If you’re excited about participating in the tea Incentivized Testnet, then you may have heard something about non-transferable testnet rewards points. 

tea is using points to incentivize eligible developers and non-developers alike to experiment with the tea Protocol ahead of its Mainnet launch.

Keep reading to learn more about points, including how to earn them and how points can make it fun to participate in the development of the tea Protocol.

What are points in the tea Incentivized Testnet?

Points are what the tea Incentivized Testnet is using to reward participation in the development of the tea Protocol. tea Incentivized Testnet points are non-transferable and a lot like arcade points that might earn you something at the prize counter later. 

Points are designed and distributed in ways that encourage active engagement with the protocol during tea’s Incentivized Testnet phase. Learning about the tea Protocol should feel enjoyable and rewarding—that’s why points-generating activities are organized into challenges and quests. The tea web app includes a points leaderboard showing your engagement and how innovative you were in solving some of the more difficult quests. You can also earn points for completing simple actions like linking your GitHub account.  

Meaningful engagement and productive feedback are critical to the development of the tea Protocol. tea points facilitate testing at scale to comprehensively test the protocol prior to its official launch.

How to earn tea Incentivized Testnet points

You may be wondering about how to earn points during tea’s Incentivized Testnet phase. Anyone who creates a tea account can earn points by using and testing the key features of the technology. 

Developers and non-developers have plenty of opportunities to earn points:

• Sign up for tea and connect your GitHub account 
• Register and manage a software project 
• Stake TEA testnet tokens to registered software projects
• Earn and claim TEA testnet tokens
• Attempt to change or compromise a project’s teaRank score
• Identify and report software vulnerabilities
• Participate in decentralized governance via the teaDAO
• Donate testnet tokens to registered software projects 
• Promote tea on social media
• Refer OSS developers to tea

Do tea Incentivized Testnet points have any value?

Participating during tea’s Incentivized Testnet phase may enable you to earn points, but the best reason to get involved is to support the development of a robust incentive protocol for OSS. As an Incentivized Testnet user, your experience with the tea Protocol and feedback directly shape the tea roadmap. tea Incentivized Testnet points are virtual and non-transferable with no guaranteed redeemable value.

Redeeming your Incentivized Testnet points

All tea users can view and accumulate points within their accounts during tea’s Incentivized Testnet phase. Accumulated points are non-transferable and may become redeemable at a time beginning after tea’s Mainnet launch, with additional details to be provided near the conclusion of the tea Incentivized Testnet.

Your ability to redeem tea rewards points may vary based on your jurisdiction or other factors.**

Why use points during the tea Incentivized Testnet phase?

You may be wondering—why use points in lieu of blockchain-based tokens to incentivize testnet participation? That’s a fantastic question, especially with cryptocurrencies receiving so much hype and attention.

Points reward users who complete quests and enable a points leaderboard. Incentivized Testnet users may be inspired to compete to rank at the top of the leaderboard, and any tea user can view their ranking versus the rankings of other Incentivized Testnet participants. 

A points-based incentive system is well suited to reward testnet participation. The developers of the tea Protocol are committed to using advanced technology only when doing so is necessary and creates value for stakeholders. A points rewards system “keeps it old school”—and may bring back happy memories of playing video games in the arcade.

Important reminders about redeemability

Testnet TEA tokens have no redeemable value and are not eligible for conversion into any future rewards but can be used to experiment with various features supported by the Incentivized Testnet.

**While all users may technically be able to view and accumulate non-transferable Incentivized Testnet rewards points within their accounts, the following groups of persons are not eligible to participate in Incentivized Testnet rewards points and will not be able to redeem Incentivized  Testnet rewards points: U.S. residents, other U.S. persons, and residents of countries or regions subject to sanctions, embargoes, or other restrictions imposed by the United States government or other applicable international authorities as well as persons subject to sanctions imposed by applicable international authorities are not eligible to participate in rewards points. The eligibility of non-U.S. persons is at our sole discretion and we may take into account regulatory circumstances per jurisdiction. We make no guarantees or promises regarding the redeemability of any tea rewards points. The timeline, whether or not a redeemability event occurs, and the conversion rate are all at our sole discretion.