Real-world value

Added in v0.9 (October 13, 2026). Direction set by Patrick; pending legal review.

Not legal advice. This page describes an intended direction and a proposed model. It reaches no legal conclusions. Every regulatory item is tagged [VERIFY – needs counsel] and must be cleared, per jurisdiction, before any real-money feature ships.

Direction

Because Harimu treats the real and virtual as one continuous life, money earned in Harimu should be transferable to the real world, using cryptocurrency as the bridge (Patrick’s decision, Decisions Log row 50). The goal is that honest human work in Harimu – labor, craft, creation, service – can carry value back into a person’s life outside it.

Proposed model

Only the Tessera bridges

The ten national currencies stay in-world and keep their designed behaviors: the Spark floats, the Gauge is controlled, Korund’s Labor Notes and ration coupons stay non-convertible, Varkand’s Ward freezes at maximum alert, and so on.
Only the neutral Tessera (TSR) – the settlement currency no nation controls – connects to the real world. National currencies reach the outside only by first being exchanged into Tessera through each nation’s own rules.

Cash-out path

Tessera redeems to a regulated USD stablecoin and/or fiat currency.
On- and off-ramps are run by licensed third-party partners; Harimu aims not to custody user funds wherever that is possible [VERIFY – needs counsel].
KYC / identity verification and AML screening are required for cash-out (not for ordinary play).
Withdrawal limits, holding periods and a minimum account age apply before earnings can be redeemed [ASSUMPTION – values].
Cash-out is 18+, even though the world itself is 16+.

National access to Tessera

Each nation’s fixed system governs how its citizens reach Tessera:

Nation type	Access to Tessera (proposed)
Market systems (Kindle, Hoarvale, Veldwood, Fulmara)	Licensed in-world exchanges at market or managed rates.
Controlled systems (Meridian, Confluence, Aurelle, Ilmar, Varkand)	State-licensed exchanges, quotas, approved rates, or system-specific rules (e.g. Ilmar’s no-interest rules, Varkand alert freezes).
Korund	Open design question: only via state channels, and/or a risky black market. Any black-market route must never become a way to launder or evade KYC at the real-world bridge.

Ledger design

Recommendation: Tessera runs on an off-chain ledger inside the game for all gameplay (fast, cheap, reversible for fraud, subject to the world’s rules).
On-chain settlement happens only at the bridge, when a verified human redeems Tessera to a stablecoin through a partner.
A fully on-chain Tessera is not recommended for v0.9: it would expose gameplay to wallet risk, irreversible errors, speculation and a larger regulatory surface [VERIFY – needs counsel].

What earnings count

Counts toward cashable Tessera	Does not count
Wages and income from human in-world work	Anything earned, created or held by AI citizens or AI leaders
Human-created goods, buildings, art and content sold to others	Money created by AI-driven systems (state printing, AI treasury actions, subsidies) as a direct source of cashable balance
Trade profits from genuine human activity	Bot-, script- or farm-generated income
Creator rewards granted under a published program	Chance-based rewards, giveaways or exploit gains

Humans only. AI can participate in the in-world economy but never cash out, and AI-generated money must never become cashable. Anti-bot and anti-farming checks apply before any balance is redeemable.

Economic safeguards

Money supply caps (already in the design) and hard caps on printing.
Sinks – taxes, fees, upkeep, consumption – so value does not only accumulate.
No AI-citizen cash-out, ever.
Monitoring for farming, collusion and abnormal transfer patterns; bot detection; rate limits on transfers and exchanges.
Reserve backing: every redeemable Tessera must be backed so redemptions can always be honored. Open reserve-model questions: what backs the reserve (operator revenue, a ring-fenced fund, partner-held assets), who audits it, and what happens if redemptions exceed it [VERIFY – needs counsel].
Avoid Ponzi dynamics: no promise of returns, no guaranteed income, and no paid entry tied to earnings – earnings must never depend on new players paying in.

Lessons from precedents

Described qualitatively; no figures are quoted.

Second Life (Linden dollars): a long-running world where creators can sell in-world currency for real money through the operator’s exchange. Shows that cash-out can sustain a creator economy, and that it brings ongoing compliance work.
Entropia Universe: built its identity around a real-cash economy with fixed conversion. Shows that a real-money world can run for a long time, but also how much the economy becomes the main draw.
Axie Infinity: the play-to-earn boom drew many players who depended on earnings, then the token economy declined sharply. The Ronin bridge connected to it was hacked. Lessons: earnings funded by new entrants are fragile, players can be pushed into a precarious form of labor, and bridges are a prime security target.
Diablo III real-money auction house: introduced, then shut down by the publisher, which said it undermined the core game. Lesson: real money can distort design and play.
EVE Online PLEX: real money flows in, but there is no official route back out. Shows a one-way model that limits regulatory exposure.
Roblox DevEx: creators – not all players – can exchange earned currency for real money after meeting eligibility requirements. Shows a creator-focused, gated cash-out model, which closely matches Phase B below.

Regulatory areas to check (per jurisdiction)

All [VERIFY – needs counsel]:

Money transmission / MSB – FinCEN registration, US state money transmitter licenses, and equivalents elsewhere; how much partners absorb.
Securities – whether Tessera, Fulmara shares or any asset could be an investment contract.
Commodities – whether tokens or in-world assets fall under commodities rules.
Gambling and lottery – any randomness tied to cashable value.
Tax reporting – e.g. US 1099-type reporting for player earnings, and tax obligations for the operator.
Sanctions / OFAC – screening against real-world sanctions; in-game sanctions between nations are separate and must never be mistaken for, or used to bypass, real ones.
Consumer protection – disclosures, refunds, fair terms, and unfair-practice rules.
Minors – 16- and 17-year-olds can play but cannot cash out; cash-out is 18+.
Stablecoin regulation – rules on the stablecoin used and its issuers.
EU MiCA – crypto-asset rules for EU users and service providers.
Data and KYC privacy – storing identity documents and financial data under privacy laws.

Security

Bridge and wallet security: the bridge is the highest-value target; prefer audited, licensed partners, limits, multi-party approval and monitoring.
Custody: avoid holding user funds or keys; where unavoidable, use regulated custody.
Fraud: stolen payment methods, mule accounts, collusion and laundering through trades.
Account takeover: strong authentication (Clerk with MFA required for cash-out), withdrawal confirmation and cool-downs after security changes.
Chargebacks: money paid in by card can be reversed; holding periods prevent cash-out of reversible funds.

Impact on the design

Politics gains real stakes. AI leaders’ decisions – taxes, sanctions, war, inflation – now affect real money. That demands fairness, transparency (logged, explainable decisions) and a clear view of liability [VERIFY – needs counsel]. Fixed systems mean Korund’s citizens will face real economic disadvantages by design; players must understand this before choosing a nation.
Wellbeing. Real earnings create financial pressure, exploitation risk and gold-farming labor. Wellbeing tools, limits and anti-farming rules become more important (see Wellbeing & Responsibility).
Monetization. Any purchase that converts into cashable value needs review; paid items should not create cashable earnings, and paid entry must never be tied to earning potential.

Phased rollout

Phase	Scope	Gate
A – In-world only	No cash-out. Tessera and national currencies run off-chain; measure the economy, farming and fraud.	Default at launch.
B – Creator / earned-rewards pilot	Limited cash-out for verified 18+ human creators and earners, in limited jurisdictions, through licensed partners.	Legal clearance for those jurisdictions; partner contracts; reserve in place.
C – Broader Tessera bridge	Wider redemption of human-earned Tessera to stablecoin/fiat.	Full legal clearance, security audit, stable Phase B results.

Open questions

Is Tessera redeemable for all human-earned income, or only for creator programs?
What is the reserve model, and who audits it?
How do Korund citizens reach Tessera – state channels only, or a black market too?
Which stablecoin(s) and which partners? Which jurisdictions first?
What withdrawal limits, holding periods and minimum account age?
Can money flow in (buying Tessera), or only out? A one-way-in or one-way-out design changes the regulatory picture.
Who is responsible when an AI leader’s decision costs players real money?
How is earning made fair across nations whose systems are unequal by design?