> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://blueprint.builtbydao.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://blueprint.builtbydao.com/build-join/earn-ownership.md).

# Earn Ownership (EQTBLT)

{% hint style="success" %}
EQTBLT is how the work you do becomes the ownership you hold. It's a \~$1, earned-only, soul-bound equity-credit — you can't buy it, only earn it, and it's permanently yours.
{% endhint %}

## What it is

|                             |                                                                             |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 💎 **Earned only**          | Minted for contribution — work, training, even rent. You can't purchase it. |
| 🔒 **Soul-bound**           | Non-transferable; tied to you permanently. It's a stake, not a chip.        |
| 💵 **\~$1 reference value** | Each token represents roughly $1 of claim on the DAO.                       |
| 🔄 **Spent in-network**     | Redeemed in-kind for housing, goods, services, a down payment, short-stay.  |

## What earns it

Every hour of real work mints EQTBLT — and **even training pays.** But the earn structure is deliberately **flat and anti-extraction**: we are not rebuilding the hierarchy we're replacing. The people doing the hard, risky, physical work that rebuilds the neighborhood earn at the **top** of the band — at or above coordinators and leadership.

| Work                                                                           | EQTBLT / hour |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------- |
| 🌱 Learning & onboarding (training counts as contribution)                     | \~40          |
| 🔧 **Skilled trades · construction · deconstruction · fabrication** (the core) | **\~70–100**  |
| 🧭 Coordination & leadership (crew/project leads, governance, admin)           | \~60–85       |
| ⚠️ Hazard / risk premium (heavy demo, heights, hazmat)                         | +10–25%       |

{% hint style="success" %}
**Contribution and risk are valued over credentials and title.** The spread from entry to the top is small (\~2.5×, not the 8–13× of a conventional payscale), and physical, risk-bearing work is valued *more* than white-collar roles — not less. Leadership is service, not a pay premium.
{% endhint %}

Cash compensation is reserved only for advanced/licensed skills the network can't supply internally (a licensed architect, specialized legal, certain licensed trades) — a narrow necessity, not a status tier. Renters also earn — a share of rent converts to EQTBLT — so even tenancy builds a stake.

## How you spend it

EQTBLT is a **closed loop**: you spend it *in-network*, and the DAO fulfills the claim **in-kind** with what the community produces near cost.

**Redemption scope:** Foundry goods (reclaimed materials, products) · member services (trades, childcare, etc.) · **home purchase / down payment** · short-stay / temp lodging.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Not monthly rent.** Rent flows *in* as cash and *mints* EQTBLT — the cash rail and the equity rail stay separate. And cashing out is the exception: \~10%, gated and penalized, because the system is built to steer value into ownership and in-network spend, not cash withdrawal.
{% endhint %}

## Why your stake is the biggest stake

Because the work that builds the neighborhood is settled in EQTBLT, the community's accrued equity dwarfs the small outside cash from the start — and it compounds with every hour worked. The financial model shows community ownership crossing to majority early and approaching full community ownership over time, while outside investors are paid a capped return and recede.

> **Contribution creates ownership. Ownership creates governance.**

{% content-ref url="/pages/ttnMiqCbG4UGInJNAQAX" %}
[Membership & Ranks](/build-join/membership-ranks.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/wRYM8s6gehzojxaVp0qT" %}
[The EQTBLT Economy](/how-it-works/eqtblt-economy.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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