Conviction Locking

The core mechanic of Atomic Labs - how belief becomes measurable signal.

Conviction locking is how you signal belief in an asset. By escrowing capital for a fixed duration, you generate Conviction Weight (CW) that contributes to Project Conviction Weight (PCW) for the target asset. CW is your conviction signaling, and when your commitment completes you earn Conviction Points (CP) as rewards.

Dual-Token Model

Atomic Labs uses a dual-token model that separates signaling from escrow:

Target Mint

The asset you're signaling belief in. This determines which ProjectState your lock contributes PCW to.

Locked Mint

The token you actually escrow (SOL, USDC, USDT, or the target asset itself). This is what gets time-locked.

Conviction Weight Calculation

CW is calculated entirely on-chain using this formula:

CW = Amount × T(t) × M_asset × R_user

T(t): Convex time-weighting function
T(t) = ln(1 + t/base)^k
Where t is duration in seconds, base is 86400 (1 day), k = 1.5

M_asset: Asset-specific multiplier (basis points)
Default is 10000 (1.0x), can be configured per asset

R_user: Reputation coefficient
Starts at 1.0 (1000 scaled), increases with completed locks, decreases with early exits

Lock Mechanics

Lock Creation

  • Tokens are transferred to a PDA-controlled escrow account
  • No partial unlocks permitted - full commitment required
  • CW is calculated and added to ProjectState immediately
  • Lock status is set to Active

Lock Completion

  • When lock reaches maturity (end_ts), tokens are returned
  • Completion bonus CP is calculated and awarded
  • Reputation increases by +0.1 (scaled: +100)
  • Lock status changes to Completed
  • PCW remains unchanged (completed locks still count)

Early Exit (Penalty)

  • Dynamic penalty: 10-50% based on remaining duration
  • Penalty formula: min_penalty + (remaining_ratio × penalty_range)
  • Penalized tokens go to treasury
  • Reputation decreases by -0.2 (scaled: -200)
  • CW is removed from ProjectState PCW calculation
  • Lock status changes to EarlyExited
The duration of your lock acts as a convex multiplier. A 180-day lock provides significantly more CW than a 30-day lock for the same amount due to the logarithmic time-weighting function.