Joules Economics: Model A Architecture

“Joules exist so that when you overpay in dollars today, you don’t get a lottery ticket in some future IPO; you get more engine power inside the cooperative — more ability to back your work, strike better terms, and turn effort into income without ever gambling on a token price.”

The Definitive Explanation (Founder’s Own Words)

February 9, 2026 — Jonathan Jones

Joules are like forever stamps. The value of a Joule is determined by the forex markets and the ratchet system we use, and we did that for a reason. We need to codify how that helps individuals, because that’s the point — we need to tie something to platform growth, which we already have.

If I’m the user in the scenario who pays $150 for a $100 product, I get both the product AND the 50 Joules — not Credits or MARKS. That STILL doesn’t get me money! Because I can never cash in. But it DOES get me MORE VALUE by giving me MORE Joules — which have more inherent value (as a “cloth pouch” instead of just “cloth” like Credits). That’s why you can buy Joules at 1.2 during special events or at 5% every 10th increase in tiers.

So those Joules represent, in platform parlance, more ability to:

1. Back my MARKS to make bigger or greater number of offers backed by my Joules for work or services or contracts and TradeMatch
2. Convert to better terms of Credits which means more work buying power

Otherwise, what is the point of Joules? It works because it’s a closed system — always — and it FACILITATES the making of money without ever actually transferring any actual money.

Model A vs Model B: Why We’re Model A

The Question

When a backer pays $150 for a $100 product and receives 50 Joules, does that count as “used to make money”? Especially if that product’s campaign later sells for $40 million?

Two Models Exist

We Are Model A Because:

1. Joules don’t appreciate based on project performance. 50 Joules earned backing Project X = 50 Joules of working power, forever. If Project X sells for $40M, those 50 Joules are still 50 Joules.

2. The $40M upside flows to the cooperative structure: more initiatives funded, better prices, more inventory — system-level benefit, not individual appreciation.

3. All fundraising happens in fiat via Stripe. Edge functions create-herald-checkout, create-sponsor-checkout, create-credit-checkout handle real money. Not token sales.

4. No transfer mechanism exists in the schema. You cannot sell Joules to another person. Period.

5. The DNA Lock makes this constitutional. bylaw-nocredxfer (No Credit Transfers) and bylaw-nocash (No Cash Redemption) are structural bylaws requiring 80% vote + Founder veto to change.

How Joules Actually Help Individuals

The Forever Stamp Logic

CREDITS (cloth):
  Year 1: 100 Credits = 100 Credits of buying power
  Year 3: Still 100 Credits, but prices may have shifted

JOULES (cloth pouch):
  Year 1: 100 Joules = locked purchasing power
  Year 3: Those 100 Joules STILL buy the same amount
  Bonus: Ratchet system + forex pricing means Joules may buy MORE over time
  Result: Purchasing power PROTECTED and ENHANCED

The Working Power Multiplier

Joules earned at earlier backing stages get multiplied:

Early backers get MORE engine power per dollar spent. That’s the reward for taking the risk of backing early — not a financial return, but more capacity to work and trade inside the system.

What You Can DO With Joules

1. Back your MARKS offers in MatchTrade. Your Stake Account Joules = maximum MARKS you can offer for work/services/contracts. More Joules = bigger deals, more offers.

2. Convert to Credits on better terms. Active contributors with more Joules get better conversion rates during promotional events (1.2× during special events, 5% bonus every 10th tier increase).

3. Collateralize contracts. When you take on steward responsibility (Bylaw X), your escrowed Joules determine your authority level.

4. Governance weight. Joules contribute to voting influence in cooperative decisions.

What You CANNOT Do With Joules

• ❌ Cash them out for dollars
• ❌ Transfer them to another person
• ❌ Sell them on any market
• ❌ Claim a share of any project’s revenue
• ❌ Redeem them for any cash equivalent

The MatchTrade Mechanism (How Joules Facilitate Earning)

From currencyService.ts (Innovation #945 — Stake Account Backed):

1. Buy Joules (any amount)
2. Joules go to your Stake Account (collateral)
3. Stake Account Joules = maximum MARKS you can offer
4. You cannot spend what you haven't backed

The flow:
  - Post what you NEED (costs 1 MARK bounty)
  - Post what you OFFER (free)
  - LB matches by location + service type
  - Provider accepts → does the work → requester confirms
  - MARKS transfer on confirmation

If provider doesn't deliver → their Stake Account Joules cover the penalty

This is how Joules facilitate the making of money without ever actually transferring any actual money. The Joules are the engine. The work is the fuel. The money comes from real services rendered to real people.

Why This Is Legally Defensible

What Tom Simon’s Letter Says (Verified Against Code)

The Arcade Token Analogy (Fully Accurate)

ARCADE                          LIANA BANYAN
─────────                       ────────────
Buy tokens at counter     →     Buy Credits via Stripe
Play games, win tokens    →     Work, earn Credits
Tokens only work HERE     →     Credits only work HERE
Can't sell tokens for cash →    Can't cash out
Prize tickets (special)   →     Joules (locked value, more powerful)
Loyalty card (status)     →     MARKS (reputation)

The Key Legal Distinction

Joules help people earn money through work and trade that the platform coordinates, not by appreciating in value. The individual benefit from platform growth is:

• More people to trade with (MatchTrade)
• More inventory to buy (Let’s Go Shopping)
• More services to access (Household Concierge)
• Better prices from volume (Let’s Get Groceries)
• More initiatives funded (all 16)

That’s like saying “a gym membership is more valuable when the gym has more equipment and classes” — it IS more valuable, but the membership card itself isn’t a security.

The Three Bylaws That Lock This In

Bylaw XII: No Appreciation Tokens

Platform credits, Joules, and medallions do not grant fractional claims on project- or platform-level profits and do not appreciate in dollar value based on campaign performance or enterprise valuation. Backers receive fixed-value credits or Joules for overpayment, which increase their internal purchasing power and contract-backing capacity, not their right to external cash returns. System-level benefits (better prices, more initiatives) are the mechanism for shared prosperity, not token price increases.

Bylaw XIII: Joule Purpose

Joules are higher-order internal units that (a) back member offers and contracts, (b) may convert into Credits on more favorable terms for active contributors, and (c) may be offered at promotional exchange rates during defined events. Joules facilitate members’ ability to earn and trade within the cooperative but are never redeemable for cash or transferable outside the platform.

Bylaw XIV: Project Medallion Access Rights

When a member backs a project at a premium (for example, paying $150 for a $100 item and generating a 50-Joule gap), that support is recorded as a project-stamped medallion plus the awarded Joules in the IP ledger. In future campaigns directly related to that project, the platform may grant that member first-access and pre-order rights up to the amount of their original support gap (e.g., 50 units of preorder capacity), but:

• This access is a non-cash perk, not a profit share.
• It does not change the exchange rate or economic value of Joules or Credits.
• It does not create any right to past or future revenue from that project.

Project medallions can unlock priority and participation, but never cash or variable token pricing.

Ownership Lives Somewhere Else

If you want true ownership, you don’t get it through tokens. You get it through the Sponsor Pool.

The Patent Split

All patents are owned by Upekrithen, LLC (the Founder’s company):

How to Buy In

No limit on how many times you can sponsor — benefits stack. Anti-concentration provisions (max 5% per entity, max 2 patents per discipline, 60% member vote required above 10 patents) keep it fair.

This Is Real Ownership

• You can hold it for decades and collect royalties if your patent gets licensed
• You can resell it — it’s yours, tracked permanently in the IP Ledger
• You can pass it down to the next generation
• The IP Ledger records every Sponsor Unit on blockchain + database (Bylaw V)

Tokens are tools. Sponsor Units are ownership. That’s the line between the cooperative’s working engine and the right to own a piece of the machine itself.

Same Terms. Every Member. Including the Founder.

This is the point most platforms would hide. We publish it.

These are the exact same terms the Founder operates under. Every feature described on this page — the 83.3% creator share, the Joule multipliers, the IP royalty rates, the Sponsor Pool ownership path — applies to the Founder on precisely the same terms as every other member.

The Founder’s salary is zero dollars base. If the platform produces nothing, he earns nothing. He built 1,187 innovations over 37 years and is giving away 80% of the patent portfolio value (60% to LB + 20% to the Sponsor Pool). He keeps 20% as Founder Reserve.

“Muzzle not the Ox that treadeth the Corn.” The person who does the work deserves to benefit from it — at the exact same rates as everyone else. No special founder rate. No executive extraction. No privilege. Same model. Same math. Same accountability.

And if you think you can do a better job? The CEO seat is a Crown Letter away. He’s actively looking for his replacement. Take the seat. Get the same Salary of Results. Build something that lasts.

See: How The Founder Gets Paid: Complete Transparency for every detail.

“Joules exist so that when you overpay today, you don’t get a lottery ticket. You get more engine power inside the cooperative.”

FOR THE KEEP!