Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Rewards-Explained

💡 In simple words: This page explains the Rewards given to people who donate to WikiDeal or help build it.

🎯 In 20 seconds (expert summary): Rewards are one of the two types of WikiDeal Credits, alongside Miles Credits (covered on their own page). Rewards are intended for donors, early supporters and pioneers. They are convertible to CHF without any guarantee, generated through the bonding curve on the basis of real expenses, regulated by the Need-Driven Funding mechanism, and operated under Swiss FINMA sandbox rules.

Rewards Explained

Rewards at a Glance
Symbol	💰
Recipients	Donors, early supporters, pioneers
Convertible to CHF	Yes, without guarantee*
Basis	Bonding Curve (real expenses)
Speculation?	❌ None, transparent
FINMA	Sandbox / utility token
See also	Miles Credits
See also	Terms & Conditions

WikiDeal generates two types of Credits: Rewards and Miles Credits. They are two clearly separate concepts, each described on its own page. This page covers Rewards only.

Who Receives Rewards

Rewards are intended for three categories of contributors:

1. Donors: people who support WikiDeal through Donations.
2. Early supporters: people who contributed to the project in the years preceding the launch of WikiDeal.
3. Pioneers: people who bring added value to the project and receive Rewards either through the Open Call process, or as experts invited by the initial Steering Committee.

What Rewards Are (no guarantee*)

Rewards are convertible to CHF, but without guarantee. Their availability depends on the financial health of the platform: how much revenue is generated by monthly subscriptions, how many users are active, and whether the budget covers costs. Rewards are honest: if the platform doesn't generate enough revenue, Rewards are not distributed that month. They represent a conditional claim on future subscription revenue, not a debt.

• Convertible to CHF when funds allow
• A possible annual percentage increase is under study (draft Open Call, not decided)
• Held in your personal account (Priority 2)
• Tax applies at cash-out

• No financial return is guaranteed. See Terms & Conditions and FINMA sandbox rules.

Miles Credits: a Separate Concept

Miles Credits are the other type of WikiDeal Credit: exchangeable for services and goods within Rings of Trust, not convertible to CHF. They are a distinct concept from Rewards and are described on their own dedicated page: Miles Credits.

Gift: a Separate, Voluntary Concept

What is a Gift? A Gift is a voluntary Donation from a funder or participant to the WikiDeal community pool. It is NOT a type of Credit, it is a separate act. The amount of Gifts available depends on the pressure degree:

• Less pressure from funders = more Gifts by default (community benefit maximized)
• More pressure for personal return = fewer Gifts (deducted from the bonding curve)
• Gift WIL is dedicated to community-benefit purposes: subsidized memberships, User Group grants, common pool

Gifts appear in FAQ and T&C pages, not in the main user flow. Gift is an optional, voluntary layer on top of the Credits a funder receives.

The Mathematical Relationship: Bonding Curve

Rewards are generated by the Bonding Curve, a mathematical formula that determines how many Credits you receive per CHF contributed:

Available Credits = Bonding Curve - Gifts

Where: Bonding Curve = f(CHF contributed, position in curve) Gifts = f(Miles pressure + Miles in common pot not consumed)

Key properties of this formula:

• Rewards depend on: the platform's financial budget security
• Gifts depend on: combined Miles pressure + Miles in the common pot not yet consumed
• Everything moves based on real expenses: no speculation, no invented values
• Early funders get more Credits per CHF (bonding curve rewards early commitment)

"Stimulating but not speculative at all, because everything is transparent."

The Need-Driven Funding Mechanism

The Need-Driven Funding mechanism regulates when Rewards become available:

1. Phase 1, services first: when the platform is growing, the community service economy (based on Miles Credits) develops first.
2. Phase 2, cash follows: as the service economy grows, subscription revenue grows, and Rewards (no guarantee*) become available so that funders can convert to CHF.

The Need-Driven Funding ratio changes based on the platform's NEEDS, not based on speculation or market sentiment. When revenue is secure, the Rewards ratio increases.

Need-Driven Funding ratio = f(Active funders / Platform funding needs)

Early stage: 70% Rewards / 30% Gift Growth stage: 40% Rewards / 60% Gift (more community benefit) Mature stage: equilibrium based on real subscription revenue

The Currency Name: The WIL Hypothesis

The name WIL (WikiDeal Contribution Licence) is a hypothesis, not a final decision. The WikiDeal community may evolve this name as the project grows. What matters is not the name, but the concept:

• 1 WIL = 1 month of platform usage = CHF 1 nominal value
• WIL exists in two main forms for users: Rewards (no guarantee*) and Miles Credits
• Gift is a voluntary layer, not a type of WIL per se

The community may propose alternative names via the Open Call process. The underlying mathematics and principles are immutable; the label is not.

Transparency and Honest Accounting

WikiDeal's credit system is built on a principle of radical transparency:

• At-cost: All Commissions are charged at cost, with no profit extracted by the platform beyond operating expenses
• Real expenses only: Credits are only distributed when real revenue exists to back them
• Public ledger: All Credits generated, distributed, and redeemed are logged publicly
• No hidden fees: The bonding curve formula is published and immutable
• FINMA sandbox: WikiDeal operates under Swiss FINMA sandbox rules for experimental financial mechanisms

• Rewards are subject to platform revenue availability. No financial return is guaranteed.

→ See also: Miles Credits | Miles Market | 12 Programmes | Terms & Conditions | FAQ | Glossary

Replicable Model: Every User Group Can Launch Its Own Funding

One of WikiDeal's most innovative features: every User Group can launch its own funding campaign using the exact same methodology as WikiDeal Core. The same bonding curve, the same Rewards, the same Gift mechanism operating in the background.

This means:

• The Babysitting User Group can run its own bonding curve to fund local deployment
• The Street Fundraising User Group can attract funders specifically for NGO fundraising Infrastructure
• Any new User Group can bootstrap itself using a proven, transparent funding model

The model is fractal: WikiDeal Core funds the platform. User Groups fund their specific marketplaces. The same machine operates at every level: transparent, at-cost, non-speculative, governed by the Need-Driven Funding mechanism.