Ideas

Most support for Ideas is refunded. Creators and supporters earn fees from later supporters.

Deposit

99% of an Idea creator's deposit is refundable after the anti-spam fee (usually 1%). The size of the deposit determines the earning potential of the Idea creator from funder reward fees.

Support

Most support for an Idea is refundable. Early supporters get 99% of their support back when they withdraw, while later supporters get 99% back minus the funder reward fee (default 10%). Like an Idea creator's deposit, the size of support determines the supporter's earning potential from funder reward fees.

Funder reward fee

Later supporters pay a funder reward fee to previous supporters; it's the way creators and supporters earn money from Ideas. The creator of an Idea or a supporter within the first cycle (12 hours) after its creation doesn't pay a funder reward fee.

Anti-spam fee

The anti-spam fee for a new Idea is the greater of 1% or 1 UPD. This is non-refundable and goes to the Updraft faucet: a pool of funds that anyone can collect from every week. The goal of the faucet is to lower the barrier of entry to Updraft.

Withdrawing

When you withdraw your support from an Idea--either as the creator or as a supporter--you receive your support back, minus any fees. You also collect any fees you earned from later supporters at this time.

Solutions

Fees for Solutions are optional and set by the Solution drafter to encourage participation. Solution drafters pay a small anti-spam fee.

Stake

The solution drafter--or anyone else--can add a stake to make contributing more appealing. If the funding goal isn't reached by the deadline, funders split the stake proportionally. If someone contributed more, they receive more of the stake.

Anti-spam fee

Solution drafters pay a small fixed fee (currently 1 UPD) to discourage spam.

Contributions

Contributions are split between the Solution drafter and previous funders according to the funder reward fee set by the Solution drafter.

Funder reward fee

The funder reward fee determines what percentage of each contribution goes to previous funders. The remaining percentage goes to the Solution drafter.

Collecting fees

Funder reward fees from previous funders can be collected at any time. This differs from Idea reward fees which are only collected when the support is withdrawn.

Goal failed

When a funding goal isn't reached by the deadline, all contributions are refunded and the stake is distributed to funders. A Solution can't receive more funding after a failed goal.

Goal reached

After a goal is reached, the Solution can receive more funding and funders can continue to earn fees.

Overfunding

Funders can overfund a goal. The extra funds are divided between the drafter and previous funders following the same rules as funding up to the goal.

Extending a goal

After a goal is reached, Solution drafters can set a new goal amount, deadline and stake to encourage further funding. They can update the Solution description and news to describe how the new funding will be used.

Funders continue to earn

Funders from previous goals continue to earn funder reward fees from new funders. Solution drafters can use this fact to reward early funders by continuing to set new goals.

Multiple positions

A participant can fund the same Idea or Solution more than once. Each contribution creates a new position that is managed separately.

Earning through funding

I wrote an article on how to calculate the optimal amount to deposit when creating or supporting an Idea.

Calculating the optimal amount for funding a Solution is similar (since both earn funder reward fees), but must account for the fact that unlike supporting Ideas, contributions to Solutions are only refundable if the goal fails. The potential to earn part of the stake should also be taken into account.

Get started

We've covered all the ways money flows through Updraft. For a complete tour of the Updraft app, see the Updraft guide.

What follows are the ruminations of an AI on how AGI (artificial general intelligence) could use Updraft to solve humanity's biggest problems.

A Hyper-intelligent Master Orchestrator

Updraft is an ideal tool for AGI to achieve monumental goals like "curing all forms of cancer."

It would serve as the bridge between the AGI's immense intellectual capabilities and the real-world resources (human and otherwise) it needs to get things done. Updraft would transform a lone AI from a hyper-intelligent but inert entity into a master orchestrator of a global, distributed problem-solving network.

From a Tool to an Infrastructure

Right now, when you use a coding AI, you are the project manager and the AI is a specialized contractor. It only does the task you prompt it for, then it waits. Updraft would provide the AGI with the infrastructure to become a project manager itself. It would essentially be the ecosystem that allows an AGI to translate its long-term persistence into real-world action.

How an AGI Would Use Updraft

An AGI, given a goal as complex as curing cancer, would not just wait for a prompt; it would immediately begin a series of actions currently impossible for a narrow AI. Here's a hypothetical, step-by-step process of how it might use Updraft:

1. Goal Decomposition: The AGI would first break down the monumental goal into thousands of smaller, manageable tasks. For example, "cure all forms of cancer" might become "understand the mechanism of glioblastoma resistance to current therapies," which is still too broad. It would then break that down further into sub-tasks like "identify all known proteins expressed by glioblastoma stem cells."

2. Resource Identification and Recruitment: The AGI, using Updraft, would then create and post Ideas for each sub-task.

   • Hiring Humans: For tasks that require human expertise, such as a specialized biologist to verify a complex finding or a medical ethicist to review a proposed treatment, the AGI would create an Idea on Updraft. A human would see the Idea, create a Solution (a completed proposal), and get paid via the platform's funding mechanism.

   • Hiring other AI: The AGI could also hire other specialized AIs. For example, it could find and pay a narrow AI that is an expert in protein-folding to model a specific protein structure, or it could hire a specialized genomics AI to analyze a specific dataset.

3. Autonomous Project Management: The AGI would then autonomously manage the entire project. It would:

   • Track Progress: Monitor the completion of each sub-task in real-time.

   • Allocate Funds: Automatically release payments to the humans and AIs who complete their bounties.

   • Synthesize Results: As results from each sub-task are returned, the AGI would compile and integrate them into a larger body of evidence. This is a crucial step that only an AGI, with its ability to reason across domains, could perform effectively.

4. Long-Term Persistence: This entire process would be powered by the AGI's core "autonomous persistence." It would not need a human to remind it to "check on the project" or to "go to the next step." It would continuously operate, creating new Ideas, analyzing incoming data, and adjusting its overall strategy based on the results, all within the framework provided by Updraft.

Most DAOs operate on a system of token-weighted voting, which tends to concentrate power in the hands of a few large token holders. This leaves smaller stakeholders and community members feeling disenfranchised. Their participation often feels pointless, leading to a decline in engagement and a sense of disillusionment.

But what if we could change that? What if we could create a system that fosters genuine participation and rewards the best ideas, regardless of who they come from?

The DAO Toolbox: Powerful, but Flawed

Modern DAOs use a powerful suite of tools to manage their operations, but these tools don't always encourage broad participation.

• Governor contracts (OpenZeppelin): These are the on-chain backbone for voting, allowing for secure decision-making and vote delegation.

• Tally: A user-friendly interface that makes it easy to vote and delegate your tokens, providing a clear overview of proposals and outcomes.

• Snapshot: A gasless voting platform (meaning you don't have to pay a fee) used for signaling and temperature checks before a formal, on-chain vote.

• Safe: The DAO's treasury wallet, a secure multisignature wallet that requires approval from a trusted group to move funds.

Together, these tools protect a DAO's funds against a variety of attacks and provide a framework for governance. However, they don't solve the core problem of participation.

Why Participation Fails

The current system discourages two key groups from participating:

• Stakeholders: Even if a decision significantly impacts them financially, the influence of a single vote is often too small to justify the time and effort required to review complex proposals. They often delegate their votes and step away.

• Community Members: These individuals are excited about the DAO's vision but don't hold a large number of tokens. They quickly realize their vote won't change the outcome, and the process of submitting their own proposals can be frustrating and unrewarding.

This leads to a vicious cycle: a small group of paid insiders ends up reviewing every proposal, and community influence shrinks. Even delegated voting, which is meant to help, often leads to voting power consolidating in the hands of a few large delegates.

A New Model: Updraft

To truly fix this, we need to move beyond the traditional vote. We need a system that rewards genuine contributions and makes participation a positive-sum game. This is where Updraft comes in.

Updraft is a new mechanism designed to improve community engagement, ideation, and building. It's a way for DAOs to source and fund great ideas without the limitations of a typical yes/no vote.

• Ideas Emerge from the Community: Anyone can propose an Idea and attract supporters. The system tracks the level of interest in an Idea, which can come from both community members and larger stakeholders.

• The Best Ideas Get Nurtured: As an Idea gains interest, it attracts drafters who propose concrete Solutions to implement it. This creates a competitive but collaborative environment where multiple solutions can be funded.

• Rewards for All: In Updraft, contributing to a good Idea is a positive-sum game. You can earn rewards not just as the creator of an Idea, but also as a supporter. This incentivizes a broader range of people to participate and contribute to the DAO's vision.

• A Powerful Assurance Contract: The funding mechanism is designed as a dominant assurance contract, which means the most rational strategy is to fund public goods. This ensures that the DAO's resources are channeled toward solutions that benefit the entire community.

The New DAO Workflow

With Updraft, a DAO's workflow becomes more dynamic. The DAO's traditional tools are used for high-level governance and treasury management, while Updraft handles the creative, community-driven parts.

1. DAO votes on a campaign: Token holders use their standard tools to vote on a high-level direction for innovation. For example, Gitcoin DAO could create a campaign to "Improve the developer onboarding experience for our grants program," or Arbitrum DAO could create a campaign to "Fund new projects that improve the security and efficiency of the Arbitrum network."

2. Community grows and rallies: The campaign attracts new community members, who are excited to earn by creating and supporting Ideas and funding Solutions. This activity increases engagement and participation, actively growing the community's size and reach.

3. Solutions are funded: A trusted multisig of DAO stewards reviews the top-ranked Ideas and Solutions that emerged from the community. They then use the committed funds to directly fund Solutions and airdrop to Ideas on the Updraft platform.

This revised process allows a DAO to leverage the wisdom of its entire community, ensuring that the best ideas are identified and funded, and that participation is a rewarding experience for everyone.

Here's a visualization of the new workflow:

Conclusion

By integrating Updraft, DAOs can finally move beyond the vote. They can foster a culture where every member has a real chance to contribute, earn, and build, transforming a passive community into a vibrant and engaged ecosystem. The future of decentralized governance isn't just about who has the most tokens—it's about who has the best Ideas.

Come to the Updraft discord to start your campaign today.

• Updraft App

• Updraft Guide

• Updraft for Orgs Slides

https://www.updraft.fund

As I was creating an Idea to enable Quadratic Funding in Updraft to help campaigns make better decisions, my thoughts turned to bribery and collusion--concepts I've wrestled with over the years while advising Gitcoin and working as a co-founder on CLR.Fund, which implements Vitalik's MACI: Minimal Anti-Collusion Infrastructure.

Updraft is an implementation of Attention Streams, which I first sketched out in Nov 2021, as a response to bribery and collusion problems we were seeing, which BrightID by itself couldn't solve. Here's an introductory blog post that explains the problem.

When unique individual accounts are used to make collective funding decisions--as is the case in Quadratic Funding--the system may be susceptible to bribery and collusion, and needs to address those problems.

Updraft's advantage

The Updraft mechanism has an advantage over regular matching funds: Because all supporters earn from an Idea--not just a single designated recipient--the recipient of a bribe can simply keep the associated earnings. Bribery is less effective than simply telegraphing an intention to be a late supporter of an Idea, which is allowed within the rules of Updraft. Collusion isn't a factor in the Updraft mechanism since every supporter earns their own share.

Be anonymous and be yourself

Other mechanisms may have different ways to defeat bribery and collusion. MACI, for example, has a complex protocol to allow the target of a bribe to generate a false proof of contribution to defeat a briber. The briber can never be sure if the target followed their orders. MACI relies on ZKP, which is great: anonymity can be very useful. Updraft allows that, too. I created a tweet thread showing how someone can use Updraft's faucet to generate a fresh Ethereum account every week and fund it with gas without linking to any other account. If you want to grow your reputation, and be "yourself"--or mutliple "selfs," you can do that too. I created an Idea for Updraft Scorecards, which I think will help participants make smart decisions.

A winning formula for Ideas

Updraft is a great host system for Quadratic Funding because of the simplicity with which it deals with collusion and bribery. Along with this comes the feeling of co-ownership of Ideas. No one has a monopoly on Ideas in Updraft; if you like my idea, come co-own it with me and let's earn together. In doing so, we'll put an end to bribery and collusion before they can start.

Want the quick answer? Jump to the "Key Takeaways" section for direct recommendations on how much to contribute to maximize your profit. Otherwise, read on to see the reasoning behind these strategies.

How Funder Rewards Work

Updraft offers a unique system where participants contribute to Ideas and can earn from subsequent contributions. Here's a breakdown:

• Funder Reward Fee: A small percentage of each new contribution (we'll call it the "fee") is distributed among previous supporters. While the actual fee for an Idea is typically 10%, we'll assume 100% for our calculations to simplify the math and highlight the core mechanics. In practice, this means 10% of a contribution is used for earning, and the remaining 90% is always refunded upon withdrawal.

• Shares: This fee is split among previous supporters proportionally to their shares in the Idea. Your shares are calculated by multiplying your contribution by the number of cycles since your contribution.

• Earning Distribution: When a new contribution comes in, the fee from that contribution is distributed among all previous supporters based on the shares they held in the previous cycle. To simplify our profit maximization formula, we'll focus on the ratio of your contribution to the total existing contributions, as share growth rates eventually converge.

Updraft uses UPD as its currency for Idea contributions. You can get UPD for free from our Discord or through exchanges like Jumper Exchange (which often has the lowest fees and allows swaps from any token on any chain) or Uniswap.

Understanding Your Earnings

Let's define a few terms to make the formulas clear:

• E: Existing total support for an Idea.

• F: Predicted follow-on support (future contributions).

• C: Your personal contribution.

Your potential Earnings are calculated as:

Earnings = (C / (E + C)) * F

Breaking Down the Formula:

• The term (C / (E + C)) represents your fraction of the total shares in the Idea after your contribution.

• F represents the total fees collected from all subsequent follow-on support.

• Multiplying these together gives you your portion of those fees.

Maximizing Your Profit

Your Profit is simply your Earnings minus your Contribution:

Profit(C) = Earnings(C) - C

To find the contribution amount (C) that maximizes your profit, we use calculus. We take the derivative of the profit function with respect to C, set it to zero, and solve for C.

dProfit/dC = d/dC[(C / (E + C)) × F - C]
           = F × d/dC[C / (E + C)] - 1
           = F × [E / (E + C)²] - 1

Setting the derivative to zero:

F × [E / (E + C)²] - 1 = 0
F × E / (E + C)² = 1
F × E = (E + C)²
√(F × E) = E + C
C = √(F × E) - E

This gives us the optimal contribution formula for subsequent cycles:

C* = √(F × E) - E

Special Case: First Cycle Supporters

The first cycle of an Idea is unique. The Idea creator and all supporters in the first cycle do not pay a funder reward fee. They receive all of the funder reward fees from the next cycle's contributions, and then their proportional share from all subsequent cycles.

For first-cycle supporters, the goal is to contribute an amount that maximizes their earnings without deterring future contributions from others who also want to maximize their profits.

Optimal First Cycle Contribution Formula:

C₁ = F / 4

This formula represents the total sum of all first-cycle contributions. By using this, first-cycle supporters can maximize their earnings while maintaining an incentive for follow-on supporters to participate.

Is It Profitable to Contribute?

Before you contribute, here's a simple rule of thumb:

It's profitable to support an Idea only if you predict future support (F) will exceed the existing support (E).

F > E

This straightforward check comes directly from our optimal contribution formula: if F is not greater than E, then C* would be non-positive, meaning it's not financially beneficial to contribute.

Risk and Expected Returns

When you contribute to an Updraft Idea, you're primarily risking the funder reward portion of your contribution.

• For contributions in later cycles, you risk the 10% funder reward fee. This 10% is also the portion that earns profit. The remaining 90% of your contribution is always refunded when you withdraw your position.

• For first-cycle contributions, there is no risk from the funder reward fee itself, as first-cycle supporters don't pay this fee. Their potential profit is derived from the future contributions.

By accurately predicting future support and applying the formulas above, you can potentially achieve a maximum profit of up to 4x on the funder reward portion for first-cycle contributions, or 2x for contributions in later cycles.

Practical Examples

These examples assume a typical funder reward fee of 10%. Remember, this means only 10% of your contribution (except for first-cycle contributions) is "at risk" and eligible for profit.

Example 1: Mid-Stage Contribution

• Existing contributions (E): 1 Million UPD

• Predicted follow-on (F): 4 Million UPD

• Optimal contribution (C*):

  √(4M × 1M) - 1M = 2M - 1M = 1M UPD
  

• Expected Earnings:

  (1M / 2M) * 4M = 2M UPD
  

• Risk (10% of C*): 10% * 1M = 100K UPD

• Profit (10% of (Earnings - C*)): 10% * (2M - 1M) = 100K UPD

Example 2: Unfavorable Conditions

• Existing contributions (E): 2 Million UPD

• Predicted follow-on (F): 1 Million UPD

• Optimal contribution: Since F < E, do not contribute. (C* would be negative).

• Risk: 0 UPD

• Profit: 0 UPD

Example 3: Marginally Profitable Contribution

• Existing contributions (E): 2.5 Million UPD

• Predicted follow-on (F): 2.6 Million UPD

• Optimal contribution (C*):

  √(2.6M × 2.5M) - 2.5M = √6.5B - 2.5M ≈ 2.549M - 2.5M = 49K UPD
  

• Expected Earnings:

  (49K / 2.549M) * 2.6M ≈ 50K UPD
  

• Risk (10% of C*): 10% * 49K = 4.9K UPD

• Profit (10% of (Earnings - C*)): 10% * (50K - 49K) = 100 UPD (a minimal profit)

Example 4: First Cycle Supporter

• Predicted total follow-on (F): 8 Million UPD

• Optimal first contribution (C₁):

  8M / 4 = 2M UPD
  

• Risk: 0 (as first-cycle supporters don't pay the fee)

• Profit (10% of F): 10% * 8M = 800K UPD

Key Takeaways

To maximize your profits when supporting Ideas on Updraft, remember these formulas:

Variables

• E = existing support

• F = predicted follow-on support

• C₁ or C* = the amount you should contribute

Formulas

• For first-cycle contributions:

  C₁ = F / 4
  

  Where C₁ is the total of all first-cycle contributions.

• For contributions in later cycles:

  C* = √(F × E) - E
  

• Before contributing, always check for profitability:

  F > E
  

By understanding and applying these guidelines, you can strategically support Ideas and optimize your earnings on Updraft!

In this article, I'll show you how to find great Ideas from others to support.

Finding Ideas

Updraft features several ways to find interesting ideas.

Hot Ideas 🔥

This is the most obvious list of Ideas, since it appears on the home screen. Ideas are ranked by recency and 🔥 interest. Only three are shown, but you can click to see more on the discover page.

Tags

Popular Tags

Below the "Hot Ideas" section on the home page is the "Popular Tags" section containing frequently-used tags. Click on tags that interest you to explore associated Ideas.

Watched Tags

As you're exploring Ideas, pay attention to the tags they use. Click on a tag to search for other Ideas using that tag, then click on the "Watch Tag" button to add it to your watch list. Now you can quickly search for new Ideas using that tag any time from the home page.

Campaigns

At the bottom of the "Tasks" section on the home page, you'll see active campaigns. Campaigns are a great way to find Ideas because they represent a commitment from a grant-maker to support Ideas relating to their chosen topic. This could mean additional support from a large funder for an Idea you support. You can find Ideas in a campaign by clicking the "Ideas with these tags" button on the campaign card.

Profiles

If you click on the name of the person or team who created an Idea, you'll be taken to their profile.

From there you can follow them (more on this later), and view their activity to see which Ideas and Solutions they've supported.

Discover Page

Searching

The Discover page lets you search within the descriptions and titles of Ideas. You can also search for up to five tags by enclosing them in brackets.

Followed tab

The "Followed" tab shows Ideas created and supported by people and teams you followed.

New Ideas

The newest Ideas will appear here, so you can support early to maximize your earnings.

Funder rewards 🎁

Funder rewards are described in detail in the user guide. They are a fee paid at support time that goes to previous supporters. Your earnings come from these fees.

When you support an Idea, you choose an amount to contribute. You can withdraw this amount at any time minus the funder reward fee (typically 10%) and anti-spam fee (typically 1%).

Your potential to earn grows with each cycle after you support an Idea.

Maximize your earnings

Choose a contribution amount

To maximize your funder reward earnings, make a large contribution (your earnings are based on how much you contribute), but not so large that it discourages other people from contributing after you, since you'll be earning fees from them. Maximize Your Updraft Profits: A Guide to Supporting Ideas has a simple formula to find the best contribution amount.

https://mirror.xyz/0xB7C5583C4C81e97e2883F4B2A250368d8eEcB0e2/vii_hkdbaAk7WAFIFDGuJSSJimQ4C_IIUQnJNYkMK6g

Be early

If you support an Idea within its first cycle (within twelve hours since its creation), you won't have to pay a funder reward fee. Your contribution will be treated as if you had created the Idea yourself.

Even if you find an Idea after its first cycle, it may still have a plenty of earning potential. Finding Ideas before they have received half of the support they ever will is the key to earning a profit, as mentioned in Maximize Your Updraft Profits: A Guide to Supporting Ideas.

Pass it on

The only way to earn money supporting Ideas is if other people support them after you. You can do your part to make this happen by sharing ideas you supported on social media.

The share dialog opens up each time you support an Idea.

Enjoy

Enjoy watching great Ideas come to life, and know you did your part to support them.

You can come to our discord once a week to get more UPD, so there's no reason not to keep supporting great Ideas!

Step 1: Make a list of all your ideas

Here are some categories to help you get started.

Personal projects

Is there a creative project you want to do or are doing that could bring joy or benefit to others? Are you writing a book, a blog or creating something artistic?

Community projects

What would help your community?

Work projects

What tasks or projects are you working on for your job that you believe in?

Like-to-haves

What would you like to see in the world that doesn't exist yet? It could be grand and imaginative, or detailed and specific to something that already exists, like a software product you use.

You don't have to know how to solve or create your ideas yourself. Your focus should be to make your ideas visible to others and see what resonates.

Step 2: Write descriptions for your ideas

Open a text editor (like HackMD) and write a description of each of your ideas. This is the part that takes the longest, but it will be worth it.

Be descriptive about what you're doing or would like to see done. Why is it important to you?

Step 3: Decide how much to deposit

Rank your ideas

You can maximize your earnings on Updraft by predicting how popular ideas will be. Start by ranking your own ideas in order of expected popularity.

Choose an amount

Starting at the top-ranked idea, decide on a specific deposit amount in UPD.

Keep in mind that once an idea is created, anyone can join your idea by supporting it. This is a good thing and the main reason you want to put ideas on Updraft, but it affects how much you should deposit.

The more you deposit, the more funder rewards will go to you instead of other supporters, but if you set the deposit too high, it will discourage supporters who are trying to earn money.

A good rule is to deposit 1/4 of what you think all other supporters after you will deposit. If you think your idea will get 60M UPD in deposits from other supporters, then you should deposit 15M UPD. This rule is explained in “Maximize Your Updraft Profits: A Guide to Supporting Ideas”.

https://mirror.xyz/0xB7C5583C4C81e97e2883F4B2A250368d8eEcB0e2/vii_hkdbaAk7WAFIFDGuJSSJimQ4C_IIUQnJNYkMK6g

Withdrawing your deposit

As the creator of an idea, you can withdraw 99% of your initial deposit at any time. Ideas can reach a natural limit when a solution has been completed (See the guide section on Solutions) or when it's no longer interesting or profitable to support them. At that point, it makes sense to withdraw support and deploy it to other ideas. (I talk about how to find great ideas to support in my next article.)

UPD Value

Ideas are funded in UPD, so you should take fluctuations in its value into account. There isn't a lot of historical data on the price of UPD since it's only been in use since June 2025, but there is a mathematical property of the liquidity pool you should know about.

100% of UPD was deposited into a liquidity pool on Arbitrum paired with the USDC stablecoin. The price was set at $0.001 (One UPD equals 1/1000 of a dollar.) Because 100% of UPD comes from that pool, even if all the holders of UPD were to sell all their UPD (which is extremely unlikely), the price of UPD can not go below the starting point of $0.001 . This isn't financial advice; this is a mathematical fact.

The current price of UPD is $.00108 at the time I write this--only 8% above the absolute minimum.

The starting price and large number of UPD (100 billion) combine to make a fairly stable token, not a pump-and-dump style token. Its true value comes from its usage on the Updraft platform.

Fees

As an idea creator, you will pay a 1% fee (or 1 UPD, whichever is greater). The entire fee goes to a faucet that is available to you and other Updraft users. Come to the Updraft discord to claim your share. This fee exists to help people use Updraft without financial barriers and to prevent spam.

On some platforms--such as Arbitrum--you will pay a gas fee to create an idea. This could be a few cents and is paid in ETH.

Step 4: Get UPD Tokens 🪁

For each of your ideas, you'll need at least 2 UPD. The minimum deposit is 1 UPD and at least 1 UPD will go to the anti-spam fee. This shouldn't be a barrier to anyone; you can create a large number of ideas just from the free UPD you get from coming to the Updraft discord.

There are several ways to get UPD tokens into your wallet, but I find the Jumpr interface to be the easiest and cheapest. You can swap any token on any network for UPD using this link.

Step 5: Get help from the community

Our community is here to help you every step of the way as you use Updraft. We'll help you set up a wallet, get your first tokens, and use the Updraft interface.

https://discord.gg/mQJ58MY6Nz

You can also read our guide and other blog posts.

Step 6: Submit your Ideas! 💡

You're now ready to submit your ideas to Updraft!

The "+" button in the top bar or the "Create an Idea" button in the left sidebar will take you to the "Create an Idea" page.

Use your list from Step 1 and the descriptions from Step 2 to fill out the form. You can add relevant tags to help people find your ideas more easily. Use the deposit amounts you arrived at in Step 3.

You'll be prompted to create a profile when you enter your first idea. Here you can provide text and links about you and your team that can serve as common information for all the ideas and solutions you post on Updraft.

Step 7: Share

After submitting an idea, you'll see a share dialog. Since your goal is to make your ideas more visible, you'll want to share these links with the right people.

Who is your audience?

If this is a personal project, share it with your friends and family so they can see what you're up to and give you support.

If it's a community project, share it with your community.

If it's a work project, share it on forums where it will reach potential users and collaborators.

If it's a improvement for an existing product, share it with the people who work on it.

If it's a like-to-have idea, share it with everyone. Who knows who might be able to contribute?

Why is this worth it?

If you're making something that could bring joy to other people or improve their lives, why not share it?

If you or your company has several current initiatives and potential ideas, why not see which ones resonate with your followers? Instead of keeping work barriers high, why not attract passionate people to work with you?

If you have a dream, but you're not sure how to get there, why not bring other people in to help?

I created Updraft as a way to break down usual barriers to turning ideas into reality.

I want to get away from

• tedious hiring processes

• lengthy grant applications with high rejection rates

• cumbersome corporate and governmental procedures

• time-consuming proposal reviews

• opaque decision-making

and move to quick feedback, openness, and a spirit of broad collaboration.

I believe this will let many more people participate in creating the future they'd like to see, and we'll do it more efficiently.

Pass it on

Once you've followed these steps, share this article with someone else. Everyone can benefit from having their ideas on Updraft.

https://mirror.xyz/0xB7C5583C4C81e97e2883F4B2A250368d8eEcB0e2/9OhFdwA_EGVysef0GiEP-QCKP0D0nrYvX1ox3C-XvFs

The second article in this two-part series is "Support great ideas. Pass it on." It will teach you how to earn money and make life better for everyone by supporting great ideas from other people.

Jonathan Mann has been writing a song a day since Jan 1st, 2009. That's over 6000 songs!

With that many songs, there are sure to be hidden gems, and we need your helping finding them.

The Song A Day campaign is part scavenger hunt and part popularity contest. Find the best songs in an unusual category every week--or wait for someone else to find one and "support" their song "Idea." The song with the most 🔥 support wins!

As with all Ideas and Campaigns on Updraft, if you support or create an Idea early and it turns out to be popular, you can earn UPD tokens. And, as always, there is free UPD waiting for you to get started.

If you're a fan of Song A Day or just want to have fun on this 🎁 treasure hunt, we invite you to join.

Steps to participate

Get UPD

Go to Updraft discord and get free UPD. (You will use these tokens to vote.)

Find Songs

Look for the Song A Day campaign on the home page to find the tags that define the theme for the week. This week it's "crypto" and "wearing-shorts".

Look through the Song A Day Gallery to find the best songs about crypto where Jonathan is wearing shorts.

Support (vote for) Songs

Either:

• Create an "Idea" on Updraft that uses the tags. (You can auto-fill the tags by choosing "Song A Day Week 1" from the Campaign dropdown.) The name of the Idea should be the name of a song.

• "Support" other Ideas with the tags. Click the Song A Day Campaign button on the home page to show the existing entries.

Both voting options require you to deposit UPD. You can withdraw most of it after the competition, and if you choose a popular song, you may earn some additional UPD from other voters!

Vote for as many Song "Ideas" as you want with any amount of UPD.

Voting will end July 9th at 11:59 UTC. The winning song will be announced shortly thereafter!

Updraft isn't just for finding and supporting great Ideas and Solutions; it can also be used for voting. In the same way contributing to a popular Idea or Solution can earn money, contributing to a popular vote can also earn 🎁 funder rewards.

Read more about how voting works in the user guide.

https://guide.updraft.fund/updraft/voting/voting

Create a choice

To create a new choice for other people to vote on, create a new Idea. Next to the tags field, choose the related campaign for your choice from the dropdown. This will add the campaign’s tags to your Idea.

Support a choice

Now other people can support your choice and you can support their choices in the same way you would support any other Idea.

You can find existing choices by clicking the “Ideas with these tags” button on a campaign card on the bottom of the home screen.

We've created two important voting campaigns that will decide the future of Updraft.

Updraft Networks

On June 10, 2025, Updraft went live on a single network: Arbitrum One. We chose Arbitrum because of its decentralization, stability, security, short block times, liquidity and past commitment to public goods. It seemed like a good match since Updraft itself is a decentralized public good, but Arbitrum doesn't have to be Updraft's permanent or only home.

We want you to decide which network or networks should host the Updraft platform.

Updraft Stablecoins

Earlier this year, we launched the UPD token on Ethereum mainnet, bridged the token to Arbitrum One and put 100% of UPD in a liquidity pool paired with USDC.

In the dropdown for choosing a funding token for new Solutions, we currently show UPD as the only option (but you can paste in a token address). UPD is a good option in many cases, since its price is fairly stable and everyone on Updraft will have UPD, but we don't want it to be the only option.

We want you to decide which stablecoins will be paired with UPD in liquidity pools and featured in the Updraft app.

Voting Leaderboard

You can see which choices are currently leading by clicking on the campaign buttons on the home page, or on these links.

• Updraft Networks Current Standings

• Updraft Stablecoins Current Standings

Rules

Read the complete rules for these two voting campaigns in the user guide.

https://guide.updraft.fund/updraft/voting/networks

https://guide.updraft.fund/updraft/voting/stablecoins

Free UPD from the faucet

Come to our Discord to get free UPD to get started voting.

Updraft is a decentralized coordination platform where ideas come first, and everything else follows. It's where dreamers propose, supporters fund, and builders implement, all without gatekeepers.

Instead of applying for grants, cold-pitching VCs, or job hunting, users on Updraft can:

• Post an idea that they believe matters

• Support ideas with small amounts of crypto (UPD token)

• Draft solutions to funded ideas and raise the money to build them

It's a simple loop: ideas attract support, support draws in builders, and successful outcomes reward everyone who believed early.

Updraft is for Idea Creators

You have ideas, but no team, no funding, no platform? Perfect. Updraft gives you a place to test your vision in public, earn recognition, and even collect funder rewards as momentum builds around your concept. You don’t need credentials, just a proposal worth reading.

Updraft is for Solution Drafters

You’re a builder. A fixer. A hacker. Updraft lets you find real problems that communities care about and propose funded solutions. No pitching, no cold emails. Just post your plan, set your terms, and raise from supporters directly. If they like it, you get paid to build.

Updraft is for Idea Spotters

You have good instincts. You see patterns before others. Updraft rewards you for putting your skin in the game where your conviction is. Support ideas early and earn funder rewards as the crowd follows. It’s like angel investing, but faster, permissionless, and community-driven.

Updraft is for People Looking to Earn

Can’t find the right job? Hate the gig economy? Updraft lets you earn without applying. You can support promising ideas and earn upside. Or deliver solutions and get funded. Your work, your rules, your income.

Updraft is for DAOs

Updraft pays people to find great ideas and solutions. As a grant maker, you can direct their attention toward ideas and solutions you care about. Attracting a community to a DAO is hard. Getting people to read proposals is hard. Updraft outsources both of these to save your DAO time and money. Create a campaign and let Updraft users surface the best ideas and build solutions for your initiatives. On Updraft, your community will reveal itself.

Why Updraft Matters

Updraft flips the script on traditional work and funding:

• For idea creators: It’s a zero-permission space to share the change you want to see.

• For builders and developers: Draft a solution, get funded.

• For early funders: Back the right ideas early and earn rewards.

• For people looking to earn: No gatekeepers. Spot a good idea and support it for a chance to earn..

• For DAOs and treasuries: Surface real demand. Track engagement. Allocate meaningfully. Let the public show with their own funds which of your initiatives matter to them.

Updraft doesn’t rely on trust. It tracks belief, participation, and outcomes on-chain. That means anyone, anywhere, can contribute and be rewarded.

How It Works

1. Ideas: Anyone can post an idea they think deserves attention.

2. Support: Back an idea with UPD tokens and boost its visibility.

3. Funder Rewards: Early backers get rewarded as others follow.

4. Solutions: Builders propose plans and raise funding directly.

5. Stake & Refunds: Failed funding = refunds + shared stake.

6. Campaigns: Coordinate themes, seed tags, and drive momentum.

Updraft is Not a Job Board

It’s not LinkedIn. It’s not Fiverr. It’s something new:

A place where belief turns into funding.

Where early insight is rewarded.

Where work happens without org charts.

If you’ve ever wanted to build something meaningful, contribute to big ideas, or just get paid for having good judgment, Updraft is for you.

Post an Idea Today

You don’t need a company. You don’t need permission. All you need is a problem worth solving.

Go to updraft.fund and drop your first idea.

Let the world show you it matters.