Alternative Approaches: Per-Investor vs Receipt-Based
Token distribution can be implemented through different approaches, each with distinct characteristics:
Per-Investor Tracking:
- Individual claimable amounts calculated and stored onchain
- Complex state management for participants
- Gas costs increase linearly with participant count
- Exchange rate calculations replace individual tracking
- Constant gas costs regardless of participant count
- Efficient scaling to thousands of participants
Distribution approaches differ in computational complexity and gas efficiency.
Scalability Comparison
Per-Investor Approach:
- O(n) complexity: increasing with participant count
- Individual state storage requirements
- Increasing gas costs for larger participant groups
- O(1) complexity: constant regardless of participants
- Single exchange rate calculation
- Consistent gas costs for any group size
Gas Efficiency Comparison
Distribution Initialization Costs:
| Participant Count | Traditional Approach | Receipt-Based Approach |
|---|---|---|
| 100 investors | ~2,100,000 gas | ~50,000 gas |
| 1,000 investors | ~21,000,000 gas | ~50,000 gas |
| 10,000 investors | Gas limit exceeded | ~50,000 gas |
The receipt-based system maintains constant gas costs while per-investor accounting becomes prohibitively expensive and impossible at scale.