> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ostrum.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How it works

> The whole loop in ninety seconds

Ostrum runs on a contribute-to-unlock model. It's a loop between two roles,
and most participants end up playing both.

<div style={{ maxWidth: "680px", margin: "2rem auto" }}>
  <img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/project-ostrum/c_j1AdYnaz2PvYMe/images/ostrum-loop-light.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=c_j1AdYnaz2PvYMe&q=85&s=1d74d3467d11fc8fdbf8bfae54364deb" alt="The Ostrum loop: contribute, Ostrum prices it, earn, consume, and back to contribute" noZoom width="680" height="320" data-path="images/ostrum-loop-light.svg" />

  <img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/project-ostrum/c_j1AdYnaz2PvYMe/images/ostrum-loop-dark.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=c_j1AdYnaz2PvYMe&q=85&s=68ef44cc3f0d53afed04d45207b20cc2" alt="The Ostrum loop: contribute, Ostrum prices it, earn, consume, and back to contribute" noZoom width="680" height="320" data-path="images/ostrum-loop-dark.svg" />
</div>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Contribute">
    You tell Ostrum something valuable you know first-hand, and you attach
    proof. In the case of our launch markets, proof can be a market-making
    proposal or a formal listing offer from an exchange. Proof is required,
    and it's reviewed by the verification system. It doesn't persist: proof
    is cached temporarily while the verification system reviews it, then
    purged once a verdict is reached. Intake is conversational and takes a
    few minutes. Exact values get converted to buckets and ratios at
    submission, and the raw figures are destroyed. Every accepted
    contribution also mints a non-transferable NFT: it represents the
    information you contributed and carries a claim to a portion of what
    people pay to access it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ostrum prices it">
    There's no auction and no bidding. Your contribution is never shown to
    anyone to be priced. Ostrum prices it directly, from two inputs: the
    information itself (the stakes riding on the decisions it informs, how
    dispersed answers are in that segment, how scarce the data point is) and
    the market's activity in areas relevant to it, meaning what participants
    are actually querying and consuming. Market activity feeds the price,
    but Ostrum is the one setting it. Valuable, scarce information earns
    more. Commoditized information earns less.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Earn">
    Ostrum pays what we expect is the fair value of your information
    upfront. This isn't vesting: the upfront payment is yours, full stop.
    Then, as people consume your information, a portion of what they pay
    accrues to your NFT on top of the upfront price. First to supply
    a true fact earns the most. Corroborators who prove it true earn too,
    but a smaller portion of the ongoing earnings.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Consume">
    Contributing gets you access to the network, and soon those with nothing
    to contribute will be able to buy credits on the open market for access
    too. You spend credits to learn: ask questions in plain language and get
    answers grounded in the pooled dataset, labeled with sample size and
    confidence. Understand what this is. This information has only ever
    lived behind closed doors, priced into every deal against you, and this
    is the first time you can simply buy it. No warm intro, no privileged
    access, just a fair price.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  During beta, access is earned by contributing. Purchasable credits for
  consumers who hold budget rather than information come later. See
  [Accessing data](/data/access).
</Note>