How a season works
Status: Planned (programme)Status: Pending counsel
A Humanathon season runs in six steps: qualify, compete, review, graduate, raise, and keep going. Three of them have a fixed length. The rest hang off Proof Day, the live, public final day of review.
A programme, not software
Humanathon is a programme that Merces runs, with rules and events. It is not part of the Merces software, and entering never obliges anyone to raise. Programme rules marked as planned may change before the season opens.
The shape of the season
| Step | How long | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Qualify | 2 weeks | Prove you are one real person, connect your income history, and post your mandate: what you will ship. |
| Compete | 6 weeks | File one proof a week. Climb a live leaderboard while backers watch. |
| Review | 2 weeks | The top 30 face peer review, then a jury. Proof Day is live and public. |
| Graduate | On Proof Day | The top 5 become Fellows. Places 6 to 15 become Finalists. |
| Raise | Opens 1 week after Proof Day, runs 2 weeks | Fellows raise on Merces with an anchor backer behind them. Finalists follow after 90 more days of proofs. |
| Keep going | 10 weeks | Fellows draw a stipend. Backers are paid only from verified income. |
Exact dates are announced with our lead partner. Season calendar and status tracks them.
1. Qualify
Qualifying is the application. There is no form to fill in. In order, an entrant verifies their identity, connects an income baseline covering the prior 6 months, and files a public mandate that is hashed on-chain and frozen. A zero baseline is fine. Enter gives each step.
2. Compete
For 6 weeks, every entrant files one weekly proof of output and income and keeps a public log. After 2 missed proofs the entrant is out. The leaderboard updates as proofs land; it shows scores and percentiles, never raw income.
3. Review
Review has 3 layers. Automated scoring from verified data picks the top 30. A week of peer adversarial review picks the top 15. A paid jury on Proof Day picks the top 5. Scoring and judging explains each layer, and Fair play explains the challenges.
4. Graduate
The top 5 are Fellows, with at least 1 from each core track. Places 6 to 15 are Finalists. Everyone who completes the season is a Finisher and keeps a verified season record. What you win lists what each group gets.
5. Raise
In Season 1, only Fellows raise. Their raise opens 1 week after Proof Day and runs 2 weeks. Stake conversions and pre-committed anchor backers fill 30 to 50 percent of the target at open; eligible backers fill the rest. Finalists can open a raise in the next window after 90 more days of monthly proofs.
Raising is optional, and the raise terms are draft until counsel advises: Status: Pending counsel. The raise for Fellows has the draft terms and the legal gate.
6. Keep going
Fellows draw a stipend for 10 weeks, paid every 2 weeks while their public log continues. Backers are paid only from verified income. Finishers can enter Season 2 with their record.
What can go wrong
- The dates are not public. They are announced with the lead partner, and they move if preparation starts later than planned or the Merces stack is not live in time.
- A raise needs a written legal opinion first. If it is late or restrictive, the raise steps down a fallback ladder: anchor and professional backers only, then commitments only, then a grant-only season.
- Missing 2 weekly proofs ends an entrant's season.
- Prize and stipend amounts are announced as partners confirm. None is published here.