Three-Gear Currency System

“Credits access. Marks unlock. Joules protect.”

Liana Banyan uses three interlocking currencies that serve different purposes but mesh like gears in a machine. This isn’t complexity for complexity’s sake — it’s separation of concerns applied to economics.

Why Three Currencies?

The Problem with One Currency

If you have only one currency:

• Buying power = reputation (unfair)
• Early wealth = permanent advantage
• Can’t reward different behaviors differently

The Three-Gear Solution

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                              │
│         CREDITS          MARKS           JOULES             │
│         ⚙️               ⚙️               ⚙️                 │
│        /   \            /   \            /   \              │
│   (Service)      (Reputation)     (Locked Value)            │
│                                                              │
│   Can buy: YES      Can buy: NO       Can buy: NO           │
│   Transfer: NO      Transfer: NO      Transfer: NO          │
│   Cash out: NO      Cash out: NO      Cash out: NO          │
│                                                              │
│         ↓               ↓               ↓                   │
│      ACCESS          UNLOCK          PROTECT                │
│                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Each gear turns independently but they mesh together.

Gear 1: Credits

The service access currency

What Credits Are

• 1 Credit = $1 worth of platform services
• Primary transaction currency
• Used for voting, purchasing, backing

How to Get Credits

What Credits Do

• Vote on projects
• Purchase products
• Back campaigns
• Donate to initiatives
• Pay for services

Credit Rules

Analogy: Arcade tokens. Valuable here, only here.

Gear 2: MARKS

The reputation currency

What MARKS Are

• Reputation tokens you can’t buy
• Earned only through contribution
• Measure of community trust

How to Earn MARKS

What MARKS Unlock

MARK Rules

Analogy: Loyalty status. You earned it, you keep it.

Gear 3: Joules

The locked-value service currency

What Joules Are

• Service credits with locked-in value at earning time
• Like a special token that always buys the same amount
• Earned when you back projects or contribute

How to Earn Joules

Cloth Pouch vs Plain Cloth

Think of Credits as cloth — plain, useful, functional. You can do things with cloth.

Think of Joules as a cloth pouch — still cloth, but shaped into something that carries more. A Joule holds more operational weight than a Credit because of what it can do:

• Back your offers in MatchTrade (Credits can’t do this)
• Collateralize contracts for steward roles (Credits can’t do this)
• Convert at better terms during events and tier milestones (Credits don’t get this)
• Lock your purchasing power against pricing shifts (Credits don’t do this)

Same material. More capability. That’s why they’re different gears.

The Locked Value Advantage

REGULAR CREDITS:
  Year 1: 100 Credits buys X services
  Year 3: Prices adjust
  Year 3: 100 Credits might buy less

JOULES:
  Year 1: Earn 100 Joules (worth 100 Credits)
  Year 3: Those 100 Joules STILL buy 100 Credits worth
  Result: Purchasing power PROTECTED

Analogy: Forever stamps. Always valid for one first-class letter, regardless of future price increases.

The Forever Stamp Framing (CRITICAL)

Joules and Cloth Pouches are defined and honored exclusively in terms of HIVI‑measured service units. Creating a Cloth Pouch is economically equivalent to purchasing a Forever Stamp for platform services:

What you get: The same service later that you would get now. What you DON’T get: More service, cash, or any financial upside.

This is NOT about “protecting value” or “beating inflation.” It’s about getting the same service later that you could receive now — exactly like a Forever Stamp.

Why Early Backing Matters

The earlier you back a project, the more Joules you earn per Credit spent:

The person who believed early gets more engine power — not a financial return, but more capacity to back bigger MatchTrade offers, take on bigger steward roles, convert to Credits on better terms, and have more voice in governance.

This compounds with participation but never becomes cash. It makes you more capable inside the cooperative.

Project-Specific Access

When you back a project early and it crosses milestones, your project-stamped medallion records that history. Future related campaigns may grant you first-access and pre-order rights proportional to your original support gap.

This is access priority, not appreciation. The Joule doesn’t change value. But your early support of something that mattered earns you a front-row seat next time.

What Joules Provide

• Locked service value — Inflation protection (forever stamps)
• MatchTrade collateral — Back your offers for real work
• Contract authority — Escrow for steward roles
• Better conversion — Promotional Credit rates at events and tier milestones
• Voting weight — Governance influence
• Project access — First-access rights from early backing
• Attribution — Your name in records

Joule Rules

How the Gears Mesh

The Participation Cycle

1. BUY CREDITS
        ↓
2. USE PLATFORM (back projects, complete tasks)
        ↓
3. EARN JOULES (locked-value service credits)
        ↓
4. EARN MARKS (reputation unlocks multipliers)
        ↓
5. JOULES + MARKS = Better rates on future activity
        ↓
6. BUILD YOUR BUSINESS (use services for external ventures)
        ↓
   REPEAT (advantage compounds)

Example Journey

Marcus joins Liana Banyan:

1. Buys 100 Credits ($100)
2. Backs HexIsle at Pre-Mint (50 credits)
   • Earns 250 Joules (50 × 5x)
3. Project ships → Platform allocates 25 bonus Credits
4. Completes a bounty → Earns 50 MARKS + 100 Credits
5. After 6 months:
   • 475 Credits (from bonuses and work)
   • 250 Joules (locked value)
   • 200 MARKS (Sprout level)

Marcus’s $100 → Operational advantage that compounds.

Currency Comparison Table

Why Non-Transferable?

All three currencies are non-transferable because:

1. Prevents speculation — Can’t buy MARKS from others
2. Rewards participation — Must engage to earn
3. Stops manipulation — Can’t create markets
4. Legal compliance — Not securities if non-transferable
5. Fair distribution — Wealth comes from contribution

The Arcade Token Model

All three currencies work like arcade tokens:

This is NOT an investment platform. You’re buying service access, like a gym membership or arcade tokens.

Making Real Money

The currencies don’t cash out. Here’s how members actually make money:

1. Complete gig work — Others pay you for tasks
2. Build a business — Use platform services for your operations
3. Raise capital externally — Kickstarter, Wefunder, etc.
4. Keep your profits — LB is your vendor, not investor

Credits and Joules make your business cheaper to operate. They’re tools for building, not income sources.

Want Actual Ownership? That’s the Sponsor Pool.

Credits, MARKS, and Joules are the three gears of the working engine. But if you want to own a piece of the machine itself, that’s a different path entirely: the Sponsorship Program.

All patents are owned by Upekrithen, LLC. The split: 60% to Liana Banyan Corporation, 20% Founder Reserve, and 20% Sponsor Pool. That Sponsor Pool is the only way to buy real patent equity:

Sponsor Units are real ownership. You can hold them for decades, resell them, pass them down. They’re tracked in the IP Ledger (blockchain + database). No limit on how many times you can sponsor — benefits stack.

The three gears run the cooperative. The Sponsor Pool is how you own part of it.

Same Terms for Everyone — Including the Founder

The Founder operates under the exact same Cost+20% model, the same 83.3% creator split, and the same IP royalty rates as every member. His salary is $0 base, performance-only, capped at $1M/year. He sells his own products (HexIsle) at the same 83.3% split you get. He earns IP royalties on his innovations at the same rates you earn on yours. No special treatment. No executive exemption.

“Muzzle not the Ox that treadeth the Corn.” — The man who built 1,187 innovations earns from his work at the same rates as the member who joins tomorrow.

See: How The Founder Gets Paid for complete transparency.

See: Backer Benefits, Medallions, and Joules for the full breakdown.

Implementation Notes

AI Role

• Calculates all balances
• Applies multipliers
• Tracks transactions

Human Role

• Sets earning rules (governance)
• Arbitrates disputes
• No manual balance adjustments

Database Structure

member_currencies (
  member_id,
  credits_balance,
  marks_total,    -- Never decreases
  joules_total,   -- Never decreases
  joules_locked_value  -- $ equivalent at earning
)

HIVI: The Pricing Foundation

All three currencies are denominated against HIVI-defined service units rather than against external financial assets. HIVI (Historical Influence Value Index) is an internal service‑valuation metric used solely by the platform to standardize pricing.

Key Points:

• HIVI is not tradable, not investable, not redeemable for cash
• HIVI is “how the platform sizes and prices services”
• Members obtain prepaid claims on HIVI‑measured services, not exposure to any speculative index

See: HIVI Deterministic Economics for the full framework.

Credits access. Marks unlock. Joules protect. Build your business.

FOR THE KEEP!