# Cards and Pricing

## **Phase One: Platform-Sourced Model**

In Phase One, the cards used for MintBox on Market.Cards are directly sourced by the platform team. This means that in the early product stage, the platform actively bears inventory risk: we identify and purchase qualifying rare cards ourselves (in particular one-of-ones), and then open them for participation through MintBox.

In Phase One, card sources fall into two main categories:

* **Online channels**: transactions completed through public secondary markets.
* **Offline channels**: transactions completed through card shows, direct negotiations with card owners, and other offline methods.

## **Long-Term Direction: From Platform-Sourced to Open Issuance**

Over the long term, Market.Cards aims to evolve into an **open issuance platform**, where, subject to platform review and compliance requirements, external cardholders may authorize their own cards to be tokenized and issued through Market.Cards, and the platform no longer bears the inventory and acquisition burden alone. The exact pace of opening, the rules for third-party consignment, and the mechanism for community-initiated listing proposals will be announced separately as the product matures. The remaining rules in this section (pricing indicators, issuance principles, and Fair Launch design) assume the Phase One platform-sourced model; the relevant terms will be updated when the platform opens up.

## **MintBox Pricing**

Each MintBox sets a **Sale Valuation** in advance — the total issuance value of all Tokenized Interest at the MintBox stage. Within a single MintBox, Sale Valuations differ across cards: based on factors such as rarity, market attention, and condition, the platform separately sets the Sale Valuation and per-token Issue Price for each card (Issue Price for each card = Sale Valuation / Total Supply).

Sale Valuation reflects the platform's issuance pricing for that card at the MintBox stage. It is **not a representation of the card's true market value, nor a representation of expected returns from holding Tokenized Interest**. Whether to participate is a decision each user should make based on their own assessment of the player, the card, and the market.

## **Fair Launch**

MintBox uses a Fair Launch model, with the following arrangement:

* **100% public issuance**: the Tokenized Interest corresponding to each card is issued 100% publicly during MintBox, with no reserved allocation. All users participate under the same rules.
* **Issuance proceeds support liquidity**: proceeds raised in that MintBox are placed into the secondary market and used by the platform to provide buyer-side liquidity in order to increase buy-side support; however, this arrangement does not guarantee buy-side depth, execution, or price performance.


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