Dear Balance Node Holders and Community,

It has been three days since TGE. We have been reading, listening, and collecting all your feedback. We fully acknowledge the frustration, confusion, disappointment expressed, and we take full responsibility. This message is here to explain what went wrong, what we are fixing, and what is coming next.

1. Why is there a locking period for vEPT?

When we designed the Key Node system, our intention was to create a long-term, sustainable incentive mechanism. We referred to other successful node projects and believed that a long reward cycle with locking periods was the industry standard.

However, it is our fault for not explaining this clearly prior to TGE. We should have done a better job in communicating how the system works and we sincerely apologize for the confusion.

2. Why is the $EPT redemption amount significantly lower than expected?

We noticed that the current UI caused misunderstanding and we are already working on revamping it. In the token dashboard, there is a "Final Claim Ratio" section with four categories: A, B, C, and D. These represent how long your vEPT has been mined:

A: 15 days → 15% claimable

B: 30 days → 30% claimable

C: 60 days → 45% claimable

D: 120 days or more → 100% fully claimable

If you click “Max” redeem, it selects vEPT across all categories. That’s why many users are seeing smaller amounts, as early redemption results in a lower average claim ratio.

For example, the Final Claim Ratio bar shows:

A 5,000 / B 10,000 / C 25,000 / D 10,000 (Total is 50,000)

The calculation of actual redemption:

A: 5,000 → 15% = 750

B: 10,000 → 30% = 3,000

C: 25,000 → 45% = 11,250

D: 10,000 → 100% = 10,000

These are equal to 25,000. And after a transaction fee of 10 $EPT, the actual received is 24,990 $EPT.

Please note that the locking period is calculated from the day each vEPT was mined. For example, the earliest node participants who started mining on December 26, 2024, will have their vEPT mined on that day become fully claimable at 100% on April 24, 2025 (exactly 120 days later). At that point, there will be no redemption penalty for that portion.

3. Where did the rest of the $EPT go?

Rest assured, we do not burn node rewards. Any unclaimed amount from early redemption goes into a dedicated early redemption pool. Using the above example, 25,000 $EPT was “taken” (not burnt) to this pool. This pool is reserved exclusively for future incentives to node holders. It will not be used for any other purposes.

The 25% allocation for node rewards (2.5 billion $EPT) remains untouched and will always belong to the node holders.

You can view this pool directly at: https://balance.fun/token/pools or select "EPT Token Pool" on the token dashboard.

4. What are we doing now?

We recognize we made a big mistake and we are working hard on a resolution. We are planning to fairly redistribute the "taken" $EPT from early redemption back to all node holders. Our dev team is working on this right now and we will update you with the exact plan as soon as possible.

To close, we sincerely apologise for the lack of clear communication and for falling short of community expectations. Balance was built with the intention to be a long-term, community-driven protocol, not a short-term initiative. All resources and efforts will be dedicated to resolving current issues and restoring confidence in the protocol.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this message and continue to support the project.

Balance Foundation