I’ve been thinking about an idea for a project and I’m curious whether it’s actually interesting or if I’m missing something obvious.
The basic concept is incredibly simple.
Imagine a website where anyone can buy entries for a couple of dollars each. Every dollar goes into a public prize pool that everyone can see growing in real time. Once the pool reaches a predetermined amount (say $1.5M), the round ends automatically.
A fixed amount (for example $1M) goes to one randomly selected participant, and the remainder is the platform’s fee to fund development, infrastructure, etc.
The important part is the transparency either which this would function. The rules would be fixed from day one. The prize pool would be publicly verifiable, the drawing would be provably fair, and nobody (including me) could change the rules halfway through or secretly manipulate the outcome.
In other words, the whole thing is designed so participants never have to trust the people running it.
I know the obvious comparison is “that’s just a lottery,” but I’m more interested in whether people would actually enjoy participating in something that’s radically transparent compared to most existing systems.
If this existed and you knew the rules couldn’t be changed and the draw couldn’t be rigged, would you participate?
If not, what would stop you?
I’m genuinely trying to figure out whether this is a compelling idea or whether I’m stuck in my own bubble.