How It Works

Narrative is an onchain content publishing platform with two types of crypto-native auctions.

Placement Auctions

Upcoming episodes have placement auctions. Bid to have your name, brand, location, or keyword integrated into the story. The author will incorporate the top 3 winning bids into the episode.

Think of it as product placement, but for web fiction.

Auction duration7 days (commit) + 2 days (reveal)
WinnersTop 3 highest bids
LosersRefunded minus 5% platform fee
PaymentETH on Creator Chain

Equity Auctions

Every released episode has an equity auction. The winning bidder acquires 25% commercial equity in that episode.

The original author/creator retains 75% of perpetual future revenue AND full creative rights. The author decides everything creative — movie adaptations, platform licensing, spinoffs, prequels, merchandise. The equity holder receives 25% of all revenue generated.

Revenue is proportional to episodes. If a title has 10 episodes and you own equity in 1 episode, you receive 1/10 × 25% = 2.5% of total title revenue.

Auction duration7 days (commit) + 2 days (reveal)
WinnerSingle highest bid
Equity tokenERC-721 NFT (transferable)
Creative rightsAlways with the author
LosersRefunded minus 5% platform fee

Revenue Distribution

Revenue is distributed proportionally across episodes and recorded on-chain.

Example

A webtoon has 10 episodes. It generates $10,000 in total revenue from subscriptions, licensing, and advertising.

Author receives: 75% = $7,500

Each episode represents: 1/10 of the title

Equity holder of Episode 3 receives: 25% × (1/10 × $10,000) = $250

Commit-Reveal Bidding

All auctions use a commit-reveal mechanism to prevent front-running:

  1. Commit phase (7 days): Submit a hashed bid. Nobody can see your bid amount.
  2. Reveal phase (2 days): Reveal your bid by submitting the original amount with ETH.
  3. Settlement: Winners are determined. Losers are refunded (minus 5% fee).