Contribution Markets
Structuring effort, attention, and reward in Zero Authority Bounties
Zero Authority Bounties are a decentralized system for coordinating attention, effort, and contribution without centralized enforcement. Rather than relying on permissions or hierarchy, the system uses transparent economic incentives to shape behavior and surface meaningful work.
By analyzing historical STX bounty activity and formalizing observed patterns, Zero Authority Bounties are classified into three clear levels based on Impact, not subjective importance. This classification aligns incentives with expected effort, review load, and impact, allowing creators and contributors to self-coordinate with minimal friction.
The three levels—Signal, Contribution, and Commitment—act as economic primitives. They provide predictable outcomes for creators, clear expectations for contributors, and a shared mental model across the ecosystem.
Bounty Classification Table
L1
Signal
≤ 50 STX
Low
Awareness, reach, narrative amplification
L2
Contribution
≤ 200 STX
Medium
Thoughtful work, experiments, partial builds
L3
Commitment
≤ 500 STX
High
Flagship work, core development, high-signal output
Reward caps may be denominated in STX or equivalent value in approved community tokens.
Benefits of This Model
This classification reduces ambiguity for bounty creators by directly linking reward size to expected participation and effort. It improves planning, sets realistic review expectations, and leads to more consistent outcomes across campaigns.
For contributors, the system is legible and permissionless. Participants understand what level of effort is expected before engaging, which improves signal quality and reduces wasted work.
For the broader ecosystem, incentives become standardized without being enforced. Behavior clusters naturally, guided by economics rather than rules.
Level Summaries
Signal (L1)
Signal bounties are designed to maximize visibility and momentum. They reward quick, low-friction actions such as social posts, memes, or lightweight engagement.
These bounties are best suited for announcements, launches, and narrative propagation, delivering strong reach relative to cost.
Contribution (L2)
Contribution bounties invite focused, intentional effort. Participants invest time and attention to produce thoughtful responses, designs, experiments, or partial implementations.
This level balances reach and substance and is well suited for ideation, early development, and exploratory work.
Commitment (L3)
Commitment bounties signal seriousness. Rewards at this level imply clear scope, higher expectations, and more rigorous evaluation.
These bounties surface high-signal contributors and are best used for core development, flagship initiatives, and work with long-term or reputational impact.
Conclusion
By formalizing Signal, Contribution, and Commitment as first-class bounty levels, Zero Authority turns incentives into infrastructure. Rewards do more than compensate work—they coordinate attention, filter effort, and build trust over time.
The result is a system that remains decentralized, legible, and adaptive, while quietly guiding behavior toward higher-quality outcomes without relying on authority, permissions, or centralized control.
5 Examples of Bounty Creator Goals & Classification
Bounty creators are not just buying work—they are shaping attention. The same system can support very different goals depending on which bounty level is chosen. Below are five common creator goals and how they naturally map to the Signal / Contribution / Commitment framework.
1. Increase Awareness or Narrative Reach Goal: Get a message seen, repeated, and remembered. Best Fit: Signal (L1) Signal bounties excel here because low rewards encourage fast, high-volume participation. The creator optimizes for breadth rather than depth, accepting lightweight output in exchange for reach and momentum.
2. Collect Ideas, Feedback, or Early Experiments Goal: Explore a problem space before committing resources. Best Fit: Contribution (L2) Contribution bounties attract participants willing to think, test, and articulate ideas. The reward level filters out low-effort noise while still encouraging diverse approaches and creative risk-taking.
3. Validate a Concept or Prototype Goal: Pressure-test something real without full commitment. Best Fit: Contribution (L2) At this level, contributors are incentivized to engage seriously but not exhaustively. The creator gains meaningful signal—designs, proofs of concept, experiments—without the overhead of managing a full build.
4. Deliver Core or Production-Grade Work Goal: Ship something that matters. Best Fit: Commitment (L3) Commitment bounties communicate seriousness through economics. The higher reward attracts fewer but more capable contributors, aligns expectations around scope and quality, and justifies deeper review and coordination.
5. Identify and Signal Trusted Contributors Goal: Surface long-term collaborators and high-signal builders. Best Fit: Commitment (L3) Beyond output, these bounties function as reputation filters. Completing a Commitment bounty credibly signals reliability, skill, and alignment, creating durable trust without centralized vetting.
Across all five goals, the key insight remains the same: reward size is a coordination signal. By choosing the correct bounty level, creators implicitly set expectations, shape behavior, and achieve their objective without needing rules, permissions, or authority.
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