> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/funds-and-settlement/referrals.md).

# Referrals

How your referral link earns a share of the platform fee, how attribution works, and how a reward reaches your wallet.

Every CounterTrade account gets one referral code and a share link. When someone signs up through your link and later plays a paid battle that settles, you earn a share of that battle's platform fee — a real payout you claim on-chain, separate from your paper balance.

A referral is not a battle invite. A referral link earns you rewards over time from the people you bring in; an invite just lets someone join one specific private battle. See [Private rooms and invitations](/docs/battles/private-rooms-and-invitations.md).

## Your link

Open your profile. The **Referrals** section shows **Your referral link** with a **Copy** button. Share the link — the code travels inside it, so the person you refer doesn't have to type anything.

You can choose a personal code once. Enter 6–12 letters or digits in **Choose your code once**; letters are saved in upper case. A code already used by another account, reserved for a campaign, or blocked as impersonation is unavailable. Your previous link keeps working after the change. Once you choose, the form disappears and you cannot choose another code yourself.

## Adding a code someone gave you

If a friend gave you their code, you can enter it instead of opening their link:

* **At sign-in:** select **Have a referral code?** on the sign-in dialog and type the code. It applies right after you sign in, whether the account is new or one you already had.
* **From your profile:** find the **Referrals** section. If you have no referrer yet, a **Were you referred?** card lets you enter a code and **Apply code**.

You can add a code only while you don't already have a referrer. Once one is set, the section shows **Referred by** with their name instead of the entry field.

## How attribution works

When someone opens your link, the code is captured from the URL and held on their device. If they create an account, it is attributed to you at signup.

A referral is set once. There is no deadline for adding a referrer, but once set it can't be changed, so nobody can switch who referred them later. Referring yourself doesn't count.

A referrer earns only from paid battles going forward. A battle that already settled before your referrer was set isn't credited back — its payout is final on-chain.

## What earns a reward

You earn only when a referred user plays a **paid** battle — one with a real entry fee — and it settles. Your reward is carved out of the platform fee on that entry fee, not new money on top, so a battle without an entry fee has nothing to share. You also earn nothing from a battle that's cancelled or refunded: if entry fees go back to players, there's no fee to share.

The platform fee is currently 10% of the pooled entry fees, and your reward is paid in that battle's token.

Referrals reach three levels deep:

| Level   | Who they are                           | Share of the platform fee |
| ------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| Level 1 | Someone you referred directly          | 20%                       |
| Level 2 | Someone your level-1 referral referred | 3%                        |
| Level 3 | Someone your level-2 referral referred | 2%                        |

So a level-1 reward is 20% of that 10%. Up to three people above a trader earn from a battle they play, the levels never add up to more than the fee itself, and the rest stays with the platform.

These are the standard shares. They can be adjusted for a specific account, so treat them as defaults rather than a guarantee — your **Reward ledger** shows the level each reward came from.

### Individually agreed terms

CounterTrade can agree higher shares with a specific account, such as a partner who brings in an audience: up to 80% of the platform fee at level 1, and up to 90% across all three levels. Agreed terms are an upper limit, not a promise for every battle.

Each battle has its own on-chain limit on the total referral share, fixed when it is created, and it can be lower — for example 30% of the fee, with at most 20% at level 1. Above that limit the deepest level is reduced first, so a level-1 referrer keeps their share longest. Each ledger row shows the share that reward was actually paid at.

## Claiming what you earn

A reward becomes claimable once the battle it came from has settled, and shows **Ready to claim** in your ledger.

You claim it from the **Reward ledger** in your profile's **Referrals** section, separately from any battle prize. Select **Claim referral reward** — all your rewards from one battle settle into a single claim, so there's one button per battle — then confirm in your wallet. The button moves through `Claiming…` and `Confirmed on chain` to `Claimed`, and the tokens land in the wallet you claimed with.

You claim from the specific wallet the reward was attributed to. Signed in with a different one, the helper reads **Connect with `0x1a2b…9f8e` to claim.**

A referral reward is real money. Your paper balance is not, and the two never mix.

## Reward ledger statuses

A reward you can't claim yet shows one of these instead of a button:

| Status              | Meaning                                                                                                         |
| ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ready to claim**  | The battle has settled; claim it now                                                                            |
| **Pending wallet**  | The account has no wallet to pay it to                                                                          |
| **On review**       | Paid after an operator check                                                                                    |
| **Below threshold** | Too small to pay out on-chain                                                                                   |
| **Voided**          | No reward is paid: the battle was cancelled and fees refunded, or the reward was voided after an operator check |
| **Claimed**         | Already paid to your wallet                                                                                     |
| **Paid (treasury)** | Paid from the treasury after an operator check                                                                  |

A reward **On review** is not counted in **Total earned** until it is paid. After the check it is either paid to your wallet from the platform's treasury, showing **Paid (treasury)**, or voided. You don't need to do anything while it is on review.

**Finalizing room…** and **Indexer catching up…** are timing states rather than problems — the battle is still settling on-chain, or the app is still reading it back. Wait a few seconds and refresh. For a stuck or failed claim, see [Transaction troubleshooting](/docs/funds-and-settlement/transaction-troubleshooting.md).

## Related

* [Entry fees and escrow](/docs/funds-and-settlement/entry-fees-and-escrow.md)
* [Transaction troubleshooting](/docs/funds-and-settlement/transaction-troubleshooting.md)
* [Private rooms and invitations](/docs/battles/private-rooms-and-invitations.md)