Arcium’s public testnet will not include an airdrop. Instead, we’ve developed a community system from the ground up that meaningfully identifies and rewards true contributions and builders in the Arcium ecosystem.

We’ve seen how airdrops and “engage-to-earn” mechanics often lead to inflated metrics, extractive participation, and misaligned expectations. Instead of rewarding those genuinely invested in a project’s success, these systems tend to favor opportunistic behavior and short-term farming. That’s not the culture we’re building. At Arcium, we’re focused on fostering meaningful contributions — from developers building with Arcium, to community members helping others, crafting thoughtful, high-effort content, and supporting real community growth. If you're here solely for short-term rewards, this probably isn't the place. Ask yourself, “Do I truly believe in what Arcium is building and do I want to spend meaningful time supporting this vision? Or am I here with the expectation of receiving something just because of being “early”? If it's the latter, this probably isn't the place — and that's okay. But those who bring real value will not be left behind.

We’ve spent months designing our community system to recognize and reward meaningful, non-extractive contributions. It will play a key role in future opportunities — including grants, redeemable merch, or priority access to testnet initiative and additional community sales at fair valuations, following the success of CoinList and Echo.

We’ve worked hard to build something sustainable and transparent — a system that lets you grow with Arcium, not just observe from the sidelines. If that resonates with you, read on. If you're primarily here for financial exposure, future community rounds will be a better place to participate.  

TLDR;

• The public testnet is not incentivized, and there is no airdrop. We have designed an alternative system that deliberately departs from traditional incentive structures to genuinely support and reward the Arcium community: Encrypted Credits.
• At TGE, rewards will be distributed through Retroactive Token Grants (RTGs). RTGs are Arcium tokens and will be allocated to those who have shown consistent, meaningful, and impactful contributions verified via the Encrypted Credit system.
• Encrypted Credits are earned through meaningful, consistent actions: building, engaging, supporting, and learning, in public testnet and beyond — providing real-value.
• Credits ≠ points. They reflect real effort in real-time and unlock prizes, role progression, and future opportunities.
• Roles are the strongest signal of your standing in the Arcium community and are key to retroactive recognition.
• Credit redemption for Apprentice NFTs and Elusians. Early community members — including Apprentices from the Four Fortress quest and current Elusians will be able to redeem encrypted credits during a limited-time window.

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Encrypted Contents

• What are Encrypted Credits?
• How are Encrypted Credits Earned?
• Deeper look at the Encrypted Credits System
• Community Rewards
• Why Build it this Way?

What Are Encrypted Credits?

We know what you may be thinking—another points system, rebranded. Not quite.

We deliberately chose the term “credits” to distinguish our system from typical point-based systems. Credits are more akin to arcade tickets, earned through real participation and redeemable for a range of items and opportunities, at the discretion of the user. This framing matters. Unlike “points,” which often carry the implicit promise of a future token or airdrop reward, credits are designed to reflect contributions in real-time. They are flexible, symbolic of engagement, and fundamentally rooted in the idea that value is earned, not assumed.

However, there’s another dimension to our credit system. Just like in an arcade, it’s not only the number of tickets that reflects participation. It’s the high scores enshrined in games and user profiles that highlight genuine skill and commitment. The individuals who consistently engage, demonstrate mastery, and contribute meaningfully are the ones recognized. In Arcium, these high scores and accrual of encrypted credits are represented by roles which are the community benchmarks that signify depth, not just presence. Roles serve as lasting markers of trust, effort, and alignment with our values. Over time, they become the most important signal of a contributor’s standing within the network and their eligibility for future token allocations (more below). 

This combination allows us to build a healthier, more aligned community where genuine contributors can be identified, and their engagement within the network and ecosystem accurately recognized and measured.

How are Encrypted Credits earned?

Clearly defining the activities and methods through which users earn Encrypted Credits has been essential when designing this community system. We built this system from the ground up, developing a fully integrated platform in-house. From its inception back in November 2024, to its revamp in February 2025, to the launch of Under the Umbrella and gmpc.xyz in March 2025, this program is the result of more than 8 months of trial, error, and relentless improvement. Now, we are able to finally extend this initiative into a fully fledged community system anchored in Discord and extended through gmpc.xyz—the public domain of the Arcium community. Earning credits, tracking progress, and engaging with Arcium across various initiatives is a seamless experience, unique to us. 

So how do you actually earn encrypted credits? Credits are earned through clear, consistent, and meaningful contributions. Here’s a quick overview how:

• Joining Arcium’s Community Program: Under the Umbrella 
• Completing Arcium Adventures
• Executing specific testnet missions
• Providing feedback on Arcium applications and testnet infrastructure
• Building applications with Arcium tooling
• Joining testnet community hackathons, build initiatives, and sprints
• Participating in community calls and testnet events
• Helping fellow community members in Discord and other channels
• Championing gMPC, the encrypted ecosystem, and the encrypted world-view

As described above, most of these contribution possibilities will be accessible via our community platform in Discord. Arcium adventures, testnet missions, and more will be updated here, while specific testnet submissions, hackathons, and activities will be organized manually. Get started here.

Clarification on NFTs and other early adopters

Users who completed the Four Fortress quest back in September of 2024 had the opportunity to convert their apprentice role to a growing chad role at the beginning of this year. For those who missed this, we will be opening the opportunity for Apprentice NFT holders to redeem encrypted credits for a specific period of time which will be announced soon! In addition, anyone holding the Elusian role can also redeem credits.

For more information on roles, system structure, and progressions, please visit [LINK].

Anti-Farming & Sybil Resistance

The Arcium team has taken a lot of time to figure out how we protect our community from exploitation, while empowering true contributors to grow and be recognized. Through a carefully crafted onboarding experience, a values-driven progression arc, and specified initiatives and sprints, Arcium's program is built to withstand farming and surface real users. In addition, we utilize:

• Manual Contribution Review: Each submission is reviewed by humans. Quality matters.
• AI Detection Tools: We use proprietary and open-source tools to identify AI-generated or copy-pasted content.
• Pattern Analysis: Repeated behaviors and submission patterns are analyzed to identify bot activity.
• Tied to Personhood: We require users to engage genuinely over a period of time, getting to know our team and the community's core members.

We’re not interested in artificial engagement. We’re here to build a community that can stand the test of time and a network that will power encrypted computation at scale.

In the next section, you will find a deep dive on the insights and findings that have driven the community system to where it is today. It highlights the dynamics of the credit system which will ultimately result in the most engaged and high value contributors to be rewarded. Furthermore, it answers the question of ‘WHY,’ surfacing our journey of community discovery and why we decided to move away from the traditional Incentivized Public Testnet model.   

A Deeper Look at the Encrypted Credits System

At the heart of Arcium, the Encrypted Credits system is built around one core principle: genuineness.

From the beginning, our goal has been to grow alongside our community, not in front of it. This means being transparent, consistently sharing updates, and clearly articulating what we’re building and why. A project without community passion, creativity, and shared vision will always feel hollow. That’s why this system was built and why we decided to make it a bit different, a bit more <encrypted>.

In mid-February, we launched Arcium Adventures, unlocking our custom-built Discord platform for those eager to learn more about Arcium. These marked the next steps in a broader journey after the Arcium Citadel–one that rewards curiosity, commitment, and contribution through Encrypted Credits. Together, gmpc.xyz, the discord platform and adventure system have become a powerful signal of genuine participation and personal growth. It was never designed to be farmed, it was built to spotlight those who are truly leaning in.

Since launch, thousands of members have joined the system, starting their journey through the first Arcium Adventure. Of course, with any open system, there is always risk for manipulation or those that are looking to <decrypt> those that are becoming <encrypted>, but it is something we anticipated and built against. From day one, we’ve implemented strict Sybil resistance mechanisms, using a combination of AI-driven processes, bot detection, and behavior-based signals to identify and stop these. We confidently detect and block over 90% of bots that attempt to join the Adventures, and for the rare that slip through, the structure of the system makes progression nearly impossible and easily identifies them. Only genuine members earn significant amounts of Encrypted Credits over time.

This is where we find Arcium’s core community: a growing group of individuals who’ve consistently shown up, participated, learned, and contributed with intention over the past few months. These members are creating content, offering support, engaging thoughtfully, developing community tools and helping others grow. It’s a steady climb, not just in numbers, but in depth.

Before launching this system, we invested significant time into simulations and modeling progression scenarios. Our goal was to design a framework that accurately identifies genuine value, something that can’t be faked or rushed. Time spent, consistency, and depth of engagement are key indicators of meaningful contribution. We believe the only way to truly contribute is to learn, adapt, and show up consistently over time. This isn’t about speed and volume, it’s about sustained impact. The result is a system that rewards real participation and filters out noise, creating a more durable and trustworthy signal of who’s truly here to build.

And that’s the beauty of it: this system evolves with our community. We will continuously create new ways to earn and engage through events, games, Testnet missions, community hackathons, technical contributions, and more as we move beyond Public Testnet. This journey is ongoing.

As we move into the next chapter of Arcium’s journey, this system represents the bedrock of contribution and community value. As we approach the later phases of Testnet and prepare the network for Mainnet launch, this system will provide the insights needed to reward our most valued community members. 

Retroactive Token Grants (RTGs)

What everyone wants to know: how will we reward the community?

As stated before, encrypted credits are two-sided. On one hand they represent real value, redeemable for a range of items and opportunities. On the other hand, they enable role progression and reflect the most engaged, impactful, and meaningful builders in the Arcium community. Based on the insights and system design laid out above, we can accurately and meaningfully identify those who participate. These community members will be eligible for RTGs at TGE.

RTGs =

• Retroactive: Based on meaningful activities completed in the past. At TGE, this will be reflected in Encrypted Credits and Roles earned by community members.
• Token: The form of value in which grants are given — in this case, the Arcium token.
• Grants: Not random airdrops, but purposeful, merit-based rewards for those who contributed.

What are Retroactive Token Grants?

Retroactive Token Grants (RTGs) are a merit-driven form of recognition that come in the form of Arcium tokens, extended to individuals who demonstrate real, verifiable value to the network and supported Arcium through its early stages. These contributions include the activities highlighted above, and for members who launched tools, created infrastructure, provided critical feedback, and consistently contributed to the growth of the ecosystem. RTGs are not guaranteed. As the Encrypted Credit system can identify real value in real-time, these grants distributed at TGE will reflect the impact and significance of those contributors. 

Why Retroactive Token Grants?

This is a stark departure from airdrop-driven incentivization structures that tend to inflate core metrics like TVL, while diluting real value. For Arcium, success is defined by the amount of encrypted compute powering real applications and the number of users who will proactively seek out privacy-preserving tech in their day to day life. This is what we will focus on throughout our testnet phases. Community is a core part of achieving this goal and will be rewarded accordingly. 

Measuring Success 

To get an idea, one can already see the level of progression and contribution from those who are truly dedicated in the graphics above. We see a strong correlation between time spent and encrypted credits accumulated. Furthermore, quality and value of contributions increase in parallel for those contributors. Just like this system rewards quality over quantity, RTGs will also reflect this.

There is a quiet confidence among those who’ve crossed this threshold. They’ve felt the climb, put in the time and effort, and helped others do the same. But for those wondering where they stand in this journey, ask yourself:

• Can you explain what Arcium is, in your own words, without looking it up?
• Can you articulate what we do and why it matters?
• Do you understand the core idea behind Privacy 2.0?
• Could you explain to someone a specific use case that would have a broad and lasting effect on a specific industry?
• Could you walk someone through the basics of our architecture, our confidential computing stack, our MPC protocols, or why we call it the <encrypted> supercomputer?
• Have you built or contributed something tangible that pushes encrypted computing and Arcium forward?

These are just some examples and are not specific, just the kind of fluency many have developed through consistent curiosity and contribution. If you’re not quite there yet, there is a beauty in this. The system is open and will remain open. Public Testnet will provide even more opportunities to progress. The journey is ongoing and every step forward counts. It truly is not about gatekeeping, but about personal growth along with collective growth as a community and project. Because every great builder starts off as a curious learner.

Community rounds

We strongly believe community alignment is vital for the success of Arcium. That is why we aim to provide more opportunities to participate in upcoming Arcium community rounds, where the valuation and terms prioritize the community along with the long-term health of the network. Although more information will be communicated soon, encrypted credits and the roles obtained within the community system could be valuable when considering to participate. 

Why We Built It This Way

Because this is bigger than just a testnet.

We’re not looking for the largest number of users. We’re looking for the right contributors to shape the foundation of the Arcium network. When extraction dominates, the long-term health of a protocol suffers. It leads to governance issues, misaligned incentives, and a revolving door of users. We’re protecting against that now.

We’re also focused on what matters most: the builders and organizations launching encrypted applications on Arcium. By mainnet, our goal is to support multiple live integrations and real-world use cases at scale across DeFi, AI, identity, and beyond. Encrypted computing has the potential to fundamentally reshape the fabric of the internet for the better. But realizing that vision depends on more than just technology. It requires a community and a team moving together. At Arcium, we see those as one and the same.

Looking Ahead

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be rolling out Public Testnet phases, expanded contributor initiatives, and deepen opportunities to engage with the Arcium community and ecosystem. Whether you’re a developer building at the cutting edge of encrypted computing or a community member guiding and championing the encrypted supercomputer, there will be ways to get involved, grow, and earn recognition. As we move toward mainnet, our focus remains clear: to bring the world’s first encrypted supercomputer to life. One built not just on cutting-edge technology, but on the strength of the community behind it. If you believe in a future where encrypted data empowers you and your digital world, now is the time to step forward.

Join the movement. Earn your place. Help shape the encrypted revolution.