<div style="text-align: center;"> <img src="roots_of_knowledge.gif" alt="Image Description" style="max-width: 80%; height: auto;"> <p style="margin-top: 10px; font-size: 14px; color: #666;"> <em>"Roots of Knowledge" - art by Yuhdo.eth</em></p> </div> > [!warning] Status > The Knowledge Network launches with [[files/Knowledge Economy/$KNOW|$KNOW]] TGE. The architecture is designed; the mechanics below describe what's coming. The Knowledge Network is the shared layer where Bonfires can optionally expose their knowledge to external queries — and earn [[files/Knowledge Economy/$KNOW|$KNOW]] for it. Today, each Bonfire is a local knowledge graph serving a single community. The Knowledge Network connects them into a global, queryable intelligence layer. ## How It Works **Privacy by default, monetization by choice.** Every Bonfire operator — hosted or self-hosted — chooses what to expose to the network. Participation is never mandatory. You earn proportionally to what you share. ## Exposure Levels You control how much of your knowledge is accessible to the network, at four levels: **1. Taxonomy only** — Your Bonfire's topic labels are discoverable, but content stays private. External queries can see "a Bonfire exists that covers X" without accessing underlying knowledge. Lowest exposure, lowest rewards. **2. HyperBlog generation** — External queries trigger your Bonfire to generate a [[docs/docs26/Hyperblogs|HyperBlog]] using the query as a prompt. You share synthesized content, not raw knowledge. Monetized via x402 payments. **3. Chat interface** — External users can converse with your agent directly. Query access to your Bonfire's knowledge, potentially gated or paid. **4. Data rooms** — Expose specific segments of your knowledge graph. Controlled access to particular knowledge areas via micro-subscriptions. You can mix levels — taxonomy for some topics, full data rooms for others. Adjust anytime. ## Retrieval Economics When your Bonfire's knowledge helps answer a query on the network, that retrieval is tracked: - **What query** triggered the retrieval - **How useful** the knowledge was (implicit feedback) - **Who asked** — attribution in both directions [[files/Knowledge Economy/$KNOW|$KNOW]] emissions flow to Bonfires based on their **Bonfire Score**, which combines: **Gravitational energy** — How semantically close your outputs are to active knowledge targets (research bounties, protocol priorities, community needs). See [[files/Knowledge Economy/kEngrams]] for the gravitational model. **Retrieval score** — How frequently your outputs are retrieved across the network. Useful knowledge that gets queried earns. More exposure → more potential retrievals → higher Bonfire Score → more $KNOW. ## Knowledge Targets Knowledge targets are semantic waypoints that direct the network's attention. They can be set at three levels: **Protocol level** — Set by DeSciWorld initially, later by governance. Broad research priorities and areas of need. **Bonfire level** — Set by individual Bonfires. "We need knowledge about X" — directing other Bonfires to produce relevant outputs. **Individual level** — Requests for knowledge (RFKs) and bounties. Specific questions with $KNOW staked as reward. Targets have mass (determined by stake, reputation, and urgency), and [[files/Knowledge Economy/kEngrams]] near high-mass targets earn disproportionately. This creates market signals for knowledge production — the network tells you what knowledge is valuable. ## Self-Hosted Participation Self-hosted Bonfires participate in the Knowledge Network on the same terms as hosted ones. You run your own infrastructure, pay nothing to Bonfires.ai, and opt in to sharing at whatever exposure level suits you. The protocol is open. The incentive layer is opt-in. Self-hosting doesn't exclude you from earning — it just means you handle your own compute. ## Initial Bonfire Offerings (IBOs) > [!warning] Expected Q4 2026, following $KNOW TGE IBOs are community fundraises for launching new Bonfires with built-in economic infrastructure: - **Token-based membership** — community pools funds to create a shared Bonfire - **Built-in treasury** — funded by the IBO, governed by members - **Governance** — token-weighted decision-making - **Permissionless** — no team involvement required IBOs are the path to fully permissionless Bonfire deployment. Communities define their purpose, raise funds, launch their Bonfire, and participate in the Knowledge Network independently. ## The Bigger Picture The Knowledge Network creates a global marketplace of ideas where: - Knowledge has measurable value (gravitational energy × retrieval frequency) - Contributors are attributed and compensated - Communities retain sovereignty over what they share - Coordination happens through aligned incentives, not ideology Every query answered, every retrieval tracked, every target funded — these are signals in a market for understanding. The network becomes a mirror of what humanity collectively wants to know and what it collectively knows. Watch founder Joshua talk on this at DeSci London 2024, filmed at Imperial College London: <iframe width=100% height="455" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fbnFEvfKRO8?si=jRVgtOlUonY_NqKY&amp;start=7105" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> --- **See also:** [[files/Knowledge Economy/$KNOW|$KNOW]] · [[files/Knowledge Economy/kEngrams]] · [[Improving Access to AI]] · [[docs/Genesis NFT]]