Update to the Binance Launchpad Token Sale Format

2019-03-24

Fellow Binancians,

In a fast-changing world, we listen, learn and adapt. We will use a new lottery format for the next project on Binance Launchpad.

Summary

- The next Binance Launchpad token launch will be conducted as a lottery, instead of a first-come-first-served system.

- The number of tickets you can claim depends on the amount of BNB you hold over a 20-day period in a Binance account leading up to the day of the lottery, up to a maximum of 5 tickets per eligible account.

- The lottery draw will be done via a transparent, randomized system with a random selection of lottery tickets based on tail digits (explained below).

- Account verification (KYC) and country restrictions will still apply.

Lottery Ticket Allocation

Users will be able to claim up to a maximum of 5 lottery tickets based on their BNB holdings over the 20 days (represented by X below) leading up to the lottery draw date.

For example, 100 ≤  X < 200 means that your BNB balance over the entire 20-day period is kept at 100 BNB or more, but does not exceed or reach 200 BNB.

Each user’s BNB balance will be recorded in a snapshot at 0:00 AM (UTC) each day. Should a user’s BNB balance drop below the minimum balance required on any given day during the 20-day period, they will be put into the lower threshold. For example, User A holds 301 BNB for 19 of the 20 days but their balance drops to 299 BNB on one day. They will now only be eligible to claim 2 lottery tickets.

Each lottery ticket has a unique number. If you claim multiple lottery tickets, the numbers will be consecutive. For example, if you claim 5 tickets, your ticket numbers may be 100010, 100011, 100012, 100013 and 100014. These numbers are used in a transparent draw mechanism described later.

For each project, Binance will announce the maximum number of potential lottery ticket winners, and the allocation amount corresponding to each winning ticket ahead of time. For example, 10,000 potential winning tickets, each representing 500 USD worth of tokens. This will change for each project on Launchpad.

Prior to the lottery date, users will be given a 24 hour period to select how many lottery tickets they wish to enter, with the maximum number to be based on their BNB holdings over the past 20 days. Please note that entering this ticket amount is a commitment to purchase the amount of tokens corresponding to your eventual number of winning tickets. For example, if User B puts in an entry of 5 tickets and only 2 tickets end up winning, they are committed to pay for 2 ticket allocations (in BNB) for the tokens.

After this 24 hour period, with all tickets fully issued, Binance will begin randomly selecting multi-digit numbers. These will be matched against the tail digits of all issued tickets to determine a list of winners. This process will continue until the maximum number of winners (previously set) are matched. The respective BNB will be deducted from each winning user’s balance, as soon as they are deemed a winner.

Example of a Lottery Timeline for Project A

Announcement of New Project: Binance reveals new Launchpad Project A, announcing a maximum of 15,142 potential winning tickets, with each winning ticket able to purchase 500 USD of the project’s tokens (using BNB). Users must complete Account Verification and sign the Token Purchase Agreement prior to the ticket claim start date.

20 Days Before Lottery: Binance now starts recording BNB balances to determine the amount of lottery tickets that can be claimed. This will continue for 20 days.

1 Day Before Lottery: A 24 hour period begins for users to begin claiming lottery tickets. For the purposes of this example, a total of 100,140 lottery tickets are issued at the end of this period.

Lottery Start Date: The lottery begins and various tail numbers are selected at random, with increasing precision (number of digits), until a total of 15,142 winning tickets are reached, representing a win percentage of ~15.12%. The respective BNB is then deducted from all winners’ accounts.

User A had 3 lottery tickets: 100037, 100038, 100039.

Based on the above results, User A now has 1 winning ticket: 100037, and will pay 500 USD in BNB for 1 allocation of Project A tokens.

User B had 4 lottery tickets: 18942, 18943, 18944, 18945.

Based on the above results, User B now has 2 winning tickets: 18942 and 18945, and will pay 1,000 USD in BNB for 2 allocations of  Project A tokens.

This lottery model is used by various traditional stock exchanges around the world to ensure fairness and transparency.

Risks and Considerations

There are risks and trade-offs in any model. Here we describe some of them.

The daily snapshot may create some fluctuations in BNB trading before and after the snapshot time. Our experience indicates the side effects should be minimal. Other market participants may view this as an opportunity, and countertrade to even out the fluctuations.

Holding BNB does not guarantee an allocation. The evenly-spread-among-all-BNB-holders model has at least two issues: 1. Each person may get $0.5 allocation by holding $1500 for 20 days. Hardly worth the trouble.  2. The new tokens become overly spread-out or dust to most people.

We do not know the % chance of winning ahead of time. This is driven purely by market demand. Current indication suggests demand is high, and the chance of winning is low.

BNB price will fluctuate during the 20 day period. If BNB price drops, it is entirely possible the drop in BNB price will outweigh any gains made by the new token. That is first assuming you win in the lottery draw. Further, the new token being sold is not guaranteed to increase in price. It may drop in price.

There are significant risks. You are responsible for your own decisions. You should do your research and understand each project completely before taking any action. If in doubt, stay out. You are not forced to participate in any Launchpad events.

We also strongly recommend that you don’t hold BNB just to participate in Binance Launchpad events. If you don’t want to hold BNB otherwise, then please don’t hold BNB.

Further information on the next project to come to Binance Launchpad will be released within the next two weeks.