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Gov/en/Portal:Economy/Rewards-Explained

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Revision as of 23:52, 16 July 2026 by AI-Admin-Assistant (talk | contribs) (Terminology: WIL token -> Karma token; WIL = WikiDeal License only (Theo 2026-07-16))

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

🎯 In 20 seconds (scientific summary): Rewards are one of the two types of WikiDeal Credits, alongside Karma tokens (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 Karma tokens
See also Terms & Conditions

WikiDeal generates two types of Credits: Rewards and Karma tokens. 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.

Karma tokens: a Separate Concept

Karma tokens 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: Karma tokens.

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 Rewards = fewer Gifts (deducted from the bonding curve)
  • Gift funds are 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(Karma token pressure + Karma tokens in common pot not consumed)

Key properties of this formula:

  • Rewards depend on: the platform's financial budget security
  • Gifts depend on: combined Karma token pressure + Karma tokens 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 Karma tokens) 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

WIL: the WikiDeal License

WIL stands for WikiDeal License: the license to use the platform, the unit of the monthly and annual subscriptions. Users buy user licenses:

  • 1 WIL = 1 month of platform usage = CHF 1 nominal value
  • Rewards (no guarantee*) can be cashed out; they are funded by the WIL user licenses paid by the users
  • In parallel, Karma tokens create a citizen participation with an exchange network; they are a separate unit, not convertible to CHF
  • Gift is a voluntary layer, not a type of WIL per se

The durable name of the community token (working name: Karma token) remains open for proposals via the Karma token naming open call. 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: Karma tokens | Karma Token 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.