Seth: This really looks like a cool project. Hugely grandiose and yet accessible at the same time. I like it! How do I get started?

Maria: Thanks! It is exciting indeed. So there’s two ways to get started. If you feel like you have more money than time, you can donate to the cause. If you’ve got lots of spare time and some relevant skills [link to roles page in wiki], though, you can start contributing right away!

Seth: So I can just write you guys a check? How does that all work?

Maria: Sort of. There are some basics about the economic underpinnings of MetaGame that you’ll first want to first get familiarized with. We have our own currency, the SEED token (linkhttps://etherscan.io/token/0x30cf203b48edaa42c3b4918e955fed26cd012a3f). It follows the ERC-20 protocol which means that it is exchangeable with other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH).  So first, you’d want to buy some ETH, and then contribute some amount to this pool (linkhttps://beta.pools.balancer.exchange/#/pool/0xea05a15dbce2eb543ffda16950e95b2bd2e40d0e/swaps). The pool represents a reserve of both SEEDs (from which the community can draw on to compensate contributors) and ETH (from which SEED holders can trade for if they want to “cash out” some of their SEEDs). So if I want to, say, sell 12 SEEDs, I can just make that transaction via the pool as opposed to finding another person with an equivalent amount of ETH who also desires roughly the same amount of SEEDs.

Seth: Hmm, interesting. To be honest, though, I have quite a bit of free time from being stuck at home due to the ‘rona.  I’ve done design work for other projects in the past.  This project is cool and all, but I don’t work for free.  What’s in it for me?

Maria: That’s one of the coolest parts about this project. You can actually earn SEEDs automatically just by contributing to MetaGame! Contributions earn XP, and each month, the MetaFam community “mints” new SEEDs in proportion to each contributor’s gained XP. What you do with those SEEDs is up to you.

Seth: SEEDs, eh? Can I pay my bills with these SEEDs?

Maria: Well, not directly, of course, but you can trade SEEDs for ETH (and vice versa) here (linkhttps://balancer.exchange/#/swap/ether/0x30cf203b48edaa42c3b4918e955fed26cd012a3f), and then selling your ETH for any fiat [link to definition] currency is super easy through any exchange.

Seth: Any transaction fees?

Maria: Yes, both the SEED / ETH and ETH / fiat transactions will involve transaction fees. There is currently a fixed 4% transaction fee for the SEED / ETH transfer. This fee helps fund the operation of the pool software [link to balancer], and also serves to discourage short-term speculation. In general, we prefer people to hold on to their SEEDs, but we get it if you need to sell them for some cash!  As for the ETH / fiat transaction fees, it is entirely dependent on the broker you use. A few brokers we recommend are kraken, gemini or binance.

Seth: OK, makes sense. But what makes SEEDs have any value to begin with? Are you just “paying” people with new SEEDs fabricated out of thin air?

Maria: Yes, good question. Technically, all fiat currencies issue new currency out of thin air. And the only reason they maintain their value is that everyone is in agreement about it. As for SEEDs, yes, on a monthly basis we “mint” new SEEDs. The amount of SEEDs minted each month is actually fairly fixed in order to maintain price consistency and predictability. We have found that there are a predictable number of active contributors each month, and so we multiply that number by a fixed constant (currently 15) to determine the number of SEEDs that will be minted. We also set a minimum amount of XP to define what an “active player” is. Remember, XP is the metric defining the value created by any given player.  This is set to 20 for the time being.  So, for example, in December 2020 we estimate that there will be about 22 active players, meaning 22 players that gained over 20 XP that month. Multiply that by 15 and we end up with 330 SEEDs to be minted. These SEEDs are distributed to players in proportion to the amount of XP they earned.

Seth: That seems reasonable. Will that change moving forward? Why should I believe that these SEEDs will maintain any value? I mean, if I put a bunch of effort into making art for MetaGame, and the price of SEEDs tank, I’m screwed.

Maria: Yes, I think that’s a valid concern. The price of SEEDs depends on a bunch of factors, but we believe it’s actually a pretty good barometer for the health of the project as a whole. All the contributors have “skin in the game”, so they say in the crypto world, so they’re highly motivated to see the project succeed. It’s a really powerful way to run an organization. At the end of the day, though, it’s up to you to gauge the health of the project, and whether you believe in it or not, and by extension, the value of SEEDs.

Seth: Wow, that’s pretty wild. Yeah, not being homeless is a pretty good incentive for me to continue working my crappy day job!  But it’d be way better to actually get “paid” to work on something I believe in.

Maria: Yeah, that’s why we’re all here!

Seth: On that note, though, what are the current dynamics of the active contributors in terms of their SEEDs? Are people actually cashing them out, or just holding them as a sort of investment?

Maria: We’ve been surprised that the vast majority of contributors are actually holding on to their SEEDs. Once in a while the price will jump (or “pump” as we say in the crypto world), and we’ll see a bunch of people sell in response. But overall, this seems to be a side project for most contributors, so there hasn’t been a need for folks to liquidate their SEEDs to pay their bills.

Seth: That’s admirable, but doesn’t seem sustainable. As I said before, I got bills to pay! Eventually people will want to get paid for their work, and what happens when everybody starts trying to cash in all this currency?

Maria: Yup, I agree, at some point we will need a robust funding mechanism to cover people wanting to sell. Currently, the pool [link] has a pretty decent amount of liquidity in the form of contributed SEED and ETH, and it’s rising steadily. As the project stabilizes, we anticipate more people spending their SEEDs, and so we’ll need either steady external investment or our own revenue streams to fund the pool. The project is well-aligned with the goals of the greater Ethereum community, so they have been a major source of investment thus far, and we anticipate that continuing to be the case in the short- to medium-term.