The flywheel
The design: tie the token to how Backd actually earns, so that every backed call does two things at once. Half of what Backd keeps buys the token back and removes it; the other half pays to bring in the next people, who back the next calls. The token's own flow splits the same way into the same two pots. This page draws the loop, the splits and the ledger that will publish every turn of it.
Where this stands
| Thing | Status |
|---|---|
| The token | Not launched |
| A price, a sale, an exchange listing | None until launch |
| Buybacks and burns | Start once the token and the ledger are live |
| The ledger | In design. Its shape is below |
| Legal review | Before launch. It gates everything above |
The loop
- People back calls.
Every backed call is an order on Polymarket at the live price, paid from a wallet only the user controls.
- Polymarket collects Backd's 1% fee.
It's taken on each filled order and paid to Backd. It is the only money Backd earns from calls. See fees.
- Two pots, half each.
After costs (hosting, people, referral shares, rank rebates, tax), half of what is left would buy the token on the open market and burn it, and half would fund marketing and onboarding. The token's own flow, if it has one, would split the same way into the same two pots.
- Buyback and burn.
Bought-back tokens are removed for good, and every purchase and every burn is published with its transaction.
- Growth brings the next people.
Creators, campaigns, referrals and first-call onboarding. New people back calls, and the loop turns again.
Two engines, two pots
What makes it a flywheel rather than two policies is that both flows land in the same two places. Backd doing well buys the token back; the token doing well buys the token back too, and both pay for growth.
The splits
| Pot | From engine 1 (platform) | From engine 2 (token) | What it would do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buyback and burn | 50% of platform profit | 50% of the token's flow | Buys the token on the open market and burns it, with every purchase and burn published |
| Growth and onboarding | 50% of platform profit | 50% of the token's flow | Campaigns, creators, referral programmes, first-call onboarding, reported per period |
| Everything else | Costs come out first | Running Backd: hosting, people, referral shares, rank rebates, tax, reserves |
The ledger
The loop is only worth believing if every turn of it is checkable, so the ledger is a public page with these lines, updated every period, each figure traceable to Polymarket's builder reports or to a transaction on chain.
Options on the table
Three variations still open against the plain version above. None is decided yet; legal review has a say in each.
- Buyback and reward, not only burn. Some of the bought-back tokens could fund the referral shares and rank rebates Backd already tracks, so the token ends up in the hands of the people who bring others in and back the most calls, instead of only disappearing.
- One pot definition. Both halves taken from the same base, net revenue after Polymarket's cut and direct costs, so the two engines can never add up to more than Backd has.
- Points first, token later. Run the loop as points from launch, so the mechanic is live and measured before any token exists, and convert when legal review allows it.
Open questions
What counts as profit? Before or after the referral shares and rank rebates? After tax? After a reserve? Who decides, and can it change?
What is the token's own flow? Engine 2 only exists if the token itself brings money in. What that would be has not been decided.
Who checks the numbers? Published figures should be audited, or at least independently reviewed, or the ledger is just a claim.
Who governs the growth pot? Spending rules, what it can't be spent on, and how it's reported.
Is it legal, and where? A token tied to a platform's revenue can be treated as a financial instrument, a security or a gambling product depending on the country. That review comes before any token, any sale, any buyback and any public statement that could be read as a promise. Backd's company is in Spain and its users are in many countries.
How does it interact with the fee? If the fee changes, or Polymarket changes how builder fees work, the loop changes.