Scholarship Program

The Manager (or Owner) is the capital provider who owns the Axie NFTs. Their responsibilities include:

• Acquiring and maintaining a team of Axies.
• Recruiting, onboarding, and managing Scholars.
• Setting the revenue share split (e.g., 50/50, 70/30 in the Scholar's favor).
• Distributing the in-game currency (Smooth Love Potion - SLP) earned by the Scholar.
• Assuming the financial risk of NFT depreciation.

The Scholar is the player who receives lent Axies from a Manager. Their role is to:

• Play the game (Axie Infinity: Origins or Axie Classic) to earn SLP and AXS tokens through daily quests and arena battles.
• Follow the Manager's guidelines for gameplay and energy management.
• Receive a pre-agreed percentage of the rewards as compensation, providing a play-to-earn income without upfront capital.
• Typically access the Axies via a dedicated Ronin wallet provided by the Manager.

The revenue share split is the core economic agreement, defining how earned assets are divided. Common splits range from 50/50 to 70/30 (Scholar/Manager).

• Payouts are typically made in SLP, which can be traded on exchanges.
• The split compensates the Manager for capital cost and risk, and the Scholar for labor and skill.
• Terms are often managed through third-party scholarship management platforms or smart contracts to automate distribution.

A core promise of scholarship programs is transitioning players from renters to owners. This is often structured as a graduated profit-sharing model.

• Typical Split: Starts at 70/30 (Scholar/Guild) for new players.
• Earn-to-Own: Scholars can use earnings to purchase their lent NFTs at a discount.
• Key Benefit: Aligns incentives and builds true user-owned economies, moving beyond pure extractive models.

Managing hundreds of scholars requires specialized software. Tools like LunarCrush for analytics and custom discord bots are critical for operational scale.

• Task Management: Automated tracking of daily/weekly quests and SLP (Smooth Love Potion) earnings.
• Payout Automation: Smart contracts or bots handle split calculations and payments.
• Performance Dashboards: Managers monitor scholar efficiency and asset ROI.

Large guilds often decentralize via regional subDAOs to manage cultural, linguistic, and logistical differences. Examples include YGG Pilipinas, YGG SEA, and Merit Circle's regional cells.

• Local Expertise: Better at community building and local marketing.
• Regulatory Navigation: Understand specific regional legal landscapes.
• Proven Model: Demonstrates the scalability of the scholarship framework through decentralized operations.

A scholarship program is a formalized profit-sharing agreement that enables play-to-earn (P2E) participation without upfront capital. The model is built on a smart contract or managed platform that facilitates:

• Asset Lending: The manager provides NFTs (e.g., Axie Infinity creatures) to the scholar.
• Revenue Split: Earned in-game tokens (like SLP) are automatically divided per a pre-set ratio (e.g., 70/30).
• Performance Tracking: Tools monitor the scholar's activity and earnings for transparency.

The ecosystem relies on distinct participants with aligned incentives:

• Manager (Asset Owner): Provides the capital (NFTs), manages scholars, and takes a percentage of earnings without active play.
• Scholar (Player): Uses the lent assets to play, generating yield. Gains access to P2E economies they couldn't otherwise afford.
• Platform/Guild: Often a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) like Yield Guild Games, which scales the model by pooling assets and managing many scholars.

The program creates a symbiotic economic loop:

• For Scholars: Removes the high barrier to entry of expensive NFTs, allowing global participation in the game's economy.
• For Managers/Guilds: Generates a yield on idle assets by putting them to productive use, creating a return on investment (ROI).
• For the Game Ecosystem: Drives user adoption, in-game activity, and token utility, supporting the overall tokenomics and liquidity of the native token.

Execution is enabled by specialized infrastructure:

• Guild Management Platforms: Services like BreederDAO or Merit Circle provide dashboards for tracking, splitting rewards, and onboarding.
• Escrow Smart Contracts: Hold the lent NFTs and automatically enforce the revenue-sharing agreement, reducing trust requirements.
• Reputation Systems: Track scholar performance to build trust and enable merit-based advancement within guilds.

The model introduces specific challenges:

• Regulatory Scrutiny: May be viewed as an unregistered security or employment relationship in some jurisdictions.
• Asset Depreciation: Underlying NFT value can plummet if game popularity or tokenomics fail (volatility risk).
• Exploitation Concerns: Potential for unfair splits or poor working conditions, leading to the term "scholar" being critiqued as a euphemism for low-wage gig labor.

Scholarship programs are evolving beyond simple asset lending:

• Credentialing: Integrating Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) to represent scholar skill and reputation portably.
• Fractionalized Ownership: Using NFT fractionalization to allow multiple investors to fund a single scholar's assets.
• Cross-Game Utility: Guilds are building platforms where scholar reputation and assets can be used across multiple game universes (interoperability).

A core principle of blockchain scholarship programs where rewards are allocated based on verifiable on-chain contributions rather than application essays. This is often implemented via retroactive public goods funding (RetroPGF) or grant DAOs that evaluate past work. Mechanisms include:

• Proof of Contribution: Tracking code commits, governance participation, or community moderation.
• Transparent Scoring: Using objective metrics and community voting to determine allocation.
• Sybil Resistance: Employing proof-of-personhood or soulbound tokens (SBTs) to prevent gaming.

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) specifically structured to manage and disburse funds for scholarships, research, and development. It operates through community-driven governance.

• Proposal & Voting: Applicants or community members submit proposals, which are voted on by token holders or delegated stewards.
• Treasury Management: Funds are held in a multi-signature wallet or smart contract vault.
• Examples: Gitcoin DAO, Moloch DAOs, and Uniswap Grants are prominent models for funding public goods and education.

A funding model where contributors to ecosystem growth (like developers, educators, or documenters) are rewarded after their work has proven valuable. This is a foundational model for many scholarship programs.

• Work First, Reward Later: Eliminates the need for grant applications before work begins.
• Community Curation: Round 2 and 3 of Optimism's RetroPGF are canonical examples, where "badgeholders" assess impact.
• Impact Metrics: Funding is tied to measurable outcomes like protocol usage, educational content reach, or tool adoption.

Non-transferable NFTs that represent credentials, affiliations, or achievements. In scholarship programs, they act as verifiable, sybil-resistant records of participation or completion.

• Proof of Participation: Issued upon completing a course or contributing to a project.
• Reputation System: SBTs build a portable, on-chain resume for learners and builders.
• Access Gating: Can be used to unlock advanced courses, governance rights, or future funding opportunities.

An incentive model that rewards users with tokens or credentials for completing educational modules and demonstrating knowledge. It gamifies blockchain education.

• On-Chain Verification: Completion is often proven via quiz smart contracts or interactive tutorials.
• Token Incentives: Platforms like RabbitHole or Layer3 reward users with crypto for learning about and interacting with new protocols.
• Skill Bridging: Directly connects learning with practical, on-chain experience, creating a pipeline of informed users.

Programs that provide upfront funding or token allocations to developers who build specific tools, integrations, or applications for a protocol. This is a proactive form of scholarship for builders.

• Bounty-Based: Funds are released upon completion of predefined milestones or code audits.
• Equity-like Incentives: Often includes token grants or vesting schedules aligned with long-term protocol success.
• Ecosystem Focus: Aimed at filling critical infrastructure gaps, such as building oracles, wallets, or analytics dashboards.