Introduction
GLD is a Gold Digging Protocol: a grid mining game that runs entirely on-chain. Every round, a 5×5 grid of 25 tiles opens and anyone can deploy ETH onto any tiles they like. When the round closes, one tile is drawn at random and everyone who deployed on that winning tile digs up a pro-rata share of the pot — paid in gold (RWA), plus freshly mined GLD, the protocol's fixed-supply token.
GLD is not a promise of profit; it is a transparent, verifiable game of chance with all rules enforced by smart contracts. There is no house wallet quietly taking the other side: every wei of ETH stays in the contract until it is swapped into gold for winners and stakers, or rolled into the next round.
Mining
Rounds and tiles
Mining happens in fixed-length rounds. While a round is open you can deploy ETH to one or more of the 25 tiles, with a custom amount per tile and a minimum total deploy of 0.0001 ETH. Deploys are final: once committed, they cannot be moved or withdrawn until the round resolves.
Resolution
When a round ends, the contract requests a random word from a verifiable randomness provider (VRF). The random word picks the winning tile (1–25, uniformly), decides the jackpot, and finalizes payouts. Nobody — including the deployer of the contracts — can influence or predict the draw.
The 90/10 split
- 90% of the pot is swapped into gold (RWA) and split pro-rata between everyone who deployed on the winning tile.
- 10% is taken as the protocol fee, converted to gold and pushed to veGLD stakers (and LP stakers, if enabled).
Rollover
If nobody deployed on the winning tile, the pot does not vanish — it rolls over into the next round as a bonus pot, making the next round juicier for everyone.
The jackpot
Every round carries a 1-in-625 chance of a jackpot hit. When it lands, the GLD jackpot pool is paid out to that round's winners, pro-rata to their deploys on the winning tile. The pool is fed by the GLD transfer tax and by early-exit penalties from staking.
GLD emission and halving
Each resolved round also mints new GLD, distributed pro-rata to the winning tile's deployers — this is the only way GLD enters circulation. The emission rate starts at a fixed amount per round and halves on a fixed schedule of rounds, converging toward the 21,000,000 GLD hard cap.
Staking
veGLD locks
GLD can be locked into veGLD, an NFT (ERC-721) representing your position. Locks earn a share of the 10% protocol fee from every round, paid in gold (RWA), pro-rata to lock weight.
- Normal locks run 7 to 120 days, with a linear weight multiplier from 1.00x to 2.50x.
- Permanent locks never expire and carry a 4.00x multiplier — but the GLD is locked forever.
Fixed vs. decaying multiplier
veGLD supports two weight models. In the decaying model, a lock's weight bleeds down as it approaches expiry. In the fixed model, weight stays constant for the whole term — the trade-off is that withdrawing before expiry is only possible through an early exit, which burns a penalty percentage of the locked GLD. Penalties flow straight into the jackpot pool, funding future miners.
Relocking and claiming
Expired locks can be withdrawn in full, or relocked in one transaction into a fresh term with a fresh multiplier. Gold rewards accrue continuously and can be claimed at any time without touching the principal.
LP staking
The protocol also supports staking liquidity-pool tokens for a slice of round fees. When an LP staking contract is not configured for a deployment, that slice simply stays with veGLD lockers.
Tokenomics
- Hard cap: 21,000,000 GLD. The token contract cannot mint beyond it.
- No presale, no team allocation, no insider bags — 100% of supply is mined through grid rounds.
- Emission halves on a fixed round schedule until the cap is reached.
- A 5% tax applies to GLD buys and sells on liquidity pools; the tax feeds the jackpot pool.
Fee flows
Round deploys (ETH)
└── Pot (100%)
├── 90% ────────────────► gold for winning tile deployers (pro-rata)
└── 10% protocol fee ───► veGLD lockers (gold rewards)
(+ LP stakers, when enabled)
GLD transfers on liquidity pools
└── 5% tax ─────────────────► GLD jackpot pool ──► paid to a round's
winners on a 1/625 hit
veGLD early exits (fixed model)
└── penalty GLD ────────────► GLD jackpot pool
GLD emission (per round, halving schedule)
└───────────────────────────► winning tile deployers (pro-rata)The result is a closed loop: miners deploy ETH and dig gold + GLD, lockers stake GLD and earn the gold fees, and taxes plus penalties keep the jackpot pool topped up for the next lucky round.