Prize Mechanics

Fixed vs. open pools

Fixed pool — organizer deposits a set USDC amount at competition creation. Prize breakdown is fixed ($5,000 first / $2,000 second / $1,000 third).

Open pool — anyone can contribute to grow the pool. Prize breakdown is expressed as basis-point percentages ([6000, 3000, 1000] = 60/30/10%). As the pool grows, all prizes scale proportionally.

is_open_pool on the competitions table determines which type.

Platform fee

5% on every fund flow. Hard-coded at escrow creation time — the factory owner cannot raise the fee on existing escrows.

fee = totalContributed * feeBps / 10_000
netPool = totalContributed - fee
prizeOf[winner_i] = netPool * prizeShareBps[i] / 10_000

The fee is transferred to feeRecipient immediately when announceWinners() is called on the escrow. Winner prizes are pull-based — winners must call claimPrize().

Cancellation

A competition can be cancelled in two scenarios:

1. Organizer cancels — before the competition goes live or within the first 24 hours. 50% of the prize pool is distributed to registered designers (as compensation for planning to submit). 50% is refunded to the organizer.

2. Expiration — if expirationTimestamp passes without announceWinners() being called, anyone can call cancel() on the escrow. All contributors can then claimRefund() their original deposit proportionally.

Lapse protection — 30-day winner selection window

After the submission deadline passes, organizers have 30 days to select winners. If no winner is announced in that window, anyone can trigger equal distribution of the full prize pool to all registered submitters.

This is the expirationTimestamp in the escrow contract:

expirationTimestamp = submissionDeadline + 30 days

The platform UI shows this countdown to organizers. Registered submitters can also see how long remains.

Deadline extension rules

Organizers can extend the submission deadline with constraints:

• Within 24h of creation: any deadline allowed (shorten or extend)
• After 24h: extension only; new deadline must be ≤ original + 90 days

original_submission_deadline is stored on competition creation and never updated, so the cap is always calculated correctly.

Prize claim flow (on-chain)

1. Organizer calls announceWinners([addr1, addr2, addr3]) on escrow
2. Escrow calculates prize amounts from pool
3. Fee sent to feeRecipient immediately
4. prizeOf[addr_i] assigned (pull model)
5. Competition status → "announced" in DB
6. Winners see "Claim Prize" button on platform
7. Winner calls claimPrize() — pulls their allocation

Winners need their embedded wallet connected to claim. The wallet address stored in submitters.wallet_address is used.

Minimum prize pool

$100 USDC minimum to list. Below this threshold, the publishCompetition action will reject the publication request.