Top deposit reward

Exactly one active position at a time holds the crown. The crown earns a tithe: 5% of every acquisition fee, taken before the equal split and accumulated in a visible pot for whoever holds it.

It is the protocol's one deliberate reward for scale — a counterweight to the equal fee split, and a reason to be the deepest-backed position in the pool rather than merely a deep one.

Taking a vacant crown

A vacant crown is taken automatically by the next deposit. Any active position can also claim it explicitly at any time while it sits empty.

The protocol never scans the pool for the largest position. A vacant crown goes to the first claimant, not the biggest — which means a modest position can hold it, and a considerably larger position may still be sitting there without it.

Taking an occupied crown

To seize a held crown you must beat the current holder's backing by 10%:

challenger_backing × 10000 ≥ crown_backing × 11000

Matching the crown is not enough, and neither is edging past it. This check runs automatically when you deposit or raise your backing, and can also be triggered explicitly.

Losing the crown

The crown is forfeited when the holder:

• ✦is allocated to a purchaser and leaves the pool,
• ✦withdraws the position, or
• ✦shrinks their own backing.

In every case the pot accumulated during that tenure is paid out to the departing holder's credit balance. You keep what you earned while wearing it; you do not keep the seat.

When nobody holds it

If the crown is vacant, the 5% tithe folds back into the equal split across active positions. Nothing accrues to an empty seat and nothing is lost — the fee just goes to everybody instead.

Two things worth internalising

• ✦The crown is contested, not owned. Any position willing to commit 10% more backing takes it, and that commitment also makes them rarer, which keeps them in the pool longer to enjoy it.
• ✦Shrinking costs you the seat. Reducing your backing to free up capital forfeits the crown immediately, even if you would still be the largest position in the pool afterward.