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Pricing A Request

Each request needs to specify how much the requestor is willing to pay to receive a proof. Each prover on the decentralized market will decide whether that price is acceptable to them, and compete to fulfill those requests.

The offer section of a request specifies the parameters of the reverse Dutch auction, part of the proof lifecycle. This is the mechanism by which the requestor and prover can aggree upon a price, and ensures the requestor will get the best price available from any prover on the market.

Contents of an Offer

An offer contains the following:

  • Pricing parameters
  • Minimum price
  • Maximum price
  • Bidding start (defined as a block number)
  • Length of ramp-up period (measured in blocks since the start of the bid)
  • Timeout (measured in blocks since the start of the bid)
  • Lock-in stake

For example, an offer might specify:

  • Pricing parameters
    • Minimum price: 0.001 Ether
    • Maximum price: 0.002 Ether
  • Bidding start: Block number 1000
  • Length of ramp-up period: 5 blocks
  • Timeout: 100 blocks
  • Lock-in stake: 2 HP

The pricing parameters are used to determine the reward that gets paid-out when the request is fulfilled (ie, the proof has been verified). The reward is governed by the price function. Its inputs are:

  • The offer.
  • The number of blocks that have passed since the bidding started.

The function works like so:

  • During the discovery period (the initial phase of the auction before bidding start), the price is just the minimum price.
  • During the ramp-up period (which immediately follows the discovery period), the price grows linearly up-to the maximum price.
  • After the ramp-up period, the price is just the maximum price.

Continuing with the example offer given above, the price is constant (0.001 Ether, its minimum) for the first 10 blocks; on block 11 it jumps to 0.0012 Ether; on 12 it jumps to 0.0014 Ether; on 15 it reaches 0.002 Ether (its maximum), and remains at that value until the offer expires.

When a prover locks-in a request, they are agreeing to be paid the reward offered by this function at the time of their bid.

📟 Pricing Calculator

Use this interactive calculator to get suggested request parameters based on your program's complexity and desired proof time: