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August - The Finals

The Market Decides.

The August Finals are settled by the WaveWarZ-Base prediction-market protocol. Each finalist build becomes a battle entry. Wallets trade on which build wins. WaveWarZ-Base settles placement automatically at T+72h. Respect-holders get pre-funded baseline positions so the community has real market weight.

Why a market, not a vote

The original plan was a one-person-one-vote Respect ballot. Clean but abstract - a click is a low-commitment signal. A wallet putting money on a build is a different commitment entirely, and the market price aggregates a lot more information than a poll.

Switching to WaveWarZ-Base gives the Finals four things at once: a real economic signal for "would I actually use this build", mass participation (anyone with a Base wallet can trade, not just Respect-holders), built-in revenue for builders (1% trade cut flows forever), and a real launch event for the WaveWarZ-Base agentic build Sam is shipping.

Full architectural decision in Doc 720. Cross-linked from Doc 701 Part 12.

The 72-hour Finals timeline

T-7 DAYS - PRE-FINALS

Snapshot + mint

Voter set snapshotted: ZAO members with 1000+ Respect points (threshold may shift as the event unfolds). Finalist entries minted on WaveWarZ-Base - one battle per build, metadata = URL + repo + demo + handle. Voter weight in the settlement formula confirmed alongside the WaveWarZ-Base contract work.

T+0 - PROMPT DROPS

Battles open

Sealed prompt fires to every finalist. The WaveWarZ-Base battle entries open for trading. Anyone with a Base wallet can buy in. Market trades on the build signal so far (early demos, public commits, stream quality). Respect-holder voice in the settlement TBD - mechanism confirmed before Finals.

T+0 to T+24h - BUILD WINDOW

Build with your mentor + trade

Mentor embedded, finalists building in public, market trading on the unfolding builds. Streamers stream, watchers watch, traders position. The market is live the whole time.

T+24h - SHIP DEADLINE

Live URL + repo + demo + cast

The four submission requirements lock. Autonomous judge agents start running - they read each finalist's artifacts and emit scores via x402 micropayments. Their scores feed the market as a public signal.

T+24h to T+48h - PROMOTE WINDOW

Amplify + trade

ZAO accounts amplify each finalist on Farcaster, X, Telegram, the newsletter. Market trades on the combined signal of the builds + the judge-agent scores + the amplification reception.

T+48h to T+72h - CONVICTION WINDOW

Spreads tighten

No new builds, no new shipping. Just trading. Final 24h is where the market settles. Position prices reflect the market's best estimate of placement.

T+72h - SETTLEMENT

WaveWarZ-Base settles

WaveWarZ-Base reads final volume + win rates. Distributes prize per protocol economics: 1% of total volume to each builder (artist cut, ongoing), losing-pool partial split feeds winning-pool, top 8 finalists share the $500 USDC pool (allocation per-finalist confirmed before Finals), top 16 get $ZABAL token rewards. USDC + token distribution settles in one transaction; the Finisher commemorative collectible opens on Magnetiq for every finalist, the Champion collectible for the top 3. Live reveal stream announces the readout.

What Respect is (and is not)

Respect is The ZAO's governance signal. Soulbound, illiquid, non-transferable - you cannot sell it or trade it. It is what you earn by participating in the ecosystem.

During ZABAL Gamez: up to 1000 Respect points are earnable per active participant. Current ZAO holders determine who counts as active (workshop attendance, July submissions, August Finals participation, ecosystem contribution beyond just showing up). Respect maps to governance weight, not cash.

Voter eligibility: 1000+ Respect points = eligible to vote in Finals settlement. This threshold may shift as the event unfolds. The 1000+ cohort also serves as the meta-governance body - they can vote (66%+ majority) to change the governance system itself.

How Respect plays into the Finals: Respect-holders have a voice in settlement. The specific weight mechanism (how Respect interacts with the WaveWarZ-Base market) is being designed alongside the protocol and will be locked before the August Finals.

Builders get more than the prize pool

  • USDC slice from the $500 pool for top 8 finalists. $ZABAL token rewards for top 16. Specific per-finalist allocation confirmed before Finals.
  • 1% of all trade volume on your battle entry, forever. Per WaveWarZ protocol. The battle entry stays live post-Finals; new trades keep flowing 1% to you.
  • Finisher commemorative collectible (every finalist) and Champion commemorative collectible (top 3). Permanent credential on Base.
  • Respect earned during the event itself.
  • Distribution amplification from ZAO accounts across Farcaster, X, Telegram, newsletter.
  • The open-source repo + the 24h live-coding footage as content assets.

Prize pool sponsor: The ZAO festivals team

The $500 USDC v0 (Season 1) prize pool is donated by the ZAO festivals team. Looking for more sponsors to grow the v1 prize pool or add support to v0. Reach: info@thezao.com

The tech timeline (June -> August)

JUNE

The protocol gets reviewed

Sam locks the WaveWarZ-Base testnet protocol to a security-reviewed state, with a June workshop session on how WaveWarZ-Base works for the library. The snapshot + airdrop mechanism for Respect-holder pre-funding gets spec'd with Iman + the ORDAO team.

JULY

Mainnet + smoke test

WaveWarZ-Base on Base mainnet (post-audit). Smoke-test battle runs - one of the 8 adoptable projects becomes a fake finalist for end-to-end testing. Project #09 (Wire WaveWarZ-Base into the Finals surface) gets adopted by a July builder.

AUGUST

The real Finals run

5-8 finalists, 30-80 Respect-holder pre-funded voters, market open for 72h, settlement at T+72h. The Finals becomes the V1 launch event for WaveWarZ-Base.

If something slips - the fallback

If WaveWarZ-Base is not mainnet-ready by August, the Finals revert to the original framing: Respect-earning members vote 1-person-1-vote (Snapshot or ZAO governance), WaveWarZ on Solana runs as a parallel viewer-signal a la Doc 646's Clanker mechanic. Same prize tier, same collectibles, same recognition - just a different judging instrument.

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