What’s in it for me?!

THE IGNITE INDEX, REWARDS AND INCENTIVISATION EXPLAINED

Damon Barnard
IgniteRATINGS
7 min readDec 19, 2017

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THE IGNITE INDICES — Swarm Theory in Action

The Ignite crowdsale is helping us bring the much-needed Ignite RATINGS platform to the masses; not only that, it is providing us with sufficient capital to seed the first Ignite INDEX, which we are calling the “Ignite MASTER INDEX” — a unique, democratically operated and autonomous investment vehicle that feeds on the expertise, wisdom and acumen of the Ignite HIVE (our community members). The Ignite INDICES are a very special and integral part of the Ignite ecosystem, as they permit us to solve a problem that has plagued traditional finance for decades — that being the ability of a centralised ratings agency to provide an unbiased and truly independent assessment of an asset, and its potential, when being paid to do so and with the threat of targets, and the loss of future business to a competitor, hanging over them???

Read on to find out how we achieve this…

A minimum of 60% of the Ignite crowdsale contributions will be set aside for the purpose of seeding the Ignite MASTER INDEX which will, in turn, take a position in each of the highest-rated assets as determined by the Ignite HIVE, via the Ignite RATINGS process. The Ignite MASTER INDEX is a key component of the Ignite ecosystem as it incentivises the Ignite HIVE, while providing a source of revenue for Ignite.

By participating in the Ignite RATINGS process, the Ignite HIVE provides automated “buy signals” to the Ignite MASTER INDEX and, in doing so, the HIVE decides whether and when a digital asset should be added to the Ignite MASTER INDEX and funds be deployed. Due to its reliance on the HIVE’s output, the Ignite MASTER INDEX is completely directed and managed by the Ignite HIVE and is not subject to any external influence.

Instant Reward, Reinvestment and Seeding the Ignite MASTER INDEX

As a reward for successfully lending their collective wisdom to the Ignite HIVE and powering the trading activity of the Ignite MASTER INDEX, IGNT holders are entitled to a performance fee which is equal to 50% of any gains realised by the Ignite MASTER INDEX on trades executed upon the recommendation of the HIVE.

As we believe in the power of instant gratification and that quarterly, half-annually or annually distributed entitlements simply do not fit with the Ignite business model, we have decided that 100% of the Ignite HIVE rewards should be made available to those IGNT holders who actively participate in the Ignite RATINGS process almost immediately, once trades are processed and confirmed by the respective blockchains and networks. As such, every member of the Ignite HIVE is afforded a “real-time” view of the respective proportion of any Ignite HIVE proceeds that are available to them, in either BTC or ETH, via their Ignite RATINGS wallet.

In addition to the rewards paid to participating HIVE members, a further 30% of any Ignite MASTER INDEX trading gains and 100% of any income generated from assets held in the Ignite MASTER INDEX is added to the Ignite MASTER INDEX’s deployable capital base. Structuring the Ignite MASTER INDEX for growth increases the income potential and, therefore, value of IGNT through actual performance, rather than market hype.

The remaining 20% of Ignite INDEX trading gains is retained by Ignite (see below).

Reward Methodology

Distributions to individual members of the HIVE are made pursuant to a number of criteria which determine the proportion of a reward that that member should be entitled to, including:

1. MINIMUM REWARD — every IGNT token in issue is assigned a minimum reward value. If IGNT tokens are deployed as participation tokens within the Ignite RATINGS platform and a community member participates in the rating process for an asset that realises a trading gain when a position is closed, those minimum rewards will be taken into account for the purposes of calculating the total reward due to the token holder. If IGNT tokens are “passively” held, i.e. either not deployed as participation tokens within the Ignite RATINGS platform at all, or are deployed but the token holder does not participate in the ratings process for an asset that realises a gain, those minimum rewards to which the token holder might otherwise be entitled are added to the deployable capital base of the Ignite MASTER INDEX;

2. PARTICIPATION (QUANTITATIVE) — an IGNT token holder’s interaction with the Ignite RATINGS platform, and their participation within the ratings process and wider community, has an effect on the total reward which an IGNT holder might otherwise be due. Both the nature of interactions, and the frequency of interactions are noted — the completion of numerous repetitive simple tasks may not have any bearing on the amount of reward to which a community member may otherwise be due, but the less frequent completion of more substantial tasks which have the potential to add greater value to the ratings process will do. This same logic also has a direct bearing on a community member’s reputation and the amount of influence he/she may assert in the overall ratings process. Obviously, there is greater benefit to be had if those interactions relate to the asset which has realised a trading gain and generated a reward;

3. PARTICIPATION (QUALITATIVE) — more important than the amount of interaction an IGNT holder has with the Ignite RATINGS platform is the quality of that interaction in the context of its ability to add value to the ratings process. All community member interactions with the Ignite RATINGS platform are, themselves, subject to peer review from other community members. This accountability to the wider community builds trust and encourages the submission of well-researched, fair and high-quality opinions and content — it also directly affects a community member’s reputation within the wider Ignite ecosystem and the amount of influence he/she is able to exert on the ratings process. High-quality submissions and interactions have an effect on the total reward to which an IGNT holder would otherwise be due;

4. PERFORMANCE — blurring the lines somewhat with qualitative participation is a participating IGNT holder’s ratings performance relative to a gaining asset’s trading performance. This is considered a separate criteria within the Ignite reward mechanism as quality submissions and performance are not inextricably linked, nor do low-quality submissions necessarily denote poor performance overall; sentiment can be expressed and can track accurately against an asset’s performance without having to be supported with high-quality submissions — a lack of such submissions will, of course, affect a community member’s reputation and influence and, also, the amount of reward to which he/she might otherwise be entitled; and

5. HOLDING — the final determinative factor in allocating rewards to individual community members is the amount of IGNT held on the Ignite RATINGS platform. In order to receive the maximum potential benefit, IGNT holders are encouraged to store as much of their IGNT as possible within the platform’s integrated wallets. Not only does this provide the means by which rewards can be weighted to reward those who are most committed to Ignite, it also promotes a healthy secondary market where demand should exceed supply.

Closing the Loop…

The beauty of the Ignite solution, is that the Ignite MASTER INDEX permits the wider Ignite ecosystem to “close the loop”, in terms of ensuring that the Ignite community members are sufficiently incentivised as individuals for participating as worker units within the Ignite HIVE and for providing the wisdom upon which Ignite RATINGS is built.

We are creating a system the likes of which the financial ratings industry has never seen.

The Ignite HIVE (and consequently IGNT token holders) benefit from an asset-backed reward system, the value of which is inextricably linked to a diversified portfolio of the highest-rated digital assets, cryptocurrencies and tokens available on the market. Having a vested interest in the performance of the Ignite MASTER INDEX incentivises and encourages the Ignite community to critically review all issues/assets which are subjected to the Ignite RATINGS process, to rate honestly and, importantly, to continually monitor and reassess all Ignite RATINGS scores against real world performance.

HIVE-Determined Index Structure

The power lies with the HIVE to change the composition of the Ignite MASTER INDEX to ensure the inclusion within the index of a token that is performing, or is expected to perform, well — every Ignite community member is able to submit any issue to the Ignite HIVE for rating and consideration and, therefore, inclusion in the Ignite MASTER INDEX.

Similarly, it is for the HIVE alone to decide the appropriate time to close out a gaining trade. Due to the limited exposure that the Ignite MASTER INDEX will have to each individual asset (maximum 1% of the net asset value of the Index when taking a position), it is anticipated that any trades not yet realising a gain will simply be held.

…and that is how we crack that particular nut. :)

Find out more, download the Ignite RATINGS white paper from IgniteRATINGS.com — IGNT presale running until 25 December 2017 (shameless plug…).

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