BTX: Price Mechanics

Understanding how prices work is key to understanding BTX. There are several forces that affect a project's price.

1. Base Price (from Seed Funding)

Every project starts with a base price calculated from its seed amount:

basePrice = max(0.10, 1.00 + seedAmount × 0.1)

So if a project has a seed of $5, its base price is $1.50.

2. Supply & Demand (Net Shares)

When people buy, the price goes up. When people sell, it goes down. The price formula is:

currentPrice = basePrice + netShares × PRICE_SENSITIVITY_PER_SHARE

Where:

netShares = total bought minus total sold (can be negative)
PRICE_SENSITIVITY_PER_SHARE = 0.02 (each net share moves the price by $0.02)

3. Trade Execution Price

Trades don't execute at the current price. Instead, they execute at the average of the price before and after the trade. This prevents large trades from getting unrealistically good prices:

executionPrice = (priceBefore + priceAfter) / 2

4. Transaction Fees

Every trade has a 2% fee (TRANSACTION_FEE_BPS = 200 basis points):

Buying: cost = executionPrice × shares × 1.02
Selling: revenue = executionPrice × shares × 0.98

5. Random Drift

To make the charts look realistic (not just flat lines), BTX applies a random walk with mean reversion:

// Random noise
const randomMove = price * (randomFactor * DRIFT_MAX_PCT_PER_TICK);

// Pull toward equilibrium (prevents runaway prices)
const meanReversionMove = -distance × DRIFT_MEAN_REVERSION;

newPrice = price + randomMove + meanReversionMove;

The "equilibrium price" is based on both the base price and net shares, so prices naturally settle around a fair value but still fluctuate.

Why drift?

Without drift, the chart would only move when someone trades. Drift makes the experience feel more like a real stock market, with constant small price movements. It also means the market snapshot endpoint triggers price updates whenever it's called.

6. Phase Bumps

Admins can trigger phase bumps that instantly move a project's price. These simulate real-world events during Kickstart:

Bump Type	Price Change
`KICKOFF_HYPE`	+15%
`VALIDATION_GOOD`	+10%
`VALIDATION_BAD`	-5%
`MVP_SHIPPED`	+30%
`USER_FEEDBACK_GOOD`	+10%
`USER_FEEDBACK_BAD`	-10%
`DEMO_QUALIFIER`	+50%
`DEMO_WINNER`	+100%

Admins can also apply custom multipliers (MULTIPLY) or flat additions (ADD).

7. Investment Impact

When real investment money flows to a Kickstart team (via the investments feature), it also affects the BTX price:

seedDelta = investmentAmount × 0.0001  (INVESTMENT_TO_SEED_FACTOR)

This is a small effect, but it creates a nice link between the real funding and the simulated market.