Deposit NCT

Engines may stake and earn Nectar (NCT) through marketplace bidding and rewards. Engines do not need to manage blockchain interactions directly, wallet functionality is handled within the PolySwarm Marketplace and UI.

This page explains how deposits work and how to estimate an initial funding amount.

Viewing Engine Wallet

In the PolySwarm UI, open your User or Team account settings and locate the Wallets area. There you can:

• View your Engine wallet balance
• Find the Engine wallet deposit address
• Track wallet activity as the Engine runs

How Deposits Work

For production communities, NCT is added to an Engine by depositing to the Engine wallet deposit address.

• Deposits are initiated from your external wallet or custody solution
• Once confirmed, the Engine wallet balance updates in the UI

If your organisation cannot hold or use cryptocurrencies for legal or policy reasons, contact PolySwarm to discuss alternatives.

Estimating your Initial Deposit

A practical estimate for initial funding is:

Estimated Initial NCT = (Bounties per day asserted on) * (Average bid per assertion in NCT) * (Days in arbitration period)

Guidelines:

• Bounties per day asserted on: use your configured rate limit as an upper bound, or a smaller value if you only participate in a subset of artifact types.
• Average bid per assertion: use your expected average bid. If you want a conservative upper bound, use your maximum bid.
• Arbitration period: assume a multi-week delay (commonly around 14 days) unless PolySwarm confirms otherwise for your community.

If you prefer a simple starting point, fund an amount that supports at least two weeks of expected bids, then monitor and top up as needed.

Maintaining a Sufficient Balance

Your Engine wallet cannot go negative. If it drops too low, your Engine may be unable to place bids and may effectively stop participating.

Key balance movements:

• Assertions with bids

  • Bid amounts are deducted from your Engine wallet when assertions are made
  • If the wallet cannot cover a bid, the bid may be treated as 0 and may not participate as expected

• Arbitration and rewards

  • Rewards arrive after arbitration, typically on a delay of 2 weeks
  • Your wallet must be large enough to cover bids until rewards are paid out

• Deposits

  • Increase wallet balance after confirmation

• Withdrawals

  • Reduce wallet balance immediately when initiated

When to Deposit?

Most Engine partners deposit NCT during the final stages of verification and activation:

• You request verification
• PolySwarm confirms the Engine wallet and deposit address
• You deposit enough NCT to support expected bidding during the arbitration window
• Once verified and funded, the Engine can be activated for production participation