporal frame (time) explains the meaning. The social frame (trust) explains why it works as a community-building tool rather than a simple financial instrument.
+No single frame is sufficient. The financial frame (rights) explains the mechanism. The temporal frame (time) explains the meaning. The social frame (trust) explains why it works as a community-building tool instead of a financial instrument, in line with the [[Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Exit To Community|Exit to Community]] path.
 === What You Don't Buy ===
@@ Line 78: / Line 87: @@
 * Not a Donation without any return (Rewards (no guarantee*) exists)
-'''See also:''' [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Why-Fund-WikiDeal|Why Fund WikiDeal]] Fund WikiDeal [[Gov/en/Portal:Onboarding/Glossary|Glossary]] 25 Innovations
+'''See also:''' [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Why-Fund-WikiDeal|Why Fund WikiDeal]] · [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Subscriptions|Subscriptions]] · [[Gov/en/Portal:Onboarding/Glossary|Glossary]] · [[Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Donor-FAQ|FAQ for Donors]]
 [[Category:Migration June 2026]]