RFC-001 · published 2026-06-10

Revisiting our no-token position

comment window open via corrections@basis.watch · not investment advice · no offer · no token is live

1 · What we said

At launch, Basis published — in its methodology, its repository charter, and its launch communications — an unambiguous commitment. Quoted verbatim, preserved, not erased:

“No token. Ever.”

“An auditor whose own asset depends on the audited ecosystem is structurally conflicted.”

“Independence. No token, no custody, no positions in covered assets.”

2 · What is changing — and how

The position is being revised, not silently erased. Basis now plans a token: $BASIS, a work-request token for coordinating public verification demand. It is not live. No contract exists. No date is set. Nothing on this page is an offer, a solicitation, or investment advice.

Under Basis's own taxonomy, the original claim now grades as disputed: primary evidence — this document — conflicts with it. Critics who point that out are correct. Corrections are version bumps, never silent edits; that rule applies to Basis first.

3 · Why

The original reasoning was correct, and two things changed our judgment about what to do with it. First, verification demand increasingly comes from autonomous agents that cannot sign engagement letters — coordinating that demand needs a permissionless rail, while USDC remains the rail for structured engagements. Second, a disclosed, instrumented conflict can be more trustworthy than an avoided one: “we have no token” is a promise; “here is every economic flow, measured by the same methods we apply to everyone else” is evidence. Basis chooses to carry the conflict openly — self-coverage in its own registry, sybil-adjusted launch metrics if a launch occurs, monthly proceeds disclosure, and drift instrumentation that makes bias detectable by third parties.

4 · What $BASIS can do (planned)

Pay for, prioritize, request, challenge, or fund verification work: burn-to-request public audit requests, capped logarithmic weighting of a public work queue, future challenge bonds that buy a faster review window, and funding for public-good coverage.

5 · What $BASIS can never do

• Buy favorable labels, or suppress or delay findings
• Alter the Claim Reliability Index or influence evidence grading or source treatment
• Gate or price corrections — the correction process remains free, token-less, and account-less, permanently
• Govern individual labels, claims, reports, scores, or sources
• Guarantee coverage, timing, or outcomes

Funded or requested work is always disclosed on the resulting records. If any mechanism is ever found to conflict with this section, this section wins and the mechanism is removed.

6 · The venue conflict, named

The candidate launch path runs through Virtuals Protocol — a project Basis covers, whose flagship metric is currently labeled unverified in this registry. If that path proceeds, Basis would pay launch costs to, and earn trading-fee income through, an audit subject. That conflict cannot be dissolved; it will be disclosed and instrumented — see the conflict regime. Virtuals coverage continues on its published cadence: no recusal, because coverage holes are worse than disclosed conflicts.

7 · Critique is invited

This RFC is open for comment. Disagreement is handled like any other evidence: corrections@basis.watch. Substantive critiques and responses may be published alongside this document. If the critique is right, the plan changes — that is what the process is for.

8 · Disclaimers

No token is live. No contract address exists. Nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any asset in any jurisdiction, nor financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Plans may change or be abandoned. $BASIS, if launched, is intended for use — requesting verification work — and confers no claim on Basis revenue or assets, no yield, and no governance over audit outcomes.