{ "model": { "rank": 6409, "code": "thing-q348303", "model_id": "vr.tr.crowdfunding", "name": "crowdfunding", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a crowdfunding undertaking, assess its fundraising and delivery state, and determine which actions its recorded terms and permissions allow.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Activities and processes", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "ACT", "domain": "ACT.ACT", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q348303/", "tier": 2, "score": 60, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "CardUP", "crowdfunding in video games", "crowdfunding of sport clubs", "quadratic funding" ], "aliasCount": 4, "merged": 4, "knownIn": 60, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q348303", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q348303", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T14:23:00Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.0087346, "turns": 1, "seconds": 95.7, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 90.4, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c3c-71ba-7e52-a485-dd523e8f7208\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: crowdfunding\nRegistry id: vr.tr.crowdfunding\nPlane / domain: ACT / ACT.ACT\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q348303", "registryId": "vr.tr.crowdfunding", "name": "crowdfunding", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "ACT.ACT" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q348303/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.crowdfunding", "name": "crowdfunding", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a crowdfunding undertaking, assess its fundraising and delivery state, and determine which actions its recorded terms and permissions allow.", "definition": "Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital or other resources from a large number of people, typically via an online platform, in which each contributor supplies a relatively small amount under a disclosed offer (donation, reward, equity, lending, or royalty) rather than through a single institutional financier.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the coordinated solicitation of contributions from a crowd for a stated purpose, including the offer, participation rules, funding conditions, money movements, and resulting commitments.", "in_scope": [ "The funded purpose, organiser, intended beneficiaries, and campaign boundaries", "The crowd-facing offer and what contributors receive or expect in return", "Contribution eligibility, acceptance, withdrawal, and campaign participation", "Funding targets, deadlines, thresholds, and conditions for releasing funds", "Aggregate funding progress, deductions, refunds, and delivery obligations" ], "out_of_scope": [ "The crowdfunding platform's organisation, software architecture, and general operations", "Payment processing infrastructure and individual payment instruments", "The internal execution of the project or business receiving funding", "Full legal and economic models of securities, loans, and ownership interests", "Contributors' broader portfolios, finances, and identities beyond campaign participation" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "An organiser solicits contributions through a shared offer to a potentially plural crowd, rather than negotiating the entire funding arrangement with one selected counterparty.", "Contributions support an identifiable purpose or funding undertaking; ordinary sales without a collective funding proposition do not qualify merely because many customers purchase.", "The arrangement connects individual contributions to a shared fundraising process, although it need not have a fixed target, deadline, or minimum number of actual contributors.", "The expected return can be absent, symbolic, a reward, repayment, or a financial interest; the presence of a reward alone does not establish crowdfunding.", "The campaign can be distinguished from its hosting platform, its recipient organisation, and the project it finances." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Contribution arrangement", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Donation, reward, preorder, lending, equity, hybrid, other, or unresolved; preserve the organiser's stated classification", "why_it_matters": "Determines which contributor expectations and obligations the agent must inspect." }, { "name": "Funding rule", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Threshold-dependent, retain-what-is-raised, recurring, milestone-based, other, or unspecified", "why_it_matters": "Connects fundraising outcomes to collection, release, continuation, or refund decisions." }, { "name": "Funding target", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Amount and currency per stated target, or explicitly no target", "why_it_matters": "Provides the reference against which funding progress can be judged." }, { "name": "Funding totals", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Amounts by currency and stage: pledged, collected, cleared, released, refunded, and net available", "why_it_matters": "Prevents promises, collected cash, and spendable proceeds from being treated as interchangeable." }, { "name": "Funding window", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Opening and closing timestamps with timezone, recurring interval, or explicitly open-ended", "why_it_matters": "Establishes when contributions and funding-condition evaluations apply." }, { "name": "Contributor participation", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Distinct contributor count and contribution count, with counting basis and observation time", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes participation breadth from repeated contributions and headline funding amounts." }, { "name": "Campaign phase", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Proposed, open, paused, closed, cancelled, or unresolved, with effective time", "why_it_matters": "Shows whether the campaign is currently accepting participation." }, { "name": "Obligation status", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Not yet due, pending, partly fulfilled, fulfilled, overdue, disputed, discharged, or unresolved per obligation", "why_it_matters": "Separates successful fundraising from completed delivery or repayment." }, { "name": "Accountable parties", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Links to organiser, recipient, beneficiary, platform, funds custodian, and fulfilment party where applicable", "why_it_matters": "Identifies who makes promises, controls funds, and can authorise each action." } ], "affordances": [ "Classify the contribution arrangement and identify missing or contradictory campaign terms.", "Assess participation and funding progress using explicitly defined monetary stages and counting rules.", "Determine whether a proposed contribution, withdrawal, campaign change, or closure is permitted by the recorded terms.", "Evaluate whether documented collection, release, or refund conditions have been satisfied.", "Trace contributor commitments to delivery, repayment, refund, or unresolved disputes.", "Prepare or execute an authorised campaign action while recording its basis and outcome." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "iosco-2014", "title": "Crowdfunding: An Infant Industry Growing Fast", "url": "https://www.iosco.org/research/pdf/swp/Crowd-funding-An-Infant-Industry-Growing-Fast.pdf", "what_it_supports": "IOSCO staff working paper that defined the main crowdfunding models (donation, reward, equity, lending) and flagged investor-protection and systemic issues as the market scaled.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "jobs-act-2012", "title": "Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, Title III (CROWDFUND Act)", "url": "https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/3606", "what_it_supports": "US federal statute that created a registered-offering pathway for equity crowdfunding (later implemented as Regulation Crowdfunding).", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "sec-reg-cf", "title": "Regulation Crowdfunding (17 CFR Part 227) and SEC investor bulletin", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/exempt-offerings/regulation-crowdfunding", "what_it_supports": "US implementing rules: issuer caps, investor limits, funding-portal registration, and disclosure duties for securities crowdfunding.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "eu-ecspr-2020", "title": "Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business (ECSPR)", "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/1503/oj", "what_it_supports": "EU-wide authorisation, passporting, and conduct regime for investment- and lending-based crowdfunding service providers.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "fca-ps14-4", "title": "The FCA's regulatory approach to crowdfunding over the internet, and the promotion of non-readily realisable securities by other media (PS14/4)", "url": "https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/policy/ps14-04.pdf", "what_it_supports": "UK conduct and promotion rules that distinguished loan-based and investment-based crowdfunding from unregulated donation/reward models.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "wikidata-q189022", "title": "crowdfunding (Q189022)", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189022", "what_it_supports": "Canonical Wikidata item used as a stable identifier for the concept.", "url_status": "live" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "funding-purpose-and-offer", "name": "Funding purpose and offer", "description": "The undertaking presented to the crowd and the exchange, if any, offered for support.", "rationale": "An agent must distinguish what is being funded from what contributors are promised.", "layers": [ { "id": "funded-undertaking", "name": "Funded undertaking", "description": "The purpose and boundaries of this particular solicitation.", "findings": [ { "id": "purpose-and-beneficiary", "name": "Purpose and beneficiary", "description": "Record the stated use of contributions, intended beneficiary, and relationship to other fundraising efforts.", "questions": [ { "text": "What undertaking or continuing purpose is the crowd being asked to fund, and who is intended to benefit?", "kind": "definition", "id": "purpose-and-beneficiary-q01" }, { "text": "What distinguishes this campaign from another round, recurring appeal, or separate campaign for the same project?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "purpose-and-beneficiary-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "contributor-exchange", "name": "Contributor exchange", "description": "The terms connecting a contribution to an expected return or absence of return.", "findings": [ { "id": "offer-and-return", "name": "Offer and return", "description": "Record contribution types, tiers, promised benefits, and the terms applicable when a contributor participates.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does each contribution constitute a gift, obtain a reward or preorder, create a repayment claim or financial interest, or combine these arrangements?", "kind": "definition", "id": "offer-and-return-q01" }, { "text": "Which dated offer and tier terms establish what this contributor was promised?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "offer-and-return-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "crowd-participation", "name": "Crowd participation", "description": "How people enter, support, and leave the fundraising arrangement.", "rationale": "Crowdfunding aggregates individual decisions whose eligibility and commitment status may differ.", "layers": [ { "id": "access-and-eligibility", "name": "Access and eligibility", "description": "The audience solicited and the conditions governing acceptance of contributions.", "findings": [ { "id": "participation-boundaries", "name": "Participation boundaries", "description": "Record invitation scope, eligibility requirements, and contribution limits without assuming universal access.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which crowd can encounter and respond to the offer, and what recorded conditions restrict who may contribute?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "participation-boundaries-q01" }, { "text": "What checks and permissions must be satisfied before a proposed contribution can be accepted?", "kind": "action", "id": "participation-boundaries-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "contribution-lifecycle", "name": "Contribution lifecycle", "description": "The difference between an expression of support, a pledge, and a completed contribution.", "findings": [ { "id": "commitment-and-withdrawal", "name": "Commitment and withdrawal", "description": "Record each contribution's commitment stage and the conditions for changing or withdrawing it.", "questions": [ { "text": "At what recorded event does support become a pledge, a collection authorisation, or a completed payment?", "kind": "definition", "id": "commitment-and-withdrawal-q01" }, { "text": "Under the applicable terms, when may the contributor or organiser amend, cancel, reject, or reverse this contribution?", "kind": "action", "id": "commitment-and-withdrawal-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "collective-funding-conditions", "name": "Collective funding conditions", "description": "How contributions combine into a fundraising outcome.", "rationale": "A campaign's collective funding rules determine what individual contributions enable and when.", "layers": [ { "id": "targets-and-windows", "name": "Targets and windows", "description": "The thresholds and time boundaries used to evaluate fundraising.", "findings": [ { "id": "funding-success-rule", "name": "Funding success rule", "description": "Record targets, deadlines, caps, and the precise basis for evaluating any funding condition.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which targets, deadlines, caps, or recurring periods apply, and which are binding conditions rather than promotional goals?", "kind": "definition", "id": "funding-success-rule-q01" }, { "text": "Which contribution stages, currencies, and deductions count when determining whether a funding threshold has been reached?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "funding-success-rule-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "outcomes-and-amendments", "name": "Outcomes and amendments", "description": "The consequences of fundraising results and changes to the original proposition.", "findings": [ { "id": "conditional-campaign-transitions", "name": "Conditional campaign transitions", "description": "Record what follows from missing, meeting, or exceeding a target and who may alter the campaign.", "questions": [ { "text": "What happens to contributions and commitments if the campaign misses its target, exceeds it, reaches a cap, or is cancelled?", "kind": "action", "id": "conditional-campaign-transitions-q01" }, { "text": "Who may extend the deadline, change the target, or introduce stretch commitments, and what notice or contributor consent is required by the recorded terms?", "kind": "action", "id": "conditional-campaign-transitions-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "funds-and-release", "name": "Funds and release", "description": "The movement from crowd commitments to usable proceeds and any return of funds.", "rationale": "A displayed total does not establish that money has cleared, reached the recipient, or remains available.", "layers": [ { "id": "funding-reconciliation", "name": "Funding reconciliation", "description": "A consistent account of gross support, payment outcomes, and net proceeds.", "findings": [ { "id": "pledges-to-available-proceeds", "name": "Pledges to available proceeds", "description": "Record monetary stages, fees, failed collections, reversals, and differences between reported totals.", "questions": [ { "text": "As of what time, how much is pledged, collected, cleared, refunded, and available after recorded deductions, in each currency?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "pledges-to-available-proceeds-q01" }, { "text": "Which campaign reports, payment records, or settlement statements support these amounts and explain discrepancies?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "pledges-to-available-proceeds-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "custody-and-disbursement", "name": "Custody and disbursement", "description": "Control of contributed funds before and during release to the recipient.", "findings": [ { "id": "release-and-refund-authority", "name": "Release and refund authority", "description": "Record who holds funds, the conditions governing disbursement, and how refund decisions become actual payments.", "questions": [ { "text": "Who currently holds or controls the funds, and what evidence establishes the applicable release or hold conditions?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "release-and-refund-authority-q01" }, { "text": "Which release or refund action is presently authorised, for what amount and recipient, and which conditions remain unmet?", "kind": "action", "id": "release-and-refund-authority-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "promises-and-accountability", "name": "Promises and accountability", "description": "What remains owed to contributors and beneficiaries after fundraising decisions.", "rationale": "Fundraising completion and fulfilment are separate states, particularly when rewards, repayments, or restricted uses remain outstanding.", "layers": [ { "id": "obligations-and-delivery", "name": "Obligations and delivery", "description": "The commitments created by the offer and evidence of their fulfilment.", "findings": [ { "id": "outstanding-crowd-commitments", "name": "Outstanding crowd commitments", "description": "Record applicable use-of-funds promises, rewards, reporting duties, or linked financial obligations and their current status.", "questions": [ { "text": "What commitments arise from each applicable offer or tier, who owes them, and when do they become due?", "kind": "definition", "id": "outstanding-crowd-commitments-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence supports fulfilment, partial fulfilment, delay, or discharge of each commitment?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "outstanding-crowd-commitments-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "updates-disputes-and-closure", "name": "Updates, disputes, and closure", "description": "How material changes and unresolved commitments affect the campaign's next actions and completion.", "findings": [ { "id": "unresolved-promises-and-remedies", "name": "Unresolved promises and remedies", "description": "Record communicated changes, complaints, available remedies, and any obligations that survive campaign closure.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which unmet promises or material changes require an update, contributor choice, refund consideration, or dispute referral under the recorded terms?", "kind": "action", "id": "unresolved-promises-and-remedies-q01" }, { "text": "What does closure mean for this campaign, and which delivery, repayment, reporting, or dispute obligations continue afterward?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "unresolved-promises-and-remedies-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "donation-based (no financial return; often charitable or civic)", "reward-based / perks (non-financial consideration: product, experience, credit)", "equity / investment-based (securities: shares, membership interests, or profit participation)", "lending / debt-based / P2P (repayable loans, sometimes with interest)", "royalty / revenue-share (ongoing share of future receipts)", "real-estate crowdfunding (property equity or debt via a platform)", "invoice / receivable financing (advance against invoices via a crowd of lenders)", "patronage / recurring membership (ongoing small payments for continued work, e.g. creator platforms)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "Wikidata", "value_or_pattern": "Q189022", "note": "Item 'crowdfunding'; related: Q1508756 (Kickstarter), Q1666248 (Indiegogo), equity/lending subtypes as separate items where modelled." }, { "scheme": "Library of Congress Subject Headings", "value_or_pattern": "sh2012002090 / Crowdfunding", "note": "LCSH authorised heading." }, { "scheme": "GND (German National Library)", "value_or_pattern": "7853571-0", "note": "Gemeinsame Normdatei for Schwarmfinanzierung / Crowdfunding." }, { "scheme": "SEC / EDGAR form type", "value_or_pattern": "C, C-U, C-AR, C-TR, C-W", "note": "US Regulation Crowdfunding offering, progress, annual, termination, and withdrawal filings." }, { "scheme": "NACE / NAICS (platforms, not the practice)", "value_or_pattern": "NAICS 522310 / 523910 (approx.); NACE K.64 / K.66 depending on lending vs investment intermediation", "note": "Industry codes classify the platform operator, not a crowdfunding campaign itself; mapping is messy and jurisdiction-specific." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "United States: JOBS Act Title III (CROWDFUND Act, 2012) and SEC Regulation Crowdfunding, 17 CFR Part 227; also Regulation A (Tier 2) and Rule 506(c) used for larger online offerings that are adjacent, not identical.", "European Union: Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 (ECSPR) - ESMA/EBA technical standards; MiFID II, Prospectus Regulation, and AMLD still bite at the edges; consumer-credit rules for lending models.", "United Kingdom: FCA COBS and the loan-based / investment-based crowdfunding regime originating in PS14/4; post-Brexit onshoring, not ECSPR passport.", "Securities-law overlay in most jurisdictions: prospectus/offer exemptions, funding-portal or broker-dealer licensing, advertising restrictions, and investor-cap / sophistication tests.", "Payment and AML: PSD2/open-banking, money-transmitter licences, FATF customer-due-diligence for platforms holding or moving funds.", "Platform private standards: Kickstarter/Indiegogo project guidelines; UKCFA / European Crowdfunding Network codes of conduct (industry, not law).", "Charity/donation overlays: fundraising-regulator and charity-law registration where the campaign is a charitable solicitation rather than a commercial offer." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "A creator lists a hardware or media project on Kickstarter or Indiegogo with reward tiers and a funding goal; backers pledge via card; funds (minus fees) release if the goal is met (all-or-nothing) or on a flexible schedule.", "A private company raises equity from non-accredited and accredited investors through a registered funding portal (e.g. under US Reg CF), filing Form C and delivering an annual report.", "Peer-to-peer or marketplace lending platforms match retail lenders to consumer or SME loans, with the platform servicing repayments.", "Municipal or civic campaigns (civic crowdfunding) finance a park, mural, or community facility, sometimes blended with a public match.", "Disaster-relief and medical campaigns on GoFundMe or similar donation platforms, often with no product and no securities analysis.", "Real-estate sponsors syndicate a property acquisition or development to many small investors via a specialised portal.", "Recurring patronage (Patreon, Liberapay, memberships) funds ongoing creative or open-source work rather than a one-shot campaign." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "campaign goal (target capital)", "typical_range": "10^2-10^7 (consumer/creator campaigns commonly 1e3-1e5; equity rounds often 5e4-5e6 under retail caps)", "unit": "currency units of the offer (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)" }, { "quantity": "amount pledged / amount raised", "typical_range": "0-several times the goal; median reward campaigns often miss or just meet goal, a fat tail overfunds", "unit": "currency units" }, { "quantity": "number of backers / investors", "typical_range": "tens to tens of thousands per campaign; equity deals often 50-500 investors", "unit": "count of persons or legal entities" }, { "quantity": "platform success / completion rate", "typical_range": "reward platforms historically ~30-40% of launched projects reach goal (Kickstarter-public stats, varying by category and year)", "unit": "dimensionless fraction" }, { "quantity": "platform fee", "typical_range": "3-8% of funds raised plus payment-processing ~3%", "unit": "percent of gross raised" }, { "quantity": "offering duration", "typical_range": "14-90 days for a discrete campaign; equity windows often 30-60 days; patronage is open-ended", "unit": "days" }, { "quantity": "regulatory issuer cap (US Reg CF)", "typical_range": "historically USD 1 million, later raised (SEC amendments) to USD 5 million in a 12-month period", "unit": "USD per 12 months" }, { "quantity": "time-to-fulfilment / delivery slip (reward model)", "typical_range": "often 3-18 months after close; hardware frequently late by 6-24 months", "unit": "months" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Non-delivery: reward campaigns collect money and never ship, or ship a materially different product (Kickstarter Coolest Cooler and similar hardware failures are the type specimen).", "Fraud and misrepresentation: fabricated identity, fake traction, related-party use of proceeds, or stolen creative work.", "Securities-law breach: unregistered public offering, general solicitation outside an exemption, or unlicensed brokerage by the platform.", "Insolvency of issuer or platform: funds in transit, unsegregated client money, or a failed special-purpose vehicle.", "Adverse selection and information asymmetry: weak due diligence; crowd copies early pledges (herding) rather than screening.", "Illiquidity: equity and many real-estate interests have no secondary market; investors cannot exit.", "Credit default (lending model): borrower non-payment; model risk in automated scoring.", "Chargebacks, payment-processor holds, and AML freezes that strand a campaign mid-raise.", "IP and fulfilment operational failure: supply-chain, certification (CE/FCC), or scaling manufacturing after a viral campaign.", "Reputational and social harm: doxxing of unsuccessful creators; medical/disaster campaigns that divert from institutional relief or exploit sympathy.", "Systemic / conduct risk: platforms pushing high-risk mini-bonds or property schemes to retail (UK mini-bond and some P2P failures)." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "United States: 'crowdfunding' in statute usually means securities crowdfunding (Reg CF); donation/reward platforms operate largely outside securities law if no investment return is offered. State blue-sky 'intrastate' crowdfunding statutes coexist.", "European Union: ECSPR created a passport for business crowdfunding (lending and investment) up to a prospectus-adjacent cap; donation/reward remain national. France historically used 'financement participatif'; Germany 'Schwarmfinanzierung' with BaFin Vermögensanlagen rules before ECSPR.", "United Kingdom: sharp regulatory split between regulated loan-based and investment-based crowdfunding and unregulated donation/reward; FCA promotion rules are stricter than many EU states for retail investment.", "China: rapid P2P lending boom and subsequent near-total shutdown/rectification (2016-2020) - 'crowdfunding' there was often synonymous with online lending platforms, not Kickstarter-style rewards.", "Islamic-finance jurisdictions: sharia-compliant structures (no riba) reshape lending-based models into profit-sharing or murabaha-like contracts.", "Naming: English 'crowdfunding' vs French financement participatif, German Crowdfunding/Schwarmfinanzierung, Spanish micromecenazgo / financiación colectiva, Italian crowdfunding / finanziamento collettivo. 'Kickstarter' is often used generically for reward campaigns." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "traditional public offering / IPO or prospectus offering", "difference": "An IPO or full prospectus offer is a registered securities distribution to the public through underwriters with listing and continuous-disclosure duties; crowdfunding (even equity CF) is a capped, often portal-intermediated exemption with lighter ongoing listing." }, { "name": "venture capital / angel round", "difference": "VC/angel is a small number of professional investors negotiating a priced round and governance rights; equity crowdfunding is many small tickets on standardised portal terms, usually with weaker control rights." }, { "name": "peer-to-peer marketplace lending (when labelled as a separate industry)", "difference": "P2P lending is the debt-crowdfunding species; the separator is consideration: a repayable claim versus a gift, perk, or residual equity claim. Some regulators treat P2P as consumer credit, not 'crowdfunding'." }, { "name": "charitable fundraising / telethon / grant", "difference": "Charity solicitation is a gift to a qualified entity under charity and tax law, often with deductibility; donation crowdfunding may be neither tax-deductible nor run by a charity. Test: legal status of the recipient and presence of a charitable registration." }, { "name": "pre-order / e-commerce waitlist", "difference": "A pre-order is a bilateral sale of a specified good with consumer-contract rights (refund, statutory guarantee); a reward pledge is typically a conditional contribution with limited consumer-sale protection if the project fails. Test: is there a binding contract of sale or a discretionary 'reward'?" }, { "name": "initial coin offering / token sale", "difference": "An ICO raises against a crypto-token; it is crowdfunding-like in many-small-ticket structure but sits under securities, e-money, or commodity rules depending on token characterisation (Howey and equivalents). Test: is the instrument a platform-recorded security/loan/gift, or a distributed-ledger token?" }, { "name": "syndication / club deal / SPV pooling", "difference": "A private syndicate pools a handful of known LPs into an SPV; crowdfunding is a public or semi-public invitation via a platform to an open or lightly gated crowd. Test: general solicitation and number/nature of offerees." }, { "name": "microfinance / rotating savings (ROSCA)", "difference": "Microfinance and ROSCAs are relationship- or group-based credit among known members, usually offline or MFI-intermediated; crowdfunding is platform-broadcast to strangers. Test: closed group vs open platform crowd." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of crowdfunding this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does the registry intend crowdfunding to include ongoing patronage, community fundraising without a platform, and privately invited crowds, or should some of these link to neighbouring models?", "Which existing Vercy world models already own campaign, fundraising, donation, preorder, lending, or investment concepts, and where should this model reference them?", "Which distinctions among donation, reward, preorder, lending, equity, and hybrid arrangements require separate layers rather than conditional questions?", "Which authoritative sources establish the relevant platform and jurisdiction-specific rules for participation, cancellation, custody, refunds, and campaign amendments?", "What evidence should be sufficient to distinguish an organiser's reported success or completion from verified funding availability and fulfilled obligations?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a crowdfunding, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a crowdfunding undertaking, assess its fundraising and delivery state, and determine which actions its recorded terms and permissions allow.", "characteristics": { "substance": "activity", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: CardUP, crowdfunding in video games, crowdfunding of sport clubs, quadratic funding.", "4 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 60 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a crowdfunding, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "something that happens over time", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "CardUP", "crowdfunding in video games", "crowdfunding of sport clubs", "quadratic funding" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 60 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 4 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one crowdfunding from another, and a crowdfunding from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a crowdfunding sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a crowdfunding from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a crowdfunding passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a crowdfunding between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a crowdfunding, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a crowdfunding is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "process-and-outcome", "name": "Process, inputs and outcome", "description": "How a crowdfunding proceeds, what it needs and what it leaves behind.", "rationale": "An activity is known by its steps and its results, and both have to be recordable while it is still running.", "layers": [ { "id": "steps-and-sequence", "name": "Steps and sequence", "description": "The steps of a crowdfunding, their order and what may run in parallel.", "findings": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions", "name": "Steps, preconditions and completion", "description": "What has to be true before each step of a crowdfunding and what marks it done.", "questions": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a step of a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a step of a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a step of a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-results", "name": "Inputs, resources and results", "description": "What a crowdfunding consumes and what it produces.", "findings": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs", "name": "Inputs, outputs and side effects", "description": "The resources a crowdfunding takes and the results it leaves, wanted or not.", "questions": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the inputs and results of a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the inputs and results of a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the inputs and results of a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What crowdfunding is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of crowdfunding are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is crowdfunding operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of crowdfunding and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of crowdfunding?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as crowdfunding?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a crowdfunding came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a crowdfunding and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a crowdfunding is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a crowdfunding, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a crowdfunding, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a crowdfunding is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }