> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cournot.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cournot.ai/tokenomics/design-philosophy.md).

# Design Philosophy

The Cournot network token acts as Truth Collateral: rather than a single undifferentiated stake pool, token bonds are mapped directly to each role in the resolution pipeline, ensuring precise accountability and isolating risk to the participant responsible. Two constraints govern the design: a token must never decide what is true — verification is performed by cryptographic proof and open challenge, never token-weighted voting — and the cost of corrupting any result must exceed anything corruption could gain, an inequality kept true by role bonds, challenge bonds, and external collateral, backed by the guarantee that a single independent challenger is sufficient to prove a violation.

* **Verification before voting.** Anything provable; evidence provenance (zkTLS), faithful execution of committed procedures (deterministic replay / opML), well-formed outputs (schema constraints), is enforced by proof, never by token vote. Because violations are objectively provable, a single independent, bonded challenger is sufficient to demonstrate a fault.
* **Atomic accountability.** Each network function; evidence, reasoning, output, infrastructure, assessment, and oversight, is performed by a separately committed role, accountable only for its own verifiable obligations (see Network Roles below).
* **Enforcement matches verifiability.** Automatic enforcement applies only to objectively provable violations. Judgment questions follow committed specifications, challenge windows, and bounded review; probabilistic assessments are scored longitudinally through public calibration records, never punished per outcome.
* **Open participation; no token gate for users.** Customers pay in supported settlement assets. The token is a supply-side instrument for independent operators who run the network.
* **Governance sets rules, not outcomes** — forward-looking parameters only, implemented through pre-committed processes; never the result of any individual event.

#### What the Token Is — and Is Not

**The token is an access credential for network roles**; commitment collateral subject to forfeiture for provable violations; a participation right in parameter governance. **It is not** required to use Cournot services; a representation of ownership, debt, dividends, or any claim on revenue or profits; backed by or redeemable for any asset; or a vote on the truth of any event.