TLDR;
Each applicable fee represents 1/12th of the minted CRC amount,
Fees are applied at the application level through Gnosis App,
Inviter rewards are time-limited to one year,
Circles remains an open and transparent protocol,
No hidden protocol-level fees are implemented within Circles smart contracts themselves.
What Fees Apply When Minting CRC Through Gnosis App?
When minting CRC through Gnosis App, three separate application-level fees may apply. Each fee represents 1/12th of the total CRC created during the minting process.
These fees are specific to the Gnosis App experience and are not part of the underlying Circles core protocol itself.
Types of CRC Minting Fees
1. Gnosis Fee
A fee equal to 1/12th of the minted CRC is allocated to the Gnosis team.
This fee supports:
Ongoing platform development,
Infrastructure maintenance,
Product improvements,
Operational and ecosystem growth related to Gnosis App.
2. Affiliate Group Fee
A fee equal to 1/12th of the minted CRC may be allocated to the affiliate group associated with your account or selected during onboarding.
This fee is distributed to the administrators or organization managing the affiliate group and may help support:
Community growth,
Local initiatives,
Ecosystem participation,
Group operations and incentives.
Affiliate groups may define their own community structures and participation models within the broader Circles ecosystem.
3. Inviter Fee
A fee equal to 1/12th of the minted CRC may be allocated to the account whose invitation link you used when creating your Gnosis App account.
This inviter fee:
Rewards network growth and onboarding participation,
Applies for a maximum period of one year from the date the invitation was accepted,
Automatically expires after the eligibility period ends.
Are These Fees Part of the Circles Protocol?
No. These fees are not embedded within the underlying Circles protocol or its smart contracts.
The Circles protocol itself remains open and permissionless, without hidden protocol-level extraction mechanisms or mandatory platform fees.
The fees described above are introduced specifically through the Gnosis App interface and related application-layer services.
Because Circles operates as an open blockchain protocol, users may technically interact directly with the underlying smart contracts without using Gnosis App, depending on their technical capabilities and preferred tooling.