The rules
How the clock works
01
The clock starts high
The creator picks a start of 5, 10 or 20 times the floor. Each bulb takes the same bite off the price on the way down to 1.7 ETH.
02
You bid when the number looks right
A bid is ETH into the pot. It can only get cheaper for you after that, because you pay wherever the clock stops.
03
The pot stops the clock
When the pot can pay for the whole lot (40% of supply) at the current price, the hammer drops. One price for every bidder.
04
Trading opens on the spot
Every wei in the pot goes into the pool with 40% of supply at the same price. The chart starts where the auction ended.
A lot that sells out
The pot catches the falling value partway round. That bulb is the price for everyone.
A lot that hits the floor
The lines never meet. The pot buys what it can at 1.7 ETH and the rest burns.
Why a clock
Normal launch. Price is lowest in the first block. Bots buy it, you buy from the bots.
On the clock. Price is highest at the start and the first bidder gets no discount over the last. A bot has nothing to race for.
Early bids still matter. They pull the red bulb back towards the price, which is how the room tells you it is close.
Terms for every coin
- Supply
- 1,000,000,000 per coin
- Floor
- 1.7 ETH FDV
- Start
- 5×, 10× or 20× the floor
- Clock length
- 10, 20 or 30 minutes
- On the clock
- 40% of supply
- Into the pool
- 40% of supply plus every wei bid
- Creator and house
- 20%, split evenly
- Trading fee after
- 1%, half to the creator
- If the floor comes first
- Pot buys at 1.7 ETH, the unsold part burns
Questions
+Why would anyone bid early if everyone pays the same?
Because if you wait too long somebody else stops the clock and you are out. Bidding early costs you nothing extra. You only choose the highest price you are fine with.
+Can the price go up during the clock?
No. It falls on a fixed curve until the pot stops it or it hits the floor. After the hammer it trades on the pool like any coin and can go wherever people take it.
+What is the red bulb?
Where the clock would stop if nobody else bid. Every bid drags it back towards the yellow one. When they meet, that is the hammer.
+What if the pot is bigger than the lot?
The last bid overshoots. You get the lot at the hammer price and the slice that did not fit goes back to that bidder in the same transaction.
+What happens at the floor?
The pot buys what it can at 1.7 ETH FDV. Unsold lot tokens burn, along with the pool tokens they would have been paired with, so the pool price still matches what bidders paid.
+Can I pull a bid?
Not once it is in. Otherwise anyone could fake demand to stop the clock early and walk away.
+Why is it called Dropdial?
Because the dial drops. The flower auction at Aalsmeer still sells millions of stems a day on clocks like this one. We borrowed the idea and the colours.