FAQ

Can I lose money backing a campaign?

Not to the campaign. If the goal is missed, your pledge comes back in full from the vault, and the vault cannot release it any other way. If the goal is met, your pledge pays for the work, which is what you pledged for. You do pay ordinary Solana transaction fees.

Who invented this?

Alex Tabarrok proposed the dominant assurance contract in 1998. Timothy Cason, Alex Tabarrok and Robertas Zubrickas tested the early refund bonus in the lab in 2021. PLEDGE puts their rule in a program; it did not invent it.

What counts as early?

The first half of the campaign, measured in time and fixed by the program when the campaign opens. A 30-day campaign's window closes at day 15. Pledges at or after that moment earn no bonus.

Why can the bonus run out?

The creator deposits a fixed amount. At a 20% rate, a 1,000 USDC deposit can pay the bonus on 5,000 USDC of early pledges. Once that room is used, new early pledges are refund only. The app shows the room left and refuses to send a pledge that would land without the bonus it showed you.

How is the bonus paid out?

Per dollar: every dollar pledged in the first half earns the bonus rate if the campaign fails, up to the bonus the creator locked. It is fixed when it is pledged. Nobody pledging later, including the creator from another wallet, can shrink a bonus you already have.

Can I take my pledge back before the deadline?

No. That is deliberate: the lab result was measured with contributions that could not be withdrawn, and a pledge that could vanish at the last minute could sink a campaign on purpose.

Who decides whether a campaign succeeded?

Nobody. After the deadline anyone can call settle, and the program compares the total pledged with the goal.

Is there a token sale?

No. Campaigns raise USDC or SOL for real work and never sell, mint or hand out a token. PLEDGE is the protocol's own token: the 2% fee on successful campaigns buys it on the open market and burns it, and creators who lock some pay no fee.

Where is the token address?

There is none to show yet. PLEDGE is pre-launch.