Distributing balances

Flow of funds - distribute

All ETH and ERC20 tokens sent to a contract are stored in the contract as a balance until that balance is distributed. When a balance is distributed, the funds are allocated to each recipient according to the contract's rules.

For example, in a Split contract, when a distribution happens the balance is divided among the recipients according to each one's ownership percentage. Whereas in a Waterfall contract, a distribution allocates the balance sequentially by only sending funds to a recipient once the preceeding tranche has been filled. More about this step can be found here.

Locating balances

To view a contract's balances, navigate to the contract's detail page and look in the Earnings section on the right side. A balance will show $0.00 if we were unable to find an accurate USD price for that token.

Locating balances

Distributing balances

Since distributing balances requires you to submit a transaction, you'll first have to connect your wallet. Once you're connected you can select the balance(s) you wish to distribute and then choose what type of distribution to make. There are a few options:

  1. Distribute: this will just distribute the balance and make it claimable by recipients. Once this is done, each recipient can withdraw at their leisure.
  2. Distribute and withdraw for all: this will first distribute the balance and then immediately withdraw that balance for each recipient. When you do this, you are "pushing" the balance to each recipient and saving them the need to withdraw themselves.
  3. Distribute and withdraw for myself: this option will only be visible if you are a recipient in the contract. It works just like #2, except it only withdraws for yourself instead of all recipients.

Select and withdraw

Distribution bounty

Even though balances can be distributed by anyone anytime, it often makes sense to add a distribution bounty to encourage bots to distribute balances so humans don't have to. When a contract has a distribution bounty attached to it, you will be able to see it just above the list of balances.

Distribution incentive

This bounty is a percentage of the total amount being distributed and is paid to whoever distributes the balance. For example, if there is a balance of $300 USD and a 1% bounty, whoever distributes the balance will receive $3 (1% of $300 is $3). As long as the gas needed to distribute this balance is less than $3, it's economically viable to make this distribution.

Confirming distributions

After a balance has been distributed, you'll be able to see exactly how much each recipient earned by looking in the Activity feed. Locate the distribution in question and click on the v icon to view the details. You can share this with others by copying the activity feed item's URL to your keyboard or share the Etherscan link.

Distribution activity feed item