Degen Racing Royale
Degen Racing Royale is Merkle's recurring seasonal trading competition. It is a high stakes race where traders compete for APT rewards, username tickets, and ranking glory.
Each season is structured into two phases: Round 1 (King Selection) and Round 2 (Degen Racing).
The competition format is designed for both active traders and casual participants to join the competition in different ways.
Prize Pool (Season 51)
The Racing Royale for Season 51 will run from Nov 27 to Dec 6, with a total prize pool of 1,000 APT distributed to Kings and Peasants:
Kings: 600 APT + 20 Username Tickets
Peasants: 900 APT
In addition to the APT prize pool, all 20 Kings will earn Username Tickets, granting them the exclusive opportunity to secure unique usernames.
Prize Pool Breakdown
In case more than 8 Kings are eliminated due to ties, their prize amounts will be proportionally redistributed among the remaining Kings.
How It Works
Round 1: King Selection (4 days)
During the first part of the season, participants trade to accumulate Degen Score and earn Chips.
How King Selection works:
All participants start with a base Degen Score of 10 after registration.
See Degen Score Mechanics for how the scores are calculated.
The top 20 users by Degen Score at the end of Round 1 qualify as Degen Kings.
All other participants become Peasants for Round 2.
Rules for King Selection:
Only one open trade at a time contributes to scoring. Opening a second trade blocks scoring for the new one.
Collateral must be at least 20 USDC and user’s Trader Level must be 10 or higher.
Position updates (ex. adding collateral or partial closing), won’t help you get a higher Degen Score if your PnL is positive, but will penalize your score more if your PnL is negative
Trade scores are applied in the order you made them, starting with the oldest trade
You can pause your trades from affecting your score by toggling off the switch on the order box. Any trades opened while the switch is off will not be included in the score calculation.
You can also earn Chips based on trading fees paid. Every $0.01 of fees gives you 1 Chip.
After Round 1 ends, there is a 1-day review period to confirm final King rankings and ensure no unfair play.
Round 2: Degen Racing (4 days)
In Round 2, the 20 Kings enter an elimination style race. At the same time, Peasants use their Chips to bet on which King they believe will win.
Kings:
The top 20 traders from Round 1 become Degen Kings, with the scores reset to 10.
Every 24 hours, the two lowest-ranking Kings, including any Kings with tied scores, will be eliminated at 12:00 UTC.
Eliminated Kings will not receive any King prizes.
Kings can still earn Chips and bet on yourself or other Kings.
Peasants:
Peasants bet Chips on the Kings they think will win.
Every 24 hours at 12:00 UTC, any remaining Chip balance are slashed by half, and Chip earning rate is also reduced by half.
If a bet is placed on a King who is eliminated, the Chips are returned with a halving penalty applied.
Peasants who bet on surviving Kings share the Peasant reward pool proportionally to the Chips they placed.
After the race concludes, there is a 5-day review period before rewards become claimable.
Degen Score Mechanics
Each participant starts with a score of 10.
When a trade closes with profit, the score is multiplied using: score = score * (1 + PnL%)
When a trade closes with loss, the score becomes: 10 + (score - 10) / 2
Only one active position counts at a time.
Updating a position (adding collateral, partially closing, ..) will immediately finalize the score for the trade.
You can pause your trades from affecting your score by toggling off the switch in the order box. Any trades opened while the switch is off will not be included in the score calculation.
Fair Play
The team reserves the right to disqualify any address at its sole discretion for violating "Fair Play" or engaging in trading practices that conflict with the contest's intent, such as multi-account trading or market manipulation to achieve specific outcomes. To ensure fairness and prevent malicious or unfair trading activity, there will be two review periods. If necessary, the team may modify competition rules, schedule or prize distribution to maintain fairness.
Degen Racing Royale involves real trading and carries market risk. All trades, bets and PnL are subject to the standard rules and fee structures of Merkle.
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