Economic architecture

An economy built like a game engine

GEM is a game resource. It is created only by the Mine, distributed according to real player activity, limited by mining power and by adoption, and increasingly funded by GEM that has already been spent.

Several protections that work together, not one formula.

Older play-to-earn games often tied heavy token issuance to asset sales and to a constant flow of new players. MonsterMine starts from a different idea: the economy should serve the game, stay measurable, and depend less and less on creating new GEM.

The difference does not come from any single mechanism. It comes from the way the Mine, Proof of Play, adoption, anti-concentration weighting, elasticity, halvings, the Reward Vault, progression spending and accounting all work together.

The full game is still in development. This page describes the architecture we have chosen and its current design parameters.

GEM at a glance

The plain facts, gathered in one place.

Name
GEM
Role
MonsterMine utility token
Network
Solana
Standard
SPL Token
Decimals
6
Hard cap
21,000,000,000 GEM
Source of new GEM
The Mine, and only the Mine
Pre-minted reserve
None
Split of what is created
90% to players, 10% to the events reserve
Separate in-game currency
sGEM, not withdrawable and not convertible into GEM

The rules that do not change

These are the foundations. Everything else is a parameter, which can be adjusted and versioned.

  1. Only the Mine can create new GEM.
  2. GEM has a fixed maximum supply of 21 billion.
  3. No large GEM reserve is created in secret ahead of players.
  4. Weighted real adoption limits issuance independently from active mining power.
  5. The system always applies the lower of the two limits.
  6. Proof of Play affects player efficiency for the next cycle; it is not a second reward supply.
  7. New-mint capacity decreases progressively through elasticity.
  8. Conditional halvings reduce new-mint capacity only, never recycling.
  9. Recycled GEM replaces newly minted GEM and never increases the emission ceiling.
  10. Unused or unfunded emission capacity is not minted.
  11. Other game modes may consume or redistribute existing GEM but cannot create new GEM.
  12. Every claimable GEM must have a unique accounting source.

How a GEM circulates

  1. The Mine

    The only source. It produces according to the rules of the cycle.

  2. Credited

    Production is confirmed at the end of the cycle, then credited in the game.

  3. Your choice

    Progress, gear up, take part, hold, or claim under conditions.

  4. Spending

    GEM spent on an eligible use leaves your balance.

  5. The Reward Vault

    Those existing GEM are set aside to fund future rewards.

  6. Less minting

    Whatever the Vault funds does not need to be created.

Recycled GEM is not created a second time: it circulates. The Reward Vault replaces part of the new mint instead of adding to it.

The foundations

What GEM is for, who creates it, and what the team does not keep for itself.

An economy designed for the game

MonsterMine does not sell a payout attached to a creature. GEM is a progression resource. Its usefulness comes from the Mine, equipment, the forge, game modes and trade between players.

GEM, the central resource

GEM is used to develop the Mine, unlock capacity, improve systems, take part in modes, and move value between different ways of playing.

Created by the Mine, modulated by Proof of Play

Only the Mine creates new GEM. Proof of Play measures your real activity and sets your efficiency for the next cycle. It hands out nothing of its own.

No reserve created in advance

GEM is created gradually, by the game. Neither the team, nor investors, nor marketing receive a reserve created ahead of players.

What limits creation

Five protections that work together. Each covers a risk the others let through.

Limited by mining power and by adoption

Issuance does not depend on mining power alone. It is also limited by how many players are genuinely active. The system always applies the lower of the two limits.

New-mint elasticity: growing while minting less

What the system may distribute and what it may mint are two different things. As adoption grows, the share that can be funded by new GEM goes down.

Halvings tied to maturity, not to a calendar

Halvings reduce minting capacity only. They trigger on two conditions at once: an amount of GEM already minted, and a level of adoption. Never on a fixed date.

How the players' share is split

What gets distributed does not become a fixed payout per creature. The amount is split across three player groups, then within each group according to power that takes activity into account.

Difficulty that does not rewrite the past

Mining power is measured in time segments, so that a large connection or withdrawal is not applied to a whole day at once.

Circulating rather than minting

The heart of the model: every spent GEM that comes back is a GEM that does not need to be created.

The Reward Vault replaces new mint

GEM spent on the game's main uses can be recycled, then used to fund future rewards instead of newly minted GEM.

A game built to keep GEM circulating

The reasons to spend GEM far exceed what a player earns. Developing the Mine, unlocking slots, forging, equipping, entering modes and events: you have to choose. That is what brings GEM back to the Reward Vault instead of letting it sit idle.

Something other than a decorative burn

MonsterMine does not destroy tokens just to advertise scarcity. The model favours utility, real spending and recirculation.

Not everything needs to be a token

GEM lives alongside resources that are not tokens. Each has its role, so that the whole economy does not rest on a single token.

The players' economy

What players own, craft and trade, and what stays off the blockchain.

Rewarding real players, limiting bots

Several protections work together: real activity, the brake on concentration, the onboarding phase, checks on the first withdrawal, and integrity signals.

A displayed balance is not a token yet

The onboarding phase is a settling-in period. GEM shown during that phase stays in the game and cannot be withdrawn automatically.

The forge, equipment and the marketplace

Value does not come from mining alone. You can specialise in gathering, crafting, optimising, collecting or trading.

Verifiable ownership, without putting everything on-chain

You can own, develop, use and trade certain assets. The blockchain serves ownership, without requiring every action to be recorded on it.

A separate in-game currency, sGEM

sGEM is an in-game currency that cannot be withdrawn, meant for convenience, onboarding and certain gameplay rewards.

Liquidity handled with care

The market should support the game's use. It should not become the condition for the economy's survival.

What comes next

How the economy should carry on as the game grows, and then when minting becomes impossible.

Adding content without adding inflation

New modes must bring usefulness, spending, trade or resources, without multiplying the sources of creation.

One token for several experiences

GEM and MonsterMine are designed to keep their usefulness from one experience to the next, without a different token each time.

After the hard cap

When minting new GEM becomes impossible, the economy has to carry on with the GEM that already exists.

Who decides on the parameters

Today the team decides, and every change is dated. Our direction is to open those decisions to the community over time, once the game is mature enough for that to mean something.

Our vision

Build a game where the blockchain brings ownership, continuity and a more open economy, without taking over the experience.

What makes this engine different

Strength does not come from one formula. It comes from protections that work together, each covering a risk the others let through.

  • Two limits

    Mining power and adoption limit issuance separately. The system always keeps the lower one.

  • Elasticity

    As the game grows, the share that can be funded by minting goes down.

  • Conditional halvings

    They depend on what has been minted and on adoption, not on a date.

  • Recycling

    The Reward Vault replaces new mint. It never adds to the ceiling.

  • Always more to do than GEM to do it

    Open uses always exceed what a player earns. They have to arbitrate, and GEM circulates instead of sitting idle.

  • One source

    Only the Mine creates GEM. Other modes spend or redistribute it.

  • Unique accounting

    Every claimable GEM is covered by a unique source, so nothing is counted twice.

  • Adoption and power

    A large Mine is still rewarded, but one account is not counted as thousands of players.

  • After minting

    When minting becomes impossible, the economy has to hold through spending, fees, trade and the Vault.

From in-game production to an on-chain token

GEM goes through five states, and each has its rule.

  1. Raw GEMProduction recorded during the cycle.
  2. Settled GEMProduction confirmed at the end of the cycle.
  3. In-game GEMBalance available in the internal economy.
  4. Claimable GEMThe share that can go on-chain, depending on status and checks.
  5. On-chain GEMToken actually present in a wallet.

Every claimable GEM must be covered by a unique accounting source: available recycling, an existing GEM deposit, permitted minting, or a balance held by the protocol. The same GEM cannot fund two balances or two claims.

1,000 GEM credited

  • 400 come from the Reward Vault.
  • 600 are covered by permitted minting.
  • The total reward is 1,000 GEM.
  • The amount of GEM in circulation grows by 600.

An in-game balance does not allow GEM to be created outside the accounts.

Transparent without becoming exploitable

We publish the economic rules, the GEM flows, the issuance limits and the accounting principles needed to understand the model. The parameters that would allow difficulty to be manipulated, protections to be bypassed or safety thresholds to be exploited stay confidential. That separation protects the economy without preventing its principles from being examined.

What is public

  • The 21 billion hard cap and the single creation rule.
  • The two limits, mining power and adoption.
  • Elasticity and how it works.
  • The halving thresholds and their factors.
  • The safeguard applied ahead of a halving.
  • The Reward Vault's role, replacing new mint.
  • The five accounting states of GEM.
  • The split across player groups and the brake on concentration.
  • The role of sGEM and the limits of the onboarding phase.

What stays protected

  • The detail and weight of the actions counted by Proof of Play.
  • The signals used to spot artificial accounts.
  • Review and sanction thresholds.
  • Account grouping rules.
  • Measurement windows and time-based protections.
  • The Reward Vault's safety margins and emergency procedures.

The principle: monetary policy does not need to be secret. Detection methods do.

Frequently asked questions

Does a MonsterMine give a fixed amount of GEM?

No. A MonsterMine brings power to your Mine. Production also depends on your activity, your optimisation, the power of all players, adoption, your group, the Reward Vault and the limits of the cycle.

Does Proof of Play create GEM?

No. Only the Mine creates new GEM. Proof of Play sets your efficiency for the next cycle.

Why does issuance depend on adoption?

To stop a small number of very powerful accounts from triggering issuance that would match a large community.

What is new-mint elasticity?

A mechanism that gradually reduces the share of rewards that can be funded by minting new GEM, as adoption grows.

How do halvings work?

They reduce minting capacity when two conditions are met: an amount of GEM already minted, and a level of adoption. They do not affect recycling, and they are permanent.

Does the Reward Vault allow the ceiling to be exceeded?

No. Its GEM replaces new mint. It never adds to the ceiling.

What happens to permitted but unearned GEM?

It is not minted, not carried over, not given to the team. It simply does not exist.

Do fights or expeditions create GEM?

No. They can spend or redistribute it, and grant resources that are not GEM.

What happens once the hard cap is reached?

Nothing more can be minted. The economy then runs on existing GEM, spending, the Reward Vault, fees and redistribution.

Why do some parameters stay secret?

The economic rules have to be understandable and checkable. The thresholds and signals that would let the system be manipulated or its protections bypassed have to stay protected.

Glossary

GEM
MonsterMine's main utility token.
sGEM
In-game currency, not withdrawable and not directly convertible into GEM.
New mint
GEM that did not exist before.
Recycled GEM
GEM that already exists, spent and then put back into circulation.
Reward Vault
A reserve of existing GEM, used to replace part of the new mint.
Distributable amount
The theoretical maximum calculated for a cycle.
Distributed amount
What is actually earned, checked and fundable.
Elasticity
The gradual reduction of the share that can be funded by minting.
Halving
A permanent reduction of minting capacity.
Weighted adoption
A measure of real activity that reduces the weight of very large and suspicious accounts.
Proof of Play
A measure of your useful activity, which sets your efficiency for the next cycle.
Spending
A use that takes GEM out of your balance to progress or take part.
Hard cap
The maximum amount of GEM that can ever exist: 21 billion.
Claim
Moving a balance from the game to the blockchain, under the system's rules.

Public version 2.0 · Updated 6 August 2026

The rules listed at the top of the page do not change. The figures are working values, which may evolve with balancing.

Disclaimer

GEM is a game utility token. The examples, figures and mechanisms shown describe MonsterMine's architecture and design parameters. They are not a promise of income, gain, price, liquidity or value. Rewards will depend on gameplay, activity, the wider economy, security checks and the parameters of each cycle.