Value is captured in three ways, and each one settles on the ledger rather than on a price.
The whitepaper defines value capture as three sources: node equity sales across the six-tier partner structure, Carry settlement on each verified outcome, and service and coordination work. None of the three depends on issuing a token.
The three sources
Value capture = node equity sales + Carry settlement on verified outcomes + service and coordination shares. Survival does not depend on token issuance or secondary price movement.
How the Carry waterfall settles net profit
The waterfall distributes net profit, defined as profit after backers' capital is returned. It does not distribute gross proceeds at exit. Backers receive principal first, then the remainder follows a fixed split.
| Bucket | Share of net profit | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Backers (pro-rata) | 70% | Capital providers, by contribution |
| Sourcing and Coordination | 10% | Introduction and coordination work |
| Lead Node Bonus | 10% | The node that led the outcome |
| WCN Protocol Treasury | 5% | Protocol reserve |
| Service Provider Pool | 5% | Service delivery |
The network takes 30% of net profit. WCN answers this wager with verifiable PoB historical-return data, not promises. Waterfall parameters are charter-bound, and settled records cannot be altered after the fact.
Why three sources, not one
A single source ties survival to one input. Three sources let the structure hold when any one of them slows. Node equity funds the base; Carry rewards verified outcomes; service shares reward execution.
The order matters
WCN establishes cash flow first, then considers a token. Sources that depend only on a secondary price tend to collapse together in a downturn. Binding survival to settled work resists that failure mode.
A network whose only income is a token price faces an income cliff when the price falls. WCN binds survival to node equity and settled outcomes. If a token is issued later, it serves coordination, not survival.