Epoch's vision is a marketplace for dated revenue rights on Mezo. Epoch Lite currently proves the rights split with a mock position and mock reward source.
A productive BTC position can bundle principal, governance votes, and fee entitlements into one unit. Holders seeking liquidity often sell assets or borrow; the future Epoch protocol explores a different route.
| Choice | Liquidity Now | Keep BTC | No Debt | No Liquidation Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sell BTC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Borrow MUSD | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Hold & wait | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Epoch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Epoch's trade-off: the seller gives up uncertain future fee income in exchange for certain MUSD today. No debt. No liquidation. No principal sale.
Epoch separates two independent economic exposures from one position:
In the long-term design, the seller retains the right to recover the underlying position. Lite demonstrates this with a mock NFT only.
Lite trades a claim on the amount deposited by a mock operator for one simulated epoch. Real fee attribution remains research.
Alice deposits a mock position NFT into EpochMarket
She lists one simulated epoch claim at a fixed test-token price
Bob pays the configured test token and receives a transferable claim NFT
After the simulated epoch, the operator-funded reward is finalized onchain
Claim holder redeems the funded amount. Alice recovers her original mock NFT.
| Alice (seller) | +8 demo tokens + mock NFT back |
| Bob (buyer) | +12 - 8 = +4 demo tokens |
| Alice (seller) | +8 demo tokens + mock NFT back |
| Bob (buyer) | +3 - 8 = -5 demo tokens |
| Alice (seller) | +8 demo tokens + mock NFT back |
| Bob (buyer) | 0 - 8 = -8 demo tokens |
These amounts are hypothetical test-token fixtures. The 8/12 flow passed on local Anvil with DEMO-USD; no equivalent Mezo testnet transaction has been executed. No guaranteed returns.
| Dimension | Epoch Lite now | Future Epoch research | BTC-backed borrowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit of exposure | One simulated-period claim | One verified real fee epoch, if feasible | Debt against collateral |
| Reward source | Operator-funded mock source | Real Mezo fee source; unverified adapter | Not a reward purchase |
| Principal | Original mock NFT returned to seller | Return of real position is a research gate | Collateral may be liquidated |
| Debt created | No | Proposed: no | Yes |
| Mezo integration | Testnet token settlement pending | Real veBTC adapter not proven | Existing MUSD borrowing flow |
| Settlement | Onchain mock amount after simulated end | Would require isolated actual rewards | Ongoing repayment |
| Price discovery | One fixed ask; no market curve | Potential multi-epoch market later | Interest rate |
Future vision: receive MUSD without a new loan while retaining the right to recover the position. Lite proves the split with a mock NFT only.
Future vision: buy exposure to an actual fee epoch without locking BTC. Lite's reward is operator-funded and simulated.
Future possibility: price discovery for fee streams, contingent on a verified reward adapter and real buyer demand.
Mock NFT escrow, fixed-price demo-token sale, operator-funded reward settlement, and principal return passed locally. Mezo testnet deployment remains.
Prove escrow, reward claim, and per-epoch isolation with actual Mezo veBTC positions on testnet.
RFQ or sealed-bid auction. Real counterparties. Public data explorer and fee history.
Multiple revenue sources, forward curves, fractional claims, cross-chain adapters.
P0: Can a vault contract that holds veBTC isolate per-epoch rewards and return the position intact?
P1: Are per-position fee amounts large enough to justify trading and gas costs?
P2: Can sold-period votes be enforced as immutable through available interfaces?
Epoch turns protocol revenue into a forward curve. Price discovery for future fees. Liquidity without debt. A new primitive for Bitcoin DeFi on Mezo.
Epoch Lite local prototype · October 2026 · Public deployment pending · Not audited