Sportsblock whitepaper

Executive Summary

SportsBlock is a decentralised platform built as a layer-2 solution on the Hive blockchain, designed to foster a global sports community. Using Hive’s fast, fee-less transactions and social reward mechanisms, SportsBlock lets users create, curate, predict and engage with sports content while earning rewards through staking, curation and participation.

The native token, MEDALS, powers the ecosystem with a maximum supply of 500 million. Emissions are structured over 50 years to reward early adoption, community growth and long-term sustainability. Platform revenue funds MEDALS buybacks, and bought-back tokens are permanently burned to @null. Every prediction market also burns MEDALS directly.

Key Features

• Sportsbites: 280-character quick takes for live match reactions, hot takes and instant commentary. All stored on Hive, all earning rewards.
• Content Rewards: Curated posts and Sportsbites earn MEDALS, paid as stake, plus monthly prizes for top content.
• Curation: Human curators reward quality posts and Sportsbites with MEDALS, paid as stake. With Staking Tiers v2, new members are eligible for their first 30 days; after that, staking 1,000 MEDALS keeps you eligible.
• Staking: Earn a weekly yield on staked MEDALS. Tier benefits (a stronger curation vote, lower prediction fees and exclusive contests) arrive with Staking Tiers v2.
• Prediction Markets: Parimutuel markets on sports outcomes with a 4% fee on the losing pool, half of it burned.
• Contests: Free and paid-entry competitions, including Last Man Standing, IPL Boundary Blackjack, Fantasy Test Cricket, Matchday Matrix and Higher-or-Lower.
• Football Exchange: A player trading market where prices move with FPL points each gameweek.
• Token Sale: 10 million MEDALS at 0.04 HIVE per MEDAL.
• Hive-Native Onboarding: Every user gets a real Hive blockchain account. Sign in with a Hive wallet, Google or X. No crypto knowledge is needed.

Current Status

• MEDALS Token: LIVE on Hive-Engine, tradeable on Tribaldex
• Staking: LIVE with weekly rewards
• Liquidity Pools: LIVE on Tribaldex
• Website, Sportsbites and Content Rewards: LIVE at sportsblock.app
• Prediction Markets: LIVE
• Contests: LIVE (Last Man Standing, IPL Boundary Blackjack, Fantasy Test Cricket, Matchday Matrix, Higher-or-Lower, fantasy golf and football)
• Football Exchange: LIVE since August 2026
• Staking Tiers v2: rolling out in phases (see MEDALS Staking)

Problem Statement

Traditional sports communities (forums, social media groups) suffer from centralisation:

• Content Ownership: Platforms like Reddit or X control user data and monetisation.
• Reward Inequality: Creators and curators rarely earn fairly from engagement.
• Engagement Silos: Fragmented discussions across apps limit virality.
• Monetisation Barriers: Ads and premiums benefit platforms, not users.

Blockchain solutions exist, such as Hive’s social layer, but sports-specific ecosystems are underdeveloped and lack tailored incentives for contests, predictions and niche sports.

Solution: SportsBlock on Hive

SportsBlock is a dedicated dApp and community hub on Hive, using layer-2 tokens via Hive-Engine. Users post sports content (news, analysis, memes, predictions) through sportsblock.app or any Hive frontend such as PeakD, and earn through:

• Automated Rewards: For views, comments and engagement.
• Curated Votes: Human curators amplify quality content.
• Predictions and Contests: Rewards for calling results correctly.
• Staking Yields: Passive rewards for holders, with tiered benefits.

User Onboarding & Authentication

Account creation, key management and wallets are among the biggest barriers to blockchain adoption. SportsBlock removes them with Hive-native onboarding: every user, whatever their crypto experience, gets a real Hive account from the moment they sign up.

Two Ways to Join

1. Existing Hive users. Connect instantly with Hive Keychain or HiveSigner through SportsBlock’s own wallet integration. Keys stay on the user’s device and all transactions are signed locally.

2. New users (Google or X sign-in). Sign up in one click with a Google or X account. SportsBlock then:

• Suggests a Hive username (prefixed “sb-”), which the user can change in settings until their account is created
• Creates a real Hive account on-chain using Account Creation Tokens (ACTs) on the user’s first post, comment or vote
• Generates the account’s keys and stores them encrypted, so SportsBlock can sign the user’s posts, comments and votes with no wallet setup
• Delegates Resource Credits (RC) so the user can post, comment and vote immediately

Your Keys, Your Choice

Existing Hive users keep their keys on their own device. For Google and X users, SportsBlock holds the account keys encrypted and signs on their behalf, so they can post from day one without a wallet. They can download their keys at any time to use Hive Keychain or any other Hive app, and connecting a Hive wallet removes the stored keys from SportsBlock. Either way, every account is a real Hive account.

The platform monitors each new account’s Hive Power. Once a user has enough HP to cover their own transactions, the RC delegation is reclaimed and made available to new users. This keeps onboarding sustainable as the community grows.

Technical Architecture

• Account Creation: Powered by claimed Account Creation Tokens (ACTs), stockpiled as a reserve for new signups. New accounts are created by @niallon11.
• RC Delegation: Each new account receives a Resource Credit delegation, enough to post, comment and vote every day. It is reclaimed once the account holds 15 HP of its own.
• Recovery: The recovery account for new accounts is @niallon11, so SportsBlock can help with account recovery if needed.

Why This Matters

Unlike platforms that offer “soft accounts” or off-chain profiles, SportsBlock makes every user a first-class Hive citizen. Every post, comment, vote and Sportsbite goes directly to the Hive blockchain, and every user is eligible for curation rewards, HIVE/HBD payouts and MEDALS distributions.

Sportsbites: Quick Takes, Real Rewards

Sportsbites are 280-character posts for live match reactions, hot takes and instant commentary. The short format lets users engage quickly during live events while still earning crypto rewards.

• Instant Posts: 280 characters is all you need. React to goals, calls and clutch moments in real time.
• Match Threads: Live threads for each fixture keep the conversation in one place.
• Trending Feed: The hottest takes rise to the top.
• Earn Daily: Quick takes earn HIVE and HBD just like full posts.

All Sportsbites are stored on the Hive blockchain, ensuring permanent ownership and transparent reward distribution.

Earning Potential

Your opinions have real value on SportsBlock. No premium subscriptions required. No follower thresholds. Start earning from day one.

Every member can be rewarded by SportsBlock curators from their first post. With Staking Tiers v2, curation will be open to every new member for their first 30 days in the community, then to Bronze stakers (1,000 MEDALS). Curator rewards are paid as staked MEDALS, so they count towards Bronze automatically. Votes from the wider Hive community are open to everyone, always.

Rewards are paid in HIVE and HBD. Figures are based on real user earnings across the Hive ecosystem and are not guaranteed.

Prediction Markets

SportsBlock prediction markets are parimutuel: everyone who backs an outcome shares the pool from the other side. The implied probability of each outcome is its share of the total pool.

Fees

• Losing pool only. The fee is taken from the losing side, never from winners’ stakes.
• Principal protection. Winners always get at least their original stake back. If the fee would break that, it is reduced.
• No losing side, no fee. If nobody backed the losing outcome, winners get their stake back and no fee is taken.
• Staker discounts. With Staking Tiers v2, staked MEDALS holders will pay a lower effective fee on their winnings (see MEDALS Staking). On markets created by SportsBlock, the discount will come out of the 2% creator share, which is otherwise burned. The base 2% burn is never reduced.

Market Integrity

• Kickoff cutoff: Every market has a fixed staking close time, set when it is created and shown on the market. It cannot be extended.
• Anti-whale caps: Each market sets a maximum stake per account on each outcome, the same for every account, and no single stake can exceed 100,000 MEDALS.
• Admin-confirmed results: Every result is confirmed by a SportsBlock admin before any payout. Results are proposed by one admin and approved by a second; the lead founder may approve their own proposal, but only from a separate verified session.

Creating Markets, Automation & Safety

• User-created markets: Any Hive-wallet user can create a market with their own question. The creator backs it with a stake of at least 25 MEDALS on one of its outcomes, which makes the market visible to everyone; if that stake isn’t confirmed within 15 minutes, the market is cancelled. The creator’s stake wins or loses like anyone else’s, and the creator earns the 2% creator fee on the losing pool whatever the result.
• Auto-resolution: Results for football fixtures are proposed automatically from ESPN match data. They are paid only after an admin approves them.
• Responsible gambling controls: Self-exclusion (from 24 hours to permanent) and daily, weekly and monthly stake limits are live. Cooldowns after losses are coming.

Contests & Football Exchange

Contests. SportsBlock runs free contests funded by the platform (Last Man Standing, IPL Boundary Blackjack, Fantasy Test Cricket) and paid-entry contests where the prize pool comes from entry fees (Matchday Matrix and fantasy golf and football contests; Higher-or-Lower offers paid buy-backs). On fee-funded contests, 10% of the pool is burned and 10% goes to the contest creator before prizes are paid. Every contest has a tie-break question, so there are no draws. Staker-only contests for Gold and Platinum stakers arrive with Staking Tiers v2.

Football Exchange. A player trading market where each player’s price moves with their FPL points each gameweek. All funds are held in the public escrow account @sp-exchange, so every movement can be checked on-chain.

MEDALS Staking

Staking MEDALS earns a weekly yield and unlocks tier benefits. The APR is 10%, paid weekly: each week a staker earns their staked balance × 10% ÷ 52. It is reviewed annually based on supply growth, staking ratio and revenue.

• Minimum stake: 1 MEDALS. Founder accounts do not receive staking rewards.
• Unstaking: released in 7 equal instalments over 28 days on Hive-Engine, one every 4 days.
• This fixed APR replaces the weekly staking pool schedule in earlier versions of this whitepaper.

How Staking Connects to Curation

Proceeds from the MEDALS token sale are powered up to the @sportsblock account, building the Hive Power behind the platform’s curation vote. Buying MEDALS grows that vote. Staking MEDALS decides how much of it comes back to you.

Staking Tiers

Each tier includes all the benefits of the tiers below it. Tier badges are live today; the other benefits arrive with Staking Tiers v2.

Tier Rules

• Only MEDALS staked on your own account count. Delegated MEDALS and tokens that are unstaking do not.
• A new tier’s benefits apply after the stake has been held for 7 days. Dropping below a threshold removes that tier straight away.
• Curation multipliers scale a curator’s vote. They never replace it: a post still has to be chosen on quality and carry the 5% @sportsblock beneficiary.
• Tier benefits are platform features and fee discounts. They are not a share of platform revenue.
• These rules and benefits arrive with Staking Tiers v2. The staking page at sportsblock.app shows which are live.

Tokenomics

Token Details

• Symbol: MEDALS
• Max Supply: 500,000,000 (hard cap enforced via smart contract)
• Utility: Staking for yield and tier benefits; content and curation rewards; prediction markets and contests; payments for premium features.
• Contract: Deployed on Hive-Engine (precision: 6 decimals; stakeable: true)
• Burn account: @null

Token Sale Proceeds Allocation

• Batch 1: Seed the Tribaldex liquidity pool.
• Batch 2: Powered up to @sportsblock for curation.
• Batch 3: Exchanged to HBD and held in Hive savings to earn HBD interest (the rate is set by Hive witnesses).

Emission Schedule

Emissions are phased to bootstrap growth, with early years focused on the sale and incentives. Allocations are maximums, and the total supply stays under the cap. Any allocation not distributed stays in the SportsBlock treasury.

Allocations are maximums, not targets. Actual emissions depend on platform activity and are typically well below these figures.

Curator Rewards

When a SportsBlock curator rewards a post, its author receives MEDALS. Curators can reward content in three ways: a Hive upvote from any Hive app (paid daily), the Curate button on sportsblock.app (paid immediately) or a !medals comment on the post (paid within 2 hours). All three pay the same amount, with a fixed reward per post and a smaller reward per Sportsbite. Sportsbites can be rewarded by upvote or the Curate button.

• Paid as stake: every curator reward goes straight into the author’s staked balance. It counts towards staking tiers and earns staking rewards immediately. Selling means unstaking first, which is released in 7 equal instalments over 28 days.
• One reward per post: the first curator action on a post earns the reward. Later actions from any curator earn nothing.
• Daily cap: each curator can give a limited number of rewards a day.
• No self-curation: curators cannot reward their own content.
• No platform accounts: platform and system accounts never receive curator rewards.
• Beneficiary and eligibility: the same rules apply to all three methods. Rewarded posts must be top-level posts in the SportsBlock community with at least a 5% @sportsblock beneficiary. Sportsbites need only be in the community. Ordinary replies earn nothing.

Monthly Content Prizes

Monthly MEDALS prizes go to the top content across categories such as Most External Views, Most Viewed Post, Most Active Commenter, Most Engaged Post and Most Curated Post, with a Best Newcomer category from Year 4.

• Each month covers every week that starts in that month, so each week counts towards exactly one month.
• Winners are calculated on the 1st, reviewed by the SportsBlock team, then paid.
• Prize categories are measured automatically. If first place is tied, that category is not awarded that month.
• Platform and bot accounts cannot win.
• Weekly leaderboards continue for recognition only, with no prize.
• The monthly prize pool is capped.

Other Rewards

• Referrals: MEDALS for new users and their referrers once the new user posts their first Sportsbite, capped per referrer.
• Prediction streaks: MEDALS bonuses for long winning streaks, approved manually.

Current reward amounts, prize categories and caps are published on sportsblock.app. They may be adjusted as the platform grows.

Curator Selection Process

Curators are handpicked by the founders from trusted, long-term Hive community members who have shown commitment to the platform and built strong reputations in sports content. Selection criteria include:

• Multi-year presence on the Hive blockchain
• Established reputation in sports communities (e.g. HiveFPL, Sportstalk)
• Track record of quality curation and community engagement
• Personal trust relationship with the founders

Curator performance is monitored, and the team reserves the right to replace underperforming or inactive curators.

Community Participation on Hive

SportsBlock is built on a two-way relationship. We invest in content rewards, curation and platform development, and in return we ask community members to contribute to the ecosystem’s sustainability.

Posts published through sportsblock.app set @sportsblock as a 10% beneficiary. Posts published to the SportsBlock community (hive-115814) from other Hive apps need at least 5% to @sportsblock to be eligible for curation. This contribution goes back into platform operations, curation power and token buybacks.

Curation Eligibility (arrives with Staking Tiers v2)

• Newcomer window: every member can be curated by @sportsblock for 30 days from their first post in the community.
• After 30 days: authors need 1,000 MEDALS staked (Bronze tier, held for 7 days) to stay eligible.
• Quality first: eligibility does not guarantee a vote. Curators still choose posts on quality.

Founder Token Vesting Schedule

To show long-term commitment and align founder incentives with the project’s success, all founder tokens follow a strict vesting schedule:

• Years 1–2 (Lock Period): 100% of founder tokens remain locked and staked. No unstaking permitted.
• Year 3 (Vest Begins): 25% unlocks at month 24, another 25% at month 30.
• Year 4 (Vest Completes): 25% unlocks at month 36, the final 25% at month 42. Full vesting completes at 3.5 years.

Founders cannot unstake principal tokens during the lock period, and founder accounts do not receive staking rewards.

Deflationary Mechanism

Revenue Sources

• Prediction markets: 2% of every losing pool is burned to @null. On markets created by SportsBlock, the 2% creator share is burned too, less staker discounts.
• HBD interest on the Batch 3 treasury.
• Post beneficiaries: the 5% @sportsblock beneficiary on community posts.
• Future: ads, sponsors and premium accounts.

Revenue Allocation

• 50% buyback and burn: MEDALS are bought on Tribaldex and sent to @null, removing them from supply permanently. Buybacks are made by the team and can be checked on-chain.
• 30% operations
• 20% HBD reserves

Roadmap

Team

SportsBlock is founded by long-term Hive community members with extensive experience in the ecosystem:

• @blanchy — Co-Founder
• @niallon11 — Co-Founder

Both founders are established Hive users with proven track records. Their profiles and contribution history can be verified on-chain via PeakD, Hive.blog or any Hive block explorer.

Competitive Landscape

The sports blockchain space includes established players like Chiliz/Socios, which focuses on fan tokens for major sports clubs. SportsBlock takes a fundamentally different approach:

SportsBlock targets grassroots sports fans who want to participate and earn through engagement, not just hold tokens.

Risks and Disclaimers

• Market Volatility: HIVE and MEDALS prices fluctuate; there are no guarantees on value.
• Adoption Risk: Success depends on community growth; low engagement could limit rewards.
• Technical Risks: Bot exploits, bugs or Hive network issues.
• Prediction Markets: Participation may be restricted in some jurisdictions. Users are responsible for complying with local laws. Only stake what you can afford to lose.
• Changes to Benefits: Staking APR, tier thresholds and tier benefits may be adjusted as the platform grows, with advance notice.
• Regulatory: Token sales and prediction markets may face regulatory scrutiny; consult local laws.
• No Investment Advice: This is not financial advice; participate at your own risk.

Changes Since Version 3.0

• Staking tiers rewritten with concrete, deliverable benefits; tier rules added.
• New Prediction Markets section with the 4% losing-pool fee (2% creator, 2% burn), principal protection, user-created markets and admin-approved auto-resolution.
• New Contests & Football Exchange section.
• Onboarding updated: sign in with Google, X or a Hive wallet; Google and X accounts are created on first use, with keys held encrypted by SportsBlock until the user connects a Hive wallet; custom wallet integration replaces Aioha.
• Burn account corrected to @null; buybacks are burned rather than staked to a locked account.
• Curation eligibility planned for Staking Tiers v2: a 30-day newcomer window, then Bronze (1,000 staked) to stay eligible.
• September 2026 emissions update: curator rewards reduced, limited to one per post and paid as staked MEDALS.
• Content prizes moved from weekly to monthly, with a capped prize pool.
• Staking set at a fixed 10% APR, replacing the weekly pool schedule; founder accounts excluded from staking rewards.
• Referral and prediction-streak rewards documented. Specific reward amounts now live on sportsblock.app rather than in this whitepaper.
• Undistributed allocations stay in the treasury; tied content prizes are not awarded, and every contest has a tie-break question.
• Current status and roadmap updated to September 2026.

SportsBlock is community-driven. Join via Hive, Discord or X (@sportsblockinfo) to contribute.