The golden rule
Ktkarena takes a commission on the challenge's total pot - the sum of the matched stakes.
That means:
- If you win a challenge → you receive the whole pot, less a percentage of that pot.
- If you lose a challenge → nothing extra is taken from you. You lose your stake, period.
- If your challenge is canceled before matching → 0 KTK of commission. Full refund.
It's our only revenue. No hidden spread, no monthly fees, no inactivity fees. Just this commission on the pot.
The 5 rates by tier
| Tier | Stake range | Commission |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | from 1,000 to less than 10,000 KTK | 5% |
| Standard | from 10,000 to less than 50,000 KTK | 4% |
| Premium | from 50,000 to less than 200,000 KTK | 3% |
| Elite | from 200,000 to less than 1,000,000 KTK | 2% |
| Institutional | from 1,000,000 to 20,000,000 KTK | 1.5% |
How it works in practice
Let's take a concrete example to make it clear.
Scenario: you stake 40,000 KTK and win
- Your opponent staked 40,000 KTK against you.
- The total pot is 80,000 KTK (40,000 + 40,000).
- You win the challenge → you get back your stake + your opponent's.
- The tier for this challenge is Standard (40,000 KTK is between 10,000 and less than 50,000).
- Applicable commission: 4% of the total pot (80,000 KTK).
- Commission taken: 80,000 × 4% = 3,200 KTK.
Final result:
- You receive: 80,000 (the pot) − 3,200 (commission) = 76,800 KTK.
- Your opponent loses: 40,000 KTK.
- Ktkarena receives: 3,200 KTK.
Important. The commission is ALWAYS displayed BEFORE you confirm your challenge. You know exactly how much you'll win net if you win the challenge. No surprises afterwards.
Why different tiers?
The more you stake, the lower the percentage. It's standard business logic:
- In the Discovery tier (from 1,000 to less than 10,000 KTK), the commission is 5%. It's the majority of our challenge volume, and the infrastructure cost per transaction is proportionally higher.
- In the Institutional tier (from 1,000,000 to 20,000,000 KTK), the commission is 1.5%. The volume is low but the amounts are huge - the absolute commission remains very significant.
Concrete comparison:
- 5,000 KTK pot won → 5% × 5,000 = 250 KTK in commission.
- 5,000,000 KTK pot won → 1.5% × 5,000,000 = 75,000 KTK in commission.
The percentage is lower at the top, but the absolute value is 300x higher. It's balanced.
Pool phase commission
Pool commission: if your challenge is absorbed by the pool phase at the end of an event, the commission applied is your tier's rate + 1 point. Example: in the Premium tier (3% commission), the pool commission is 4%. This surcharge covers the operational cost of the mutualized calculation. It is announced in the challenge details before you enter the pool.