Token gate & fair play

The rules that keep the pool for real players: a token gate, balance checks nobody can time, rate limits, and one set of rules for everyone.

The lowest balance counts

Eligibility for an epoch depends on the lowest balance seen at any check during it, not the balance at the end. The checks are:

when you join (your first order of the epoch);
whenever you open a position or a limit order fills;
at 2 random times during the epoch, chosen secretly when it opens, anywhere in its middle 80%;
at settlement.

One check below the gate makes the wallet ineligible for that epoch's reward. It can still trade and close, and it starts fresh next epoch.

If the only check were at settlement, the same tokens could be moved from wallet to wallet to qualify many accounts. With secret sample times and the lowest-balance rule, a wallet has to actually hold the gate for the whole epoch.

One block per snapshot

The random checks and the settlement snapshot read every wallet at the same block. Tokens can't be passed along between wallets while a snapshot is being taken.

Sybil resistance

Every wallet that wants a reward needs its own full gate balance for the whole epoch, so splitting one bag across many wallets doesn't multiply rewards.
The reward is proportional to return, capped at +100%, so many tiny accounts gain nothing over one good one.
Rewards are only paid on positive returns: throwaway accounts that blow up cost nothing and win nothing.

Rate limits

Orders: 20 orders at once, then 2 per second per wallet, and 6 per second per network address across all wallets behind it.
Sign-in attempts are limited per network address.

Hitting a limit only delays you: the error says how many seconds to wait.

Same rules for everyone

Fills use the next fresh price for everybody, liquidations use the same formula, and the rules of an epoch are frozen when it opens: an admin change applies from the next epoch.